Laura Lam

Ravaged by environmental disaster, greed and oppression, our planet is in crisis. The future of humanity hangs in the balance - and one woman can tip it over. Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation. It's humanity's last hope for survival, and Naomi, Valerie's surrogate daughter and the ship's botanist, has been waiting her whole life for an opportunity like this - to step out of Valerie's shadow and really make a difference. But when things start going wrong on the ship, Naomi starts to suspect that someone on board is concealing a terrible secret - and realises time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared.

Goldilocks

Laura Biggs

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was detailed to me as 'space meets handmaid's tale' which is kind of accurate but not quite. It is smartly written and while it does have a lot of science talk, it never feels condescending or overwhelming. A lot of sci fi books are often guilty of focusing too much on science or technology talk to the point it feels like you're reading a textbook, but this book had just the right amount of talk where I understood what was happening but wasn't overwhelmed or bored with explanations. 

I docked some points because I was looking forward to a space adventure! This book doesn't really deliver on that front. They are in space but if you're looking for like space exploration, lots of space travel, etc. then this might not be your cup of tea. There is time in space if you're looking for something that is at least still set in space for a period of time.

I also docked points for a personal peeve of mine. I am not a fan of time jumps in novels as in we jump back to seven years, then present day, then two years, then like four week ago, etc. I found more often than not I had to go back to the chapter start, confirm what year we were on, and then reading again. It got confusing. 

Last place I docked points was I thought most of the characters save for our main lead were kind of one dimensional (not boring or unlikeable, just not interesting).

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was detailed to me as 'space meets handmaid's tale' which is kind of accurate but not quite. It is smartly written and while it does have a lot of science talk, it never feels condescending or overwhelming. A lot of sci fi books are often guilty of focusing too much on science or technology talk to the point it feels like you're reading a textbook, but this book had just the right amount of talk where I understood what was happening but wasn't overwhelmed or bored with explanations. 

I docked some points because I was looking forward to a space adventure! This book doesn't really deliver on that front. They are in space but if you're looking for like space exploration, lots of space travel, etc. then this might not be your cup of tea. There is time in space if you're looking for something that is at least still set in space for a period of time.

I also docked points for a personal peeve of mine. I am not a fan of time jumps in novels as in we jump back to seven years, then present day, then two years, then like four week ago, etc. I found more often than not I had to go back to the chapter start, confirm what year we were on, and then reading again. It got confusing. 

Last place I docked points was I thought most of the characters save for our main lead were kind of one dimensional (not boring or unlikeable, just not interesting).

Didi Chanoch

Goldilocks is a slow burn, a novel that builds slowly and inexorably to its powerful conclusion. I dinged it one star because the stakes don't always seem as meaningful as they end up being, and the road isn't always as exciting. But that's also part of what makes it such an honest story, and could be seen as a metaphor for the climate and gender role issues the novel deals with: Slow changes, over time, eroding our very chances to survive and thrive as individuals and a species. This is a very thoughtful novel, and a very smart one.

McKenzie McWhorter

I really loved the journey this book took me on. I enjoyed the concepts in the book and it makes you take a hard look at the future. I thought the ending beautifully tied it together.

Danielle 

Easy to read book with a lot of plot twists. Some of the twists felt a bit out of the blue but overall I still enjoyed the characters and storyline. 

Jennifer

This is a fiercely feminist space-opera which raises big questions on morality, ethics, and scientific advancement. Starring in Goldilocks, is a group of diverse all-female crew in space, on a mission to reach to a new planet in the Goldilocks Zone. So when I came across the premise sometime last year, I was intrigued. Since I had enjoyed Laura Lam's Shadowplay series a lot, I had quite some expectations with Goldilocks but fortunately the messaging didn't disappoint! I crunched through most of the book within a single sitting today because this is such a page-turner. 

