3.5 stars rounded down. The execution here was lacking for me, but it was still a worthwhile read. This feels like “cozy SF” published before that label really existed. There’s a found family of sorts that I think would satisfy Becky Chambers fans. There’s also a major romance component, which I did not expect until I looked at a review that mentions it. So this also reads as a SF romance but that genre is nowhere near as popular as fantasy romance.

It doesn’t read as very genre romance, though. The couple is older, their behavior and difficulties not super dramatic, the spice minimal - thus the “cozy” label I give it. Personally I did enjoy that they never reacted to their conflicts like angsty teens, which is part of why I have trouble with genre romance.

There were some thoughtful discussions here about the ethical thing to do and how to rebel effectively. But I would say it’s still pretty surface level, partly because of how much this book tries to cover.

It’s episodic as this team of people visit various communities. It sort of worked, but it left a lot of story threads just hanging. So much was started that was interesting but there wasn’t time to explore it more. Not that I needed a tidy ending for everything, but multiple things felt like they weren’t done justice. I probably needed fewer communities visited - not one per chapter.

The world, the setting, also felt on the vaguer side. If I enjoy a book enough, I can ignore that easier. But here it did start to bug me how unclear a lot of the workings of this world were.

It shows it’s age a bit in that poly relationships, queerness are commented on as if they are new. But I’m glad the rep is positive here.