Review: The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Author: Yume Kitasei
Edition: eARC
Publisher: Flatiron Books (July 18, 2023)
Genre: Adult, Thriller, Science Fiction
Synopsis
They left Earth to save humanity. They’ll have to save themselves first.
It is the eve of Earth’s environmental collapse. A single ship carries humanity’s last hope: eighty elite graduates of a competitive program, who will give birth to a generation of children in deep space. But halfway to a distant but livable planet, a lethal bomb kills three of the crew and knocks The Phoenix off course. Asuka, the only surviving witness, is an immediate suspect.
Asuka already felt like an impostor before the explosion. She was the last picked for the mission, she struggled during training back on Earth, and she was chosen to represent Japan, a country she only partly knows as a half-Japanese girl raised in America. But estranged from her mother back home, The Phoenix is all she has left.
With the crew turning on each other, Asuka is determined to find the culprit before they all lose faith in the mission—or worse, the bomber strikes again.
My Review of The Deep Sky
The Deep Sky is a stunning debut sci-fi thriller that explores the complexity of human relationships in the face of disaster while delivering an enthralling mystery that won’t let you go.
Thank you to Flatiron Books for inviting me to participate in the blog tour and providing me with a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!
A Book That Stayed With Me
The Deep Sky is the kind of book that will stay with me for years to come. If I’m being honest, I’m not sure I can put all my feelings into words, there’s an aspect of this book that you simply have to experience for yourself.
When I first came across The Deep Sky, the stunning cover immediately caught my eye. It’s beautiful, full of the human longing for something bigger than ourselves, and unexpectedly layered – exactly what The Deep Sky is as a story. When I began reading, I expected a thrilling mystery on a spaceship tumbling off course into darkness. What Yume Kitasei delivers is an enthralling locked-room style mystery but also so much more. The Deep Sky is so achingly human, so intimate and connected in the face of the isolated void of space. It’s a stunning debut with complex characters, a twisting mystery, and a delicate mastery of craft.
Within the fast-paced mystery, Yume Kitasei finds pockets of slowness. Barreling through space in one moment, we are brought back to Earth, grounded in flashbacks filled with sensory memories.
An Immersive Adventure
I love a story told non-linearly, in this case with flashbacks. Yume Kitasei handles this dance across timelines with ease and playfulness. Ultimately, the way she weaves sensory experiences into her writing is truly magical and the standout quality of this book.
We get to know the world and its characters through their senses. Both on the Phoenix and back on Earth, Kitasei roots us into the characters’ experiences by exploring their lived-in reality. This makes The Deep Sky incredibly immersive. I have rarely read a book that managed to transport me into a world with all my senses as intensely as this one!
All the sensory details were my favourite aspect of this story. The prevalent use of augmented reality that provides all crew members with their own worlds was a delightful way to explore different settings in the confinement of a spaceship. Additionally, it was a unique way to get to know the various characters through their personal worlds. Ultimately, when Asuka’s augmented reality program malfunctions and she gets access to everyone else’s when she touches them, it creates this shared reality that’s strangely intimate.
A Crew to Root For
Asuka is both Japanese and American, a two-fold identity that contributes to her always feeling out of place and less than. I appreciated how nuanced Yime Kitasei explored Asuka’s feelings regarding her heritage and that at no point either side of her identity feels less important. Asuka gets to exist, in all her multitudes as a complex person.
This complexity was what drew me to Asuka. Yes, I find her constant sense of imposter syndrome deeply relatable. But I particularly loved how Asuka truly gets to contain multitudes and be a jack of all trades. She thinks she’s only good at surviving, but what she really excels at is adapting and solving problems of all kinds. Seeing her grow into those skills and gain confidence across the twisting events of the story was delightful! Additionally, I will always be invested in (and cry about) complex mother-daughter relationships and Asuka’s strained relationship with her mother took me by surprise. I thought it was executed with such nuance and yes, it made me cry. A lot.
I can’t talk about The Deep Sky without at least mentioning how diverse the cast of characters is! Considering all crew members are required to undergo artificial insemination and raise children, it would be easy to assume that this is an all-female crew. However, the Phoenix’ crew includes a range of gender identities, including a trans man (who happens to be German which was particularly delightful to me, a fellow German). The queerness and variety in gender expression are woven into the fabric of the world in a way that made my heart sing!
Ultimately, I adored all the characters in this book. They’re so vibrant and complex in their identities, if not always likable. I found myself invested in all of their stories and rooted for them to save their mission.
Of Hope and Birds
Somewhere in here, there’s a joke about hope and birds, I’m sure of it. My favourite unexpected part of The Deep Sky was the role birds played in the story! If you have ever wanted to learn about birds as a fundamental metaphor for the human relationships in a story, you’re in luck.
The Deep Sky examines humanity at its best and at its worst. In the face of climate disaster, the nations of the world come together for one last ditch effort to save themselves.
But they are also waging wars, destroying the planet, and playing political games. This book wonderfully represents the complexity of humanity, our need to survive, and our longing for something greater than ourselves. The story oscillates between intimate, tender human connections and estranged relationships, reaching across the spectrum of human experiences.
Despite the tense moments and the race against the clock, the destruction of the Earth below: The Deep Sky is a fundamentally hopeful book. It looks at our humanity and our past with a critical eye but also with tenderness. In all the horrors of the world, Yume Kitasei finds beautiful, human moments. The shared glances, the chocolate cake, the promise to create something new.
Overall…
The Deep Sky will have you glued to the page until the very last chapter. Yume Kitasei weaves a space mystery that ambitiously explores earthly disasters and political turmoil, human relationships, and the responsibility we share for each other.
This book is for you if…
…you like sci-fi mysteries with twists and turns and characters to root for.
…you are looking for a book that will make you feel all the feelings about humanity, our planet, and hope.
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