I am truly of two minds about this book. I was entranced by the opening--murder mysteries in space are some of my favorite stories! This one had a twist with the crew being all female and many of them being pregnant. The diversity of the crew was refreshing and handled in such a casual way that it felt natural. Sometimes, when you have an author consciously including diverse characters, they make such a point of it that it feels awkward. Here, we have staff using "they," but the narrative never feels the need to specifically label them as "nonbinary" or "genderfluid."

And yet, it is this very diversity that leads to this book's largest fault: I don't understand the WHY of the crew composition. We got a whole backstory of the crew candidates going through their training, but no one ever explains why someone decided that the crew could only be people who could give birth. What was the worldwide reaction to this decision? There are a few mentions of men's rights groups protesting or attacking the school, but the full reasoning behind selecting only people who can give birth is never explained. I felt unmoored, like I was missing a piece of the puzzle.

For that matter, why do they need to have babies in space? Couldn't they have babies once they arrive at the planet? Babies in space just means more necessary resources and more people who could die if the mission fails. I also felt very uncomfortable with the fact that everyone was expected to give birth. I assume that this was something that the crew agreed to when they enrolled in the academy; yet were the trans and nonbinary crew members all ACTUALLY comfortable being inseminated and giving birth?

I enjoyed the flashback scenes and Asuka's complicated relationship with her mother. I know other readers complain that Asuka wasn't very likeable, but I always enjoy a non-likeable heroine. Her self-doubt resonated with me as a perfectionist who always worries about what other people think. I also liked the inter-chapter selections about birds and how at the dénouement, the reader discovers that yes, they did have a function in the story.

Basically, I think I would have given this five stars had the backstory been more complete and more discussion had about the implications of the forced pregnancies. As it is, I'm going with three.

If Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity was about keeping the mission to a new planet on course instead of coming back to Earth, and had a cast of brilliant women, femmes, and they/thems in a fascinating speculative fiction story that also analyzed race, nationality and identity, you’d get “The Deep Sky” by Yume Kitasei.

Our protagonist, Asuka, is an alternate on a space mission to colonize a new planet after having spent most of her life training for it. Those chosen to board the Phoenix are the best of the best representative of their countries in an act of international cooperation. Tragedy strikes the ship when early on an explosion kills their acting captain, and Asuka is tasked with finding out who the saboteur was, all while trying to desperately get the ship back on track with the limited time and resources they have aboard their ship.

The book is at its best when Kitasei uses the nationality considerations of candidates to discuss the nuances of identity. I also cried a few times on the subway whenever the subject of Asuka’s mom came up, a testament to Kitasei’s effusive and thought prose and felt for so many of the characters in the book when they were dealing with impossible conditions.

Creative and enthralling, Kitasei's action-packed outer space thriller will leave readers begging for a sequel. Perfect for fans of Christopher Paolini or Neal Shusterman!

“The thing is,”Asuka said, “I don’t think this mission is really about preservation. It’s about opportunity. History isn’t this linear, upward trajectory. It’s rises and falls. The Dark Ages. The Enlightenment. Fascism. We climb, and then we fall, each time higher, each time lower. World War II. A United Nations. Nuclear proliferation. Festival of Love. And now—this new world war. Here’s what I know: progress has never been guaranteed. People take it for granted. But there’s no certainty our time on the planet won’t end with us holding a stone axe and just running around naked while the seas swallow everything. But sometimes, there is one moment, where you can go to the moon, or Mars, or do a mission like this, and at that moment you have a choice—you can go or you can stay."

Asuka has grown up in a world that is slowly dying. A rich donor has financed a desperate mission to find and settle a colony on planet X. Asuka and other women compete and train for years for the few spots on what is planned to be a generation ship, where the women will start repopulating the planet.

But there's someone on the ship that seems to be sabotaging them, and Asuka and the others have to stop them before it's too late.

This was a lovely story. There's a lot of heart to it, as we flash back and forth to follow Asukas journey to the ship.

