This is one of my favorite series and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself with every new installment, and this third book was no exception. The reader is pulled in because there’s a different angle on this mystery compared to the previous two. It’s shakes up the structure for these mysteries that’s been established in the first two books.

I’m not opposed to a little sapphic angst, which the story definitely gives us in the beginning. But even more than just an emotional obstacle for these two characters to overcome, I appreciate the way the story very candidly explores depression and how mental health is yet another infrastructural consideration when we think about what it means to establish a whole new society in space.

And something I always talk about with this series, something that I think Malka Older continues to do beautifully, is the fact that each installment parallels the story’s main conflict with a conflict being experienced in Mossa and Pleiti’s romantic relationship. In this case, the “ungovernable impulse” Pleiti is contending with in the case is people’s willingness to uphold the status quo, even when the status quo is not only not serving them but actively harming them. And the “ungovernable impulse” putting strain on her relationship with Mossa is not only Mossa’s depression, which is out of her control, but Mossa’s impulse to distance herself from everyone and everything.

I appreciate how the story painstakingly shows how even though our impulses and instincts are meant to protect us, just because they’re natural responses doesn’t make them inherently correct. How many of those quote-unquote “instincts” are actually things we’ve been conditioned to believe or to do? What if our attempts to protect ourselves or insulate ourselves are actually counterproductive?

So I thought that was great. And I also respect this third installment for openly interrogating how the amount of power institutions wield, especially when it comes to granting legitimacy and authority, can be incredibly seductive, but also incredibly limiting when it comes to expanding our imaginations and even pursuing justice. As an inspector and academic respectively, Mossa and Pleiti have some level of allegiance to the powers that be, and the legitimacy those institutions grant them, professionally, is not insignificant. But then they also have to consider the cost of that legitimacy in terms of what they’re allowed to pursue, and whether that’s a cost they’re willing to pay.

There’s a lot of interesting things going on in this novella. It’s entertaining, it’s suspenseful, it keeps you guessing, and I think it also give you a lot to consider. I do think the pacing was slightly off towards the beginning and I wouldn’t consider this my favorite installment in the series, by any means. But it’s still an incredibly strong installment within its own right, so that’s not really saying much. Ultimately I would still give this a solid four stars.

The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses is a strong third entry in Malka Older’s Mossa and Pleiti mystery series. I actually enjoyed this one more than the second one, though not as well as the first. As always let’s take the two questions any review of a series needs to cover. Should you start this series at all? This series covers the adventures of two lesbian women who solve mysteries. The catch is that they live on a set of hovering platforms in the middle or upper atmosphere of Jupiter, because climate change has rendered the earth uninhabitable. You’ll have to believe me when I say that these are really cozy mysteries. They have lots of great descriptions of food, and other than the murder it’s got a very calm and small town feel. If you liked Sherlock Holmes, but wish there were more women and also it was in space, it’s worth giving this series a try.

As for this particular entry in the series, it’s a little bit different than the first two. Rather than a cozy mystery, it's got more cozy dark academic thriller vibes. Someone is threatening a researcher at a rival college--a researcher who has just made a very critical breakthrough. There is no shortage of suspects, academic rivals, jilted lovers, industries who stand to lose a lot of money... Pleiti and Mossa will have to stay on their toes to keep this professor safe.

Recommended for fans of Mur Lafferty, The Tainted Cup, and Murder She Wrote.

Will post and add links closer to pub date.

Where Murderbot soothes a very specific corporate angst, Pleiti + Mossa seem designed to appeal to a very specific academic angst. This world is a lot less familiar to me - that of academic research, university rivalries, etc. - but there are still beats I can really appreciate, and the humor is recognizable even if I don't always feel entirely in on the joke.

