I received an ARC copy for review from NetGalley.

The Deep Sky is a propulsive thriller set in space. My heart was racing from the get-go, and I think the combination of voice and pacing made this an excellent (and nerve wracking read). A explosion occurs very early on, causing a rift and district among the crew (in deep space of course). I found myself guessing and feeling the anxiety of the characters throughout the novel, as well as the deep guilt of surviving in such a devastating environment. Overall, it hit all the notes I love (suspense, an emotional ride, & an immersive voice).

This was disappointing. I really thought I would love this. The writing is incredible and the all female crew space setting felt like it was made for me. The story just didn't go as far as I would of liked I felt like there was this huge lead and the ending left me wondering if I needed to have read this. I feel like as a low expectations space adventure it was fun but it's not mind blowing.

An Entire World Inside Your Head: The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei

There have been enough generation ship stories by now that readers are accustomed to humanity’s chance for the future falling into two categories: either the most intelligent, highly trained, mentally and emotionally resilient platonic ideal of an astronaut and future planet settler; or an every(wo)man who stumbles their way into the mission yet wins everyone over with their sheer relatability and unexpected insights. But what if you were among the cream of the crop… but fell just short of being the very best Earth had to offer?

On the Phoenix, a generation ship ten years into its mission carrying eighty crew members to Planet X, Asuka Hoshino-Silva is an Alt—the mission’s alternate, not hand-picked for any specific job but good enough that she can do in a pinch. Representing Japan despite feeling more connected to the United States based on her childhood spent in climate refugee camps, Asuka is an immediately compelling heroine because of the demanding standards to which she holds herself and her belief that she has already fallen short. When a bomb damages the Phoenix, killing three promising crew members but sparing Asuka, it makes her simultaneously the top suspect and the only one who can solve the mystery of who might be sabotaging EvenStar’s mission, in Yume Kitasei’s absorbing debut sci-fi thriller.

But while it’s a physical bomb that goes off, the Phoenix is a fascinating emotional powder keg before anyone flips a switch. Kitasei layers in a decade of thorny history among the diverse and talented crew—not a cis man among them, per mission protocol—who were selected by their respective home countries then thrown into a boarding school-slash-training academy while Earth was being consumed by wildfires and tsunamis around them. The flashbacks to their competitive adolescence lay the groundwork for the present intrigue, including why Asuka isn’t talking to her former best friend Ruth anymore, why she hasn’t read any of her mother’s letters, or how she wound up in her thankless role playing floater to her peers after they all woke up from a decade in stasis.

It also fills in the most captivating aspect of the worldbuilding, which is the DAR, or Digitally Augmented Reality. Not so far off from Google Glass and other VR headsets, the DAR is introduced during the girls’ adolescence and has about the same impact as the Internet did on Millennials who hazily remember the time before—that is, it’s equally likely to expand their universes as to contract them. To wit: Every EvenStar crew member gets a shiny implant (upgraded from the clunky headsets back home) and free rein to customize it to their heart’s content. Even Asuka, whose family was gutted by a DAR-related tragedy, cannot resist the opportunity to make the Phoenix a little less claustrophobic by being able to revisit special places she had to leave behind.

That means that each crew member is constantly moving through the ship in their own uniquely-skinned world. When Asuka’s DAR starts glitching post-explosion, she discovers that physical contact with another person will allow her to see through their eyes, or rather their DAR—train stations and undersea kingdoms and fantasy realms. It’s a brilliant way to explore this notion of even the closest colleagues hiding in their own worlds, and the knowledge that you can sleep, breathe, and eat next to someone for years without knowing what’s really going on in their head.

It’s also an imaginative take on the typical detective-questioning-suspects story beats, as each person reveals far more than they say through what their subconscious conjures up. Not to mention that the Phoenix has veered far enough off-course that they risk running out of fuel reserves long before they reach Planet X. So while Asuka has added Private Eye to her list of Alt duties, she must also pitch in on the kind of scenario their EvenStar Academy training never practiced.

And they do all this while pregnant. EvenStar’s mission parameters require each crew member (including nonbinary people and trans men) to carry as many pregnancies as they can over the next decade, regardless of assigned role on the station. This makes for wonderful texture in already high-pressure scenes, where the chief engineer trying to steer them back on-course might suddenly vomit from morning sickness, or the acting captain has to pause in the middle of a stirring speech to wince and rub at swollen joints, since she’s eight months pregnant with twins. Their condition never stops them from doing the important work, but it also makes it a hell of a lot harder.

That’s what makes Asuka stand out even more. She’s already been inseminated more than once since the start of the mission, with no luck, and has begun to fear that her fertility is not up to snuff. (The real misfortune being that despite all the tests EvenStar did into supposed health and egg reserves, there was no way to really know how these women’s bodies would react until they were on the mission.) Interestingly, despite Asuka and her core group of allies—Ruth, her new girlfriend Lala, acting captain Ying Yue—utilizing the currently-empty Nursery for key confabs, there’s never any talk of who will be raising these children once they’re born, or how the Phoenix crew will shift into a different sort of village as each irreplaceable crew member must return to her job full-time. A telling omission that speaks volumes about the chasm between intention and reality of this and other missions to propagate the human race somewhere other than terra firma.