For its 300-something pages, Goldilocks managed to create the following:

+ Naomi's and Valerie's backstories. Goldilocks follows a fascinating structuring - the story alternates between the past and the present. While it took me a few chapters to get used to the structure, I really enjoyed how it fleshed out the personality of the main characters. I feel like this demonstrates their character development throughout the novel.
+ Solid thematic developments on morality, science, and ethics. These themes connect the events in the past and the present. It explores moral dilemmas about humanity - both through the characters' actions as well as the events happening in Earth. I also find that these thematic explorations tie well to the character development in Goldilocks.
+ Powerful symbolisms and messaging on feminism. These central messages are never diluted in the entirety of Goldilocks. Even though the circumstances on Earth in the novel are quite dire (e.g. the dystopian description on the government and the pandemic), the powerful message nevertheless gave Goldilocks a hopeful vibe. 
+ The scientific research & details in the book felt quite believable. While I'm a STEM major myself, I didn't find the descriptions overly technical (so that helped me crunched through the novel quickly).

What I wish to see more / what could be better:

- I would love to see more backstories from the supporting crews in Goldilocks. I love the diversity amongst the crew members so it was a bittersweet experience that the novel was so brief.
- While I love that the themes connect the stories of the past with the events of the present (and I found the messaging pretty well), I feel like these chapters could be transitioned more smoothly than it currently is.
- I personally don't find this an issue (thanks to the powerful messaging on feminism and humanity), but the descriptions about the Earth in the book are quite dire & dystopian. So this might not be a suitable read if you're looking for something more lighthearted to escape from current political climate / the Covid pandemic.

To sum it up, Goldilocks is a fast-paced & feminist Sci-Fi with a powerful messaging. If you're a Sci-Fi fan and you could put up with some dystopia during the pandemic, this is a surprisingly empowering read.

Rina

This book was an unexpected thriller. I love the themes and the atmosphere, but the story felt much too quick. I would have appreciated more backstory on the side characters and on Naomi as well. The things she did before the present part of the story were shown, but I still felt like I didn’t know her well enough. I didn’t much feel a connection with the characters here in general. Plot-wise, I felt like it could be stronger, more fleshed out, had there been a little more pages.

This was a good and largely feminist character-driven book; speculative and well-researched, which is what made it very interesting and intriguing to me. Only qualms I have with this are with the characters as mentioned, and the length of the book.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SEVEN DEVILS 'GOLDILOCKS GRABS YOUR ATTENTION AND DOESN'T LET GO - A THOUGHT-PROVOKING, IMAGINATIVE CALL-TO-ARMS' Katie Khan, author of Hold Back the Stars 'BOLD, FEMINIST SCI-FI FROM A SINGULAR, VISIONARY TALENT' Waterstones Online This is The Martian by way of The Handmaid's Tale - a bold and thought-provoking new high-concept thriller Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation. It's humanity's last hope for survival, and Naomi, Valerie's surrogate daughter and the ship's botanist, has been waiting her whole life for an opportunity like this - to step out of Valerie's shadow and really make a difference. But when things start going wrong on the ship, Naomi starts to suspect that someone on board is concealing a terrible secret - and realises time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared . . . FIND OUT WHY READERS CAN'T PUT GOLDILOCKS DOWN... 'Through the novel's fascinating premise Lam gives us plenty of food for thought about gender dynamics in our own world... Eerily prescient' USA TODAY 'Looking for a thrilling ecofeminist sci-fi space opera to keep you glued to your seat during this pandemic? You've found it' MS. MAGAZINE 'INTERSTELLAR'S brain with THE HANDMAID'S TALE's heart' Chuck Wendig, author of WANDERERS 'A perfect balance of beauty, thrills and hope' Nick Clark Windo, author of THE FEED

The boldest high-concept thriller of 2020

Alex

** spoiler alert **
           Is this really a feminist book though? 

On the cover it's made to be this tale of 5 brave women, who bravely save the world by going to space. But in the end, it would've be better for everyone if they didn't do it, right? I mean one of them turned out to be super-evil, planning to kill out most of humanity and start a crazy utopia on a new planet (which she was supposed to be the leader of, of course). And stealing the ship was her plan in the first place. 