Thank you netgalley and FlatIron books for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an outstanding debut! I went out on a limb in reading a science fiction novel, but this one caught my eye. I am so thankful I did, I was taken for a ride. The premise of starting over is nothing new, but I felt like I was reading a tamed version of The Hunger Games, Project Hail Mary, and a Sherlock Holmes all into one. While reading one can’t help but recognize the ways in which we are already on the pathway of needing to start over somewhere else. People are all in, but once up in space, a bomb explodes, and someone on board is now a terrorist. The mix of modern day issues with future solutions seems so much more real, now, and I could envision this becoming real life one day.
The author had an exquisite way of pulling the reader into the text while weaving in interesting stories, details and scientific facts with descriptive fortitude. I really appreciated the work in describing the augmented reality the characters would take themselves into. Individualized for each person; such beauty, but also at a price.
I look forward to reading another by this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Eighty candidates from countries around the world were sent on a mission to save humanity. Their mission: travel to a distant planet and give birth to the newest generation of humans. After a mysterious bomb goes off and kills three, Asuka, the only surviving witness, is tasked with figuring out who is responsible. The crew slowly starts turning on each other, and Asuka must solve this mystery before the bomber strikes again.

I’ll start this review off by saying that the premise of this book is incredibly interesting. It has some murder-mystery, some terrorism, and it’s all in space. In theory, this should be right up my alley. In practice, not so much. My biggest problem with this book is that I absolutely detest Asuka. Her self-deprecation is constant, and it makes it hard for me to like her as a character. A lot of the problems she has could be solved if she would just suck it up and do what she is supposed to do. She wanted to be on this mission so much, but at the same time she didn’t. She doesn’t want to talk to her mother, but she also does. She skips out on things like therapy (which is mandatory for everyone) and then wonders why she’s sad all of the time. I just can’t get over how much she sucks and how she is doing it to herself and jeopardizing the mission for everyone in the process.

I also had some problems with the pacing of this book. There are whole chapters that are less than one page long dedicated to… bird facts? It doesn’t really add anything to the story and it’s just so awkward. Why do I need to know this? I know that Asuka likes birds and it’s kind of her thing, but I don’t really care about the nesting habits of various birds.

I will say that this book is quite inclusive. The mission was limited to only people who can give birth, not just women. So there are plenty of trans and gender non-conforming characters. I love seeing people like me represented, even if I don’t really care for any other parts of this book.

Overall, this book gets only 2 stars from me. The concept is really cool, but I just hated Asuka so much it really took away from everything else in the book. My hatred for her overshadowed everything else.

Andy Weir gets talked about whenever we talk about modern scifi, so let's talk about him. The Deep Sky is like if Artemis and Project Hail Mary got together and actually made a story worth reading. It's Artemis without the weird sexualization of the main character, and Project Hail Mary without the white savior / hero complex. It had me staying up past my bedtime two nights in a row — I couldn't put it down.

Asuka, our main character, is part of an all nations, all-woman* crew of astronauts who are traveling to another planet to start humanity over.

*And I should be clearer with my language here -- it's actually an all-female-reproductive-parts crew, as some of the crew uses they pronouns, and some are transmen. But everyone on board must be artificially inseminated and give birth during the 10 years they're awake. (Sperm takes up much less space than people-with-male-genitalia.)

Kitasei has taken climate change, grief, the tension in a mother/daughter relationship, the tenuousness of adolescent friendships, and bird facts, and created a beautiful story about trying to save humanity. But that beautiful story is tucked within a high-stakes mystery and thriller, trying to figure out how a bomb was set off onboard their ship. You never forget you're reading a scifi novel.

We toggle back and forth between the crew’s time at the training academy and the present — where Asuka is playing detective. I didn’t want to set this down, and felt that it was evenly paced throughout. Kitasei knew exactly when to end on a cliffhanger or unresolved emotion and jump you to the last cliffhanger or unresolved emotion, from the other timeline.

I could have read another 400 pages of this world and crew.

5 stars. Thank you to Flatiron and Netgalley for my ARC.

Asuka is on a ship traveling to Planet X along with 80 others in hopes to start the first colony in space. Story is told by switching between her years in the training/selection program and her time on the ship. On the ship, there is an explosion and she helps to discover the perpetrator. That’s the plot summary, but this novel is more than that.

