This is a relatively short novella. One thing that speaks for it is that it can be understood if you haven't read the original story it is based on (The Count of Monte Christo). On its own it is an interesting space opera featuring a marginalized main character and an anti colonialist revolutionary plot. In the first half of the story we are told about the reason for Virika's imprisonment and her time in prison. This part of the story is interesting and nicely paced. Her emotions are clear, her loss heartbreaking and I really enjoyed the character building provided here. While there wasn't a lot of world building at that point, the story provided enough opportunities to understand what was going on anyway and by being in a very confined space it worked brillantly. When I reached the second part of the book, the escape and her revenge I was incredibly excited for this character I had started to really care for to finally shine in action. Unfortunately the lenght of the novella really started to shine through here. Many things happen in the second part of the novella and the plot speeds up a lot. This wouldn't be soo bad, if there weren't also many scene changes, which made the story feel a bit underdeveloped at times.
Especially towards the last third of the book there are a few time skips, which greatly impacted my enjoyment of the story. We are told of some really interesting things Virika did... We just don't really see her do them and if we get a scene it is short and more tell than show. Including these scenes instead of skipping them would have increased tension, extended the story a bit and slowed the pacing in the second half of the book, which were my three main issues with the story.
Despite my criticisms here I still enjoyed the story and found it particularly interesting in its depiction of what oppression does to marginalized people and how they can internalize it. I also did very much enjoy reading about a colonized lesbian woman getting revenge on the empire that betrayed her.
The romance portrayed in the novella is also very sweet and I adored the bonding over shared childhood food, but the falling in love bit could have been more interesting if it had been extended a bit. Like this it happened very fast and felt a bit flat, as I couldn't really get that invested.
All in all an interesting story, even if it was too short to live up to its potential, but I definitely want to read more by the author since I can see a lot of really interesting parts here.

tw: suicide, racism, homophobia, murder, sexual harassment, mass murder, isolation, imprisonment

Hmm. I'm left with mixed feelings for Countess.

First: Palumbo’s prose is serviceable, but flawed. She writes both raw, steering lines about colonization and injustice, and middling lines conveying Virika’s actions and emotional state riddled with weak words like “made” and “felt.”

The original Monte Cristo lends itself well to an anti-colonial narrative, and Palumbo effortlessly builds and presents a setting that supports and drives the narrative, drawing on both the real history of the slave trade and the Antillean islands to create something new and plausible, sci-fi style. The political elements are easy to follow, but complex beneath the surface.

I enjoyed a lot of the small details, like how the “real” traitor’s name means “white.”

Unfortunately, overall I was disappointed. A lot of the book feels like set-up for the When it comes to examining a book–particularly a book with an inherent message or goal for the reader to decipher–two elements sometimes conflict with one another: plot/character satisfaction vs. thematic satisfaction. I believe it's okay to “hamper” potential plot/character satisfaction by refraining from things like hand-holding the reader to revelations for stronger thematic satisfaction, especially because the alternative often greatly cheapens meaningful messages. My issue with Countess is that it doesn't deliver thematically, as a retelling/remix, or as a narrative on its own.

As a Monte Cristo retelling, there is an inherent promise of vengeance or justice or something–the original Count, although ultimately musing if he took his retribution too far, executed numerous schemes. To that end, Countess is largely set-up, and although it's fine to read, it's rarely engaging, but it's tolerable because of that inherent promise of revenge. The titular Countess lines up her dominoes for a revolution, not necessarily personal revenge, and as we approach it, the narrative stops. The story ends. There's a wishy-washy sort of epilogue, but it doesn't satisfy narratively, thematically, or as a loose retelling.

The ultimate message is, what?–That bipoc, especially Black people, rarely receive justice? Even with funding and a united front, justice is almost impossible? It's not worth remaining pliable and pleasing to your oppressors because they'll betray you anyway? That colonization and colonizers are inherently cruel and dehumanizing by nature?

None of this is new information. The world sucks and is cruel, and the world is and has historically been particularly cruel to Black people.

Audiobook:
Again, mixed feelings about the narrator of the audiobook. She has a lovely voice and does a good job with different character voices, but I felt her actual narration was weak. Sentences sometimes had an odd cadence–she'd falter or slow in strange places–and although the writing would have Virika respond in a “strong” way–yelling, etc.–in the spoken narration her response would sound much weaker or softer, not matching what the story was dictating at all.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC of this audiobook for my honest review

I loved this !! It was a tiny bit hard for the first 10 min getting into the story. It really threw you into the deep end but trust me it’s worth it. The story has so many relevant undertones , and in such a short amount of time gets you attached. An emotional and powerful story that just gripped me the whole way through. I’m making sure to get the physical version when I can!

I'll be publishing my review on Goodreads and StoryGraph 14th September and on Tik tok most likely will add to a monthly wrap up post with review the beginning of October.