There are a few working threads in this series, and they each succeeded to different degrees for me:

Continued world-building for Giant: This installment in the series has really dialed in on the multicultural implications of Giant's human settlements in the generations following the escape from Earth, dropping in words and phrases without a lot of context. Sometimes this is language mixing, which makes perfect sense for these characters and this world building, and then sometimes it's a professor using "technobros" in a sentence without a hint of irony or a scholar calling abstract art "askew art". I don't remember this feeling as intentional in the previous two books, and you can see where Older is trying to better contextualize this society and the various implications of their lengthening separation from Earth. I also loved seeing how the continuation of the series-long conflict played out in the background of this book.

Character and relationship development for Pleiti (+ Mossa to a lesser extent): This is where this installment felt strongest for me. I love Pleiti and really appreciated the space she gives herself to feel both angry with Mossa and concerned for her wellbeing. I also loved seeing how she holds a line on honesty and partnership and how the relationship conflict gives her more space to shine in some ways. Mossa can feel so distant to the reader - intentionally so - but seeing her through Pleiti's eyes ultimately humanizes her more rather than less, and I just have a soft spot for these two and how real they feel.

Mystery development: The mystery itself felt weakest for me in this installment. I loved the general premise and structure of the mystery - academic on the cusp of significant achievement in her field is being targeted by mysterious haters and a neutral third-party needs to come sort out friends and foes in her inner circle. But the conclusion to it felt flat. I loves a Holmes-style mystery, but my bar is probably too high after the Lady Sherlock series, and so I felt a bit deflated at the reveal here, knowing it wasn't really set up to be particularly revolutionary. That said, as a prop for the relationship drama between Pleiti and Mossa, I was invested.

I am disappointed this third book is a bit longer, too, than the previous stories in the series, because there is something so special about a novella SFF series, and this feels like it crept away from that and used up too much page space sorting out secondary characters.

All in all, I enjoy being in this world and look forward to continuing the series.

Another delightful edition of the adventures of Mossa and Pleiti.

A former classmate begs Pleiti for help protecting her cousin. She's up for a prestigious position at her university, but she has been accused of plagiarism on the eve of her defense. Mossa is suddenly rejecting spending time with Pleiti, so Pleiti is on her own to investigate. Then the attempts to smear a reputation becomes much more dangerous.

I really enjoy how this series is a play on the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Watson in a futuristic setting, while still critiquing modern, real-life problems. As a former academic, I can appreciate the discussion around publish-or-perish culture, although I think this book will still be interesting to people without that background. This book also lets us see the challenges of Mossa and Pleiti's relationship, which makes them feel more real and relatable.

To me, I think the main thing that keeps this book from being a 5 star is the pacing of the mystery. I think the character study of this story is very important, but it does at times mean the mystery has to take a back seat. Of course, even with that, it was still an interesting mystery to solve.

Overall, if you enjoy modern takes on classics, or mysteries in general, I definitely recommend this series! If you haven't read the previous books, I recommend reading the series in order to best understand the characters and the context. They're relatively short, quick reads that pack a lot in with only a small number of pages.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older in exchange for an honest review.

Fresh from the adventures of The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, Pleti finds herself asked to investigate a mystery at a rival university. An old classmate begs her to uncover who has been trying to undermine her cousin's professional reputation. By now, Pleti is no stranger to investigation but it's always been as assistant to her partner Mossa. Unfortunately, for reasons that Pleti doesn't initially understand, Mossa refuses to participate in this investigation. So Pleti travels to a distant university on her own. Feeling awkward and inept, Pleti does her best to determine who, in a group of academics, might want to end the career (and possibly life) of a brilliant, naive scientist whose research might both help and disrupt a significant portion of daily life on Giant.

This is an excellent third installment to the series. The world building, both in term of setting and character linguistics, continue to be absolutely fascinating; one can practically feel the miasmic air in their lungs. To suggest that the story is atmospheric is both accurate description and a goofy pun, in the best of ways. Despite being the third in a series, it does not tread an overused path; the story explores new challenges and locations for its protagonists. The relationship between Pleti and Mossa continues to develop in interesting, yet realistic ways, as two very different people negotiate the other's needs. The mystery itself is a great structure for exploring the academic culture in this world, although the resolution wasn't all that shocking.