Some of the reviews say the focus is on pregnancy (everyone is required to have at least one child), but I found that to be more of a background piece than important plot point.

The book did lull in the middle for me, but it started and ended with me devouring the pages.

Features diversity, strong and complex female characters, struggles with identity and culture, the struggle between competition and cooperation.

I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to friends and patrons.

For fans of “The Handmaid’s Tale’, and books of dangerous sci-fi missions to save planet Earth, this story will CAPTIVATE. The premise is extremely unique in “The Deep Sky” where Author Yume Kitasei’s debut mixes using young women as breeding vessels in deep outer space where a terrorist bombing occurs. The main character, Asuka, is now hanging by a tether alone, outside of the destroyed space complex, with only 3% of air left. Then 1%....

Opening up with this gut-wrenching cliffhanger, and I was beyond hooked. The story unfolds with the same tension, and emotional backstories that left me broken. With a very culturally diverse set of characters, Asuka must find out how to save herself, and the crew from a villian who could strike again, at any time. She only was sent into outer space to help repopulate a new society, and this was never in her game plan.

Asuka’s adventure, mixed with her memories of her mother and family, made this a huge five out of five stars book for me. It is rare that a book hooks into me like this. I would highly recommend this book to older teens/YA,, and to be opted for film or TV series. It will also help anyone who experiences loss & difficult family dynamics. A fictional main character many will relate to.

Asuka’s journey through the plot twists and turns, made my heart beat wildly. A wild ride I didn’t expect but now wish I could do all over again!

Thank you to Flatiron Books via NetGalley for this arc. I read this voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

This is the science fiction story you never knew you needed!

With the world slowly dying, one wealthy individual uses her funds and technology to sponsor a last ditch effort to send humans to a new planet. As the ship hurtles to the new planet it seems there my be a person or persons on board looking to sabotage the mission. What is different in this story? This wealthy individual chose only women, young women that were trained as girls.

I am not sure I have ever read a sci-fi story featuring only females. I absolutely believed and loved the story and world Yume Kitasei created!
Like all women, Yume's main character Asuka, suffers from imposter syndrome, and questions herself at every turn. She is half Japanese, half American and still searches for connections. The flashbacks to training camp give more and more clues to the the characters and their motives on the ship. Can Asuka determine who is working against them before it is too late?

If you love science fiction and space, identify with imposter feelings or second guessing yourself or just want to read a luminous novel about humanity's last chance, The Deep Sky is for you! #Flatiron

I had a hard time with this book.
Yes it was deeply unsettling.
And I loved the diverse set of characters the representation was fantastic.
World building and sci-fi aspects were well developed.
The only issue I have with this book is it took me a long time to read. I know it is a me problem so I do recommend this book.
Just something about it took me forever to read. But I cannot place why.
Regardless, this was well done especially for a debut.

The Deep Sky is a high stakes sci-fi mystery that I absolutely adored! Asuka is participating in a space colony mission to Planet X, but very quickly at the start of the novel there is an explosion that throws the ship off course, and the crew suspects a traitor. The story is very fast-paced, and it also jumps back to show the experiences of Asuka and the rest of the crew as they went through the application and training process before departing on their journey. There is a great cast of diverse characters representing multiple countries as well as multiple queer characters. As a Japanese American myself, I found I related to Asuka’s struggle of feeling kind of stuck between these two cultures. (And I was delighted to find dialogue in Japanese sprinkled in when Asuka is speaking to other Japanese characters.) The Deep Sky also delves into topics such as fertility, friendships falling apart, and complicated relationships with parents. This is a very solid debut novel, and I’m looking forward to read more work by this author in the future!

DNF @ 10%; TW for Pregnancy and Infertility


Deeply uncomfortable by the plot point where every member of the space crew has to be artificially inseminated and raise children. One of the main traits of the MC is that she is unable to become pregnant, and that she is relieved but everyone feels bad for her. I thought I would be able to move past it, but I DNF-ed at the scene where one character has the procedure done against her will (she cooperates but internal monologue is about how she doesn’t want it to happen).

