Aetherbound: A Journey Through Space That Grounded Me Instead
When I first picked up Aetherbound by E.H. Johnston, I was drawn in by the promise of a vast universe filled with deep thematic explorations—after all, who doesn’t love a beautifully crafted tale of resilience and survival set against the backdrop of the cosmos? However, my journey through the pages turned out to be less of an adventure and more of a meandering path that ultimately led me to put the book down around the halfway point.
From the outset, I was intrigued by the complexity of themes that Aetherbound aimed to tackle. With a content warning that highlighted medical violence and an obsession with food, I anticipated a raw but thoughtful narrative. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that the content warnings barely scratched the surface of what unfolded. Issues like human trafficking and child abuse are core themes that echo throughout the narrative, yet they remain strangely underrepresented in the warning itself. As a reader who highly values transparency, it was disheartening to feel misled—where’s the nuance in addressing such serious matters?
As I plunged deeper into the story, I encountered what felt like an avalanche of information dumps that served more as a clumsy world-building exercise than necessary narrative context. Instead of immersing me in the universe Johnston crafted, they alienated me, leaving me wondering whether I was reading a compelling story or a lengthy informational brochure. One moment, it seemed the main character had no spare time due to her circumstances, but then she was said to be spending all her spare time in a specific place. Contradictions like these piled up and made it hard to engage with the characters or the plot.
This wasn’t just uninspired storytelling; it felt disjointed. I found myself questioning the characters’ motivations—particularly the protagonist’s choices, which seemed to contradict the trauma she had endured. When a character quickly trusts the very systems that oppressed her, I couldn’t help but wonder how that portrayal aligns with real-life experiences of abuse victims. I was searching for authenticity, and instead found myself sifting through disarray, which ultimately left me with a pit in my stomach.
While I was initially optimistic about Johnston’s abilities as an author—having attended a talk where she left a strong impression on me—Aetherbound was, unfortunately, a significant miss. It felt as if the author was trying to weave a tale reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale but got lost in the approach, coming off as a muddled hybrid of YA dystopia and contemporary themes in an outer space setting.
In closing, I can’t recommend Aetherbound to anyone looking for a satisfying exploration of its ambitious themes. If you’re in search of a read that delves deep into the complexities of trauma and resilience with the necessary nuance, you might need to look elsewhere. While it’s always disheartening to put down a book I’d hoped to love, sometimes it’s a kindness to acknowledge when a story feels ungrounded. I’m left with a sense of curiosity about Johnston’s other works, yet I hesitate to dive back in after this experience.