And then there is the main character, who's backstory we know the best, and yet I felt no connection to at all. And why was she pregnant in space? If it wasn't a good time for her to have a baby before, it certainly wasn't a better one now. In the end the baby provides good PR for them I guess, so good for them?

And then we have the rest of the caracters who just don't have any personality. For example, one is "strong and Russian", and that's basically all we learn about her. 

So, like, the moral of this story is that women should stay at home and have children, or else they will bring the end of humanity ;) 

Not to mention THEY NEVER EVEN GET TO THE PLANET (during this flight), which was a bit frustrating to me.

Michelle Xu

3.5 stars 

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it definitely took me a while to get into it.

Plot: 4 stars
 - kept me reading throughout to figure out the reveal
Characters: 3.5 stars
 - other than Naomi, the other characters seemed a bit one-dimensional
Pacing: 3 stars
 - really slow at the beginning but REALLY picked up around the 65/70% mark

Summary:
In Earth's not so distant future, the planet is dying, the governments have begun policing women and their offspring. Food and resources are scarce, and the climate has left the planet only 30 years more of life. Five women take control of Earth's future by stealing the Atalanta and set forth towards the planet, Cavendish, also located in the Goldilocks zone, perfect to also sustain life. The book is told in alternating past and present perspectives as we follow these women on their way to Mars and then eventually Cavendish. There are many hiccups along the way and a much more sinister plan underlying it all. 

I would first say to any prospective readers that this book is not an epic space adventure story. I think one of the reasons for a slightly lower rating on my part is due to the fact that I had to alter my expectations partway through. Based on the synopsis, I thought it was going to be much more of a sci-fi mystery/thriller. Instead, it feels more like a character study of the relationships in Naomi's life as well as an environmental study of Earth that shows what Earth can become and how we can fix it.

I would also warn that this book gets really political. If you weren't looking for a political statement, I would maybe shy away from this book. While I completely agreed with the points brought up in this novel, even I felt some themes were heavyhanded. The book touches on feminism, women's rights, abortion, immigration, climate change, and capitalism + socialism.

Despite it being a bit different from what I expected, I still enjoyed this book overall. There were many dichotomies about how I felt. For one, I thought that there was really beautiful writing. It was thoughtful and there were a few quotes I highlighted throughout. However, I still found myself a bit bored or rather feeling like the writing was slowing the pacing of the novel down at certain points. However, the novel still did a good job of keeping me reading, even when I felt bored. Even though the beginning was slow, it still really felt compelled to continue on and figure out what's going to happen.

Upon completing the book, the plot was tied together really well in that we see the small setbacks throughout their journey, a couple of moments that keep you reading to figure out how the problem can be fixed. We also see how smaller problems provide hints at larger ones coming later on in the novel. The chapters that showcase the past also slowly tie in with the present, either providing more context about the character's past or dropping hints that could lead to reveals in the future. There was a low level of action up until the 65/70% mark, but up until then, there was still suspense built up over the survival of the crew. Everything really took a turn at about 70% when small reveals suddenly built up to a huge reveal. After that, the pacing kicked up multiple notches as we sped through the rest of the novel. Once you hit that point, it'll be really hard to put the book down. 

Naomi was also a good narrator, in that we see her progress from being under Valerie's wing and shadow to finding her own voice and confidence in doing what she felt was right. We got an in-depth look at her past and explored her relationships with those around her. She was such a well fleshed-out character that I felt like I could understand her. There was also good representation in the novel. We have Hart, a Black queer woman physician aboard the ship. She was my favorite secondary character. I really believed in her as a physician, and really just had the best personality of all the shipmates. There's also Hixon, who is the second in command, and Hart's partner. We also have Valerie and Lebedeva who round out the team with Valerie being the ship's captain and Lebedeva as a Russian engineer. It was really awesome seeing so many smart and capable women working together, each bringing their skills to the team. While they get in disagreements, their dedication to each other and life as we know it ended on such a satisfying note.

