The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is the story of the plucky crew of The Wayfarer, a diverse group of many species and abilities, as they go on a long, dangerous mission.  

Ashby Santoso: Human captain, pretty tolerant of the foibles of other species, probably the least developed character in the book

Rosemary Harper: A Martian-born human who is escaping her family's reputation on Mars by becoming a clerk on The Wayfarer; she knows a lot of languages and is the most adept at diplomacy of anyone on board the ship

Dr. Chef: One of only several hundred of the species Grum left after inter-species war left the race decimated; he plays the role of both doctor and chef on board

Kizzy Shao: Talkative, energetic mechanical tech on board; human

Jenks: The other tech on board - deals with computers; born to a mother who refused to get prenatal care, so he's very short

Sissix: Aandrisk, a reptilian-like species that has a body covered in scales and feathers on their heads. The species is very physical with each other and is casual about sex.  Sissix is the pilot and generally gets along with everyone except for Corbin

Artis Corbin: Human algaeist on board the ship; the algae is needed to fuel the ship, but Corbin is grumpy and spends little time with his crewmates and most of his time is spent in the algae lab

Ohan: A Sianat Pair.  Sianats are infected with a virus, called The Whisperer, when they are young. This changes them and allows them to do complex mathematical operations and make them an asset in interstellar travel.  Ohan is the Navigator of the ship, keeps mostly to themselves, and eats a paste for nutrition

Lovelace: The AI that runs the ship; Jenks and Lovelace are in love  

And, honestly, if you read all that and it sounded interesting, you'll like this book. If you read it and it sounds like trash, you absolutely won't enjoy this book.

There are a lot of criticisms about this book - it's thin in plot, it's conflict-free, there are no consequences.  I think those criticisms are fair.

But the truth is that I loved this book.  I liked that the characters had occasional spats, but when the chips were down, they had each other's back. I liked that they were puzzled by different characteristics of species and had to have some uncomfortable discussions, but in the end tried to be respectful.  I liked that we got to see a lot of exciting space settings. I liked that it was, for the most part, gentle and happy.  I have been saying that what I need right now is an immersive world, different from ours, but that is somehow realistic. This book taught me that I was wrong. I need an immersive world in which all the endings are happy and the friendships are stronger than ever after they're tested.  It's not realistic at all, but it was able to take me out of my own bubble and into someone else's and leave me happy and contented.  I count that as a win.

I immediately put the next book on my hold list for an ebook from the library and the estimate is that I'll get it in about eight weeks. *heavy sigh*