First of all a big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

This book had a lot going on. I loved the fact that it was a book set in the future and is about the global warming crisis. However while reading this book I was confused and at times had no idea what was going on. This could just be me but I was a little lost. This book overall wasn’t for me but if the blurb intrigues you, you should definitely give it a try!

DNF - i tried to start this book several times but for what ever reason I just couldn't get into it. I couldn't visualize the setting or characters well - this probably just means it isn;t for me - but would recommend to someone looking for this type of book

I didn't had that high expectations because my inner scientist can never be satisfied. But this book could surprise me. The story that is told is not only a good sci-fi books, it is also a really emotional rollercoaster (at least for me). "Gravity is Heartless" is an easy read which I really liked but it is not too easy so that I will keep remembering it. I am glad that I gave it a chance.

Well-researched, well-paced, with enough twists and turns to keep the reader's attention. While I appreciate the main message and theme, I wasn't crazy about the romance. All told, an interesting book.

This was a story set in 2050, following Quinn who is trying to handle situations as the world goes through a global. climate crisis.

I really enjoyed the sci-fi aspect of this book, and yet it didn't seem all that far fetched. Quinn was an easy character to love, but there were a lot of other characters that I enjoyed having in the story. I thought that the plot was really interesting, but I would have liked a bit more to be wrapped up. I think that the second book will have a lot of answers that I'm looking for!

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Unfortunately I found this book hard to stick with and finish.
My main issue was that I didn't emotionally connect with the main-or any- character, which is usually my driving force when reading.
There were definately some interesting ideas that will lead on nicely in the following book/s. So I might read the next one to see how the characters develop... But I might not.

There were some good things in this book, but I sadly did not really appreciate it. It was maybe due to the fact that I was not in the mood and forced myself to finish it, as I had to study to pass a competition exam.

The setting and the research around it were very interesting, but I found the plot to be very confusing. I had a hard time to remember all the characters, and I sometimes felt like there was a series of events without coherence.

Surprisingly I quite liked the romance (I am not a fan of romance in general), and I am curious about what will happen next to Quinn and Tig. I was more interested in this part of the plot than I was in Lise's disappearance.

Gravity is heartless had an interesting premise. Set in 2050, I was excited to read from the POV of a climate scientist. Futuristic stories always get me curious about how humans got to that points, all the things atet have changed and so on. Gravity is Heartless tried to address a number of things - time travel, politics, war, religion, importance of science, major advantages and infusion of technology in society - but I personally felt it tried to do too much. There were a lot of characters and apart from the protagonists Quinn, there were other POVs too. I found this made it hard to connect with the characters and so much was happening so fast, that the gravity of the situation was almost lost a couple of times.

Overall, this was an ok read, not my cup of tea. I was just not engaged in it. Many thanks to the publisher for a complimentary copy of the book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

With all that is going on in the world today, I often like to escape into the world of books. Gravity is Heartless, by Sarah Lahey, focuses on a bleak dystopian future where the Earth is ravaged by global warming. Even with it's bleak subject matter, I found the book utterly entertaining. The setting was (sadly) realistic, and the characters and story were very creative.

What I Liked:
Setting:
The time is set about thirty years in to the future. If you imagine the worst possible effects of global warming, then you can guess a few of the possible problems in this world. Rising temperatures melt most of the polar icecaps, flooding island nations. This creates waves of nation-less refugees. The hotter climates cause the wealthy to build massive, air-conditioned cities that overlook large populations of the poor. Everything has changed, including how people live, work, and eat. The details make this bleak world come to life.

Conflicts:
One of the main conflicts that I found scariest (because I can see it happening) is the formation of two political movements. One is science-driven, pushing for reforms that might save the planet. The other is based on religious fanaticism. Both of these factions are vying for power and limited resources. And they are both ripe for corruption.

Characters:
Quinn is a scientist who is at a crossroads in her life. While she's making strides in her career, her personal life is in chaos. She's set to marry a fellow researcher, but is getting cold feet. As the wedding approaches, an event occurs that causes Quinn to question everything she believes in.

