CW: gore, blood, violence, murder, sexual content

A queer, very bloody fantasy-sci-fi book, that should be right up my alley, but sadly it wasn't.

Now I did like the world-building. It was interesting and something I haven't seen before. And the powers our main characters have are a lot more gory than expected, in a good way.

The representation in this book was also good. There is the main sapphic romance (overall it seems to be a queernormative world), lots of POC and one of the MCs is blind, which I thought was handled well.

I also liked the ending story wise.

That said: Everything else was not it.

First of all: This book explains/tells too much, to the point of it telling me about a conversation that happened like two minutes ago and consisted of maybe two sentences, instead of just writing it out. And it does that a lot. I don't mind a bit of "tell" but please also "show" me some things.
I think this was one of the main reasons why I did not care about the characters at all.

This book is fast-paced, which in itself is neither good or bad, but here it is bad. There is a lot of plot, but barely any character moments, which just adds to me not caring about the characters. And sadly not only that, but I couldn't even understand why they act how they do in a lot of cases.
The few times the book does try to explain that to me, it's only ever some kind of inner monologue of "Is what she's doing right? Can she trust her?". And it's like that for all three MCs, the same questions over and over again. And they change their answers to them constantly for no apparent reason.

To the MC's themselves: all of them are so incredibly naïve (all in their own way), but still everything works out for them. Now, yes, story wise there are some explanations for why they are so naïve, but after a while I just found it annoying. And for all of them, solutions to their problems just seem to pop out of nowhere because the plot needs it.
Korinna frankly just seems a bit stupid, nothing she does is thought through, but still everything works out. This happens every couple of pages.
Then there's Aster, who is millennia old, still doesn't think things through properly, but is presented as this super clever captain.
And lastly, there's Sahar, who does not have a character. She has the fewest chapters, the fewest "page time", and those are only there because the plot needs it.

While reading it also I had quite some moments of "that doesn't make any sense" concerning plot and world-building and decisions of other characters, but I don't want to get into that too. Maybe I just missed a lot of stuff. I do kind of hope so.

Note to the ending: I did like the idea, but it felt very rushed. Up until the end of the book I was sure that this was going to be a series, because there was so much left to do. But they just did the most important stuff in the last ca 10 pages. (It might still be a series but it had an acceptable conclusion.)

My favourite quote was "Korinna couldn't believe this was working", because me neither.

Spoilers ahead:
Concerning the romance: A 20 year old girl, who has never left the place she grew up in and probably has never talked to a normal person (in the sense of that universe) before, together with a millennia old creature, who's travelled the whole galaxy? That is not for me. Also they had no romantic tension.
There also was one point in the book, where the reader is left to think for a handful of pages that Aster might have killed Korinna and I genuinely thought "Yes, that's a nice plot twist". That is not good.

Very personal critique (don't take this too seriously it just really bothered me): In the first couple of pages Korinna writes an "essay on the impact of star density on homeomorphism" and that through me off. Grammatically it is incorrect: it's either "on a homeomorphism" or "on homeomorphisms". Content wise it is questionable at best. I'm aware that this is sci-fi, but homeomorphism has such a clear definition; one could have just come up with a new word and it would have been fine (or left that sentence out completly). Now I have come up with an explanation for myself as to what it could mean, but even then that would be a really bad essay title. (Yes, I've thought way too long about this. Yes, I should have just ignored it. But I like topology and it bothered me.)

I thoroughly enjoyed "Redsight" by Meredith Mooring. This LGBTQIAP+ fantasy novel kept me engaged with its imaginative world and unique characters. The book's blend of fantasy and LGBTQIAP+ themes created a captivating read that I couldn't put down.

This was such a great space opera, I enjoyed the Sapphic elements of the novel. It had everything that I wanted from this type of book. The characters worked overall in this setting and I enjoyed their story. Meredith Mooring does a great job in this debut and it left me wanting more from the author.

Omg. This book was everything I was hoping it would be. Finding amazing science fiction lesfic is so very rare. Ms. Mooring was able to completely take me in and not let me go once I started.

The premise of sapphic priestesses in space was so original that I can't wait to read more from this author if she is able to come up with these types of ideas for stories.

This is a for sure on anyone's reading list that loves sci-fi lesfic and a greatly told original story.

I have conflicting feelings about Redsight. It's a really intriguing premise, and the world-building holds lots of promise. However, although the novel started strongly, I found there to be some issues with the coherence of the plot. This was compounded by a writing style that at times felt overly sparse, with a reliance on exposition - as the narrative progressed and became more complex, this felt rather clunky and stopped me from engaging fully.
That said, the strength of the world created here kept me going and, although the characters could have been developed further (especially our main POV Korinna), they all felt distinct, with clear goals and motivations.
I spent a lot of my time reading trying to figure out if this was a standalone or the first in a series - after the conclusion, I'm still not entirely sure. Although the resolution was satisfactory, it felt rather hasty - and there are certainly still some loose ends to explore. I probably would pick up another installment in the series, as I can see Mooring's writing style developing as the series (if it is indeed a series!) progresses, and I enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book thoroughly.

This is my most anticipated read of 2024, so I was over the moon to get approved for this!

Short review: I loved it. This kind of fantastical, weird, gross space opera is my favorite subgenre, and Redsight had everything I was looking for.

