I wish the story was written better because I found the plot and certain elements of the novel well written. First contact with a compassionate alien species that may be friendly and acknowledging some political realities kept left me intrigued. However, character development is weak and though the author makes an attempt at inclusivity, sometimes the story sounded like a male nerd fantasy. But that’s not unusual for space sci-fi written by men, so I can tolerate it—just don’t love it. The narration is good.