This was a nice story, with disabled representation. I enjoyed being in space for the duration. Found it little overwritten, but it's a novella with heart. Did not particularly like any of the characters, and found the story to drag a little.

Thank you to Vertvolta Press and to Netgalley for the ARC.

I was hoping that “Nebula Vibrations” by Annie Carl would have ended up in a different place. While the story had promise, the ending (without giving anything away) seemed forced and although that square peg fit into the round hole, I was left wanting more. It appears this is the author’s first novel (or novella) and it will be interesting to see what she does next. This is a tale that has me in the middle of the road, as it is one of those stories that while I may not heartily recommend it, you might think it is wonderful. Three stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Vertvolta Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.

A good and a quick read. It starts slowly, but is dense in some ways, and it has a satisfying ending. Nicely done.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!

This sci-fi novella (novelette?) does a great job of fitting the scope of the story to its short format, with a compelling mystery and decision that the main character has to make. The real strength of the book, though, is how it explores disability and ableism on this generation starship, bringing up a lot of interesting issues. I struggled with immersion in the story, though, since there were quite a few times where believability was stretched for me with characters doing or saying things that didn't make sense given how they'd been established, or world building that just didn't quite check out for me. That ended up bringing me out of the story multiple times, but I know other readers who didn't have any issues with that, so it could just be a personal thing. Worth giving the book a try given the neat ideas it explores, in any case!

Thanks to NetGalley and Vertvolta Press for the review copy.

Content Warnings:
ableism, kidnapping, illness, death, ecological disaster

<i>Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy. </i>
A quick and easy first contact story. It features an own voices protagonist with a physical disability.
Well thought out, entertaining, and a little quirky.
Worth checking out.

This is a review for an eARC of ‘Nebula Vibrations’ by Annie Cart, received via NetGalley. Thank you to the publisher. Below are my own opinions. 

A very fitting name for this original and fresh piece of a (space opera) science fiction. Totally recommend for fans of the genre and first contact who are looking for a short work with room to grow. 

Wow! I did not expect that ending, it managed to surprise me. It wasn’t that predictable, and I did try to guess how it’ll play off. 
I’m still not sure how I feel about it, it seems a bit uncalled for and harsh. 
I was hoping that instead of totally abandoning all the rest of space-faring-humanity, the original Earthers will try to somehow help the rest while also living their own lives. 

This also brings up the discussion of regulating human populations and individuals, humanity’s impact on Earth, Colonialism (universe and planet wise), ablism and possibly eugenics. 

Since this is quite short, it’s mostly an introduction of the concept, just a small taste, so the ‘conclusion’ is open-ended, and leaves you with some unanswered questions and a taste for more. I’ll read more from this author about this universe. This could also potentially make a great pilot for a tv series.

Overall, it’s an interesting concept, but the execution could use a bit more polishing, like with pacing. 

Great disability rep.
Also, I always appreciate older main characters, it’s very rare to find, that includes books. 
Mari gives off vibes similar to Sophie from Howel’s Moving Castle (the movie, not so much from the book). 

There were few typos here and there. The worst was when “their” was written as “they’re”. an extra round of editing or beta reading would pick that up easily. But who am I to judge, I make a ton of these mistake myself.

This was delightful! It's very short, at only about 60 pages, but it was very entertaining and packs quite a bit in.

I loved Mari as a main character! She was a reclusive disabled sci-fi author until she woke up on a space ship centuries in the future and must face a real life alien first contact. She is grumpy and snarky and I loved her. I also loved the themes surrounding disability and ablism.

Overall, I thought this was a great quick read, though I think I would love it even more if it were expanded out.

What a great short (~60 page) story!

The less you know going in the better so I'll keep the premise simple: Mari wakes up on a spaceship and knows something has gone very, very wrong.

There's so much to love! Mari is a wonderful protagonist, the worldbuilding is solid, and Carl gives the secondary characters satisfying depth despite the low page count. The exploration of the nature of disability and ableism may be my favorite part, though. Not to mention the ending!

A one sitting read that I can see myself revisiting - just what I needed at the end of a stressful day.

