Mari

Jazz hands!

Ryland and <spoiler>Rocky</spoiler> are a dynamic duo for the ages. Every fist bump, every "amaze" made me giggle. The moment Ryland woke up on the Hail Mary felt like a nod to the <spoiler>1968 Planet of the Apes</spoiler>—the disorientation, fear, and realizations hitting all at once that made my skin prickle.

The scientific breakdowns were thankfully limited and used sparingly to drive the story forward. Ryland's wry, sardonic tone definitely helped keep me engaged too. Honestly, I cared more about Ryland and <spoiler>Rocky</spoiler> than Earth for most of the book. Honorable mention for that badass Eva Stratt, who basically lit a match, threw it over her shoulder, and walked away from an explosion in slow motion in an unexpected courtroom scene.

Oh and the ending! The moment Ryland walked through that door I knew and <spoiler>my heart expanded three sizes this day</spoiler>. The final chapter felt 100% earned.

Andy Weir writes the most engaging characters in sci-fi period.

Harry Potter and Hunger Games had a baby with dragons and dragon riders--I was all in right from the first page. Yes, book nerds cna be dragon-riding warriors too! This was a quick, fun read with rapid-fire drama and action. Luckily the love triangle between over-controlling Dain and mysterious shadow-weilding Xaden did overtake the main story or Violet character growth. The spice, what little exists, was more graphic than I thought! The whiplash in tone shift make me cackle. Still, I can't wait to read the sequel as I learn more about the world as the stakes get even higher.

CW: Eating Disorders, Codependency, Parental Abuse, Narcissistic Personality Disorder

This book is a stark reminder that abusers can look like well-meaning parents/significant others to everyone else, but it doesn't stop them from being abusers even after death. Parents should never be put on a pedestal just because they're parents because they're flawed just like everyone else. Yet, this book is also McCurdy starting the hard work of owning her truth, processing, and overcoming. What a powerful read that inspires grace and self-reflection.

I didn't read the summary for this book or any reviews--I just read it on hype alone--but this book's entire foundation is abuse and suicide trigger warnings, so please proceed with caution.

Both Lily and Ryle are traumatized people with terrible decision-making skills which, fine, who isn't? But this book tries to make the abuser sympathetic and (arguably) a victim himself, which definitely made me feel a certain type of way.

People can experience a garbage life and still choose not to hurt other people. No matter how much an abuser paints themselves as a victim, they *choose* abuse every single time no matter how many times they gaslight and apologize. And yet the author tries to rewrite that naked truth why? So Lily can decide to keep her abuser's baby, and invite him back into her life so they can divorce and still co-parent together?

All of Ryle's "redeeming" qualities are constantly repeated ad nauseum to maybe illustrate Lily's unprocessed childhood trauma masquerading as love? Or the author trying to convince us that telling an abuser they're a father will magically be their come-to-Jesus moment.

Lily is blind to and then habitually ignores red flags, and Ryle can't stop waving them around from that first moment. That's when I knew this book would mean a lot of heavy sighing and face-palming.

Then enter Elisa, enabler extradinaire, who likely knows everything about her brother but says nothing until it's almost too late. I find that hard to believe. I almost stopped reading at the cafe scene about the older brother.

The book is written well enough, although the repetition of phrases like "and just like that", Ryle's scrubs, etc. were grating.

Lily and Atlas kept me reading. They were the most well-rounded and believable characters, but the rest of the book was a big yikes. The flashbacks added to the story instead of detracted.

But, I can't shake how apologetic the author is about this abuser. The ending seemed paper-thin and left me on edge.