I enjoyed this book, but I think I'd really love it as a TV miniseries. I say this because:

1. I find that I quite enjoy watching mysteries and thrillers, but not so much reading them, and that's what this book is. I was expecting more of a vibey, character-driven sci-fi (which is more my problem with the publisher's blurb, not the author's work), but this is more of a plot-driven mystery that happens to take place in space.

2. I don't mind a non-linear timeline, but I had a little trouble here. The present timeline was high-urgency and quick-paced, while most flashbacks felt more reflective. I'd have to reset myselff a bit during each timline shift, getting in the groove only in time for it to shift again. And, the tension I felt in the present tense was sometimes explained immediately in the flashback, which began to make things fall a little flat instead of creating a constant rise of tension and action. I'd like to see how breaking the timelines up only a few times--like, every other episode instead of every few pages--could help readers like me.

3. Kitasei has created a world that I deepy want to see and feel. Earthly apocalypse! Boarding school! A spaceship! High-tech augmented reality! It's a delectable compilation of settings and technology that I can only imagine, and I'd love to see it brought visually to life.

It only takes a few pages for The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei to hook you and turn any plans you may have had into a day of reading. Asuka is part of a select team tasked with traveling to an earth-like planet light years away to begin colonization. Earth has been decimated by climate change. The story opens with a crime—there is an explosion on the ship, which could only have been planned and carried out by someone on board. Asuka is charged with quietly evaluating who might have carried out the crime. As she works her way through the crew, collecting small details and insight from her shipmates, the story’s timeline shifts between the present and scenes from Asuka’s youth. Having grown up a climate refugee turned high-stakes space mission candidate, Kitasei develops a main character both capable and plagued by childhood loss.

While the mystery unfolds, so to does the complicated history of friendship and competition between the candidates who were ultimately chosen for the mission. Deep Sky explores the constellation of Asuka’s many relationships, from her family through childhood friendships skillfully, using the exploration to build an interesting character. Less skilled writing would’ve made for boring reminiscences, but Kitasei times her protagonist’s reflections expertly, adding more and more relevance to her experience on the ship.

While the character-building is well done, one particular trait of Asuka’s presents so starkly as to be almost uncomfortable in it’s realism. Asuka suffers from impostor syndrome. Her self-doubt is very reasonable in the context of the competitive space-mission program in which she’s a candidate, but also made clear in the book is her mastery and many accomplishments. The realism comes in when us, as readers, can easily see her competence and how the inability to see it herself causes her near constant strife and damages relationships. It's impossible to observe this dynamic in Asuka without questioning how much self-doubt weaves its way into our own lives and prevents us from realizing our full potential.

Deep Sky is an exciting read and an expert marriage of action and character development. This book is worth your time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron books for this electronic advance reader copy.

I reallyyyyyy wanted to love this book, but there were just too many things that seemed implausible to make it work for me.

Here's what I liked:
- The premise was so interesting, and well, with the current state of the world, maybe one day we will be sending a group of people off into space to try inhabiting another planet. This was an interesting take on how they would choose who went and possible worldly conflicts that arise before and after take-off.
- I loved the inclusivity - queer and trans representation in a way that wasn't overpowering or overshadowing of everything else.