Highly recommended for fans of the series, for readers who enjoy a sci-fi mystery, and for anybody who has ever wondered what it would be like to live on a gas giant.

I tried to read this, but just could not understand it. It made no sense to me at all. I usually like Afrocentrism books, but this was not one of those. Maybe if I had read the previous books in the series, it would have helped.

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
Spice Rating: 🌶️ / 5

My Summary: In the wake of her partner Mossa's sudden rejection, Pleiti finds herself lost and looking for a purpose. So, when Pleiti's former classmate begs her to help her cousin who has been accused of plagiarism on the eve of defending her prestigious academic position, Pleiti can't help but oblige to investigate the matter. The two travel to another university to meet the cousin's friends and figure out who might be sabotaging her. But the investigation quickly turns into something more dangerous than deadly than either Pleiti or her friend first believed it to be.

My Thoughts: I want to be clear that I had not read the first two books prior to reading The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses. However, despite being quite unaware of the goings on of the other books, I found this story, and world, generally easy to follow and understand. The only thing I know I missed out on was Mossa's and Pleiti's relationship. There were definitely prior events that would've been helpful to know and understand before seeing their current state. But I did still enjoy their story along with the mystery and investigation.

Again, despite going into this world knowing nothing, I found it fascinating. I especially enjoyed seeing how the Modernists and Classists interacted with each other--how there is definitely prejudice between the two and how they can still interact despite their animosity towards one another. I also appreciated the way the characters combined and used other languages alongside English. Their view of Earth and its antiquated ways was also fascinating.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and recommend it--especially to readers and fans of the first two books.

5/5 stars: This is the third entry in Older's Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series which is a BIPOC 2SLGBTQIA+ Sci-Fi Cozy-ish Mystery that takes place on the colonized planet Jupiter and features a scholar who finds herself traveling without her investigator girlfriend to investigate a plagiarism accusation and escalating academic sabotage against an inventor up for a prestigious position. With plenty of twists, turns and call backs to Sherlock Holmes, Older has masterfully crafted a superb mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. Older's writing and character work are stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. Pleiti takes on the main investigative role and it's great to see her stretching her wings and I appreciate how she continues to deal with the consequences of the past events. I very much like seeing Mossa and Pleiti's relationship continue to grow despite their difficulties. Older's world building is atmospheric and extremely well done. I love exploring more of Giant (Jupiter) and Mossa and Pleiti's world. Additionally, the environmental commentary and ethical quandaries presented are thought provoking. I will say the verbiage's literary slant is unique and may not be for everyone. With tact and sensitivity, Older touches on some sensitive topics; so take care and CWs. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles. A great sci-fi take on a Holmesian mystery; highly recommend!

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.
I enjoyed the third installment in this series as much as the first. Some danger and drama, lots of tea, trouble in Pleiti and Mossa's relationship? and academic envy are all in this short volume, which I read as avidly as the first two and liked just as much. One question I have--this one seemed to me to have more jovian "insider" words, some of which I could work out and some I could not. Almost wondering if each volume is going to get more and more jargon-y until I can't understand anyone lol. Maybe I need a glossary.

The Potency of Ungoverable Impulses by Malka Older is the third Mossa and Pleiti Investigations novella, and follows the pair as they investigate threats to an old school friend. This book touches on depression, abuses of power, and discrimination in academia.

I felt for Pleiti with Mossa's apparent absence through the first half of the book. We're only given a couple of glimpses into Mossa's mental state, but they really highlight how deeply she's affected.

For a mystery, it was a bit frustrating to have half of the team absent for half the book, and the understanable murky and upset feelings keeping them distant for another quarter. I think the story really picked up in the last quarter, and there was also more action.

