I LOVE horror novellas, as they typically do more with less, but I feel like this one was kind of a miss. It's a fascinating premise though, with a fantastic audiobook narrator. I don't really mind sci-fi as the backdrop to a larger story about character relationships, but when you do that, I feel like you need to make the character relationships really in-depth. This felt like not enough character, and not enough sci-fi.

I'd try something else by the author in the future, though! And really fab audiobook narrator, I want to reiterate again.

A twisty thriller set on a planet out to kill its inhabitants, This World is Not Yours is short enough to be read in a day and engaging enough to make you do it in one sitting. Wives Vinh and Amara set out on a colonialization mission, in part to escape Amara's controlling and dangerous family, only to be beset by way more dangers on the new planet. Not only is it home to a mysterious entity that keeps the planet safe by devouring threats, it also houses a competing colony. When the competition raids their homes, in part taking a lot of reproductive care equipment, the council decides that couples will be made the old fashioned way so they can meet their population growth goals and not be abandoned by their sponsor. Amara is paired with a childhood friend, Jesse, who is acting increasingly strange, and she also must watch as Vinh seems to grow close to her assigned, fawning husband. Jealousy and unrest ripple throughout the colony, as the planet seems to want them dead.
Interesting worldbuilding and great tension make this book really good. Sometimes the timeline was a little hard to follow, but I think part of that is that it was an audiobook, so I was missing cues in that way. The characters are all flawed in such interesting ways. Watching them crumble was quite the ride.

I really like what Ashing-Giwa has done here. Even in a world that differs so from our own and with a threat not understood, the worries and behaviours of human beings remain the same. It was interesting to see how the characters interacted and changed as needed in this new society with its differences. Their arguments, secrets, and insecurities were all laid out for the reader and it made this alien story really good. The pacing as well moved the story al9ng quickly and I could not wait for the outcome.

I DNFd this one pretty early, so I won't be rating on any review sites, but I have a bit to say so I still wanted to send in my feedback. First and foremost, I'm a little miffed at this being compared to SA Barnes. SA Barnes is an expert as building tension while crafting unique stories and plot and memorable characters. Meanwhile, THIS WORLD IS NOT YOURS was not only intensely basic, but also just confusing. It took place in a very basic sci-fi world that had very little substance, and the characters were very easily confused and had very little to differentiate them between each other. I feel like the part that frustrated me most, though, is the fact that I was expecting this book to be about the gray. Yknow, the stuff the book was supposed to be about. The space goo, or something? I read a good 30-40% of this book and experienced very little of it. I was expecting stuff to go down, especially after I was promised "non-stop action," ESPECIALLY considering how short this book was.

This World Is Not Yours is an ambitious sci-fi horror novella. We've got all sorts of themes, a toxic lesbian relationship, and alien goo. There's also forced marriages for reproductive purposes. Does that sound like a lot, especially for a novella?

Well, it is. And frankly, I think that's where this book falls a bit short. There's just a lot that feels like it should get more time in the sun, or, well, at least on the page, but there just aren't enough pages in the novella.

It also feels like there are two fairly distinct pieces to this story. We have the domestic drama centered on toxic and forced relationships, and then we have the sci-fi horror alien goo that deletes invasive species from a planet. That's not inherently a problem, either, but in such a limited page count, between these two plot-threads that pull a lot of pages and touching on themes of colonization, conservationism, environmentalism, and more, so much of the book falls a bit flat.

I may give this novella another shot later on. I wonder if it wouldn't feel better as a whole after giving it some time and spending some extra time with the material.

If you're looking for a domestic drama with a sci-fi horror plot going on in the background, you could do worse than this novella. In addition, there are a lot of folks who really seem to like this one. Personally, I thought it overshot its ambitions and suffered a bit for it.

I completed a tandem read (listening to the audio while reading the physical book) so I'm going to split up my thoughts on the book in general and the audiobook.

This book deals with themes of environmental conservation, capitalism, heteronormativity and reproduction centering on a forced polycule on a distant colony planet. Our main characters are two queer women (she/her pronouns but concepts of gender are rather fluid and discussed) along with another character who is discussed in a way that indicates he is asexual, but not explicitly stated to be so.

This book is rather unique in premise. It is a dark story of a toxic relationship that is taking place against a ecohorror backdrop on a colonized planet. The horror is ever looming and evolving but it is not the point (in my opinion) of the story. We follow a relationship first broken by circumstance and then broken by toxic cycles that have developed since. The characters are not very likeable but their flaws are what make the tale possible. They first make hard choices out of obligation, and then harder choices out of obsession.

The horror elements dominate the last third of the novella, but the tense and uncomfortable relationship falling apart throughout the story was just as striking for me.

Audiobook: The audiobook was well done and I think the narrator did a pretty good job differentiating the main characters from one another but not as much was given to differentiating side characters. I don't think the audiobook really adds anything that I would recommend it over the print, but I think you could have generally the same experience with either.

