A review by aiona
The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I have a lot of thoughts. 

It was really hard to imagine characters that are like…. Mole rats and trains. So this book takes a lot of suspending your disbelief. 

I liked the first part and found it jarring that in part 2, we follow a different group of characters, and never follow the ones who were most developed in the first part again. 

I almost DNFed this book at that point. But I was reading it for a book club so I kept going. I started to enjoy the characters a bit more, and I really liked the animal liberation vibes. I liked reading about a vegan friendly world. 

I liked the question of what makes a person. And that everyone introduces their pronouns. It was kind of cosy queer in that way. 

I really hated that there was a city called Kokowadoko- Japanese for ‘where is this?’ Because it pulled me right out of the story. 

Somehow I found part three compelling despite a train having a sexual relationship. I’ve never read a book like that before….

And of course the gentrification and public ownership stuff was really cool. 

I kinda wish the author had split this into volumes. And had more time to dedicate to character development and backstory.