I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book. I got excited when I looked into Poster Girl and this came up, but I think I expected a lot more than what I got.

Synopsis

This is a science fiction reimagining of Antigone.

Book Information

Genre: Science fiction
Category: Adult
Explicit violence: No
Explicit sex: No
Content warnings I noticed: None
This is a standalone.

Review

The prose is good. Accessible and easy to read.

The story is told in several point of views. We get at least one chapter for every character. On one hand, I love it. I always want to know every character’s point of view. However, the characters don’t get equal page time, especially in a novella format. There are a lot of characters here. It would have benefited the story if only the most important point of views were written.

I love soft world-building. It tends to be extremely immersive. However, while this story uses soft world-building, I didn’t feel immersed. Roth only touches the surface of this interesting world.

The pacing is okay. I’m not sure how to feel about it. It feels good for the story and I like it, but it also feels too fast. This book should have definitely been longer, allowing for more character development and events to feel more natural.

The themes have an okay exploration. Again, because of the novella format, they’re not getting enough time. They’re on page, but they’re not tightened up well. In this format, tightening up the plot, character development, and themes is essential and it needs to feel natural.

The characters are okay. I don’t feel very attached to them. I like them, but I don’t feel like they got great arcs.

The original source material offers Creon an arc. Everyone else dies in order for him to learn a valuable lesson. In Roth’s reimagining, we get hints of backstories that are not expanded on. The characters needed more life.

The romantic plotline feels shallow. I honestly don’t care about it. It’s not written well. It feels like it’s only there because the original source material has this pairing.

Conclusion

Overall, it’s an okay book. It needed to be much longer. The novella format is good, but only if everything that happens feels natural. This is not the case here. I rate it three stars.