The Mars House
Ratings11
Average rating3.6
A compulsively readable queer sci-fi novel about a marriage of convenience between a Mars politician and an Earth refugee.
Named as one of Amazon's Best Books of 2024 So Far
As Recommended By: Amazon * LitHub * Gizmodo * New Scientist * LGBTQ Reads * Reactor Magazine * KOBO Canada * BookRiot
In the wake of an environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London's Royal Ballet, has become a refugee in Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. There, January's life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January's job choices, housing, and even transportation are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a process that is always disabling and sometimes deadly.
When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January's life is thrown into chaos, but Gale's political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January's future without naturalization and ensure Gale's political success. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. They're kind, compassionate, and much more difficult to hate than January would prefer. As their romantic relationship develops, the political situation worsens, and January discovers Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay-and January may be the only person standing in the way.
Un-put-downably immersive and utterly timely, Natasha Pulley's new novel is a gripping story about privilege, strength, and life across class divisions, perfect for readers of Sarah Gailey and Tamsyn Muir.
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Would not recommend, but also just couldn't put it down. Voice and writing was great. Plot actually ended up with a couple of decent twists, but was pretty slow. But boy was this book just so, so cringe. If I start giving examples, this review might end up as long as the book. I wish I could make someone else read it just so we could rip it to shreds together. Shared that thought with Gabber by text, and she introduced me to the perfectly-coined term ‘hate-reading'.
Will probably try another book by this author because I really enjoyed reading this one, but if the cringe is still there, I am not sure if I can take it again.
listen. i LOVED the kingdoms. but this was a train wreck i couldn't look away from. i finished it but i had to keep stopping and looking into the distance and saying “what” to myself.
i simply do not understand why natasha pulley and the multitudes of people who must have read this before it was published never sat down and thought: if this is a book that is extremely reliant on one specific analogy and it is a pretty all-encompassing, essential one, maybe... the analogy... should be good... and not, in fact, terrible.
feel kinda speechless. read the top reviews of this for people who have valiantly put into detail why so much of the execution of this book is SO messy. but wow. just wow.