HOLY COW this is one ambitious as hell of a debut novel, DEBUT! I am obsessed with space, black holes, isolated horror, (The Martian is one of my favorite books of all time so this was right up my alley!) There was SO MUCH that I loved about The Deep Sky..

This book actually filled me with existential dread in the best kind of way because Kitasei created a future that feels insanely and eerily possible which is terrifying as all hell, The tech on the ship honestly doesn't feel far off with where we are with artificial intelligence at present time especially with it being in the news so much just in these last few weeks.

The only thing I slightly struggled with was that the book jumps timelines between the past and present but that's more of a ME problem that a problem with the book. However that was at most a very minor inconvenience as I was SO IMPRESSED with how Kitasei built out this completely fictional world with brand new technology and crafted a whole new geopolitical situation for Earth and also managed to include diverse characters to boot! I've never read anything quite like this before and I look forward to seeing what they come out with next! 4.75/5 stars!

I saved this book for my vacation, as I thought it might be good and I knew I'd have some longish flights. I wanted to the chance to really savor it--which is how I found myself bawling in the middle of a crowded plane, tears soaking through my mask, somewhere in the airspace between my hometown and Mexico.

I don't know what to say about this book. It has *everything*--drama, humor, heartbreak, stunning twists. There were so many places I audibly gasped. The language is gorgeous and the plotting and pacing an absolute masterwork.

And as a mixed-race Asian American person, I can honestly say that I can't think of another book that captured the bittersweetness of the experience so perfectly--the complicated family dynamics, the confusion, longing, triumph, anger, sadness, and hope. What it means to have, not divided loyalties, but *complex* ones. There is no universal Asian American experience, of course--but I found the one depicted here to ring absolutely true. I'm literally crying *now*, weeks later, as I attempt to write my review. Thank you so much for this book, I really treasured it. <3

I love sci-fi and Yume Kitasei’s debut novel, The Deep Sky, establishes her firmly within the genre.
The Phoenix is a settler ship with a crew of 80 who have been training together through their childhoods to leave Earth for a new future.

Told through alternating timelines between the present on the ship, that has gone off course, and the past 10 years before launch you learn about Asuka and her time in school. You see how this crew came to be, the lengths they went to be a part of this voyage, and the present as they try to correct their course toward the only hope they have.

If you like the Martian, and Project Hail Mary, you’re going to love The Deep Sky. It is filled with amazing world building, on earth and on the ship, and a cast of characters to love and question their motives. I can’t wait to see what Kitasei writes next.

I liked it! There was a solid amount of intrigue. The world that was built up was futuristic but believable. I did find some of the plot reveals to be a little underwhelming (the “impostor” felt painfully obvious) but there were also some aspects that were really unique and refreshing, like the usage of birds to relay important information. I wish there was more time to flesh out the political scene happening on Earth, since I felt like the tensions were only ever described in a broad sense. I also wish the characters were slightly more developed - it was kind of weird how the ship had 80 people but really only 10ish people who mattered.

Received a free copy from Netgalley.

Not only is The Deep Sky an action-filled mystery set in space, but it also grapples with things like imposter syndrome, cultural identity, and survivor’s guilt. The characters Yume Kitasei has created are vivid and complex.

The first half reminded me a little of Artemis by Andy Weir, but The Deep Sky ultimately feels more meaningful and memorable.

It’s an incredible debut.

Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for providing me with an arc for my unbiased review!

This is every ounce my genre, but it fell a little flat despite that. I really like a lot of the atmosphere, while not enjoying the characters, which leaves me at odds with how I feel in the end. More space fiction is never a bad thing, though.

Sabotage in space makes for a good mix of sci-fi, mystery, and people in mortal peril due to a significant limit of resources. The Deep Sky takes this mix of threads and puts them in the hands of Asuka, last picked as a member of this unique mission to send life to another planet in the hopes of saving humanity. As an alternate, Asuka struggles with a lot of questions as to her place in the crew and the ship, and even her relationship with herself and her family history.

The story was fast-paced, had good characters (even though in some regards it felt like they were talking at each other rather than to or with each other), and an underlying simmer of distrust. As a whole this was engaging, and Asuka carried the plot.