Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC copy of the book.

This book, to me, ends up reading more as a murder/sabotage mystery in space, as opposed to thriller or even horror that I've seen some tag it as.

If I didn't get an ARC copy of this novel, I probably would have DNF it around 25%. I felt that the world building and start of the mystery was all very slow, and I found myself not really caring about the characters.

That being said, everything started to change around 50% the way through. The story and mystery started to really pick up and I was glad that I pushed through.

Hi hey hello this book is a masterpiece and I will love it eternally...

In all seriousness, The Deep Sky is a poignant, thrilling, often humorous tale that I found impossible to put down until I saw it through its resolution. Every moment reading this book was well-spent.

Asuka, the FMC, is perhaps one of the most relatable, compelling heroines I have ever encountered, and her struggles with identity and belonging resonated with me in simultaneously devastating and beautiful ways. I felt for her and want to see the world through her eyes again and again.

Honestly, I was less impressed by the "mystery" than by the characters and their relationships and the topics of humanity, family, love & loss, reproduction, and so so much more. It was everything I hoped for and beyond.

Asuka is one of eighty people selected through a rigorous multinational program to make their way to the distant Planet X. Each of them has a role to play (except for Alts like Asuka, who can take on one of many odd jobs), and each of them is expected to give birth en route to their destination.

Along the way, things go wrong. Very wrong. As in a bomb goes off on the hull of their ship—killing three crew members, including the captain—and sets them off course. Asuka, as an Alt, is the one who has to determine what happened.

The Deep Sky is a page-turner that is part whodunnit and part space thriller, but it is more than that.

There characters here are carefully drawn and very believable. Much of the story hinges on what it means to cooperate in a confined space, especially when people of varied background, assumptions and beliefs are brought together. The relationships and conflicts of the various characters are what I enjoyed the most about this book. The book is tightly plotted but it is the interactions of the characters that really drives it forward.

I couldn’t put the book down and read it obsessively over a couple of days.

Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

What a wonderful sci-fi novel!! I’m usually not a big fan of dual timelines but this one felt necessary for the audience to fully understand what the crew members are going through and the relationships they have in present time. I’m such a sucker for space operas and I could honestly read at least 3 more books set in this universe- in space or on Planet X. I love the way the people were chosen to go on the mission- only people with uteruses so they could have children on the way to the new planet. I will say the way Earth is described in this book hits a little too close to home- which I know is the point. It feels like the book could take place 5 years from now. While I do wish we had gotten to know more of the crew better, there’s only so many characters you can introduce in a ~400 page book- all the more reason to have more books! 😉 I can’t wait to see what more this debut author puts out!

I enjoyed this character-focused book about interstellar space travel, although a couple of things about it didn't quite land with this particular reader.

One thing I appreciated, and one thing readers should know going in, is that The Deep Sky is NOT a scientifically accurate, hard scifi story. Kitasei herself makes this very clear in the author outro, saying that the physics in particular is often wrong, and sometimes on purpose. Which is fair enough!

The best way to approach the book, IMO, is as the story of relationships, and how crises shape them. Crises of our own making and crises that are far beyond our control.

At its heart, the novel is the story of Japanese-American Asuka's relationship with two people: her mother and her long-time best friend, Ruth. When the book starts, Asuka's relationship with both is tense. By the end, I felt rewarded at how Kitasei resolved both situations. I also really enjoyed a lot of the characters in the book, and feel certain that some of them will sit with me for a while.

I also thought the augmented/virtual reality angle was cool. This isn't just about a spaceship! It's in part about how the analog and the digital collide. And it's a mystery. So, also cool.

Lots of things to like, in other words!

The main thing that didn't land well with me was the sort of childbirth subplot / plot detail. To explain that without giving spoilers, all the characters on the ship go through a grueling selection process that's lasted since they were children. BUT the only people eligible to go are also those who can (in something like the book's words) "people who can give birth to a child halfway through."

In part because I'd just finished reading SOME DESPARATE GLORY, a SF novel with a setting where forced pregnancy is part of what the MC struggles against while living in a radically reactionary, authoritarian society, I had to REALLY try very hard to get into a SF book where everyone was like, "Yay, so many pregnant people! Required medical insemination! Yay!"

I think what the author is going for was to celebrate pregnancy and childbirth in a setting and situation that is normally assumed to be cisgender men only.

