Though 27 Hours was coming up on my TBR, the allegations of sexual harassment, grooming, and general harassment against Tristina Wright have left me unable to read or review this book. OK, this has been me wasting 50 characters so I can submit this. Thank you!

I'm sorry but given the recent news surrounding Tristina Wright I no longer wish to read her work.

I was excited about this book for the longest time, as a gay fan of sci-fi stories. But every day brought to life more questionable behavior from the author (harassing teen reviewers on twitter & now the newest allegations.....). And that, combined with what I already knew about how badly race issues were handled here, made it impossible for me to even think about reading this book. Or anything by the author in the future.

I'm not a space book person in general, but I was hopeful for the representation in this. Hence why I got an eARC of it. That being said this book just wasn't for me at all. I felt like I didn't know the characters and that there was too much action.

I adore science fiction, and this book was a reminder of everything I loved about the genre. It has inspired me to pick up more of the sci-fi titles that have been sitting on my shelves unread. Readers should be aware that there is some problematic content in this book, particularly surrounding colonialism. It was great to see such a diverse cast of characters, including rare asexual rep, but sometimes it felt like we weren't getting fully fleshed out characters, and that some were just "thrown in" for diversity's sake, which is so unfortunate because there was a lot of potential here.

I’ve been trying to write this review for a while and have given up more times than I can remember. 1) I’ve been finding it difficult to get back into writing reviews 2) I’m conflicted about this book and 3) I feel like other bloggers can write about the things that bothered me better than I ever could. So, I totally encourage you to read reviews written by Aimal and Fadwa as they tackle issues with race, representation and colonization.

I was really excited about this book! The hype of Twitter was in overdrive and it sounded totally awesome...queer teens in space? Yes, please! So, when I finally picked it up after my long reading break I was super pumped but ended up being very disappointed.

The writing was well done...everything flowed, it featured unique characters, and had solid pacing but something felt off. Much of the story is about how in the future humans are beginning to colonize the moon but have not realized that the native inhabitants are asleep underground. This sets off a bloody conflict between the human colonizers and the chimera indigenous inhabitants. What bothered me was how the chimera didn’t get a say in how the story was being told. EVERYTHING comes from the perspectives of the human invaders. I don’t know if the author intended this to happen but it read as if we were supposed to feel bad for the human characters and their struggles with letting go of their long held prejudices. Now, the book doesn’t ever come out and say that the way the human characters treat the colonized population is right, but it doesn’t fully condemn it either.

I have other concerns about the world as well. The story is supposed to take place in the future in a time when humans are discriminated against due to race or sexual orientation, where there is only one human language, blah, blah, blah. But it really didn’t feel like the future to me at all. The teens in the book sound like the teens I teach everyday. Words from languages apparently not used anymore, references to movies and the slang from today stood out as odd. Also, with the whole lack of prejudice and discrimination (which would be amazing) being long gone from society I feel like the book missed out on some important topics that could have been discussed. It also just seems unrealistic. Maybe it was because the book sounded like it was still taking place in 2017? I don’t even know.

One thing that the book did do well was how it represented the queer community. Just to break it down a tiny bit, there is a bisexual, pansexual, transgender and asexual characters. One character is also deaf which is not something I have seen a lot in YA sci-fi books. All of the characters were briefly described as being PoC but this was an area kind of skimmed over in the book. A lot more could have been explored but wasn’t. Almost all of the characters had their own POV and I applaud the author for making them each have their own unique voice. Sometimes with multiple POVs things can get confusing and messy but not here!

NOTE: I have seen how many ace reviewers have been hurt by the rep in the book. I encourage you to read this review which explains the issues with the book’s ace representation.

So….27 Hours was not the book that I thought it was going to be. I has a lot of problematic aspects that I just couldn’t get over. I know for a fact that I won’t be reading the sequel or investing anymore time into this series.

After some consideration, I have decided not to read this. I'm extremely grateful to Entangled Teen for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley. If I didn't have an eARC I wouldn't even be writing this review; I would just quietly remove the book from my kindle and my GR shelves. But I feel like the publishers deserve an explanation.

The last thing that is needed is yet another white queer person saying "the queer rep was good but the race rep sucked." (For the same reason I'm no longer including this book on any of my queer shelves here on goodreads.) Honestly, after reading <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1507276000">Chiara's review</a>, I don't think there's anything I could say differently, more succinctly, or better than she has. I'm also going to follow the crowd and link <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1873444239">Aimal from Bookshelves & Paperback's review</a>, as it has become the quintessential review in regards to how this book treats race. If you haven't read it, please do.