The dynamics among these quasi-sisters, as well as the pressure on some idealized fertility and babymaking cycle, brings to mind the fierce Sparrows at the heart of Emily Tesh’s Some Desperate Glory. But just like on Gaia Station, the EvenStar mission is built on its own problematic foundation and ingrained biases. Kitasei makes even the most fleeting characters three-dimensional, which includes not shying away from the racist attitudes and nasty competitive streaks they picked up from their respective cultures planet-side. Even if one of the deceased is ruled out as a suicide bomber, the fact that she had a tattoo for the far-right MAC (or Militia for the American Constitution) marks her as a saboteur of sorts when it comes to humanity working together to find a new home.

The flashbacks to Asuka’s mother getting drawn into environmental activism cult Save Mother Earth will resonate with those who have seen parents subsumed by QAnon, especially as SME hunts for supposed patterns and messages from the universe that EvenStar founder, DAR inventor, and trillionaire Linda Trembling is somehow malevolent. Yet despite the comparisons, it’s even more wrenching because ostensibly, an activist group to save the planet should be the right idea. Asuka and her mother want the same thing—a future for humanity—but are hopelessly at cross-purposes in trying to achieve the goal from their respective spots.

Theirs is the beating heart at the core of the story, even as the Phoenix crew has to figure out how to put aside their petty bullshit and save themselves. By the time Asuka, in full detective mode, has narrowed down the suspects according to motive, means, and opportunity, it becomes somewhat clear who the saboteur is. But because you’ve grown to care about these young pioneers, and because their survival relies on operating in a constant state of trust-fall, the emotional fallout is still destabilizing.

The Deep Sky is just really readable and engaging. Kitasei has put so much thought and heart into this fresh take on the generation ship, and on the dilemma between abandoning Earth and prolonging humanity. I can’t wait to see what her mind sparks to next.

4⭐
Wow. This book was so good! I love a good Sci-Fi book and this one was perfect. The character's journey to find herself was heartwarming. I truly enjoyed this story and loved the writing.

The protagonist's journey in finding her path away from the expectation of parental control, cultural pressure, and her own desire was relatable. I love the sci-fi component mixed with literary tone and murder mystery in deep space! A fun read and thought provoking c:

See my review in Nov/Dec 2023 issue of Analog Science Fiction: https://www.analogsf.com/current-issue/the-reference-library/

The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei is an intriguing novel that takes place in space. I definitely recommend it to those who want an intriguing, epic novel.

First, thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for an eArc for this title in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Overall, I enjoyed it. It's right up one of my (admittedly many) alleys, genre-wise, and the writing is stunning! The atmosphere and setting for me were the two standouts of "The Deep Sky"! Also... the timelines? Fantastic! I loved how it was structured--it kept my interests pretty consistently, but I just think Yume Kitasei's writing is the star here. While there were some hiccups for me, points where it seemed to lag a little bit, it was overall a great read!

I am an absolute sucker for a space thriller and, while not one of the best in the genre, I'd easily recommend The Deep Sky to anyone else looking for an engaging sci-fi mystery. It follows all the beats you expect, but Yume Kitasei still manages to take you on a fun ride.

Eighty elite graduates of a competitive program are on one single ship as humanity's last hope of
survival. These eighty people are expected to give birth to a new generation as they travel to a new,
livable planet. But things do not go as expected because halfway through their travel, a lethal bomb
happens to knock their ship, The Phoenix of course as well as kills three crew members. Asuka is the only surviving witness and immediately becomes a suspect.

The Deep Sky seemed like an interesting sci-fi thriller but it ultimately fell flat for me.

I enjoyed seeing a diverse cast of characters and they were bordering the more complex side but could have been fleshed out a smidge more.

With the Deep Sky, it is told in alternating chapters where it would focus on the past and current events. With the constant past and present chapters, it became jarring to the point it created an uneven pace and it made me lose focus and interest pretty quick.

Ultimately I felt pretty indifferent about the Deep sky. I neither loved it nor hated it.

Many people who are fans of thrillers and mysteries will probably enjoy The Deep Sky even with the si-fi element.

7/10

I like a good sci-fi space novel and this falls right into that sweet spot.

The premise is that the world is falling apart from man’s destruction. There are 80 people who have been selected to travel far into space to a planet that can hold life, and build a new humanity.

I believe it’s all women on the ship because the goal is for them all to give birth on the trip there.

Anyhoo, the story opens with Asuka and others doing a space walk when I bomb explodes. Asuka is the only one of the group that survives.

Meanwhile, the explosion set the ship off course - which is really bad- and in the meantime chaos has unfolded as everybody is blaming everyone else for the terrorist act.