And, to be fair, Kitasei approached things in a very non-TERFy way that IS inclusive (there are nonbinary characters and trans men on the ship) and to be honest the the whole selection process in the world of the story is made out to be extremely messed up and problematic anyway. But, while characters DO comment on how messed up the rest of it is, nobody explicitly talks about the pregnancy thing, and in the end I left the book with a little lingering unease with this part of the story.

On a much more minor note, I thought some of the space stuff was a little too unrealistic to be convincing. I'm okay with that, though. Again, if you're a hard SF fan, this probably isn't a book for you.

Overall, despite the parts that made me squint a little, I enjoyed this tale of relationships and how they shape our lives--and how our lives shape them back.

This is one of the most anticipated books for 2023 and a strong debut for this author. The story follows Asuka as she tries to discover who planted a bomb on the ship that killed 3 crew members. While Asuka struggles to help find the perpetrator, she must also confront her own struggles with mommy issues, broken friendships, low self-esteem, and infertility.

What I loved about the book, is how it goes back and forth from the present to the past where we learn about Asuka's childhood and her training for the mission. We learn about other crew members and about some of the technology they use on the ship. The key piece of technology is called DAR. Each crew member can generate an alternate reality that helps them cope with any anxieties while on board the ship.

This is not really a thriller but more of a mystery drama. While I loved the premise of the book, it is very one note throughout. The chapters are short, which keep the story moving, but several of the chapters are filled with unnecessary exposition and often repeat several points. I did enjoy some of the additional characters; however, they were not fully explored and deciding whether they were likable was difficult. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the representation of pregnancy in this book. I understand their goal is to repopulate and create a new civilization on another planet, but the execution was tough to follow.

3.5 rounded up to 4

Thank you to NetGallery and Flatiron Books for this ARC

This has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and it didn't disappoint. This deep space thriller is a fast paced ride you'll want to reread. Thank you Netgalley for advanced access.

After a lethal bomb kills three members of a elite group of eighty young people chosen to journey to a distant planet, Asuka, one of those chosen elite, becomes the most likely suspect.

Asuka, one of the last members chosen for the mission- a mission where each member is expected to give birth to at least one child along the way-has been unable to become pregnant. She’s already estranged from her mother on Earth, doesn’t have the best relationship with several other crew members, and now she needs to find the person responsible before the entire mission implodes.

A lot of science fiction novels are light on the science. You won’t find that with The Deep Sky. At times I found myself a little too bogged down with the jargon, but for the most part it made me more grounded in the story.

Each member of the crew has their own DAR, a Digitally Augmented Reality. So each person essentially could create their own unique world that was different from anyone else. I loved the mystery and plot line around that world building aspect the most!

I also enjoyed how the story went back and forth in time between Asuka’s childhood, when she was training for the mission, and the current timeline. Every time we shifted back in the past, it helped me understand Asuka’s present decisions and actions even more.

There’s a large cast in The Deep Sky, and the author did great job of fleshing them all out. The character dynamics were a little complicated to follow in the beginning, but by the end of the book, I was invested in several relationships.

My only real criticism is the pacing of the book. The beginning started off with a big event, but then the book became a little too technical and, even though the chapters in the past timeline did help me understand the main character more, the pacing would slow to a crawl only to speed up and then slow down way too much again.

If you love a good mystery set in space, enjoy training sequences and love your sci-fi to be grounded in technology, I’d recommend picking up The Deep Sky.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron books for both a physical and digital arc. All opinions are my own.

The Deep Sky is a science fiction thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat with so many theories running through your head only to find out they can all be as right as they are wrong.

Asuka was born in a future America where wild fires have left Californians as refugees and extremest have become mainstream. Hum maybe it isn’t that futuristic after all. Everything seemed not only possible but also likely. Including the plan to send out a deep space ship to colonize a new planet.

Only eighty will go, and at the age of twelve Asuka submits her application to be one of the few. Only now they are living in Japan and she is chosen to represent a country she barely knows.

The Deep Sky takes place both on the ship and in the past. Asuka’s narration is plagued with self doubt and imposter syndrome and it is by looking to the past that we truly get a sense of who she is as a narrator and a character.

I really enjoyed this book. It was full of do much non-binary/trans rep s as well as queer rep and it was normalized. Although that may have just been the space that these kids were allowed to grow up in. Progressive and toxic at the same time.

