Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)'s Reviews > The Mars House
The Mars House
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Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)'s review
bookshelves: arc-netgalley-edelweiss, fantasy-scifi-dystopian, romance
Oct 10, 2023
bookshelves: arc-netgalley-edelweiss, fantasy-scifi-dystopian, romance
Fanfic writing and literary teamed up for The Mars House where the politics and fake marriage from Winter’s Orbit meet the warning about our current world from To Paradise.
Imagine. A flooded London. The Chinese saving the British. Saudi Arabia turning back refugee boats from the UK. A Chinese colony on Mars. Special train carriages, special houses, special entrances, and so on for so-called Earthstrongers (people from Earth). Forcing people to change because of how they’re born. Gender Abolition. Imagine. And think.
Natasha Pulley’s writing is always elusive. Not much seems to be happening, and still, you feel the uneasiness below the surface in every word and every sentence. You’re waiting to peel off layer by layer, to find snippets of information to help you lose that turmoil in your body, but instead, your radar starts whirling, and you might think you’re going mad. As a reader, it makes you extremely frantic because what if you’re missing something essential? So, The Mars House started in slow motion, with numerous footnotes, and it made me read even more slowly. And at the same time, the story gripped me because I instantly felt the social importance of this book. It’s an apparent reference to the world we’re living in right now, with climate change and populism and excluding others.
There’s always a slow-slow-slow-burn love story in Natasha’s novels between two traumatized people. The fake marriage between January and Gale is no different. Starting as magnets with their repelling poles pointed at each other—January hates everything Gale thinks, and Gale hates everything January is—eventually, they start teasing and grinning and suddenly having rather normal conversations. Everything seems to be fine (except for Gale’s political positions), and even I, a huge Natasha Pulley fan, started to wonder if this book would be anything like her other books. But my heart opened up for Gale and January, oh sweet January, and warmth slid inside my body, and small smiles tilted up my lips while, at other times, chills started to creep up my arms, and I was reading faster and faster, and ... About halfway through the novel, I had an inkling and … sorry, I’m saying no more. Only … mammoths (movie-like!)… and know my inkling was correct!
If you haven’t read anything by Natasha Pulley yet, I’m not sure if you should start with this one. On the other hand, none of them might seem to be the best to begin with. They all give you doubt and confusion and furrowed brows. The most important thing is to just surrender to her storytelling and not quit when you feel bored or utterly confused. The pacing in her books is slow, especially in the first part, but eventually, the story will unfold itself, and suddenly you understand why so many readers are Natasha Pulley stans!
And now I want that sequel to Valery K Natasha was talking about on Twitter! Publishers, do you hear me? US READERS NEED THAT SEQUEL DESPERATELY!!
Actual rating 4.5 stars rounded up to five.
I received an ARC from Orion Publishing House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Imagine. A flooded London. The Chinese saving the British. Saudi Arabia turning back refugee boats from the UK. A Chinese colony on Mars. Special train carriages, special houses, special entrances, and so on for so-called Earthstrongers (people from Earth). Forcing people to change because of how they’re born. Gender Abolition. Imagine. And think.
Natasha Pulley’s writing is always elusive. Not much seems to be happening, and still, you feel the uneasiness below the surface in every word and every sentence. You’re waiting to peel off layer by layer, to find snippets of information to help you lose that turmoil in your body, but instead, your radar starts whirling, and you might think you’re going mad. As a reader, it makes you extremely frantic because what if you’re missing something essential? So, The Mars House started in slow motion, with numerous footnotes, and it made me read even more slowly. And at the same time, the story gripped me because I instantly felt the social importance of this book. It’s an apparent reference to the world we’re living in right now, with climate change and populism and excluding others.