I thought this short story was pretty good. It definitely kept my attention the whole time and I was able to read through it pretty quickly. The mystery around the aliens' real intentions regarding the humans was very compelling and it kept up the suspense until the big reveal at the end. I did notice some minor spelling errors but I think that is to be expected with an uncorrected proof like this. I did also find the ending to be a bit abrupt and wish it was a little more fleshed out, but it did not ruin my reading experience. Overall, I would say this was a pretty solid sci-fi story with an interesting protagonist.

What a delightful novella! This definitely qualifies as a hidden gem.

This tells the story of a disabled woman who wakes up in a first contact situation. I really can't get detailed since this is such a short book (even for a novella). Suffice it to say, I loved the main character, the world building, the mystery of the situation, and the ending. This really worked for me!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Sexual violence? No. Other content warnings? Kidnapping

This short novella follows Mari; a disabled and grumpy sci-fi author who's kidnapped from her farm and wakes up on a spaceship centuries in the future. The story contains everything you want in this sort of read; a destroyed earth, advanced technology and alien life.

Despite the fast pace I felt like it started out a bit slow, but at the end of the read I was really invested in the story and didn't want it to end. I love stories set in space and everything sciency, so this was right up my alley! The only thing I felt missing was some depth, but I guess that's also a part of short novellas. I recommend this if you're looking for a quick read set in space!

Rating: 3,5/5

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC!

Mari is ripped from her average retired life and wakes up centuries in the future trapped on a ship in space. She is unsurprisingly cranky about the sequence of events that led her to this situation. When she is awoken from stasis she is informed that she is the last hope for humanity as there is a potentially hostile alien race in an adjacent ship.

This was a fun read, but I would have loved to see more character development as I was starting to get quite invested in the characters. I would love to see more about Mari's new life and if the Grush kept their promises.

This novella started out a little slow, but by the end, I completely loved it. This story follows Mari, a disabled woman from the near future, who was kidnapped from her time and brought out of stasis on a spaceship hundreds of years in the future. Captain Trevow tells her that she is the only one left who can save them because an alien race lethally interferes with the biochip that most of humanity has, excluding Mari, who's disability prevents her form having a biochip of her own.

The first third is a basically a conversation between Mari and Trevow, but Mari's inquisitive nature and anger at her treatment instantly make her a sympathetic character. She served as very relatable introduction this future world. The humans she interacts with in this future are equally thankful that she doesn't have the biochip, and shocked that someone can have disabilities. It becomes clear that Mari isn't the first person to be taken out of stasis to talk to the alien race, and that the humans don't really care about the well being of the people without biochips, as long as they can find a new planet to repopulate.

I read the second half so slowly because I didn't want to finish it. I didn't want the story to end, and I kept wishing it was longer! I highly recommend it, and I'll definitely be checking out more of Annie Carl's work. Her world building and characterization were incredible.

Author Annie Carl packs a punch in her 60-something page debut novella. I mean, would I have read 400+ more pages of this story? Absolutely. Happily. But Carl knew what story she wanted to tell and stuck to it. I loved the reluctant protagonist Mari, and her searing critiques of ableism. This novella is excellent for readers who have never picked up a scifi novel or have read them all, with a fresh worldview and clear worldbuilding.

A big thank you to the author for my review copy, Nebula Vibrations is read now on @netgalley and publishes October 25, 2022.

I loved the concept of this 64 page novella: Mari, a snarky sci-fi author who has lived life in relative peace on her farm, wakes up in space hundreds of years from her present. This was fast and fun and an adventure. It also examines ableism, something we don't see enough of in speculative fiction.

Three rather than more stars for lack of emotional depth. The writing style seemed pretty unintentionally utilitarian: more Dennis Taylor than, say, Ted Chiang. We don’t get a lot of emotional depth despite these big, traumatic things happening to Mari. I’d rather a book be starkly utilitarian or understand the character’s emotions; here we’re told how Mari is feeling often but it doesn’t feel real. It’s either too fleeting or too surface or too much telling rather than showing.

That’s just me, though—I think there are lots of folks who’d love this one.

At the end of the day, this was imaginative, and I gobbled it up. I look forward to reading more from Annie Carl.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vertvolta Press!

Unfortunately, as I don't have Librarian privileges there. I can't put this book on Goodreads and review it there.

This is a very good sci-fi novella touching on issues of prejudice. It would make a good full length novel.