There are a few items that were not as great. I do not understand why there was a plan to give birth to babies half way through the trip. A reason was given but it fell flat to me. I assume it was to make the characters all be individuals with uteruses. And it made for interesting pregnancy rep in space. You don’t get that a lot. But then again is it really a great idea for eighty people to be pregnant at the same time? Once the babies are born there would be no one left to ruin anything.

Also, the reasoning behind the ending was a bit of a let down. I especially feel this way the more I have sat with it. The actual ending was as expected and played out well. But the reason for the whole mess could have been given a bit more thought or depth IMO.

But mostly I just enjoyed it. The writing was great and the characters were well developed.

The Deep Sky is a fast-paced, engaging locked room mystery set on humanity's last hope for survival—a spaceship carrying a crew that will start the next generation of humans on a new planet. When an explosion sets them off course and kills three crew members the entire ship is thrown into chaos. They have to figure out who did it, why they did it, and how they are going to get back on course because there is no backup plan. The story alternates between past and present timelines in order to give context for the mission and the characters.

Woven throughout this thriller is a stunning exploration of identity and belonging. Our main character Asuka never really feels like she fits in both as an alternate and as a Japanese American selected to represent Japan in the competition for spots on the ship. Her story was incredibly powerful and compelling. I love how her struggle was reflected in both the past and present timelines.

I really love how The Deep Sky approaches the apocalyptic SciFi story. It was incredibly realistic with many issues that reflect contemporary problems and conflicts. The world is ending and the Phoenix is portrayed as humanity's savior. They are going to start humanity over on a new planet. This setup is not a novel concept, however, The Deep Sky takes a very interesting approach by showing the flaws and cracks in that plan. As the story progresses you really begin to question the Phoenix project and the motivations of the people in charge of the project. I really appreciate the nuanced take The Deep Sky has on a very interesting SciFi concept that we have seen in other places.

It was a very fast and engaging read and I would highly recommend The Deep Sky to mystery/thriller readers who are looking for something different or to SciFi readers who are looking for a simpler SciFi story. As an avid reader of weird SciFi, I kept expecting the story to take a turn towards the weird and unhinged explanations. However, The Deep Sky is very much a thriller set in space. I also wished that the author had explored a few of the interesting SciFi concepts and technologies in a bit more depth.

Asuka is a last minute addition to a space ship bound for a new planet. Years into the trip a bomb on the ship kills three of the 80 person crew, a huge loss to the team. Asuka is an alternate, which means she has access to all areas of the ship and can investigate unnoticed.

While there is still communication and influence from Earth, this is a classic closed room mystery ala Agatha Christie. The crew members have been training together since they were children in a program started by a billionaire and subsidies by various world governments. Asuka was one of the last cut from the mission, but is asked back a few months before launch. She does not feel like she belongs on the mission and is insecure about her place on the ship. As a jack of all trades master of none, many crew members do not disabuse her of this notion.

In addition to the mystery the relationships between the crew are explored. The story alternates between a teenaged Asuka at the training school and current day on the ship. She has a very complicated relationship with her mother, who does not want her daughter to leave.

The writing, plot and character development are really excellent. I connected with the characters right away. It's one of my favorite SciFi books in years.

An incredibly thrilling debut novel! Full of twists and turns, sabotage, volatile/ radical political systems, and a very real look at climate change and the ways we are destroying ourselves as people and our planet as a whole. With an extremely strong female lead, and cast of characters, a dual timeline and a scoop of mom issues on the side, it adds up to a gripping page turner and I am glad I had the opportunity to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron books for the advanced copy, I was happy to review, and my opinions are entirely my own.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

Overall, I enjoyed this book! I loved to see Asuka’s character development from start to finish, and even from the flashbacks to the current time chapters. The environment and tension between characters seemed to be really well written; it was easy to imagine that they were hurdling through space getting further and further from Earth everyday. There were a few small things that I didn’t like as much: the strange emphasis on pregnancy that didn’t seem to further the plot too much, some slow parts, and the ending that just seemed a tad bit rushed to me. I feel like the ending left me wanting a few more things answered, but I overall enjoyed this sci-fi read!

A book cannot often deftly intertwine themes of space exploration, climate crisis, cultural identity, and human nature with such finesse. Yume Kitasei’s debut, The Deep Sky, accomplishes just this, proving that even the vast expanse of the cosmos isn't immune to the intriguing complexities of human emotion.

