There's one thing that I fully trusts Manibo's books to make me do - and that's think!

Just like The Sleepless, Escape Velocity has the same feeling of a social, cultural, environmental, and political commentary on human existence. For this sophomore book, that commentary comes with an upstairs-downstairs angle, a murder mystery, an exquisitely developed world with epistolary-like chapter interludes, somewhat unreliable narration, a non-linear timeline, and a lot of suspense.

Stylistically, this book attempts to do a lot of things at the same time that can be hard to pull off in a way that feels cohesive. For me, the result lands at a solid 90%. More or less. For example, as the narrative follows a large ensemble cast, it can at times feel like the reader is being served too much exposition in a short amount of time, which did at times prevent me from a complete immersion into the characters. I feel the book could potentially have been slightly longer and thus have allowed for the depth of the characters to be delivered more through their actions than through dialogue and expostion, but that's likely a matter of preference.

I suspect the ending might be polarizing. For my part, I couldn't have seen the book end any differently than what it did, so I was plenty satisfied. For better or for worse; there's no easy ending here (just as in real life).

I'm excited to see where Manibo goes next!

A pretty addictive read that starts out with someone drifting in space and ends with a totally new perspective on that lonely person in a spacesuit. The publisher taglines this as a "twisty new near-future genre-bending thriller: Knives Out in space with a Parasite twist" and that is a pretty spot-on description. There's a high school reunion in space bringing together a whole lot of rich people with old loves and grudges surfacing. Old sins come home to roost (with a vengeance), and there's a simmering upstairs/downstairs vibe in the slow reveal of the class-differences between the rich guests and the staff working on the ritzy space station they are visiting. I was hooked from the beginning and stayed hooked for a somewhat bumpy space-ride.

This started out really well, intrigue, unsolved murder, but the “look how horrible these people and their system is” dragged on a bit too long for my taste. I lost interest around the half way mark. The author dies a great job of depicting the privilege and non privileged sides of society, but the how behind the MARS points didn’t jive - just a dad being upset? But I do think others who have more patience might enjoy this.

It's a good and entertaining story with multidimensional characters and cool twists. I enjoyed reading it and appreciate the well-thought-out plot and the author's ability to keep the reader engaged. Worth a shot.

I always think it's a bad sign when I've read a book and, if I don't review it immediately, I have to look at the blurb/other people's reviews to try and remind myself about it - unfortunately, Escape Velocity is one of those books.

The basic premise is that it's set on a space habitat, at a time when people are trying to finagle their way into being the first settlers on Mars. There's a system in place that people are meant to use, gaining points in relation their expertise in various areas, but we quickly find out that the rich people are using their wealth to take shortcuts and the people who work there (who have gained that same expertise through actually working in those kinds of environments) are cut out. No surprises there! There's also a murder and a budding mutiny among the service workers, so there's plenty going on.

Still didn't 100% grab me and I might not have read to the end if I wasn't planning to review it. Not the worst use of my time, and I'll definitely check out this author again, but I can't wholeheartedly say that it does what the blurb seems to promise.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

There was enough time between me reading the blurb and actually reading the book that I'd more or less forgotten the plot beyond the line 'Knives Out in space with a Parasite twist' and I think that improved the experience. Very much a book I recommend going into knowing the vibes but not necessarily the plot (coincidentally this is also how I consumed Parasite, having intentionally never watched a trailer and I think that was the best choice too).

My one gripe would be that, of the two overarching plot lines, one gets a lot more development than the other, leading to the second losing some if its bite. Even so I was gripped throughout and found the ending largely satisfying, if a little rushed. Definitely an instant favourite for me.

This was a really fun concept for a Sci-Fi thriller. i loved the feel of this book and that it had a great murder mystery going on. The characters were everything that I was expecting. And I enjoyed the that fact these space elements were used perfectly. I was never bored when reading this and really love the whole twist in this book. Victor manibo has a great writing style and it worked. It had my attention from the beginning all the way to the end.