Humanity’s survival depends on the women making it to the planet.

It’s a good story. It’s a scary story. It’s a great debut.

#netgalley #thedeepsky

3.5

There was so much to love about this debut space thriller! The plot was fast paced and twisty, and I found myself wanting to constantly turn the pages, and I really liked the way Yume Kitasei developed Asuka as a main character. The dual timeline of the mystery in space and the flashbacks of training was done well and I never found myself wishing I was in one timeline over the other. That being said, I really did not understand the bird fact interludes, and I found that a lot of the side characters felt very similar.

I liked the thematic conversations happening in this book. Asuke is Japanese-American and struggles with feeling not Japanese enough and not American enough and is dealing with a mother who has bought into radical conspiracy theories. The generational divide in ideologies and the general existential dread (because of humanity or climate change or what have you) dealt with in this book was so well done.

Overall, I had a great time with this and am very interested in what Yume Kitasei writes next!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this advanced copy.

This book was enjoyable even though there was no memorable aspects for me.

An excellent debut book about a ship that has left Earth due to the environmental problems occurring. We follow Asuka as she tries to figure out which crewmember set off a bomb which killed three crew members. The book is written in third person focusing on Asuka and switches from the present to her past throughout the novel.

I thought the author excelled at creating realistic characters and relationships. The way the characters interacted brought the story to life and makes the story much more realistic and enjoyable. The plot is intriguing and filled with mystery and has a hint of thriller mixed in. I also enjoyed the writing as it seemed to flow smoothly as a creek. The author excels at action and cliffhangers.

There is strong language throughout the novel and other themes that may be inappropriate for younger audiences.

The ending, while not totally closed off, is still satisfying and feels resolved. Overall I enjoyed the book a lot. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a thriller science fiction novel with lots of mystery and complex relationships.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this Advanced Reading Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out strong for me, but petered out and I lost interest. Unfortunately I did not finish it, but maybe I'll pick it up again. Thank you for the opportunity.

This book was stunningly gorgeous and absolutely riveting. I was holding my breath through the last six chapters. I loved the multicultural cast, the variety of genders and presentations, and the complex worldbuilding. My favorite types of science fiction stories are the ones with warm, beating hearts and this one is exactly that.

One of the best sci-fi novels I've read in a long time!! The premise of artificial intelligence forming emotional attachments is interesting. How do you teach or program empathy?

THOUGHTS:
- Loved the alternating timeline snippets exploring what collapsed world powers would look like!!

- I also really liked that this was from a new adult perspective. Somewhat naive and innocent even though clearly highly intelligent. It's like we witness their emotional intelligence grow even though surrounded only by a group of their peers. There's no one to model their behavior after... so in a new world - the entire civilization would be patterned off of how this crew interprets the world!!

**Thank you to Flatiron Books & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

I was hooked on this pretty much from the get go. The story cleverly mixes timelines so you feel like you really get to know the main character Asuka. I was hooked through the whole story waiting to figure out who did what. I would definitely recommend this!

The Deep Sky follows Asuka, an alternate crew member on the first mission to send humanity to a new world. After a bomb nearly kills her and knocks the ship off course, Asuka is assigned by the captain to investigate the rest of the crew.

I almost chose to DNF this around 45%. Let me start by saying I'm really picky about thriller/mystery, but I love science fiction.

The first half of the book focuses on the mystery and (too many) flashbacks. These flashbacks felt repetitive and only some truly added to the story. I'm not sure if I even took away the correct message from these flashbacks- were the crew never properly trained? Because they certainly don't act like they were. At the 45% mark, I was convinced this was a psychological thriller in space and not a sci fi mystery.

The second half finally had more action (and more importantly, the sci fi I wanted), and there were less flashbacks. I had guessed the culprit correctly, but the reason behind it was so frustrating.

I really wanted to enjoy this. The premise sounded interesting and science fiction is my favorite genre. I felt as if The Deep Sky tried to be too many things: a psychological thriller, an action thriller, sci fi, and dystopian- which took away from the story. Maybe this just wasn't for me, and I do think thriller fans will enjoy The Deep Sky more than sci fi fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As Earth falls to environmental disasters, a spaceship takes off with the only hope of humanity’s future: 80 carefully selected young people meant to build the next generation. But when a bomb goes off onboard, killing three and shifting the spaceship’s path, Asuka, who barely made the cut for the mission in the first place, is the only surviving witness of the accident. If she wants save the future of humanity, Asuka must find out who’s really sabotaging their mission and find a way to get the spaceship back on course.

This novel has all the most compelling aspects of a locked-door mystery and outer spacey sci-fi, plus a dash of The Hunger Games. I was completely hooked from the beginning, and it kept me guessing all the way to the last page. I want a whole TV series based on this premise that shows us what happens after the end of the book! Thank you Yume Kitasei for helping me embrace my sci-fi girlie era!