To be honest, it's been a very long time since I read The Count of Monte Cristo and so the entire draw for me was "queer Caribbean anti-colonial in space". I was not disappointed and I think there was a benefit to not remembering much about the original novel, because it meant parts of it were a surprise to me.

The pacing in the last half of the book was a bit weird for me, a lot of things happen quickly that I think could have stood to have more time devoted to them. It didn't diminish the story, I just wish it was a bit longer.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

*Countess* is a powerful sci-fi novella infused with Caribbean culture and deeply relevant themes of colonialism, identity, and sacrifice. The world-building is richly detailed, with political intrigue and family bonds at the heart of the story. Virika, our protagonist, navigates the difficult balance between two worlds—neither fully embracing her.

The exploration of colonialism is handled with nuance, and Virika's perseverance in a system designed to see her fail is both heartbreaking and empowering. While the story's brevity leaves some arcs feeling rushed, the depth of the themes ensures a satisfying read. A must for fans of space operas with sharp cultural commentary.

A queer sci-fi novella with infused with Caribbean culture, amazing food descriptions and a scathing critique of British colonialism.

I love the world building of worlds and politics with a very direct analogue to British colonialism. The first half of this book hurt my heart, because our main character is trying to be the perfect immigrant daughter, who isn't ethnic enough to fit in her home world and isn't 'cultured' (read white) enough to fit in her new one. She exceeds at schooling, in her career and yet, the system still sets her up for failure.

Themes of sacrifice, identity and truth are explored in deeply compelling ways.

The description of generational poverty and policy-led racism was a bit heavy handed for me. We are often 'told' that racism is bad and this is why, instead of being shown how it's affecting the characters to live in this world and feel it's crushing oppression. I also wish there was more rage from our main character, although perhaps that is also part of the story. She has these terrible things done to her, and still tries to succeed in the oppressors world, by there rules.

Chanté McCormick does an amazing job with the audiobook narration. The addition of Caribbean accents and inflection added to the story in a way my mind wouldn't have been able to if I read the book. If you want to read this book, I highly recommend choosing the audiobook!

I really want to talk about the ending, because it feels as influential to the story as everything that leads up to it. Which is to say, it fit the story perfectly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this ALC.

This book is best read while eating a sweet mango on a spaceship.

Hmmmm. This tiny book tries to be so much and I can't say it failed. Oppressed queers, Antillean/Caribbean ancestry, black history, cycles of oppression, political intrigue, colonialism, martyrdom, revolution, equality, freedom, familial bonds, cultural solidarity but also revenge, love, interstellar travel, tech, space opera backdrop with the relevant details regarding factions, planetary groups etc etc. There's quite a bit of everything here.
Doesn't mean it'll be everyone's cup of tea though. I also suspect each reader will feel differently about different parts of the book. I didn't really care for the start and might've DNF'd if this novella weren't so short, but I really enjoyed the 2nd half. I've seen another review say the exact opposite but there are also those that liked/ disliked the whole thing so idk.

This is not a perfect story but the writing is surprisingly tactful. The way we stuck with the character for over a decade, experiencing the monotony of the passage of time without having to read through long and repetitive passages... *chef's kiss*. The way the different subplots seamlessly (and perhaps too conveniently) blend together was satisfying and gave the story the feeling of completion and progress.

This is a political/empowering story first and sci-fi after. Somehow, the sci-fi elements are more than just a backdrop but this isn't for the hard sci-fi enthousiasts.

The summary for Countess sounds like it should be exactly my type of book. Suzan Palumbo's latest novel is a gender swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas set in space. The difficulty is that the book was far too short to do justice to the story being told. Everything feels rushed. Instead of following the character through the twists and turns, we get summaries of what's going on. What we got of the world building and characterization was good. I just wish it had been at least three times as long.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There is so much happening in so little time that I felt like a lot was missing to truly understand what is happening. It still was an interesting read and I was invested to find out what happens next. If it had been longer it could be an amazing read. But this book is awesome for people who look for short books that keeps their attention.

I absolutely loved the premise of this! I can definitely see the inspirations from The Count of Monte Cristo, and turning into a space opera, adding a queer FMC, taking on colonialism and racism on top of that was brilliant. I loved the nods to Caribbean culture.

I must say I wish this was longer! The first half was well-covered at a steady pace, the second half was where things felt a bit rushed or skimmed over, and I definitely would have enjoyed reading more in-depth on Virika's revenge arc.

Audiobook review: I thought the narrator, Chanté McCormick did a great job! I enjoyed the different accents and inflections of voices for different characters. Sound and production quality were excellent. I'd listen to more books from this narrator!

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC!

Feature will be posted on my Bookstagram on release day, link will be added to review after it is posted.