I liked that we got to visit a new university on Jupiter and see more of the different research areas. There's a lot more of the Classical vs Modernist debate, and Pleiti, while grappling with the events of the last book, comes to recognize more of her biases.

Even though the names for these books get increasingly hard to remember, this is one of my favorite series I've picked up in the last couple years, each book is beautifully written and executed. And yes I still do love the weird titles.

The beginning has both Pilati and Mosa basically running around in anxiety circles in their minds. I did not want to see them have relationship problems. I thought it was going to be boring and tedious. It was not.

I love intelligent books where I have to look words up, but it's genuine, not pretentious, they are all academics and it just adds to the world building.

Happy to have received an advanced copy via NetGalley! Opinions are of course all my own.

This is the third installment of Pleiti and Mossa, and their investigative pursuits on the planet of Jupiter, nicknamed Giant. For this novel, we get the opportunity to focus more on Pleiti, who is heading an investigation after a plea from an old university friend.

I enjoyed having Pleiti take the lead, unraveling the mystery behind who was sabotaging her old classmates work and reputation. We also get to see a deepening of the relationship between Pleiti and Mossa, as well as a better understanding of what drew them apart in the first place. I think the discussion of mental health is such an important one- and adds extra layers to the characters and their personalities.

Overall, I enjoyed this one as much as the first one and rather more than the second. 3.75 stars rounded up.

4.5 stars rounded up

I love this series and will always read them!! Sci-fi mysteries with a sapphic Watson/Holmes dynamic that's super academic? Sign me up! This is the third installment, and Pleiti is taking the lead. A friend from another university is concerned about threats to her cousin who is up for a big promotion in her academic department. Mossa is dealing with a depressive episode and Pleiti does her best to unravel the mystery on her own. But things might be more dangerous than she bargained for...

The mystery is great and it's fun to see more of this world set on a colonized Jupiter, but I also love how it's dealing with mental health issues in the context of a romantic relationship. I've always said the use of language is a really cool part of the world-building, and I stand by that. Older uses a mix of English and terms from other languages (especially Spanish), imagining a diasporic future where peoples and languages have mixed. This might not be something everyone enjoys, but I don't mind either looking something up or figuring it out via context clues. I think it creates a strong sense of place and culture. Anyway this was great and I want more! I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I was so happy to be approved for this book as I love the series! The third installment does have most of the things I loved about the first two, but I admit I have mixed feelings about this one. One of the things I enjoy most about this series is the Mossa/Pleiti dynamic, and Mossa being absent for over half the book threw that off significantly. That said, I do admire the reasons for it and the way the author handled the mental health representation.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

4.5 Stars - This is the best book in the series so far, IMO! A clear homage to The Hound of the Baskervilles, this investigation not only delivered on plot, but also significantly deepened the dynamic between Mossa & Pleiti. Before, I didn't totally understand what went wrong with them the first time around, but now.... yeah. I see it :)
Just a great example of a sci fi romantic whodunnit!

THE POTENCY OF UNGOVERNABLE IMPULSES is an absolute gem of a read. Malka Older’s delightful Holmes-and-Watsonesque pair Mossa and Pleiti are called in to a university on Jupiter to deal with a delicate matter of academic intrigue—before it tips from slander to slaughter. That moment when a series that you already adore suddenly becomes even MORE itself—more complex, more thought-provoking, somehow even more delightful? This book was it. Highly recommend.

This short novel follows Mossa and Pleiti investigating threats made against a scholar at a university across the planet; when what appears initially to be an attack on the scholar’s research takes a turn toward violence and begins to look more personal, the investigators must try to figure out who is behind it while keeping the scholar safe.

I liked how the mystery was slowly unravelled, and the commentary on academic rivalries and interdepartmental politics felt insightful. I also appreciate Older’s thoughtful depiction of Mossa’s depression. What doesn’t quite work for me in this series is the emphasis on Mossa and Pleiti’s relationship; I am fascinated by the world Older has created, the Classicist vs. Modernist dynamics in the universities, and the varying perspectives on the possibility and timeline of humans potentially returning to Earth. I ultimately wish these were more prominent elements rather than the perpetual miscommunications and pining between the two main characters.

