Book Review: Child of Humanity by Alyse N. Steves

9/1/2017

Part Surrogates, part Avatar and a whole lot of introspection on the meaning of Humanity.

Allyson Owens is Saira Ta'u. Having spent multiple lifetimes observing Earth, she is the unwitting seed of the apocalypse. Her only hope is to save as many of her precious family and friends as possible until the Cleansing is over. She'll stop at nothing, not even death, to protect the planet she loves from the conflict growing amid her own people.

What I liked:

The plot and main characters are well-developed. At several points during the book, I was unsure of certain characters real intentions. The nerd in me enjoyed the descriptions of various alien species and technology.

What I didn't like:

I thought the book was longer than it needed to be. The multiple times the MC pondered her life and mission seemed repetitive and lengthy. The final chapter and epilogue both had large time jumps, and it wasn't until several chapters in did I figure out how much time had passed. My level of empathy for the MC changed over the course of the novel. I attribute part of this to being a man reading from the perspective of a young woman.

Bottom Line:

I enjoyed the book more at the beginning than at the end. I give Child of Humanity three stars, but hope other readers enjoy it more than I did.

All the best to Alyse N. Steves in all her future writing endeavors.