I'll always be here for "queer teens in space" books, but I don't need to read this one.

I’m quite in the middle with this book. There were select moments which were quite thrilling but then I found myself quite bored a lot of the time, especially with its world-building. I don’t intend to read its sequel despite its cliff-hanger ending that peaked my interest.

After receiving a copy from Chapter by Chapter, the racist elements of the book were revealed which made me decide not to read this book after all and simply boost poc reviewers. Even with all the positive LGBT+ representation within it, I cannot read something that glorifies colonization due to the violent history and harm is still causes poc today.

Stunning, that is the first world that comes into my head when I starting writing this review, and the first after I finished this fantastic book. Stunning, stunning, stunning! (can you hear me screaming?)

I loved everything about this book. The world building, ah my heart, I can't even explain it. But what got me was that, this book takes place one the moon (true I was hoping for some sailor moon reference, maybe next time) I love the moon, and I love stories about the moon. And I'm not going to tell you what's going on, on the moon in this world, because it will spoil this breathtaking read.

Will say, that the characters were all amazeballs! They're funny, witty and they're like a perfect mix of all things I love about reading. There are some romances going one, and it was adorables! It was done right and it made me all warm and gushing inside. Oh the heart strings!

You have to read this book! It's all the good things about reading, adventure and epicness all wrapped into one. I can't wait for the second book!

Happy Reading!

-E.A. Walsh

3.5 Stars

THIS BOOK. THERE ARE SO MANY AMAZING THINGS HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK.

THE DIVERSITY, ACCEPTANCE, PORTRAYALS OF VARIOUS SEXUALITIES AND LIFESTYLES. IF ONLY OUR WORLD WAS THAT INCLUSIVE.

WORLD-BUILDING IS OFF THE CHARTS. SPACE. DOMES. GARGOYLES. HUBS FOR DIFFERENT SPECIALITIES. FOCUS ON SCIENCE. FOLKLORE. THE EXPLORATION OF “EARTH CULTURE.” MILITARY TRAINING, COOL TECHNOLOGY, THE MOON AS MOTHER. SO MUCH IS THERE AND IT FEELS NATURAL. A LOT OF THE TIME WITH INTENSE WORLD-BUILDING IN SCI-FI/FANTASY, IT’S FORCED AND OVERWHELMING. YOU’RE SLAMMED WITH DETAILS AND HISTORY TO THE POINT WHERE IT BECOMES A TEDIOUS, INFO DUMP. THIS IS NOT LIKE THAT. IT FITS. IT FLOWS. IT WORKS INSANELY WELL.

27 HOURS IS TOLD FROM MULTIPLE POVS. TYPICALLY WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THERE’S AT LEAST ONE CHARACTER YOU LOATHE AND TRY TO SKIM THROUGH. GAME OF THRONES IS PLAGUED WITH THIS HALF-FORMED AND IRRITATING CHARACTERIZATION BUT TRISTINA WRIGHT HAS CREATED BOLD, FLAWED, INTROSPECTIVE AND INTERESTING CHARACTERS THAT ARE EASY TO INVEST IN.

WHAT’S MORE, THERE ARE NONE OF THOSE FLEETING, NON-CHARACTERS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO FILL SPACE. EVERYONE HAS A PERSONALITY, PURPOSE, AND PLACE WITHIN THE STORY. SOME OF THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS WERE SO INTRIGUING THAT I LONGED FOR MORE OF THEM. INITIALLY, IT WAS A LITTLE HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY CHARACTERS AND PLOT LINES, IT TAKES A BIT BUT IT’S WORTH IT.

