Review: Do You Dream of Terra-Two?

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

#PopsugarReadingChallenge2019
Prompt - a book with a question in the title

Let me start by saying that if you want to read this, read it. Don't let my 2 star rating dissuade you. I am extremely particular when it comes to my science fiction.

That said, this was a very ambitious book. That's great, honestly. Artists should reach for the stars with their creations. Unfortunately, to me, this book crashed and burned. It's ambitious, and hard, to create a science fiction/space opera book that is solely character-driven. I think that had these characters not been annoying, one-dimensional, cookie-cutter archetypes, I would have at least liked it. It had all of the makings to be something amazing.

Six young adults choosing to embark on a 23 year space expedition to a new Earth-like planet. Given the potential for everything that could go wrong, this could have been one intense ride and an in-depth look at what humans are willing to do to survive (and possibly destroy another world since, let's be honest, human nature dictates chaos no matter the planet). Think about all they're giving up. Their families, everything they've ever known, their safety --because space is reeeaaalllyyy big and violent and it's not static. Whole entire galaxies move-- hurtling toward a world they know almost nothing about. How would you survive that? How would you not go absolutely insane? Would you even survive the journey? And when you reach this new planet, what if something drastic has changed it in the 23 years it took for you to reach it?

So many questions and not nearly enough answers. Certainly not enough to make my journey with these characters worth it.

Apart from the characters, the prose didn't work for me either. It's very expository but also manages to be clunky and repetitive. Expository writing in science fiction usually means info-dumps. And info-dumps are the bane of my existence.

So, while I can't say that I enjoyed this book, I did appreciate what this book tried to accomplish. And I hope this author continues to reach for the stars.

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