Don’t get distracted by the name of this post because you should read what your heart tells you to read.
However, if you are unsure if you should invest your money and time in getting and reading this book, you might want to read about my experience with it.
Should I read Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K Jarboe?
Welcome to another chapter of “Should I read that book”? Where I tried to read it, and I failed miserably! If you are interested in knowing my experience with it, dive into it!
First and most subjective opinion, I am not the best at getting into books of short stories or a compilation of stories. I need exposition, character development, criticism, a climax, and sometimes a good resolution. Story compilations like this one might not always have that. I get confused by leaving one story without a solid ground of why, what, who, where, and how. I dove into this book not knowing what it was about, like most of the books I read, and I have been surprised in the past. In this case? Total confusion. My brain can’t disconnect one “chapter” from the other. I think that is why I like the Amazon Original Story compilation because they offer them free, separate, and with more built-up around it.
Second of all, the stories, I read, lack some purpose. I tried to read deeper or to find the connections in the story, the message, and the logic of writing them, and besides a rejection of religion, which I am fine with, it happened only in one. I see the intent of calling out body dysmorphia or showing the mind of the transgender teenager by “playing” with the pronouns (he/him versus how the body is shown to the world). Also, how menstruation can be a burden and a terrible pain for different people; however, those are general ideas from reading 20% of the book. Nothing in concrete, nothing you could love. I found myself going back to different stories to understand if I missed something or if I was not paying full attention, and no. The story sometimes did not do it for me.
Then when I checked a reading app, I saw people sharing similar opinions and pointing out that around 3 to 5 stories were worth reading from all the book, which makes me wonder if I really wanted to skip the rest or struggle to read them in order. Although Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel is around 200 pages, I prefer to try my luck with another book. I see how the author can take 2 of the stories to the next level. The potential of them becoming a complete novel with a variety of rounded characters, a well-founded setting, and a more defined purpose.
These were my reactions and thoughts on how I processed the book, the writing style, the purpose, and so on with this collection. However, at no point, I am disregarding the efforts or the work it took to write them. If you want to ignore me, do it. If you want to faithfully believe in me, by all means. However, you decide in the end.
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