Here's what I didn't like:
- The jagged timeline. The jumps back in time to before the ship launched made the story feel very chopped and took away momentum from the current timeline. They also got repetitive and didn't add anything to the story. It was hard to keep track of the drama and who was mad at who at which point. It was also a few timeline jumps into it before you realized that the beginning of the timeline jumps was 20 years prior to the current situation, and that one "cycle" was equal to one 24 hour day. 10 years of that they were in hibernation on the ship, but it makes the past feel less relevant as they were 12-16 years old in most of the flashbacks verses their current 32 years old.
- It took a while before I could get a decent grasp on who the characters where. They were pretty one dimensional and hearing about the drama they had when they were 12 only made most of them unlikeable since there wasn't much room for growth.
- Maybe it was because it took me awhile to get through this, but I never really got a clear picture on what the ship was like. The descriptions seemed confusing and the layout just didn't make sense to me when they were describing going from mod to mod or doing spacewalks.
- Again, maybe I missed it or just can't remember the very beginning of the book, but Planet X was very ambiguous. Did they actually know this planet existed and exactly how to get there and how long it would take; or were they just shooting in the dark? It seemed in the beginning that it was a concrete place they knew about, but then towards the end it seemed like they weren't sure it actually existed.
- They have the technology to reach Planet X within 20 years (since they mentioned that they were over halfway there and they were almost 11 years into the journey) but at the same time the ship wasn't equipped to do a larger course correct and they had zero ability to steer it?? It seemed implausible. Our current technology allows us to reach the next closest star (Proxima Centauri) in 6300 years, so being able to reach Planet X in about 20 means they are much more technologically advanced than we currently are. The ship also had to pilot itself for 10 years without any crew being awake, as they were all hibernating, and it seems highly unlikely that it wouldn't have encountered any objects in its way during 10 years of space travel and needed to navigate around them, or the following 10 as they got closer to Planet X. It doesn't seem like the explosion could have sent them off course that much that they only had 3 cycles/days to course correct or the entire mission would fail and they'd never get back on the right path. Even if the engines couldn't do a large course correction initially (like the equivalent of making a sharp turn in a car) even a small correction would eventually put them back on the right path. They still had approximately 9 years to go, so it didn't really make much sense that they needed to course correct in such short time. The explosion couldn't have knocked the ship off that much for the small amount of damage that it did. The math ain't mathing.

Still rating 3 stars because the parts that I did like of the book, I really enjoyed. The book just seemed a little too long for me and I would have enjoyed it more had the focus of the novel been on something other than having to course correct in only 3 days.

Always love a good interstellar mystery, and Yume Kitasei certainly delivers the intrigue. The pacing between current ship events and the flashbacks to main character's time on earth was well done, and well balanced. The various characters growth throughout the book was also entertaining, if a little frustrating at times. If you like Anthony Weir, I really think you'll like this book.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61884842-the-deep-sky" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Deep Sky" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1675082851l/61884842._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61884842-the-deep-sky">The Deep Sky</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19533114.Yume_Kitasei">Yume Kitasei</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5380333621">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Always love a good interstellar mystery, and Yume Kitasei certainly delivers the intrigue. The pacing between current ship events and the flashbacks to main character's time on earth was well done, and well balanced. The various characters growth throughout the book was also entertaining, if a little frustrating at times. If you like Anthony Weir, I really think you'll like this book.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/86143998-allison-willey">View all my reviews</a>

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I DNF this book. This book is written in a strange way that I know many will like but it’s not for me. I also don’t want to read about a bunch of pregnant women. This book had an interesting premise but I’m not interesting in continuing on. I’m only rating this because it makes me and giving a review so my feedback ratio isn't messed up.

A locked-spaceship mystery with cool technology and a cast of interesting characters. I really felt for Asuka and her uncertainty of her place aboard the ship, her desire to prove herself, and the questions she faced about her crew mates. While I wasn't sure about the dual timeline at first, by the end, I was just as invested in the past chapters as I was the present.

I genuinely enjoyed this story and found myself looking forward to reading more.

[NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, my NetGalley feedback is not a blurb or endorsement. If a publisher wishes to use any part of my comments for promotional purposes, please contact me or my agent via email. I would prefer not to include star ratings but NetGalley won't let me post without one, so all will be 5 stars.]

There was something about the writing style of this book that kept me at arm's length from truly engaging with the story at hand.

Yume Kitasei’s debut is a perfect blend of sci-fi (featuring lots of great future tech—in space!), thriller, coming of age, and character study. Against the backdrop of a world in environmental crisis, Asuka is a half American, half Japanese young woman who has struggled to fit neatly into her life and family. Her main goal has been to leave earth with an elite group of graduates from a competitive program to establish humanity on a more habitable planet.

She finally makes it, and then a bomb strikes her ship.

The Deep Sky is told in alternating scenes from Asuka’s present life on the ship and her past, growing up and going through the program that earned her a spot in the mission. Kitasei expertly enfolds the reader ever deeper into Asuka’s mind and heart as she navigates the dangers lurking everywhere on the ship and must figure out not only how to save herself and her crewmates but all of humanity.