Disclosure: I received an ALC from Netgalley and a finished print copy from the publisher.

Toxic polycule indeed. It's an easy to jump into sci-fi, it's honestly more family drama than sci-fi which was wonderful for me. I just wish it was a bit meaty.
Loved the count down with chapters.

Narrator was fantastic.

This one unfortunately really didn’t work for me. If it was longer, and featured more of the same, I might even have DNf’d it.

The whole miscommunication trope really stuck out and did not work for me. These two are not getting to know each other, or building the relationship, nor are they teenagers. They were a married couple, which drove the believability way way down.

I know from reading a few other reviews (just to make sure I wasn’t off line or missed something) but the conflict between them just kind of washes out the entirety of the story. For me there was no build up, no climax, not really anything of worth to hold on to. The idea itself is creepy and brilliant, but the other items get washed away. The lgbtq aspect is kind of just there and then there bickering makes it take a backseat. As does the idea of forced reproduction.

This World Is Not Yours is a space horror novella and the first work I’ve read by Kemi Ashing-Giwa. I was originally interested in this title because it’s marketed as space horror. We mainly follow three characters: Vinh, Amara, and Jesse, who are each trying to create a new life for themselves when they embark on a colonization/terraforming mission on a planet that produces a lethal “self-cleaning” mechanism referred to as the Gray. So far, humans have not set it off. That won’t stay the case for long. I enjoyed the moments of horror in the novella. The concept and story very much reminded me of the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer (which I love). Our characters are placed in a hostile setting that changes them from the inside out. Similar to Annihilation where Vandermeer introduces conflict between characters, Amara and Vinh are struggling with their marriage as they’re encouraged to take new partners for the good of their colony.

Overall I enjoyed the novella. I just wish there would have been more suspense to really allow that gut punch feel when the horror elements are introduced. My other qualm is that it felt like the author tried to do too much in too short an amount of time. Are we exploring the several themes introduced? The world? The environmental horror? I will keep Ashing-Giwa on my radar because I like their ideas. The execution just needs a bit of work.

Notes on the audiobook: The length of the audiobook is 4 hours 11 minutes and it is narrated by Catherine Ho. I listened at 1.5 speed. This is the first book I’ve listened to read by this narrator. I was surprised by the first few chapters because I thought this was narrated by A.I. Ho’s narration feels practiced to the point of uncanny, which weirdly worked for this novella. Her narration adds an extra layer of creepy in a good way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Highbridge audio for an advanced readers copy of This World Is Not Yours.

This World is Not Yours is a bit of a strange adventure to go on, but it satisfied what I was craving. I have discovered a love for sci-fi horror and tends to be smaller/more niche topic that has me chasing the brilliance of The Luminous Dead and Dead Silence. This title definitely fits into the genre, offering sapphic romantic leads, a creepy unknown, and an eerie awareness of what haunts humanity as a species. I did wish it was a little bit longer, and fleshed out a little bit more to increase the tension in the story. But, it is one I would recommend if you are hunting for your next sci-fi horror kick.

This is an incredibly intricate science fiction horror family drama. It definitely has a creepy atmosphere and different POVs which is impressive for a novella. For fans of The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown.

The first half of this was not looking good, but it did pick up in the last third or so. This is a SF horror/thriller/drama that focuses on a couple living on a space colony. The couple run into some relationship strain in the midst of a colony crisis, and things fall apart from there.

The whole scenario for the relationship drama felt bizarre and extreme to me. Like why would this level of upheaval be necessary to achieve the colony’s goal? I don’t know. It did end up mattering in the end, so I liked it more for what it did for the story at that point. Still doesn’t make a lot of sense to me though.

I also felt like the characters and people of the colony didn’t always react as much as seemed appropriate for the dire circumstances. They’re quite chill and calm and unfazed. The tone felt off.

I liked the ending! Dark and weird.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The narrator was excellent but this title was not for me. I did not rate on the platforms because that did not seem fair. I thought this was going to be more horror and sci-fi Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I will recommend this title to others.

DNF @ 42%

I really wanted to like this book. The cover is fantastic and the synopsis sounded interesting. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book though since I just couldn't get into it. I liked the general concepts and how creepy it felt but I wanted more horror. I see what the author was trying to do though, and I think if you like domestic thriller books, you might like this one.

2.5 stars rounded down. I liked the concept of this book - who doesn’t love a murderous goo? However, I think this tried to do a little too much in too few pages. There were a lot of interesting details and lore that weren’t explored enough. Because my interest was piqued but never really satisfied it ended up working against the cool ideas the book was exploring. I would really enjoy a more fleshed out version of this.