I breezed through this! The writing was engaging, the world and motivations believable, and I was roped in to root for the various characters. The kindle version had a few typos. The ending left me feeling unbalanced though. It seemed like how a triumphant manifesto would end rather than the real world version of events.

Props to Manibo, who has not only managed to hit his second book out of the park, but manages to dial up the drama (sex! blackmail! murder!) to match the setting (~luxury space station~), and weaves together a college reunion and murder story with some great commentary about immigration and the working class on a lot of these types of "experiences" (Filipinos in the cruise industry, I see what you're doing there), and suggesting that maybe the ultimate way of getting out is actually through solidarity and burning it all to the ground. I had a suspicion of where this might be going halfway through but was unsure if he was going to commit to it, and my god, he fucking did it, and it was a great fucking ride. This comes out in May; pre=order it now (I'm 90% sure there's a preorder sale on now on Barnes and Noble as we speak) and get yourself a great solidarity summer book when it comes out.

Where is the science in this science fiction novel? I've decided to stop reading at 25% because I'm not enjoying this novel, and instead of understanding more as I read, I'm getting more confused. There's a lot of characters who all read very similarly. The time jumps and the jumps between perspectives don't have good transitions, so I checked multiple times to see if I had accidentally skipped a page. There were some really great ideas here. The MERIT system and how discrimination played into it were fascinating, and I would have loved to focus on that more. The race/class dynamics were interesting. A murder mystery is always intriguing. I love reading about Mars missions. Altogether, though, it just didn't blend well. I think there easily could have been two different books here. Because of the ideas, I might read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of Escape Velocity! Unfortunately, while a fascinating premise, this read fell flat for me. For starters, the pacing of the novel was a little too slow for my taste. While I could tell that there were certain events being foreshadowed early on, and while we learned more about the past simultaneously through flashbacks, the major events of the plot were sandwiched into a packed final act. Nothing really happens in the first half besides some subterfuge and subplots between characters, that, in my opinion, didn’t add much to the whole story. Additionally, while likely intended to be that way, I really didn’t feel anything for the majority of the characters, even the characters we were meant to root for. I was ambivalent about most of the twists and revelations in the novel, which doesn’t really bode well for a murder mystery. Lastly, I did find the class commentary to be a bit heavy-handed in this novel, which I felt worked against what Manibo was likely trying to accomplish with the inclusion of the workers and their rebellion. The workers felt one-dimensional compared to the Rochford characters, and we really don’t get a lot of insight into their movement until the very end. As other reviewers have said, the “Knives Out meets Parasite” characterization isn’t quite right, as the novel resembles something more like The Menu, for example. Regardless, I always love to see the creativity that goes into sci-fi, and this book is no exception. The Altaire very much seems like something we could see in the future, as do the issues that Manibo brings up regarding space settlement. While not as thrilling a read as I hoped, Escape Velocity will likely satiate both the sci-fi and mystery readers despite some missteps.

This is a working class revenge fantasy set in space and I kinda love it. It was compelling and the characters were all awful-- except for Ava (please give this girlie a break!) and I liked Sloane as well. I don't really want to say too much about it, because it really needs to be experienced-- but it was a pretty buckwild ride.
3.5/5

Enjoyed reading this book, even though it's definitely not in the normal genre of books i read, i still felt satisfied after finishing this! very though provoking and i enjoyed the mystery

An edge of the seat thriller that opens with literary roots in The Secret History and then grows into a strong voice against corruption, and inequity in labour and starting chances for a better future. I especially enjoyed the details Manibo put into building the horror that is the MERIT system. This is going to be one of the more important reads of the year.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

This is Triangle of Sadness in Space. It is a fun concept. I think my issue is that "kill the rich" stories have become quite popular and this one was not as well-written as some of the others I have read or seen. The wealthy individuals in this story are awful, but in a juvenile, almost comical, way. They are not portrayed as full-grown sociopaths, which would have been much closer to the truth for individuals in this set. Nor does the story lay out the kind of damage these kinds of characters would have done to the planet, which would have made the story more compelling. It makes sense that this takes place at a high school reunion because it reads as young adult. The ending was fully telegraphed.