She has a lot to sort and in her journey she encounters several unique characters. The one who will affect her life the most is Tig. Tig is human but has many parts of him replaced with tech. He seems to know Quinn already, but she certainly doesn't recognize him. Tig is one of the many displaced island people of South Asia. He represents what is being lost in the world. Quinn represents the future. How is it that they make such a powerful connection?

Story:
The story centers around the possibility that Quinn's mother, a famous scientist herself, could have unlocked the secrets of time travel. Both the Science party and the Religious party want this secret. While Quinn's mother remains missing, they believe Quinn is the key to unlocking the mystery. All this is set in the backdrop of civil unrest, and the budding romance between Quinn and Tig.

What I was Mixed About:
While the romance between Quinn and Tig was exciting (and very sexy), I was troubled by how pushy and possessive Tig quickly became. He "chose" her, he is jealous of any attention Quinn gets from other men, and he tries to push her into getting married. Tig showed all the red flags of being an abuser. Fortunately, Quinn gets this vibe as well, and is very cautious with him. But I didn't like how others were willing to excuse Tig's behavior, including her own father!

A Note: This is definitely an Adult book with sex on the page. If you like "Clean" books, you may want to skip this book.

This wasn’t a difficult book to read, as the action never lets up. While it is mostly in Quinn’s viewpoint, I didn’t ever fully bond with her. It’s always a tricky business, writing socially awkward protagonists, because there is a higher likelihood they won’t click with the reader. I was particularly repelled by her unpleasant treatment of the merecat, whose programming meant it was powerless to do anything other than respond in a kindly and positive manner and she effectively bullied and belittled it. I wasn’t all that convinced by the ‘love’ story, either, as it was essentially more about lust than anything else. However, at no stage was I tempted to put this one down, as the plotting was suitably action-filled and unpredictable and I was happy to see where the story went.

But that is the major problem for me – there isn’t a single plotpoint completed within this story. Every important element is left hanging, and every single character we encounter who has any impact on the action is facing a major change or challenge by the end of the story. While I appreciate that in a series, you do want to leave a few dangling plot points – I came away feeling a tad short-changed, as the point of this whole book is to set up the ongoing narrative. So while it is a reasonably entertaining read, overall I also found it a rather frustrating experience. Recommended for readers who enjoy action-led, near-future adventures and ongoing stories. The ebook arc copy of Gravity is Heartless was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
7/10

This wasn’t one for me unfortunately, it just couldn’t really keep me involved. I struggled with the POVs as they kept jumping all over the place and added to that I felt the world building needed a bit more work on it. I also felt the writing needed a bit of work and that could be jarring at times. So as much as I loved the premise and really wanted to enjoy this. It fell flat sadly.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This was another NetGalley book that I was approved for. As with previous books, I was given a digital review copy of this in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was drawn to it (once again) by the cover and the cover alone. I really didn't know much about the book, synopsis or author. I wasn't even really sure which genre it sat in other than it looked a bit Sci-fi/Spacey :)

This story looks at a world 30 years in the future where climate change has impacted it beyond recognition. We have automated cities, cars, AI, no clouds and everything is heating up. We follow the story of Quinn Buyers, who is a climate scientist. We start by meeting her on what is supposed to be her wedding day but she's anything but excited and would much rather be studying. IN fact she's not even sure about marriage in general. Quinn suffers an unexpected tragedy and we follow her as she learns to deal with this and embarks on a quest for answers.

The Positives:

The world itself - The idea of taking essentially our world and making it so alien with the climate change aspects and the futuristic elements like AI and living cities it really takes it into the Sci-Fi world but in a really accessible way. I want to know more about it and explore it. The sheer amount of research into some of the world aspects is impressive

Quinn - I started out really non-plussed by her and found her slightly whiny. HOWEVER, as the story went on I really found myself connecting with her and how she was expressing herself. The time on the island really made me look again at her characteristics.