This is the third book in the ‘Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti’ series. While the mystery at the core of the plot is entirely self-contained, I wouldn’t suggest reading this as a standalone as a lot of world-building happens in the earlier books.

Many thanks to Tor and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review.

Content warnings: violence, mental health struggle, injury detail

My favorite thing about this book was the fact that we got to see a different side of the moon where Pleiti and Mossa live. Pleiti travels to the city where the Modernist scholars have their university. The city feels different and new.

Pleiti is asked by her fellow professors to help investigate who might be trying to sabotage a friend of theirs who is up for a promotion. Pleiti's biggest contribution to this is probably reading through the research of the various suspects and putting together basic personality profiles based on their research articles. Otherwise, I'm not sure she did much.

Meanwhile, Pleiti and Mossa have yet another of their misunderstandings that makes their relationship distant and awkward until they finally communicate with each other. This pattern is getting old, and I'm getting tired of it.

While I sort of enjoyed the politics and infighting among the various faculty members, I don't think that the mystery really played fair with figuring out the perpetrator, and I always am a bit dubious when academic rivalries come to violence. So, plus for the setting, minus for the characters and plot.

The first book of a series is always going to leave world-building questions (unless you are Brandon Sanderson), and subsequent books are when the author gets to enlarge their scope and start showing how pieces fit together. When Older gets a chance to do this, she focuses on the anthropology of the society rather than the science of the world. This, I think, belongs to a category I think of as sci-fi light. I don’t even mean Star Trek-light, I mean lite as in less dense (perhaps fitting since it is set on Jupiter, a planet less dense than Earth). To contextualize, it is the Becky Chambers school of sci-fi; focused on relationships, with world-building that is more creative or parallel than forward. Much like the low calorie version, I find Older’s work sweet, but not particularly fulfilling.

This story continues to take place in the circumscribed universe of academia, and it is easy to imagine analogues to current Earth colleges. It begins when a Modernist (a term used with derision by some) colleague, Petanj, arrives from another campus requesting help. Her brilliant cousin is being targeted by a vicious smear campaign that has threatened to become physical. Mossa is deep in a depressive fugue when Pleiti reaches out, so Pleiti takes on the challenge solo. As events become more serious, she starts sending telegraphs to keep Mossa apprised.

Pleiti represents the Classical (Earth-focused) department of academia, and Petanj the Modernist, a rivalry that sounds more than a little esoteric. However, Older uses it to flesh out different methods of coping with planetary exile. This is an interesting idea–think, to take an example completely at random, of the academic idea of diversity in inclusiveness versus a more preservationist view. Unfortunately, at some points Pleiti’s narration becomes more of a an internal wondering than thoughtful contextual dialogue.

We get a touch more science in this installment as it relates to oxygen supplementation and air purifying: “Atmoscarfs are not, strictly speaking, necessary for survival in Modern times. The atmoshields around each platform provide necessary levels of oxygen, as well as minimum temperature. But these basic conditions are far from ideal.” I appreciated the way this all manifested within the story, with ramifications to clothing and social signifiers. It didn’t go as far as I was hoping.

What I appreciated less were the random Earth-isms, or words/stems left over from Earther language. I definitely didn’t remember these linguistic gymnastics in the first book, and I was struck how these academics were supposed to be publishing professionals and yet sounded like they were trying to be hip teenagers (‘grok‘? Really??). I didn’t appreciate it because it felt awkward and inserted (of course any language this far in the future won’t be standard English. We get it. It’s one of the understood assumptions in literature that we are not trying to account for linguistic shifts). The words drew on a wide variety of languages, and I felt like it was done awkwardly, interrupting the story. When I read the About the Author, I learned Older is “the executive director of Global Voices, a community of writers, editors, and translators… advocating for indigenous and minority languages.” Ah; it begins to make sense, although staying with Spanish, French, and Hindi seems contradictory. This is very much one of those YMMV situations; personally, I think Older’s circumvention of sci-fi conventions (use new, not old) didn’t bring much to the table.