There’s always a slow-slow-slow-burn love story in Natasha’s novels between two traumatized people. The fake marriage between January and Gale is no different. Starting as magnets with their repelling poles pointed at each other—January hates everything Gale thinks, and Gale hates everything January is—eventually, they start teasing and grinning and suddenly having rather normal conversations. Everything seems to be fine (except for Gale’s political positions), and even I, a huge Natasha Pulley fan, started to wonder if this book would be anything like her other books. But my heart opened up for Gale and January, oh sweet January, and warmth slid inside my body, and small smiles tilted up my lips while, at other times, chills started to creep up my arms, and I was reading faster and faster, and ... About halfway through the novel, I had an inkling and … sorry, I’m saying no more. Only … mammoths (movie-like!)… and know my inkling was correct!
If you haven’t read anything by Natasha Pulley yet, I’m not sure if you should start with this one. On the other hand, none of them might seem to be the best to begin with. They all give you doubt and confusion and furrowed brows. The most important thing is to just surrender to her storytelling and not quit when you feel bored or utterly confused. The pacing in her books is slow, especially in the first part, but eventually, the story will unfold itself, and suddenly you understand why so many readers are Natasha Pulley stans!
And now I want that sequel to Valery K Natasha was talking about on Twitter! Publishers, do you hear me? US READERS NEED THAT SEQUEL DESPERATELY!!
Actual rating 4.5 stars rounded up to five.
I received an ARC from Orion Publishing House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Follow me on Instagram
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Reading Progress
May 19, 2023
– Shelved
May 19, 2023
– Shelved as:
to-read
October 10, 2023
–
Started Reading
October 10, 2023
– Shelved as:
arc-netgalley-edelweiss
October 10, 2023
– Shelved as:
fantasy-scifi-dystopian
October 10, 2023
– Shelved as:
romance
October 10, 2023
–
0.0%
"Going to dive into one of my most anticipated 2024 books! I’m a little anxious actually …"
October 11, 2023
–
2.0%
"Do you know that feeling? When you’re too anxious because you NEED to like, no love a book and then you just can’t concentrate?"
October 13, 2023
–
26.0%
"Gale seems to be a populist right wing politician and he reminds me (except the hair 😂) of Pim Fortuyn, a flamboyant Dutch gay right wing politician who got murdered. But in Natasha’s books, nothing is what it seems like. So, let’s keep our fingers crossed…"
October 14, 2023
–
48.0%
"Natasha Pulley is giving me a lesson in physics. Again. Do I understand it? No. Do I like it? Yes, but only because she’s teaching me with her mesmerizing prose."
October 15, 2023
–
57.0%
"Natasha Pulley switches so easily from physics to languages. She now teaches linguistics 😀. Oh, and I got an inkling of what is going to happen…"
October 15, 2023
–
75.0%
"Who would Natasha direct to in this scene 🤔? Calling a women’s reaction to all non binary people on Mars wrong (because the woman wants to know who has a penis) but also says it’s born out of fear."
October 15, 2023
–
Finished Reading
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Amina
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Oct 16, 2023 10:17PM
Lovely review, Marieke! All the points that you highlighted at the start really do make me stop and think and make me curious about this, too. Although, I'll definitely take into account that this wouldn't be the first choice to start with of the author's works. Happy though that it was a five star read for you! 🤍
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Amina wrote: "Lovely review, Marieke! All the points that you highlighted at the start really do make me stop and think and make me curious about this, too. Although, I'll definitely take into account that this ..."
Thank you so much, Amina! If you love slow burn and mind boggling novels then Natasha Pulley is definitely an author to pick up. The Kingdoms is a beautiful love story and I also loved The Half Life of Valery K a lot.
Thank you so much, Amina! If you love slow burn and mind boggling novels then Natasha Pulley is definitely an author to pick up. The Kingdoms is a beautiful love story and I also loved The Half Life of Valery K a lot.
Awesome review! It sounds good but I’ll take your advice and start with another book by this author first if I ever feel the need to pick something by her up :)
Imme wrote: "Awesome review! It sounds good but I’ll take your advice and start with another book by this author first if I ever feel the need to pick something by her up :)"
Thanks so much, Imme!
Thanks so much, Imme!