(( more of a 4.5 / 5 stars, not because there was anything specific I didn't enjoy about it, but it just didn't make my favorites list ))
Would totally recommend this book to science fiction fans - aliens, to be more specific -, as well as to people who are looking for a fantastically-done LGBT+ representation and romances and all that fun stuff. I also need to say, for a debut novel, it was totally amazing and I can't wait to see what else Rebecca Langham surprises us with next!
I went into this book not knowing too much, as well as not being the biggest fan of science fiction. For this matter, I feel like I need to mention that the book is not confusing whatsoever, you can go into it blindly and still enjoy it a lot.
Now, one thing that I really liked about this book, besides the cover, which instantly caught my attention and I feel that it suits the theme perfectly, is that there are warnings at the beginning of it. So I shall also warn you that it contains depictions of violence, death, racism/racist ideology and imprisonment, just in case some of you reading this might be triggered by any of the things listed.
Quick mention: I felt like every little aspect from the warning was done right.
So basically we have these colonies of aliens, who we call "the Outsiders", that once came on Earth to seek political asylum of some sort, running away from a civil war happening on their planet. Our government agreed to take them in, but being as hard as it is for someone so different to blend into the human society, a compromise was made: they still got to live on our planet, but sectioned up into these colonies, and in harsher conditions than a human could support. Well, given the fact that they are stronger beings than humans, this shouldn't have been too much of a problem. However, this life that they live is not what they were promised. They end up working like slaves and every single move of theirs is monitored. The ones that are supposed to keep them safe, living a peaceful life, are treating them as criminals most of the time. As if they were inferior to the human race, not worthy of at least medium living conditions. And this is where all of the warnings come into play.
Another very well-done aspect of the book was the LGBTQ+ rep. Not only do we have a main girl x girl romance (which melted my own little heart to its core the whole time), but the Outsiders are the most supportive community I have ever read about. The way they treat gender and sexuality fluidity - as something normal, not uncommon - spreads just so much love and positivity. There was also one boy x boy romance which I loved loved loved loved!
As far as characters go, we have some pretty strong personalities here. Some of them, it seemed to me, start pretty low on the... character development scale, let's say, in comparison with the other ones with who they mostly interact. For example, let's take Lydia and Alessia, human and Outsider. Without spoiling anything, my personal opinion is that Lydia was kind of low-ish at the beginning, but she managed to gain a lot from Alessia while they interacted. Was this the purpose of the book, achievement unlocked! If this wasn't, though... Still achievement unlocked, one more thing done great!
I managed to find myself in many, many passages from the book. The author did a very good job at portraying our society as well, with all its political intrigue and how the media kind of controls important people's lives - not as much in the fact that they are told what to do, but that they most of the times can't just be themselves because everything they do is put out there and can be turned into a bad thing.
Overall, I really, really enjoyed this book. It left on such a cliffhanger (at least for me) that I am dying for the next one and can't wait to pick it up once it's out!