The rich and privileged in space, what could go wrong?

The earth is dying, and only the rich are situated on Space Habitat Altaire, a luxury resort orbiting our planet. With an exclusive mars settlement in the near future, the only thing standing in these residents' way are each other. There has been a murder!

As exciting as the premise sounds, the story is complex and confusing at times. There are so many narratives, I found it hard to keep up. I did enjoy the twist ending, I just wish there were more hints sprinkled throughout the novel. Overall, a solid read. I wouldn’t be surprised if it's adapted into a movie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC.

This is a refreshing genre blend for those that like a dash of hard scifi with their locked room-style murder mysteries. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea (the details about the space station bored me to tears, but I know plenty of folks dig that stuff), but the mystery plot was sufficiently ingenious that I could breeze past the more jargony stuff to get to the suspense.

This book gave me the same anxiety as the movie Gravity did. If you are into space mysteries this one is a great one to pick up. Is a little dense on the science of space but overall a good read. Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this one early, it was a fun ride.

Hey all! This one was great! The four main characters were really well done. If I had a major complaint it would be the depth given to the staff was less than I expected. Still I’m a sucker for a sci-fi murder mystery. Thanks for the ARC, and cheers!

This is a twenty-first century Titanic, where the iceberg is made of a class struggle, outer space plays the role of icy waters, and Titanic itself is a prestigious space station hosting the reunion party for an obnoxiously elite high school.

In my imagination, the hotel in Escape Velocity was a modified version of the Fhloston Paradise cruise ship in the 1997 movie The Fifth Element. The characters gathered to watch an opera on the space station about 3/4 of the way through the book, just like the opera in Fifth Element, too.

Here's the thing about Victor Manibo's late-21st century world: living on Earth sucks. Climate change has wrecked life stability and comfort. For some years, humans have been setting up a settlement on Mars, and a lot of people want to relocate there. But there's a limited number of spots.

To qualify, people collect merit points that have a lot in common with the Canadian immigration system. An aspiring Mars resident can receive points for getting a PhD (solid), doing a spacewalk (cool), speaking French (d'acc), biological capacity to conceive a healthy child and work experience (wait a minute, rewind rewind rewind rewind, what was that last one?!)

Victor Manibo attempts to accomplish a lot in Escape Velocity's 368 pages:
- A non-linear narrative
- Two ensemble casts
- Upstairs/downstairs drama
- Murder mystery
- Another possible murder mystery - we don't quite know whether or not it's a murder until late in the novel
- Commentary on colonialism, LGBT+ discrimination, ableism, ethnic and class bias in the judicial system, the meaning of privilege, diaspora members' relationship with those who stay in the old country, extreme wealth disparity, and the effect of climate change on the global South
- Steamy scenes that develop characters or propel the plot
- A man floating through open space in the opening chapter, untethered from his space station and the plot that follows for 100 or 200 pages...

And then, of course, there's the science-fiction element, too. The Mars resettlement struggle was interesting to read about, and I would have liked more pages spent on the specifics of it. And I'm talking about more scenes with characters in them - not more documents from the UN Mars Resettlement Agency.

Although I was glad I stuck with Escape Velocity through the end, I think this may have been a little overambitious and didn't quite work as a coherent novel. I struggled to figure out what exactly to care about for three quarters of it. Nevertheless, there is promise here that likely just needs some more practice to achieve the author's vision. I would watch out for what Victor Manibo does in the future.

Content warnings for graphic sexuality, death, violence, murder, kidnapping, and ableism. I might be leaving some out due to a corrupted memory.

Thank you Victor Manibo and Erewhon/Kensington Books for a free NetGalley advance reader copy of Escape Velocity in exchange for an honest review.