I LOVED THESE CHARACTERS. LIKE FULL ON EMOJI WITH HEART EYES, ADORED THEM. WHICH IS WHY IT KILLS ME TO SAY THIS, BUT DESPITE EVERYTHING THIS STORY HAS GOING FOR IT, IT TOOK A TURN FOR THE MUNDANE. IT ALMOST FELT LIKE A COP OUT. THINGS WERE HEADED IN AN ACTION-PACKED AND TRULY UNFORGETTABLE DIRECTION, THE CHARACTERS OMG. AND THEN IT BECAME A ROMANCE. NOW, I LIKE WHEN THERE ARE RELATIONSHIPS, EVERYONE DESERVES AND SHOULD CELEBRATE LOVE, BUT IT BECAME LIKE EVERY OTHER PAGE WAS ANGST AND TENSION AND EXPLORATION. THERE’S A WHOLE SECTION WHERE CHARACTERS ARE JUST HOOKING UP LEFT AND RIGHT. I UNDERSTAND, THERE’S WAR, PEOPLE AND CHIMERA ARE DYING, EMOTIONS ARE OFF THE CHARTS AND THERE’S AN OVERWHELMING COMPULSION TO EXPRESS ALL THE THINGS. BUT THE PLOT FADED AWAY. IT GOT BURIED AND TANGLED IN THIS HOW FAST CAN WE TEAR OFF EACH OTHER’S CLOTHES THAT WENT SO QUICKLY FROM ATTRACTION TO LIKE TO LUST. IT GOT TO THE POINT WHERE I WANTED TO SKIM AND THAT’S NOT OKAY BECAUSE I WAS LIVING THIS STORY. I WAS IN IT. 100% AND THEN IT FELT RUSHED AND CONFUSED AND LIKE THE SOLE PURPOSE OF THE BOOK WAS TO BRING THESE HORMONAL TEENS TOGETHER. I DON’T KNOW, I GUESS I’M JUST DISAPPOINTED.

THE ENDING. CLIFFHANGER FROM DEEP SPACE. AFTER EVERYTHING THE CHARACTERS HAVE WENT THROUGH, THE REVELATIONS, ALL THEY’VE LOST, THIS IS ANOTHER PLOT TWIST THAT DEFINITELY LEFT ME WANTING MORE.

I’M ALSO PUZZLED BY THIS COVER.

So overall I wasn't really a fan of the execution of the diverse characters and the romance, those two felt very into my face the whole time, in my opinion. I enjoyed the science fiction part of this book, I enjoyed it so much that I wanted more in the world building and just more facts over the planet they were living on.

I will fully update this review once my post goes live on my blog but this book... was good and bad. I love love loveeeed the plot line and the world but the LGBTQ+ situation where EVERY character was part of that spectrum was a little much. Sadly, that did take away from the book for me but I still enjoyed the plot line and would love to see where it goes in the future.

3.5 stars

The queer rep was fantastic, the colonization aspects of the book bothered me a lot because I'm first nations mixed race.

I had been excited for 27 Hours from the moment I found out about it early last year. I saw “queer teens in space” and I wanted it. I found out that many under-represented queer identities were going to show up in this book, as well as intersectional diversity. I thought this book was kind of written for me.

And then I became aware of criticisms of some aspects of the book (mainly from this review, which I suggest you read). The points that Aimal makes are all incredibly valid, and also very… concerning. When I read the book I went in knowing these problematic aspects, and while I don’t know if I would have been as aware of them if I hadn’t read Aimal’s review beforehand I’m very glad I did.

In this world racism between humans doesn’t exist – so much so that a white person explains racism to a POC. This… did not sit well with me. Even if this conversation had to happen in the story, surely choosing a white character to explain racism to someone with Nigerian/Portuguese and Indian heritage is just… wrong. I can’t think of another word. But having a white person explain racism to a POC just comes off inherently wrong.

The colonialist themes in 27 Hours were uncomfortable to read about. Every POV character in the book is a human and all except one has extreme prejudice against the indigenous species of the planet – Chimera. All of the humans use a slur to describe and talk about the Chimera – ‘gargoyles’ – and believe they’re all the same… even when they look different (I’ll leave you to ponder on that one). And we’re supposed to care about the humans when they’ve, you know, invaded a planet that wasn’t theirs, killed the Chimera that lived there, taken their resources, started a war. I’m sorry but I just don’t sympathise with that. I just didn’t care when the characters were talking about how horrible it was for them. The planet already had its own inhabitants. I’m sorry if I’m not sympathising with your terrible actions and continued destruction of a planet that isn’t yours and the killing of a species that just wants their home back.

Beyond these things that made reading 27 Hours uncomfortable and the themes inherently problematic and harmful I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, anyway. It was so long, and there was so much going on, and there were so many POV characters to keep track of. I didn’t feel fully invested in anyone’s storyline and I can honestly say I only really cared about two or so human characters in the book.

