MixedUSA TodayThe author has clearly done plentiful research ... Maybe the research was a little too plentiful: Long passages investigating the practicalities of space travel will fascinate some readers and bore others. Luckily for all of us, though, there’s plenty of interpersonal conflict on board, too ... Given the tautness of the book\'s setup — with its enclosed space, world-shaking implications and startling reveals — Goldilocks is ultimately disappointing. After bogging the first half down in long Wikipedia-esque passages about Biosphere 2 and astrophysics, Lam kicks the storytelling into overdrive in the second half, making it feel rushed and occasionally vaudevillian. It was hard to get to know the characters during the static exposition of the first half, and once the story started moving they — and especially the tale’s villain — were made almost cartoonish to serve the frantic plot ... All the same, through the novel’s fascinating premise, Lam gives us plenty of food for thought about gender dynamics in our own world. The image of five women taking back what’s rightfully theirs from five less-qualified men, and literally freezing them in time to do so, is a symbol that will stick with me for some time. The viral pandemic that plays out off-page also feels eerily prescient. These elements are just enough for Goldilocks to overcome the occasional wobbles in its story structure.