Highly recommend for readers who like to geek out over future tech and the workings of a spaceship while delving into a satisfying mystery and following characters with big heart!

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.
Let me start by saying I am not usually a fan of science fiction but once I read this synopsis I was intrigued to read this debut novel.
Asuka, our MC is chosen to go on a space mission to help colonize a new planet after the demise of Earth. An explosive on the ship occurs killing crew members, the acting captain being one of which. Asuka is then given the task to investigate and find the culprit. Who could be sabotaging the mission and can Asuka solve the crime before they run out of time? I’ll be honest the idea of deep space terrifies me as does the thought of Earth’s end and to top it all off being stuck out there when people are dying, yep sounds like my worst nightmare but reading this book was anything but that! The detailed setting I ended up finding to be interesting and well detailed despite my initial fears of space. The character development was very thorough and at the heart I feel this novel is really about humanity which is showcased greatly in the character building. The book also had shocking twists and even humor which I was pleasantly surprised to find while reading. There are flashbacks however I did not feel that it negatively effected the pacing of this novel but rather enhanced it.
This science fiction thriller will easily be enjoyed by seasoned readers of the genre and also newcomers like myself. Overall a great debut novel and I may even have a new less scary view on space then I did before reading this book.

The Deep Sky comes out July 18, 2023.

Thank you again NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this eARC.

Yuma Kitasei is an author to watch. I enjoyed this book and it felt more relatable than other Sci-Fi books have been in recent years. While there isn't much talk about the physics and mechanics of being in space, I think the reader gets a fair sense of some of the issues that occur by virtue of being in space without it being overwhelming or overly scientific. I think the plot was unique and raised a lot of good questions for the reader to think about. Overall, there were some things I wish I had a better closure for- like the things happening back on earth (not trying to give any spoilers here), but I would recommend this to any sci-fi reader!

I am truly of two minds about this book. I was entranced by the opening--murder mysteries in space are some of my favorite stories! This one had a twist with the crew being all female and many of them being pregnant. The diversity of the crew was refreshing and handled in such a casual way that it felt natural. Sometimes, when you have an author consciously including diverse characters, they make such a point of it that it feels awkward. Here, we have staff using "they," but the narrative never feels the need to specifically label them as "nonbinary" or "genderfluid."

And yet, it is this very diversity that leads to this book's largest fault: I don't understand the WHY of the crew composition. We got a whole backstory of the crew candidates going through their training, but no one ever explains why someone decided that the crew could only be people who could give birth. What was the worldwide reaction to this decision? There are a few mentions of men's rights groups protesting or attacking the school, but the full reasoning behind selecting only people who can give birth is never explained. I felt unmoored, like I was missing a piece of the puzzle.

For that matter, why do they need to have babies in space? Couldn't they have babies once they arrive at the planet? Babies in space just means more necessary resources and more people who could die if the mission fails. I also felt very uncomfortable with the fact that everyone was expected to give birth. I assume that this was something that the crew agreed to when they enrolled in the academy; yet were the trans and nonbinary crew members all ACTUALLY comfortable being inseminated and giving birth?

I enjoyed the flashback scenes and Asuka's complicated relationship with her mother. I know other readers complain that Asuka wasn't very likeable, but I always enjoy a non-likeable heroine. Her self-doubt resonated with me as a perfectionist who always worries about what other people think. I also liked the inter-chapter selections about birds and how at the dénouement, the reader discovers that yes, they did have a function in the story.

Basically, I think I would have given this five stars had the backstory been more complete and more discussion had about the implications of the forced pregnancies. As it is, I'm going with three.

If Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity was about keeping the mission to a new planet on course instead of coming back to Earth, and had a cast of brilliant women, femmes, and they/thems in a fascinating speculative fiction story that also analyzed race, nationality and identity, you’d get “The Deep Sky” by Yume Kitasei.

Our protagonist, Asuka, is an alternate on a space mission to colonize a new planet after having spent most of her life training for it. Those chosen to board the Phoenix are the best of the best representative of their countries in an act of international cooperation. Tragedy strikes the ship when early on an explosion kills their acting captain, and Asuka is tasked with finding out who the saboteur was, all while trying to desperately get the ship back on track with the limited time and resources they have aboard their ship.