The best thing about 27 Hours was the queer rep. All of the POV characters were queer: Rumor is bi (and of Nigerian/Portuguese and Indian heritage), Jude is gay, Braeden is ace (though I felt at times that it was being conflated with aro-ness), and Nyx is pan (and also Deaf and of Cuban heritage). However, there is discussion regarding this important queer rep and how it seems to be prioritised over the treatment of POC characters and the fumbled handling of colonial themes. I accepted this book for review before I read Aimal’s thoughts and criticisms so I don’t know if I would have read it had I not felt obligated. I can only say that we should not prioritise one marginalised community over another. We should not ignore harmful aspects in books just because we’ve found positives in that same text.

All in all 27 Hours was not what I expected – in more ways than one.

© 2017, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

There’s a lot to like about Tristina Wright’s debut novel, 27 HOURS: it has quality diversity rep and a fast-paced plot with some solid twists. Unfortunately, there were some troubling aspects that kept me from enjoying it fully.

Hundreds of years in the future, humanity has left earth and settled on a nearby moon, where social order is upheld by the military state. During the period known as dayside, society looks pretty similar to what we have here on earth, but by nightside the reason for all that military protection becomes evident. Turns out that when humans landed on the moon, there were already beings living there and they’re not too happy about colonization. Shocking, I know.

27 HOURS follows six teens as they attempt to stay alive long enough to unravel the truth about the chimera/human conflict…and deal with their inconveniently timed romantic and personal drama. I liked most of the core characters, particularly the pacifist freedom fighter Jude. I do think that this would’ve been much stronger had at least one of the protagonists been a chimera, instead of the entirely human main cast we had.

It’s always lovely to read about queer characters whose experiences are so normalized and accepted, and I really appreciated that the core cast also had strong disability rep. Many reviewers have already tackled the uncritical examination of colonialism that some readers found troubling in 27 HOURS, so I won’t rehash what they’ve said so articulately. What I will say is that I also found it problematic. Of course, your mileage may vary.

I really loved all the characters in this. The diversity was great. I do wish that there was more world building because we never really know why the humans were moved to the moon. I do hope there is a sequel because things left off on a cliffhanger and I want to know what happens next.

I really struggled to rate 27 Hours. My main issue was that whilst there was a great cast of diverse characters, at times the novel felt gimmicky and cheap. The plot seemed to be full of action, yet was still slow-moving somehow and I struggled to finish this book.
27 Hours had a great premise, set on a planet with 'alien-like creatures' that the colonising humans were fighting, but I personally didn't enjoy it's execution,
Great novel in theory but sadly wasn't my cup of tea.

This is the first book in the series and I honestly can’t wait to read the next one.
I have to admit sometimes I worry when I hear about all these fantastic books before hand and all the hype if it will live up to it and if at this time I will enjoy it as much as I was hoping I would when I first heard about it and I have to say yes I loved the book just as much as I was hoping I would.
This is a debut novel and it seems like I have been reading quite a few debut novels lately which I absolutely love because its another new author and another new book and series to devour when the rest come out.
As you can guess the story takes place in 27 hours. Which I have to say I am loving this concept of books. Although I didn’t stay up for 27 hours I did read this fairly quickly and I think if I was younger I would have attempted to do just that to feel as though I was a part of the book. Did anyone else who read this actually do that?
So with it being told in 27 hours you know that the pace of the book will probably hit the ground running and it did. There was enough happening that you wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next and with the twist and turns you had to keep reading and trust me at times I had a hard time to put the book down.
As I was reading this I realized that I have been reading a lot of Sci-Fi/fantasy books lately as you might have noticed. This was once a genre I never would read but I am thinking with just the right books it makes it enjoyable.
I loved that the Tristina included a wide variety of characters in her book. In the past this probably would have been taboo to have in books but I think as things progress we need to have more books with characters that are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender and asexual. Especially with it hitting so close to home.
I should begin with something that I struggled with and had to have a piece of paper handy to make notes and that was this book is told in several points of view so in order to keep things easy and not complicated I made notes about each character so I wouldn’t confuse them with someone else. With those notes it made things easier.
The setting is quite different from anything I have read before as it takes place on the moon planet called Sahara. Several hundred years ago it was colonized by humans. It was thought that no one lived on the planet even though life could survive on it. This is where the chimera’s come in and they have lived there for many years. The Humans have built a lake and it floods the nest of the chimera’s who needless to say aren’t happy and the two have been fighting ever since. The chimera’s have attacked the Hub2 and basically killed everyone except one person that is Rumor. Everyone in his colony is dead. The chimera’s have declared war in 27 hours so hence the name of the book.
Can they band together before its too late?

