A powerful, but also deeply disturbing novel about faith and the human condition. It's really hard to give a rating to this, but in the end it is moving. The narrative is interesting, but getting to know the characters is where this book really excels. Each of the partial viewpoint characters is deep and believable. The perspective is, at first, a bit hard to follow with Mary Doria Russel using something like a focussing omniscient narrator and the quick changes in focus from one character to another will probably not be to everyone's liking. The description of the alien cultures are engaging and feel real. The author's background in anthropology really shines through.

Two warnings: The blurb ond Goodreads is misleading. The book mainly deals with faith as humanity is concerned, not faith in the face of an unkowable alien. Indeed, despite all their differences, the aliens are understandable. It's also not about humanity acting to bring a theological fall-from-grace. Also there are at least four major trigger warnings for this. Neither of them is uncommon (or depicted in a particularly disgusting fashion), but all of them are spoilery, so be advised to look elsewhere first and make sure you do not suffer from any of these.