The good:

- the worldbuilding. I am OBSESSED. The interplay of science and magic, the weird physics, the religious orders, the body horror... it was PERFECT. I loved it so much. I'd literally read an academic essay (or multiple essays) on this worldbuilding, it was so damn cool.
- the pacing moved very quickly. There's always something happening, no real slow parts. I did wish the book had taken more time to develop character and atmosphere; it bordered on rushed at times, but in the end I prefer a rushed book to one that drags.
- There's some truly excellent horror imagery in here.
- The disability rep! It's thoughtfully and beautifully integrated with the worldbuilding, and Korinna's character arc neither ignores her blindness/chronic pain, nor centers it to the exclusion of everything else.
- Korinna was the most interesting character, by a LOT. She reminded me a bit of Astrid from the First Sister series (one of my favorite space opera MCs in the last several years).
- I loved the ending.

The bad:

- Like I said, the worldbuilding was AMAZING, but everything else was sort of... accessory to that. With the exception of Korinna, the characters' powers were more interesting than the characters themselves. Sahar's POV chapters in particular could be a chore to get through. If I hadn't been so enthralled by the setting, I might even have DNF'd--that's how good it was in comparison to every other aspect of this book.
- The writing wasn't great. I noticed lots of choppy syntax and abrupt transitions, and the casual 2023-esque dialogue could be a little jarring coming from eldritch space priestesses.
- There was SO. MUCH. TELLING. This is probably my #1 problem with Redsight. This book is about 70% explaining, and for me that explaining was only really interesting when it came to the worldbuilding. I never bought the connection between Korinna and Aster; I just read their respective internal monologues TELLING me about how attracted they were to each other. Every character motivation and relationship is explained to death at the expense of actually demonstrating it via actions, dialogue, etc.

All in all, this was a solid read. I cannot wait to see what this author does next, especially if she leans into horror.

YA Queer Dune is a proper blurb for this work! It’s got badass main characters, queer-normative cast and a distinct caste system. I loved the worldbuilding of this book and the orders seemed interesting. For just one book, I think it expanded on the setting pretty nicely, even though I feel this would’ve been done better and more detailed if it had more time to do so. Even so, we follow a fairly isolated / sheltered main character, so it makes sense to also have her limited understanding of the universe.

I’m not sure how to really explain this, but I feel that if you liked Spin The Dawn and you like sci fi, you’d like this too! They’re not similar at all, but sometimes it’s just Vibes.

The main character’s actions made sense, but I didn't really like her until the second part of the book. Sahar felt a little like an outsider of the whole story, placed there for some bare scraps of insight into the Order of Radiosa. I felt her presence was a little strange (or maybe I just didn't like her?) Speaking of Orders in general, I loved how they were set up, but they didn’t feel all too different aside from some classic white = good, black = bad, red = questionable because of all this blood but somehow we’re getting away with this.

I liked the pace of this, but I felt like some action scenes lasted too short compared to other fluff that filled the plot. The fast burn made sense but I couldn’t decide whether I liked them or not. I'm still coming to terms with An Eldritch Gets With a 20 Year Old couple. On the matter of pace, I just feel everyone took way too long to come to the correct conclusion to the whole mess but I still loved the last two arcs and I devoured them!!

I liked Litia quite a lot and I LOVED Furia because I love dangerous, murder-coded women!

"Redsight" by Meredith Mooring is a stellar voyage into the depths of science fiction. Mooring fabricates a cosmos where every nebula conceals mysteries and technological marvels. Her narrative pulsates with the rhythm of distant quasars, pulling readers into a labyrinth of interstellar intrigue, advanced civilizations, and cosmic anomalies. The characters, equipped with intelligence and insight, are as multifaceted as a holographic projection. The plot, bursting with unforeseen revelations, mirrors the unpredictability of wormhole navigation. For enthusiasts of narratives that blur the lines between science and speculation, "Redsight" stands as a beacon in the vast expanse of sci-fi literature.

Oh my gosh YES! This is the kind of science-fiction I want publishing to focus on. This is so good, so focused, with such a good rep that I have not seen in this space before. I am going to be screaming on the rooftops for all my students to buy this. A huge win for the disability community.

Yes it does remind me of the Dune series. The interaction between human (or should I say organic life form) and machine. I was not sure about this book when I first started it but I really enjoyed it once I got into it. The machinations (no pun intended) of Korinna’s teachers/mentors as they use her to their best advantage and of the pirate Aster Haran who has her own plans for Korinna, the Lightbender Sahar who dispenses justice and of course the 3 gods who created everything, Vermicula, Radiosa and Furia.

queer priestesses in space? sign me up.

"redsight" by meredith mooring is an ambitious queer sci-fi novel. it's fast paced, exciting and full of danger. we mainly follow korinna, a redseer who isn't doing very well in her cohort. she worships her goddess, trains, and yet doesn't see her place in this universe. her future is uncertain.

this novel is very, very fast paced. you don't get much time to connect with korinna and her abilities, thoughts, and feelings before the drama of the story begins, before the metaphorical shit hits the metaphorical fan. it's a fun book, but i felt korinna was emotionally stunted. litia was the most compelling character, and her chapters are rather short. i didn't really pick up on queer themes, they seem hidden within the text and not exactly embraced.

nevertheless, i enjoyed this novel. i am excited to see where the series goes.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Who knew priestesses could live in space? Such an original story idea and executed quite well. Again I’m not much of a sci-fi gal, but I liked this book!