IN SUMMARY:
27 HOURS is a fast-paced and action-packed story with a diverse cast and exciting plot. Though suffering from some world-building and narrative problems, skipping over scenes, and problematic issues in regards to racial and a-spec representation, 27 HOURS is an enjoyable read.

MY THOUGHTS:
I was sort of nervous when I received an ARC of 27 HOURS because it had been touted so much on Twitter I was afraid it would fall below expectations, but it turned out to be exactly the book I wanted to read. Stuffed full of action in a sci-fi environment with a widely diverse cast, with a smidgen of romance in between. I did have some qualms with the book though!

Firstly, and almost obviously, the diverse cast. I cannot praise it highly enough. Between the characters, there was gay, bi, ace, pan, trans, and non-binary representation. It’s so normalised in this world that nobody blinks twice when someone reveals their sexuality, or asks for the correct pronouns. I can’t talk about how well done the rep was (except for my ace son Braeden) but glancing over other reviews I gather the other characters were written excellently.

(There's also the problem of centering the colonist's narrative.)

In regards to Braeden, I have to wonder: Braeden is explicitly asexual, but is he also aromantic? At one point, he says this to Nyx:

“I don’t pretend to know the first thing about romance, but I know you and Dahlia”…

It’s great that he’s confirmed ace, but this line confused me because it seems to conflate his asexuality with aromanticism. I would have thought a book with rep this great would be more unambiguous with Braeden being aro as well as ace, hence why it seems the narrative has muddled the two different sexualities.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of it; I saw someone on Twitter (not the author) say that Braeden was aro-spec as well as ace, but I’d like actual confirmation from the text/ author.

Also, Braeden was not snarky enough. He had some genius lines of dialogue, but not enough to make me think he was worthy of people thinking he was the resident Snark Master.

The narrative skipped over the potentially amazing scenes for summary. We have the protagonist at the brink of a disaster, or finding out a serious plot-twist. End of chapter – fab hook. But when it’s their chapter next… it takes place afterwards and the previous event is summarised.

Also unfortunately to do with the narrative, the writing was just too vague. It affected every part of the book. The setting, the actions, the character and chimera descriptions.

The setting: probably because the name of the moon is Sahara, I initially imagined their home world to be rocky and desert-like, only to have a total mind-flip when it is revealed there are forests and massive lakes. I struggled to picture it from then on because that initial image of Sahara had rooted in my head.

Likewise, the more immediate settings were difficult to picture, and not enough words are dedicated to filling out the environment from the beginning. What do the HUBs look like? Azrou? The medical centre interiors or the treehouses?

Actions were too vague. Several actions would occur for several people at once, when I really just wanted to know what the POV character was seeing and doing at that moment. I don’t think it helped that the writing for the action scenes plodded, i.e. the sentences were long and lethargic, often focusing on the character’s thoughts than the action itself. Even the beginning of chapters suffered from this because it would launch you into the scene with no attempt to ground you to the setting and characters first.

Finally, the characters. I have no idea what Eric or Reaper look like. The descriptions for most of the chimera are just too vague or utterly absent. They all melded together in my head because even the distinct, named chimera weren’t described well enough, and there were few hints later on in the story as to their appearance.

On more of a personal critique, I often drifted when reading. Given I read this novel at different times of the day, it wasn’t as if I was tired. Something about the story just made my mind wander. I found it difficult to invest myself. I really can’t explain it that well, but it was almost like the writing just lacked that captivating factor, y’know?

Having said that, the slower, more intimate scenes were lovely. I really loved the descriptions of how the characters felt, how Nyx felt the vibrations of the moon, and how Jude saw in colours. They were almost poetic.

The romance sometimes seemed misplaced when they were in conflict. I don’t know how to express this, but the the romance seemed like it was brought up at inappropriate times? Like, at one point Rumor makes a sex joke, in front of everyone, when they were literally about to go into a massive battle. Shouldn't you... idk, be focused on your impending fight with Reaper?

Not a single one of the characters spent a minute of their twenty-seven hours of nightside sleeping, eating, or drinking. I just find it hard to grasp adrenaline would keep you going for that long. I’d struggle for twelve hours without some form of nosh, let alone twenty-seven, and then to stay awake in all that time too? Did they spend the entire dayside beforehand sleeping? I find that hard to believe. They all should have collapsed of exhaustion far earlier than at the end.

WILL I READ ON?
Despite my qualms, I'm open to read #2.