Name: Krys C's review of Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis
Item: Truth of the Divine
Rating: 4.5
Author: Krys C

Lindsay Ellis

Truth of the Divine is the latest alternate-history first-contact novel in the Noumena series from the instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestselling author Lindsay Ellis. The human race is at a crossroads; we know that we are not alone, but details about the alien presence on Earth are still being withheld from the public. As the political climate grows more unstable, the world is forced to consider the ramifications of granting human rights to nonhuman persons. How do you define “person” in the first place? Cora Sabino not only serves as the full-time communication intermediary between the alien entity Ampersand and his government chaperones but also shares a mysterious bond with him that is both painful and intimate in ways neither of them could have anticipated. Despite this, Ampersand is still keen on keeping secrets, even from Cora, which backfires on them both when investigative journalist Kaveh Mazandarani, a close colleague of Cora’s unscrupulous estranged father, witnesses far more of Ampersand’s machinations than anyone was meant to see. Since Cora has no choice but to trust Kaveh, the two must work together to prove to a fearful world that intelligent, conscious beings should be considered persons, no matter how horrifying, powerful, or malicious they may seem. Making this case is hard enough when the public doesn’t know what it’s dealing with—and it will only become harder when a mysterious flash illuminates the sky, marking the arrival of an agent of chaos that will light an already-unstable world on fire. With a voice completely her own and more than a million YouTube subscribers, Lindsay Ellis deepens her realistic exploration of the reality of a planet faced with the presence of extraterrestrial intelligence, probing the essential questions of humanity and decency, and the boundaries of the human mind. While asking the question of what constitutes a “person,” Ellis also examines what makes a monster.

A Novel

Truth of the Divine

Krys C

I loved this book. Axioms End was great, don't get me wrong, but this book.....this was something else all together. It was beautiful and tragic. I loved the way the author takes on the heavy concepts of xenophobia and trauma and PTSD. The way she described PTSD alone is so real and raw. It's a wonderful book.

Katheryn

As enjoyable as the first, adding further depth through social commentary.

Christian von Schack

Jasmine

Thanks so much to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Lindsay Ellis for this eARC in exchange for an honest review! 

I adored this book for a multitude of reasons. Does it have flaws? Surely. That doesn’t change the fact that this story is filled with heart. Truth of the Divine, at least to me, was a strong follow up to Axiom’s End. There are so many issues covered in between these pages (which does have a trigger warning in the beginning due to writing about suicide and mental health) that this becomes so much more than a book about aliens and the inability of humanity to adapt to that which makes them uncomfortable or confused. Naturally, we will not handle aliens well on a grand scale because so many humans don’t even really understand how to deal with differences here on Earth. Ellis takes us deeper into the emotions of both humanity and alien alike to show that, yes, there are differences, but none so vast as to be insurmountable. There’s a lot to be said for being an open-minded being. 

I was looking forward to this book in a big-time kind of way, and I’m happy to say that I was not disappointed. I’m so beyond ready for the third book already! Is it out yet??!?

Cheryl Hedlund

This second book delves deeper into the human and amigdalyn characters and especially looks at mental health. Content warnings for self-harm, suicidal ideation, PTSD, panic attacks, and eating disorder. It also gets deeper into politics and rising fascism. The author gets more explicit in dealing with the politics around extra-terrestrial intelligent life coming to earth and connecting that to the anti-immigration movement, white supremacy, etc. This does not flinch away from the darker side of humanity and how politicians enflame and manipulate that. This was a tense and emotional read. It is not relentlessly bleak, but there is not much optimism. The ending packs a punch.

Sequel to instant New York Times bestseller Axiom's End, in Truth of the Divine, Lindsay Ellis deepens her exploration of a world faced with the presence of extra terrestrial intelligence. The human race is at a crossroads; we know that we are not alone, but details about the alien presence on Earth are still being withheld from the public. As the political climate becomes more unstable, the world is forced to consider the ramifications of granting human rights to non-human persons. How do you define “person” in the first place? Cora Sabino not only serves as the full time communication intermediary between the alien entity Ampersand and his government chaperones, but also shares a mysterious bond with him that is both painful and intimate in a way that neither of them could have anticipated. Despite this, Ampersand is still keen on keeping secrets, even from her, which backfires on both of them when investigative journalist Kaveh Mazandarani, a close colleague of Cora's estranged whistleblower father, witnesses far more of Ampersand's machinations than anyone was meant to see. Since Cora has no choice but to trust Kaveh, the two must work together to prove to a fearful world that intelligent, conscious beings should be considered persons, no matter how monstrous-looking, powerful, or malicious they may seem. Making this case is hard enough when the public doesn't know what it’s dealing with, and it will only become harder when a mysterious flash illuminates the sky, marking the arrival of an agent of chaos that will light an already unstable world on fire.

Cody Madden

Pretty good book but if anything in the disclaimer bothers you you probably shouldn't read it. 

Krys C &
Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

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