The book is at its best when Kitasei uses the nationality considerations of candidates to discuss the nuances of identity. I also cried a few times on the subway whenever the subject of Asuka’s mom came up, a testament to Kitasei’s effusive and thought prose and felt for so many of the characters in the book when they were dealing with impossible conditions.

Creative and enthralling, Kitasei's action-packed outer space thriller will leave readers begging for a sequel. Perfect for fans of Christopher Paolini or Neal Shusterman!

“The thing is,”Asuka said, “I don’t think this mission is really about preservation. It’s about opportunity. History isn’t this linear, upward trajectory. It’s rises and falls. The Dark Ages. The Enlightenment. Fascism. We climb, and then we fall, each time higher, each time lower. World War II. A United Nations. Nuclear proliferation. Festival of Love. And now—this new world war. Here’s what I know: progress has never been guaranteed. People take it for granted. But there’s no certainty our time on the planet won’t end with us holding a stone axe and just running around naked while the seas swallow everything. But sometimes, there is one moment, where you can go to the moon, or Mars, or do a mission like this, and at that moment you have a choice—you can go or you can stay."

Asuka has grown up in a world that is slowly dying. A rich donor has financed a desperate mission to find and settle a colony on planet X. Asuka and other women compete and train for years for the few spots on what is planned to be a generation ship, where the women will start repopulating the planet.

But there's someone on the ship that seems to be sabotaging them, and Asuka and the others have to stop them before it's too late.

This was a lovely story. There's a lot of heart to it, as we flash back and forth to follow Asukas journey to the ship.

Thank you netgalley and FlatIron books for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an outstanding debut! I went out on a limb in reading a science fiction novel, but this one caught my eye. I am so thankful I did, I was taken for a ride. The premise of starting over is nothing new, but I felt like I was reading a tamed version of The Hunger Games, Project Hail Mary, and a Sherlock Holmes all into one. While reading one can’t help but recognize the ways in which we are already on the pathway of needing to start over somewhere else. People are all in, but once up in space, a bomb explodes, and someone on board is now a terrorist. The mix of modern day issues with future solutions seems so much more real, now, and I could envision this becoming real life one day.
The author had an exquisite way of pulling the reader into the text while weaving in interesting stories, details and scientific facts with descriptive fortitude. I really appreciated the work in describing the augmented reality the characters would take themselves into. Individualized for each person; such beauty, but also at a price.
I look forward to reading another by this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Eighty candidates from countries around the world were sent on a mission to save humanity. Their mission: travel to a distant planet and give birth to the newest generation of humans. After a mysterious bomb goes off and kills three, Asuka, the only surviving witness, is tasked with figuring out who is responsible. The crew slowly starts turning on each other, and Asuka must solve this mystery before the bomber strikes again.

I’ll start this review off by saying that the premise of this book is incredibly interesting. It has some murder-mystery, some terrorism, and it’s all in space. In theory, this should be right up my alley. In practice, not so much. My biggest problem with this book is that I absolutely detest Asuka. Her self-deprecation is constant, and it makes it hard for me to like her as a character. A lot of the problems she has could be solved if she would just suck it up and do what she is supposed to do. She wanted to be on this mission so much, but at the same time she didn’t. She doesn’t want to talk to her mother, but she also does. She skips out on things like therapy (which is mandatory for everyone) and then wonders why she’s sad all of the time. I just can’t get over how much she sucks and how she is doing it to herself and jeopardizing the mission for everyone in the process.

I also had some problems with the pacing of this book. There are whole chapters that are less than one page long dedicated to… bird facts? It doesn’t really add anything to the story and it’s just so awkward. Why do I need to know this? I know that Asuka likes birds and it’s kind of her thing, but I don’t really care about the nesting habits of various birds.

I will say that this book is quite inclusive. The mission was limited to only people who can give birth, not just women. So there are plenty of trans and gender non-conforming characters. I love seeing people like me represented, even if I don’t really care for any other parts of this book.

Overall, this book gets only 2 stars from me. The concept is really cool, but I just hated Asuka so much it really took away from everything else in the book. My hatred for her overshadowed everything else.