Character building - Overall I enjoyed the characters and thought that they were well fleshed out. Most characters were there for a reason and added to the story.

The writing itself - with the exception of the POV changes I enjoyed the actual prose of the book. The writing was clever and well done, the style was easy to read and felt intelligent.


The Negatives:

The World building - while I really enjoyed the world created and how it related to us and where we are now, the world building itself was lacking a bit for me. There were a lot of things that were not described as in detail as I would have liked - I couldn't picture it in my mind while I was reading. There was a lot of jumping about between some of the mega cities and at times I couldn't tell if I was in Unus or one of the others.

The plot-line - The overall story line was fine, although too much shoe horned in. I could almost see this split into 2 books - everything up until we come off the island as Book 1 and everything after that as Book 2. I feel like this would leave more time in the book to fully explain the world and build it out better.

The change in POV throughout the book - I found this a little jarring. It was difficult to follow sometimes and wasn't clear what POV we were in or who was talking.

The religion vs science aspect of the book - this was a major theme running through the book and I just couldn't get on board with it. I don't feel like it was explored in enough depth - it was just 'there'. If the book had been split out and the world been more roundly explained then I think I would have found this aspect more interesting.


Essentially there was too many themes and too much going on in the book - romance, AI vs Human, climate change, science vs religion, female empowerment, sexual awakening, time travel, parental issues, and more. I do feel if the author slowed down slightly and broke this down this could be a really enriched world with a host of story telling possibilities.

2.5* out of 5 for me.

Rounded down to 2 stars - it was good but not good enough to hit the heights of 3 stars!

I really wish I could have enjoyed this book more than I did. After reading the description, I thought this book would be a great fit for me and my interests. At the end of the day, that was not the case.

One major issue I had was that I didn't believe the world Quinn lives in. The book takes places in 2050, when it should have taken place in 2150. While there were elements I bought into, the idea of incrementalism kept creeping back up. No way our language, for instance, completely shifts and we stop calling bedrooms "bedrooms." Additionally, I don't feel like I ever got a sense of who Quinn really is on the inside. The style of writing felt very impersonal to the characters and to the readers, and I wasn't endeared to any of them.

I think the book's strongest point is when the catastrophe hits and Quinn is shaken from the life she once knew, ultimately ending up on the island. The island time is really interesting and more what I expected the book to be like, then leading to a personal adventure. I didn't really understand, however, her life before the catastrophe, as it didn't really serve any purpose in this book. We also didn't get any resolution to the main mystery about Liese, and I also didn't have an understanding of what Unus looked like and how far Quinn was travelling from place to place.

This book was, unfortunately, a confounding read, and not one that'd I'd recommend.

Gravity Is Heartless is the story of Quinn, a scientist in the 2050s struggling as she gets inadvertently thrust into the middle of warring factions in a global climate crisis. I loved reading this book - it was so different from most other science fiction. This is one of those rare books that effectively combine women's literature, science fiction, fantasy, and action. Quinn's character is developed in-depth, and I love how the novel brings so many side characters back around at multiple points. My only complaint about the book is that even at about 80% in, I still felt like the world building was ongoing, and while the plot definitely moves a lot, it seems like the climactic moments are all being saved for book two. In a way this makes me really excited for book two, but it's also a bit frustrating that it ends where it does. I'm so glad that sci fi is evolving to include books like this, and am really grateful I had the chance to read it!

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book to review.

I could just not enjoy this, despite trying my absolute best. At first, the concept seems promising, and there's some flashes of interesting sci-fi concepts (dresses made of clouds, cyborgs, new weather patterns) but at the story progresses it slips further and further into tired tropes, and really fails to deliver. Quinn as a character left me feeling cold - not because the character is unlikable, but because you get a limited sense of character from her. The approach to character is extremely tell, not show, and it left me exhausted after only a few pages. The entire thing feels like having a forgetful narrator tell you a story aloud - poorly. It's poorly researched (there isn't a Nobel prize in mathematics, for a start) and the climate scifi element doesn't feel fresh or interesting. Rather than feeling like a cohesive world, it's more a staged background setting for the characters to move woodenly around. This isn't helped by the author's approach to landscape description, which is to go into minute detail about the colour of every object, while neglecting to describe anything else. Texturally, this feels more like a contemporary romance novel, or perhaps commercial women's fiction, which is potentially while the sci-fi feels forced. As a primarily sci-fi reader, those worlds can definitely be meshed, but I don't think it's done well here.