“‘Dafuq?’ I asked, wondering what I had missed.”

The draw to this book–and the series in general, I think–is emotion of the relationship between Pleiti and Mossa. It takes it far beyond the simple ‘Holmes and Watson on Jupiter’ premise. It is a challenging relationship, although Pleiti tends to be very dramatic about it.

“I was doing no good here, and if I was with Mossa… well, I might not do any good there, either, but at least I wouldn’t be constantly concertina’d inside by this awful, inescapable longing; the crumbling conviction that I had mad a terrible error in leaving and must, at all costs, undo it.”

As the third in a series, I think it could stand alone. However, while the mystery certainly confines itself to this story, the relationship between two of the characters is very much reflective on prior events. Additionally, Pleiti has a lot of guilt over events from the first book. On the buy, borrow, toss scale, it is definitely worth a borrow.

Three and a half cups of tea.

Thank you to TOR and NetGalley for the ARC. Clearly, all opinions my own. All quotes subject to change.

"That is, I regret it now; but when I probe the gallimaufry of blurred memories from that night I can still feel the potency of the ungovernable impulse that demanded I place my palms on her bony shoulders, the elation of pouring my strength into the shove, of feeling her weight and solidity shocked backwards by my hand."

The third book in The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series, The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses sees Pleiti flex her recently uncovered investigating skills by herself to help out her friend at another university, in the process acquiring a new respect for the Modernist stream of studies, making new friends and renewing old friendships, and solving the mystery with some good old fashioned skills; all while Pleiti and Mossa try to navigate their growing relationship, dealing with their insecurites and learning to work their way to each other.

This book is a great addition to the series in terms of both the world-building and the characters. We see more of the world Giant, as well as a bit of its history and prejudices. It's interesting, to say the least, but perhaps not surprising, to see the tensions that can arise in academia even in a futuristic space settlement society. The plot is slow at first - with the characters mostly reacting to events, but Pleiti steadily makes headway in trying to solve the mystery alone before Mossa joins her, very reminiscent of the plot in The Hound of the Baskervilles. How they each work towards solving the mystery and rationally finding the culprit is a good reflection of their individual temperaments.

Both Pleiti and Mossa grow as characters; Pleiti with her perception of academia and scholars, Mossa with her introspection on the kinds of cases she wants to take up. They also continue to explore their relationship after some angst and more open conversation, especially regarding mental health. While it was good to see them actually talk to each other about their feelings and expectations, the angst and insecurity felt a little off-key when looking at how their relationship grew in the previous two books.

A special note must be made of the author's incredible linguistic skills in envisioning a close knit society comprising people of multiple nationalities and cultures starting from scratch as a new society. It is truly refreshing to see this melding of languages and speech patterns (and food items too), seen even in the first two books, as opposed to simply including some stereotypes bordering on (or invading) blatant racism and calling it representation. However, not knowing these languages don't really stop the flow as a lot can be gleaned from context. As a person who's interested in etymology and linguistics, I enjoyed tracing the various words with roots from different languages, and of course also looking up new foodstuffs. Gallimaufry, if you were wondering, means a confused jumble or medley of things - its origin is old French, but it is actually an English word (ref. Oxford dictionary).

This book, and series, is recommended to anyone who might enjoy a Holmes and Watson kind of mystery in a Sci-Fi world, with female lead characters and a sapphic romance.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group and the author Malka Ann Older for an ARC of the book, the review is entirely honest.

🌟🌟🌟🌟1/4🌟
[3/4 star for the premise and the whole book; 3/4 star for the characters and their growth; 3/4 star for the story and themes; One star for the world-building; One star for the writing - 4 1/4 stars in total, rounded down to 4 stars.]