Andy Weir gets talked about whenever we talk about modern scifi, so let's talk about him. The Deep Sky is like if Artemis and Project Hail Mary got together and actually made a story worth reading. It's Artemis without the weird sexualization of the main character, and Project Hail Mary without the white savior / hero complex. It had me staying up past my bedtime two nights in a row — I couldn't put it down.

Asuka, our main character, is part of an all nations, all-woman* crew of astronauts who are traveling to another planet to start humanity over.

*And I should be clearer with my language here -- it's actually an all-female-reproductive-parts crew, as some of the crew uses they pronouns, and some are transmen. But everyone on board must be artificially inseminated and give birth during the 10 years they're awake. (Sperm takes up much less space than people-with-male-genitalia.)

Kitasei has taken climate change, grief, the tension in a mother/daughter relationship, the tenuousness of adolescent friendships, and bird facts, and created a beautiful story about trying to save humanity. But that beautiful story is tucked within a high-stakes mystery and thriller, trying to figure out how a bomb was set off onboard their ship. You never forget you're reading a scifi novel.

We toggle back and forth between the crew’s time at the training academy and the present — where Asuka is playing detective. I didn’t want to set this down, and felt that it was evenly paced throughout. Kitasei knew exactly when to end on a cliffhanger or unresolved emotion and jump you to the last cliffhanger or unresolved emotion, from the other timeline.

I could have read another 400 pages of this world and crew.

5 stars. Thank you to Flatiron and Netgalley for my ARC.

Asuka is on a ship traveling to Planet X along with 80 others in hopes to start the first colony in space. Story is told by switching between her years in the training/selection program and her time on the ship. On the ship, there is an explosion and she helps to discover the perpetrator. That’s the plot summary, but this novel is more than that.

Some of the reviews say the focus is on pregnancy (everyone is required to have at least one child), but I found that to be more of a background piece than important plot point.

The book did lull in the middle for me, but it started and ended with me devouring the pages.

Features diversity, strong and complex female characters, struggles with identity and culture, the struggle between competition and cooperation.

I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to friends and patrons.

For fans of “The Handmaid’s Tale’, and books of dangerous sci-fi missions to save planet Earth, this story will CAPTIVATE. The premise is extremely unique in “The Deep Sky” where Author Yume Kitasei’s debut mixes using young women as breeding vessels in deep outer space where a terrorist bombing occurs. The main character, Asuka, is now hanging by a tether alone, outside of the destroyed space complex, with only 3% of air left. Then 1%....

Opening up with this gut-wrenching cliffhanger, and I was beyond hooked. The story unfolds with the same tension, and emotional backstories that left me broken. With a very culturally diverse set of characters, Asuka must find out how to save herself, and the crew from a villian who could strike again, at any time. She only was sent into outer space to help repopulate a new society, and this was never in her game plan.

Asuka’s adventure, mixed with her memories of her mother and family, made this a huge five out of five stars book for me. It is rare that a book hooks into me like this. I would highly recommend this book to older teens/YA,, and to be opted for film or TV series. It will also help anyone who experiences loss & difficult family dynamics. A fictional main character many will relate to.

Asuka’s journey through the plot twists and turns, made my heart beat wildly. A wild ride I didn’t expect but now wish I could do all over again!

Thank you to Flatiron Books via NetGalley for this arc. I read this voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

This is the science fiction story you never knew you needed!

With the world slowly dying, one wealthy individual uses her funds and technology to sponsor a last ditch effort to send humans to a new planet. As the ship hurtles to the new planet it seems there my be a person or persons on board looking to sabotage the mission. What is different in this story? This wealthy individual chose only women, young women that were trained as girls.

I am not sure I have ever read a sci-fi story featuring only females. I absolutely believed and loved the story and world Yume Kitasei created!
Like all women, Yume's main character Asuka, suffers from imposter syndrome, and questions herself at every turn. She is half Japanese, half American and still searches for connections. The flashbacks to training camp give more and more clues to the the characters and their motives on the ship. Can Asuka determine who is working against them before it is too late?

If you love science fiction and space, identify with imposter feelings or second guessing yourself or just want to read a luminous novel about humanity's last chance, The Deep Sky is for you! #Flatiron