I was given a digital copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The views expressed in this review are my own and have not been influenced in any way.

Let's start with the misleading title. The Astroidea that the book is currently named for are definitely not the focus of the novel. The main character's profession and research seem like they should be central to the plot of the novel based on the title and the description, but almost seem to be an afterthought.

There is a huge reveal in the first quarter of the novel that is never really properly addressed. It seems as if it should affect the main character and her daughters more. Just that topic could be a novel in itself, but instead it is crammed into a book with many other topics, all of them glossed over, none of them given the full treatment they deserve.

Spoiler: Some of the many topics that this author picks up and drops include: the main character finding out that she is actually Black and both of her parents were passing, the MC's older daughter's pregnanct, the MC's younger daughter's Olympic training, the MC's relationship with her friends, the MC's relationship with her aging/dying mother who hid her true race from her her whole life, and of course the titular Astroidea. Oh and I nearly forgot, the MC's estranged father was sending her journals written by his mother, but we weren't given any idea of the content beyond the idea that it was some harsh, depressing content. Well gee, talk about lazy writing. (hide spoiler)]

Ultimately what could have been some incredibly moving content was all crammed together into one short little book instead of expanded. Somehow I was left with a novel about why an emotionally stunted scientist cared more about dogs than her daughters, friends, or family history.

I struggled to get into this one. By the description, I expected more about her research on sea stars, and was looking forward to reading about that aspect. Not a major focus, just mentioned a few times. The story seemed a bit disjointed for my taste, but most likely because I was expecting a different story. Not a bad story, and had its moments, but I kept expecting something that wasn't there. Wish the publishers would rewrite the abstract description, as it was a little misleading. There are a lot of directions this book goes into, and although interesting, was also hard to follow.

I saw a request made by Destiny Brown for reviewers of Asteroidea by Stephanie A. Smith on Goodreads.  The description interested me.  So I then downloaded a copy from Net Galley and recently finished reading it. 

                                       


I got the impression from the description of Asteroidea that scientific research on sea stars would be a prominent element in the book.  I'd say that protagonist Claire Holt's work with sea stars was mentioned a few times, but it wasn't really described. The main focus was on Claire's personal life and relationships.  So I felt somewhat misled by that summary. 

That being said, there was some interesting interaction that dealt with the racial identity of various characters.   It drew my attention to individuals who were born into the African American community, but could "pass" for White.  As a result, they were able to choose their racial identity.   These decisions impacted relationships.   

I was delighted by Claire's first meeting with a character named Dan Starbuck.   He said that his surname had no relationship to the coffee shops or to the character in Moby Dick.  Claire's reaction led me to suspect that she had never read this classic novel. This means that I have something in common with Claire.  I also haven't read Moby Dick.  I find this Herman Melville book's focus on an obsession with hunting and killing a whale very repellent.  I wanted to high five Claire for choosing to skip that particular piece of the literary canon.

Asteroidea wasn't what I expected, but it did enlighten me at a number of points, and there were moments when I was entertained by these characters.  I can't say that Asteroidea was one of my top reads of 2020, but I did think it was worthwhile.