Title: This World Is Not Yours
Author: Kemi Ashing-Giwa
Genre: Adult, sci-fi, horror
Publication date: September 10th 2024
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Source: eARC from publisher via Netgalley
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Synopsis: This World is Not Yours by USA Today bestseller Kemi Ashing-Giwa is the perfect blend of S.A. Barnes' space horror and Cassandra Khaw's beautiful but macabre worlds. An action-packed, inventive novella about a toxic polycule consumed by jealousy and their attempts to survive on a hostile planet.
After fleeing her controlling and murderous family with her fiancée Vinh, Amara embarks on a colonization project, New Belaforme, along with her childhood friend, Jesse.
The planet, beautiful and lethal, produces the Gray, a “self-cleaning” mechanism that New Belaforme’s scientists are certain only attacks invasive organisms, consuming them. Humans have been careful to do nothing to call attention to themselves until a rival colony wakes the Gray.
As Amara, Vinh, and Jesse work to carve out a new life together, each is haunted by past betrayals that surface, expounded by the need to survive the rival colony and the planet itself.
There’s more than one way to be eaten alive.
This world is as brutal and unforgiving as it is beautiful.
In my neverending quest to find some good sci-fi horror, I came across this one. And I was so excited I stumbled upon it because right in the synopsis it compared it to the space horror novels by S.A. Barnes, novels that I have really enjoyed. However, I didn’t end up loving this novella as much as I thought I would.
I LOVED the concept of this novella though! People fighting for their lives on a planet that is fighting back?? That is just SO cool! But my problem with this book stems from the fact that the horror aspect of this sci-fi horror didn’t really start until about the 51% mark.
This book felt a lot more like a domestic drama and that is just NOT what I signed up for. I was wondering if this was my fault for thinking this book was something it wasn’t. But reading back the synopsis, no! I wish it would’ve clarified that the drama played a much bigger role in the novella than is actually mentioned. It was just disappointing because instead of the horror I was expecting, I got jealousy, pettiness, and just non-stop family drama. And the synopsis does mention jealousy and a toxic polycule, which is all well and good. But it’s NOT all well and good when that’s all I got in the first 50% of the freaking book!
And speaking of toxic relationships, good god did dislike following Vinh and Amara. And the reason why is because we are told SO much that they love each other and this and that, and I just didn’t see it!! Why? Because we were told not shown. Amara may be a biologist, but she had no chemistry with her wife 😆
There was nothing but toxicity and hiding things from one another... it was wild! And their friend Jesse was... weird. I did not understand him or his intent with the girls AT ALL.
All that being said, I did not hate this book. I thought it was fine, if not a bit frustrating. The little horror we got was good, but there was a lot more that could’ve been done with it! There was so much potential there! I also loved the premise of the story and I really liked the concept of the Gray and how this planet was “self-cleansing.” All that was very interesting. But because of all the unexpected domestic drama, I was just kinda hoping the planet with get rid of all the humans by the end. They were annoying. Lol.
This book felt a lot more like a domestic drama and that is just NOT what I signed up for. I was wondering if this was my fault for thinking this book was something it wasn’t. But reading back the synopsis, no! I wish it would’ve clarified that the drama played a much bigger role in the novella than is actually mentioned. It was just disappointing because instead of the horror I was expecting, I got jealousy, pettiness, and just non-stop family drama. And the synopsis does mention jealousy and a toxic polycule, which is all well and good. But it’s NOT all well and good when that’s all I got in the first 50% of the freaking book!
And speaking of toxic relationships, good god did dislike following Vinh and Amara. And the reason why is because we are told SO much that they love each other and this and that, and I just didn’t see it!! Why? Because we were told not shown. Amara may be a biologist, but she had no chemistry with her wife 😆
There was nothing but toxicity and hiding things from one another... it was wild! And their friend Jesse was... weird. I did not understand him or his intent with the girls AT ALL.
All that being said, I did not hate this book. I thought it was fine, if not a bit frustrating. The little horror we got was good, but there was a lot more that could’ve been done with it! There was so much potential there! I also loved the premise of the story and I really liked the concept of the Gray and how this planet was “self-cleansing.” All that was very interesting. But because of all the unexpected domestic drama, I was just kinda hoping the planet with get rid of all the humans by the end. They were annoying. Lol.
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