In The Deep Sky, Kitasei takes us aboard The Phoenix, a ship hurtling through the great unknown to save the remnants of humanity from Earth's environmental collapse. The tension starts to simmer immediately, and as it continues, it steadily intensifies to a fever pitch that grips you until the very end. Indeed, the relentless pacing of this novel is comparable to a cosmic thriller, leaving you, at times, quite literally breathless.

The most remarkable aspect of The Deep Sky is its diverse cast of characters, especially the protagonist, Asuka. Asuka, a half-Japanese girl raised in America, is a last-minute addition to the mission and brings a rich layer of character depth to the table. Her struggles with imposter syndrome, disconnected cultural identity, and gnawing fear of being perceived as a suspect make Asuka an unusually compelling figure. Through her eyes, we witness the chaotic beauty of space and the unraveling of human bonds under duress.

The characters' background, upbringing, and how these factors play into their reactions and decisions on the ship add an additional layer of intrigue to the story. The backstory is not just there to fill pages but serves as an essential part of the narrative, revealing the subtle and overt ways that our pasts shape our present actions, particularly in situations of high stress.

However, The Deep Sky is not just about the suspense and the thrill of a deadly mission. The soul of this book lies in its exploration of the human spirit - the will to survive, the need to trust, and the courage to seek the truth, even when the cost might be one's own life. These aspects make the book stand out from the genre and affirm Yume Kitasei’s prowess as a storyteller.

In conclusion, The Deep Sky is an edge-of-your-seat thriller with a perfectly calibrated mix of suspense, interpersonal drama, and deep dives into the human psyche. It is a captivating examination of what it means to be human, even when humanity is millions of miles away. This book is a must-read for all sci-fi enthusiasts, who will surely appreciate its nuanced narrative and the refreshing perspective it brings to the genre. It is certainly an impressive debut, and Yume Kitasei is an author to watch out for.

Thank you to Flatiron Books for providing an e-Arc of The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei for my review.

The Deep Sky has all the gripping tension of a great mystery with the captivating world building of an imaginative sci-fi. This book kept me up well past my bed time on a work night and I regret absolutely nothing.

Our main character Asuka is one of 80 crew members aboard The Phoenix, a spaceship bound for another planet. As the ship's only "alternate," a sort of jack of all trades, master of none role, Asuka often feels like a bit of an imposter. Furthermore, she was chosen as a delegate for Japan, a country she feels she has little claim to after living in America for most of her life.

The catalyst of this story is an explosion. Asuka, as the only living witness to the event, is tasked with figuring out what happened. Not only is there potentially a traitor on board, but their ship has been knocked off course and they only have a small window of time to correct before the crew is doomed to forever float through space until life support fails.

This novel, while bleak at times, has such a hopeful streak running through it. I was cheering Asuka on SO hard as she was sleuthing through the ship in the present-day scenes and fighting for her spot on the crew during the flashbacks. Her feelings of inadequacy are painfully relatable, but she proves to be incredibly capable time and time again. She was a great protagonist and I really enjoyed joining her for the ride through this story.

I also love how approachable the sci-fi elements of this book were. I'm still pretty new to the genre, and a lot of the time it feels like I have to strain my brain to comprehend the jargon. Give me convoluted magic systems any day and I'm fine, but when the sciencey stuff breaks out, I start sweating. The Deep Sky felt like such an elegant extension of technology that I'm already familiar with, though. For example, a large component of this book deals with an augmented reality system that is tailored uniquely to each crew member. This could have become confusing quickly, but Kitasei's handling of the prose was masterfully clear and cinematic. It was really interesting to get a glimpse into this world and experience how realistic this speculated future felt.

This is a super strong debut and I can't wait to see what Yume Kitasei does next!

“The Deep Sky” is a debut novel by Yuma Kitasei. And if there is one thing I love in this World is debut novels! And after reading about ten novels in a row about serial killers and cheating spouses in “That Unputdownable book with a twist you won’t believe” books I was REALLY looking forward to a good old fashioned ScyFi book.

The synopsis of this book is fantastic. We have a female MC named Asuka who is one of 80 females are on a long range ship to another planet looking to save humankind. Mainly by having children….. But along the way, while Asuka was on a space walk a bomb goes off killing three of them. That sets this book in motion as Asuka is tasked with finding out who was responsible for the attack on their ship.

