Tuesday, April 30, 2019

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon (audiobook)

genre: adult science fiction

For three hundred years, the HSS Matilda has sailed through space, full of humans whose ancestors managed to escape a dying earth.  It is not, however, any sort of earth-like utopia.  It is a stratified, plantation-like dystopian space where, based on what deck you live on, what language you speak and what color your skin is, you either live a pretty sweet life or you're essentially a slave.  Aster lives in the slums, but she's wicked intelligent and although sometimes she prefers plants and experiments to people, she still knows that this horrific setup is not sustainable.  When her dead mother's notebooks start giving her clues and strange happenings on the ship give her motivation, Aster realizes that the time for change may be sooner than she can even hope.

The language of this story, the depth of its pain and the issues it delves into made this a really good read.  The audio was stunning.  There is so much here that is raw, so much violence - but also so much discovery.  Self-discovery, self-appreciation, an acknowledgement to the world that to be a person is ENOUGH.  It is enough to require, no, demand respect.  Sexuality is fluid here - more on some decks than others and more with some people than others, but in a way that doesn't come off as LOOK!  FLUID SEXUALITY IS THE POINT!  The characters in this book are people first - rich with a complicated history of oppression and snatches of joy.  Aster is complex herself - neurodiverse and passionate in her own way, sometimes she's a hard character to understand but the choices she makes and how she interacts with the world she lives in makes this such an interesting story.  I loved all the science of it, intertwined with a fast-moving plot and interspersed backstory.  It just worked for me.  Some readers will find it to dark, I think, too violent.  Sometimes I felt that way, but overall, it felt appropriate for the story that was being told, as upsetting as that is.  This book stretched me and upset me and made me think.  I'm glad I gave this one a try.

for sensitive readers: language, violence, sexually explicit conversations and sexual scenes

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