There's also some major structure and writing issues. It jumps back repeatedly between past and present tense, and between first, second and third person narration. It doesn't feel intentional - it feels sloppy and confusing.

Honestly the thing it really has going for it is is a great cover. That's what drew me to it in the first place, but it doesn't deliver unfortunately.

Quinn, a scientist that studies clouds, is getting married today. She realizes that she doesn't actually love her fiance, or really even know him. After she confesses this to him they decide to at least continue with the ceremony that will take place in the clouds.
A terrible storm cuts the party short and when Quinn is fished out of the water the next day she discovers she is charged with the murder of everyone at the party and the entire surrounding small town.

Takes place in the year 2050 after global warming has begun. Coffee and wine are things of the past, the plants have been lost to drought and pests. Antarctica has melted and is now green farmland. Sea levels have risen. crispr and Gene splicing have enabled people to replace unwanted traits and have brought back extinct animals such as the dodo. Ai is so advanced it is difficult to tell the difference in an AI and a person. They can learn, and feel pain and emotion.
Half of the book takes place in Unus, a mega city (one of many) on the equator, where only the rich have access to air conditioning.
A lot has taken place in the next 30 years and it feels a bit info dumpy in places. I would rather have learned these drastic changes throughout the story, having it weaved in. The author clearly did a lot of research and world building, every aspect of the world and society was fleshed out. I would have liked more of that from the characters though. The book definitely made me think about the future and what life could be like.
The pov changed from third to first person in places and the tense of the book changed throughout.
I received this book from netgalley for an honest review.

There is a lot going on in this book. Near-future climate sci-fi also dealing with conscious AI, cyborgs, colonization of Titan and time travel.
Overall, the author does a great job of telling the story of Quinn, a 30 year old scientists specializing in clouds, who is about to get married to a multi-billionaire. She works on a climate prediction project when something goes terribly wrong.
The world is immersive, even though there are so many different elements, it feels natural and the characters, especially Quinn, are well written.
There are some pacing issues, some might be caused by the terrible formatting of the ARC I received by Netgalley in exchange for a review. There are some jumps in the story that don't feel natural.
what bothers me is the constant change between first, second, and third person narrator. It does not make sense, and it does not feel deliberate. I would have likes bit more consistency.
Overall, I like the prose of the author. BUT there are some really terrible written sex scenes in the book, they are cringy and really blunt, and did not fit well into the rest of the book.

I am excited for the second book, there are multiple plots ongoing.

I so wanted to like this it sounded wonderful.Unfortunately I just didn't connect to the characters or even the setting, so just felt it was hard to get into.I kept trying but just found it too slow.Hopefully it is just me and other readers will enjoy it more.

I actually really liked this book. It was interesting to read about what could potentially be our lives in 30 years time, and it is a scary place. Very tech-savvy but quite disturbing.

The author must have done a LOT of research for this book. There is so much science that I sometimes found it a little overwhelming. However, it was necessary for the story so in the end it did start to make sense.

I loved Quinn and I loved the character she was. Very stubborn, hot-headed and smart.

I found an important message in the way we treat our planet and the effect that global warming has and will have.

Definitely worth a read.

This book is shelved as a Sci-Fi romance, but I think Sci-Fi women's fiction is probably more accurate. That being said, I loved it! More Sci-Fi women's fiction, please! This book is part sci-fi thought experiment, part futuristic journey of self-discovery, and I loved every minute of it, even if it wasn't exactly what I'd been hoping for. 5 Stars and definitely a book to take a chance on!