From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut Universe, #1)

Mary Robinette Kowal

Discussion: 2019 Read Harder Challenge

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2019 Read Harder Challenge

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* 2019 Read Harder Challenge
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What Members Thought

Jul 28, 2020 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok

Shelves: era-mid-20th-c, fantasy-and-sci-fi, alternate-planes-and-histories

recommended for fans of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

I feel bad about not liking this book!! I was really looking forward to reading this, but it disappointed me. In fact, when I set it down, I found myself quite reluctant to pick it back up again. It's clear to me that the author did a large amount of research for this book, but ... I didn't like it.

I was bored, I didn’t like Elma, and I didn't enjoy spending time with any of the characters. Elma's overwhelming anxiety coupled wit ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

May 07, 2019 Julianne Dunn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019-read-harder

great story -- in the 1950s, a meteor crashes into the eastern seaboard and those who survive have to figure out how to get off the planet as it is a extinction level event. The main character is a female pilot who wants to be an astronaut but is constantly thwarted by the patriarchy.

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 12, 2020 Loretta rated it really liked it

This was a page turner and a fun engaging read. It’s a fundamentally optimistic book, I think (despite the apocalyptic backdrop) and I kind of needed that. At the same time there were a few elements of that which got...annoying. Nathaniel is just soooo perfect. I got tired of their “rocket launch is GO” sexy banter the second time it happened, and it just kept happening.

But that’s a quibble. It was a fun read and I do recommend it.

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