⭐ - 2/5 - ⭐

Amara finds herself and her wife, Vihn, on a new planet, in a new colony, New Belaforme. There Amara, a biologist, studies the planet and an cleansing system called 'The Gray', with her best friend Jesse. For now, the scientists are convinced that the Gray only attacks and consumes invasive organisms. While on the planet, a neighboring colony attacks New Belaforme leaving them struggling. In the wake of the attack, the governing bodies of New Belaforme call an required coupling to sustain the population. This leads to jealousy, resentment, and angry from Amara and Vihn. While Amara deals with an ever problematic dynamic change, she and Jesse discover there's more to the Gray than meets the eye.

This book was super intriguing to me. I love a good space horror, unfortunately horror took the back seat on this journey. The forefront of the plot involved Amara, her marriage to Vihn, and her relationship with Jesse. And even that was done rather clunkily. However, the horror, when it did happen, had some very Annihilation vibes. It was pretty spectacular.

Honestly, if horror had taken the front and the interpersonal relations taken the back, it would have been an excellent book.

I rated this so low because so much of the book was focused on the relationships. It got rather boring after a while and ended up zoning out through most of it. The good stuff gets going in the last 20% of the book, which is the only reason why it's not a DNF.

Thank you #netgalley and #highbridgeaudio for the ARC of this book!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me and I was unable to finish listening to the audiobook and DNF’d it.

The oscillation between the past and the present was confusing with how the plot is currently structured. The chapters were shorter so to swap to a different time period, especially in the beginning while building the story, character, and the world, it took me out of the story. If the book had been longer and more time was given to developing the story more, this would maybe not be an issue.

One thing I did like though was the depiction of Amara and her matter-of-fact way of understanding the world, environment, and people around her. Also, the way she understood emotions was done well in my opinion. I found it endearing and relatable.

However, the toxic relationship she had was disconcerting, which is totally okay, but almost half of the book was spent on that part specifically and that took me out of the story as well.

With that said, this book is for somebody but, that somebody wasn’t me and that is okay.

audio-ARC from NetGalley.

I don't get it.

This was somehow too long and too short at the same time. There were too many ideas crammed into too short of a story, and the least interesting of those ideas were stretched as far as they could be.

This wasn't frightening. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was just a pair of toxic women who got off on hurting one another set against a backdrop that was almost sci-fi horror but ended up being nothing instead.

Two stars because the ideas were interesting individually and could have made for 3-5 separate stories I might have enjoyed individually.

In this haunting sci-fi horror novella, a polycule on a hostile planet grapples with jealousy and survival. Combining elements of space horror and macabre beauty, This World Is Not Yours explores the dark side of human relationships and the deadly consequences of unchecked emotions.

On the colonized planet of New Belaforme, Amara and her wife Vinh lead a precarious existence. Vinh protects the vulnerable colony as head of security, while Amara is the lead scientist studying the planet's deadly self-cleaning mechanism, the Gray. The Gray purges its home planet of invasive organisms, so the colony of New Belaforme has worked to maintain balance within their ecosystem.

As the colony faces the threat of pending extinction, Amara, Vinh, and Jesse must navigate a complex web of relationships and possessiveness. Amara's jealousy of Vinh's new assigned partner, Henry, intensifies, and Jesse's suspicious behavior further exacerbates to Amara's emotional instability. The delicate balance of their polycule is tested as they struggle to survive on a hostile planet. The survival of New Belaforme may hinge on their ability to overcome their personal conflicts and unite against the growing threat.

In This World Is Not Yours, Ashing-Giwa masterfully explores the dark side of human relationships. The toxic dynamics within the polycule create a tense atmosphere, driven by jealousy, betrayal, and possessiveness. The Gray's mindless malevolence adds a chilling layer of horror to the story. Narrator Catherine Ho does an excellent job voicing each of the characters and maintaining an even tone as the plot slowly simmers to a boil.

The back half of the book does have some pretty ick gore moments, so squeamish readers should take a bit of caution. I loved the use of the Gray and its destructive force as a way to explore the ways in which the characters' identities fuse with and consume one another. The novel's chilling resolution is both satisfying and thought-provoking.

If you're seeking a haunting blend of sci-fi and horror that delves into the depths of human nature, This World Is Not Yours is a must-read.

This review will be posted to Goodreads and Instagram (@goodquietkitty) on September 9, 2024.

Unfortunately this was a miss for me.

Based on the title, cover and comps (SA Barnes and Cass Khaw) I was expecting space horror, but we spent the first 50% of the book on the chaotic toxic relationship between two women, who don't seem to have ever loved each other.

The world building is creative, but also left me questioning things. Another colony attacks and critically damages items in the main colony, but there are still fancy restaurants where you have to pay extra for bread. There's a real concern that the planet is going to kill all the humans, but we still have time to arrange a funeral including providing food and having small talk.

This probably would have benefited from being a longer book, so that the author could fully flesh out the setting, plot and characters in a more cohesive way.