The book also ended on a very satisfying note. I don't want to spoil anything, but I just liked the ending. (view spoiler)[My favorite part was literally her seeing Evan through the crowd of people. It was one sentence, but something about that felt right. (hide spoiler)]

What kept the book going for me was largely the chapters focused on the present rather than the past. I didn't realize the importance of maybe paying attention to the past chapters until later on in the novel. Even so, I still think many of the past chapters could have been cut. I felt like most of the past chapters just offered a way for the author to highlight how awful the world has become as a cautionary tale more so than just unveiling the events of Naomi and Valerie's past. The "past" chapters, in particular, felt nearly like a heavy-handed lecture telling the reader how awful the world will become if we continue at our current rate of consumption of meat, fossil fuels, waste production, etc. I consider myself liberal, but even for me, many of the past scenes just really drilling down how awful right-wing politicians and capitalism is in our society. I just wish it was a bit more subtle or explored in a way that wasn't so direct.

Other than Naomi, I felt like the rest of the characters were a bit one-dimensional, especially Valerie. (view spoiler)[As the main antagonist, I would have liked to see her better fleshed out. It seemed like the author tried to with the flashback chapters involving Naomi and Valerie, but even then, by the time we got to the end, I couldn't quite believe that she would have such an extreme stance to the point of sacrificing everyone on Earth including her son.  (hide spoiler)]

While I liked the main ending, I kind of wish there was no epilogue. I just didn't find it super necessary. Or if the epilogue could have been cut in half. I didn't want the author to introduce a new character and start to hint at family dynamics within Naomi's life. I liked the closure that we get from how Naomi and Valerie's relationship concluded, but that could have been done in half the amount of pages. 

Even though I didn't LOVE this book, I still liked it and would actually consider re-reading it just to see if I can pick up some hints earlier in the book. I wish I paid more attention to the past chapters only to see if I could have gained better insight on Valerie's personality and her interactions with Naomi prior to the events of the ship. 

----
Original review:
Fairly conflicted about this book... it was an intriguing start but remained incredibly slow until the last third of the novel. Overall a satisfying read that makes me contemplate how we treat Earth.

More review to come later

Joana

This is a book unsettling close to our current world situation. The destruction of the planet caused by climate change, high levels of pollution, wearing masks all the time, evolved forms of known diseases affecting the population. For sure, not a book to read if you want to forget the world outside. Although that is also proof of how well crafted it is.

From politics to moral, capitalism, communism, feminism to environment everything is discussed between the characters. There is amazing commentary throughout the book, as the characters try to understand what exactly is wrong on Earth, to prevent the same happening on Cavendish. And all of it sparked the idea of creating a utopia in the new planet. Although they quickly realize that human nature won’t allow the perfect society to exist.

"… one person’s utopia usually means someone else’s dystopia"

Yet, it was their mission to try and found a new and better society where women weren’t pushed-off, everyone had the same rights, and they preserved the environment.

The scientific aspect of the whole adventure was well detailed without becoming overwhelmingly complicated. I can’t vouch for accuracy, although it was scientific-y enough to get me immersed into the spaceship with them.

I have to say that the plot was a little bit predictable, and I wanted the characters to bump into more complex problems. I guess the idea behind this book is to develop the characters, to express all these different points of view, and create discussion instead of a high-action-close-to-death type of book that I was expecting.

Either way, I sympathised with these women and enjoyed reading some of my thoughts through them. Even though the future seemed dark, they fought for what was right and what they believed was the best for all. And in the end, it left a heartwarming sense of hope that everything will work out.

Lisa Beasley

This was okay but I felt it a little lacking in the backstory area. The women weren't overly likable and tbh the situation on Earth with women facing so much suppression was pretty miserable. Interesting story but not one I will read again.

Goldilocks

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