What follows is a great ScyFi thriller/horror/drama book. It flashes back to Earth when Asuka is in a competition to be one of the 80 to be chosen on this mission to the present day. A great cast of flawed characters joins Asuka on her journey.

It’s not a perfect book……. There are some slow parts but on the whole this is a solid ScyFi book which I highly recommend.

I really appreciate Flatiron books for giving me the opportunity to review this book for free for a honest review and it has a publication date of July 18, 2023.

"The Deep Sky"—the debut novel by Yumi Kitasei—in which, a crew of female astronauts must solve a few mysteries abroad their spaceship lightyears away from Earth. EvenStar has one shot for the mission to Planet X to be successful. After an explosion, the protagonist and the rest of the survivors have one shot to get the spaceship back on course to Planet X.

"The Deep Sky" is an excellent space thriller which bends both contemporary issues that could (more like will) lead to a similar scenario happening in the near future with the “reality” of space travel. Yume Kitasei presents an essential story in her debut novel with strong characters, a topical conflict, and an essential narrative style which allows a full comprehension of the events of the past and the present from 2 different settings.

This science fiction thriller mainly takes place on a deep space flight, which is where the title comes from. The main character is Asuka, a young American-Japanese woman who has never felt settled in her identity. The Earth is in a state of environmental collapse, and the mission of the Phoenix is an attempt to ensure the survival of the human race by establishing a colony on a distant Earth-like planet.

The story opens with what appears to be a routine event: a spacewalk to examine an anomaly on the ship's hull. Suddenly there is an explosion, and everything about the mission changes in an instant. Several crew members die (including the ship's captain), and Asuka is almost lost, unable to get back into the airlock. In the aftermath the crew regroups, and Asuka is assigned to investigate the incident. Was it an accident, or sabotage?

As she goes about her detective work there are numerous flashback chapters. They explain how Asuka came to be on the flight, her relationships with her shipmates and her mother, and the environmental and social changes that led to the Phoenix's mission. The social commentary gives the story resonance with contemporary events and a dystopian vision of how the near future might go.

In the end the crew figures out what was happening in time to save themselves. Asuka even makes peace with her mother, although it is unclear whether her mother will ever receive her message. The conclusion is open-ended: not entirely satisfying, but leaving the possibility of a hopeful future for the ship and its mission. There could even be a sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Advance Readers Copy.

Asuka is one of the elite few chosen for a one-way deep space mission to colonize another planet. (Or, she’s sort of one of the elite few. She was an alternate, chosen because someone else dropped out, a fact that niggles at her constantly.) When there’s an explosion on board the ship, sabotage is suspected, and Asuka is tapped to investigate. With the mission past the point of no return, the ship knocked off course, and the suspicious crew turning on each other, Asuka must discover and stop the saboteur before they strike again.

I absolutely loved this book! The plot is fast-paced and entertaining with a story that packs an emotional punch, the worldbuilding involved in the technology is solid, the descriptions are vivid, and the characters are diverse and compelling. For repopulation reasons, the crew of the ship is entirely made up of people able to bear children, to be impregnated by donor sperm sent along for the journey. That means this book has almost no cisgender men in it – the ones who do appear are all in flashback. If that bothers you, don’t read it, simple as that. Personally, I think if they make this book into a movie (it would make a fantastic movie), the crew of the ship should be a cast entirely made up of women, trans men, and nonbinary actors. I don’t know about you, but I would watch the shit out of that movie.

An unreserved five stars for this one. Go read it!

Representation: POC characters (including main character), nonbinary and transgender characters, characters with disabilities

CW: miscarriage, fertility issues, terrorism, death of a child, racism, gore, strong language

The Deep Sky is an unusual novel, with no male characters and the kind of immersive setting that breathes life into a scifi story.

The plot borrows from the thriller/ mystery genre and the combination of scifi and thriller is seamless—the flashbacks into Asuka’s life adding wonderful layers. It all feels familiar yet foreign, the magic ingredient that makes a novel the darling of the masses and critics alike.

The ease and fluidity of the narrative never lets up—I read the entire novel in two sittings, and enjoyed every minute of my journey with Asuka. If you’d like a locked room mystery in space, with elements of dystopia and a truly diverse caste of characters, pick up Kitasei’s debut. You won’t regret it. If you’re like me, you’d be pressing copies of it into the hands of friends.