J Swift's Reviews > Earthflown

**eARC REVIEW**

If you like sci-fi fantasy with intriguing world building, a near-future dystopia in the midst of large-scale political upheaval, a full cast of LGBTQIA+ representation, or a classic who-done-it murder mystery that just happens to be served up with a healthy dose of uncertain romance (and humor??!) - I cannot recommend Earthflown highly enough!

This story unfolds from three different perspectives, as each chapter builds up the world we're in and the characters that inhabit it Level by Level. We get to follow Ethan: the eternally exhausted commitment-phobe healer with zero social graces and one (EXCELLENT) friend, Javier: heir to a pharmaceutical empire and what I envision the human embodiment of a sweet Golden retriever forced to live with A Big Secret™ would look like, and Ollie: an efficient investigative journalist / master of urban camouflage (if it involves hiding behind potted plants) who may or may not find himself tugging the thread of conspiracy as the story progresses.

And boy what a story! The world itself is engaging, the mystery compelling, and all the different characters and relationship dynamics feel realistic and nuanced. Besides the three main folks mentioned above, there's a whole cast of well thought out and interesting people that flesh out this world. Even when they were doing things I really didn't agree with, their decisions made sense within the broader scope of their personality. Felt like the story happened BECAUSE of the characters, not TO the characters, if that makes sense? Takes real skill to bounce between playful and humorous banter, competent tech talk, and heartfelt well-shoot-I-guess-I'm-crying-now? declarations. This book was clearly a labor of love, and I can't wait to see what the final print version will look like with the 60+ internal illustrations!