A short novel set in an unusual future world Gravity's disruption has led to the level of civilisation falling back and the protagonists have little understanding of the wider world, or thei place in it. Hints are dropped throughout of a wider world, and the ending, althouh satisfying, leaves the reader wanting to know more about this world.

A novella which I would have liked to be a novel to slow down some of the fast plot changes. I liked the concept of the world the author created, and I look forward the forthcoming novels in this series. The main characters fall in love way too fast and some problem solving tied up very neatly and conveniently is a result of the shortness of the book. ( )

This novella provides an interesting twist to a classic trope like Beauty and the Beast by sprinkling in some geo-political conflict and technology making it a very good read. Tallow and his tribesmen live far different lives from Sicily and her village. Tallow being from the swath where the gravity is reversed with half the strength and life is hard. Sicily's quiet village to the south where gravity is normal and full strength is populated by farmers and artisans. When they meet their attraction is instant and strong throwing their two worlds into chaos as they become ever closer to each other physically and romantically.

Tallow and Sicily, a male and a female living on the same planet, seem to live in different worlds; nevertheless they fall in love. Grasping at Gravity has something of a Romeo-Juliet plot, but since Tallow has been raised in the area where there is half-gravity, and Sicily lives in full gravity we have the science fiction aspect. Also, Tallow’s tribe and other similar communities (Tether people) are all male, while Sicily’s town is mixed. One is quasi-hunter-gatherer, the other agrarian.

Overlords, of a sort, rule everywhere. They determine when a Tether male deserves a wife, and this doesn’t happen very often. Once “married,” the pair is supposedly whisked to the wonderful great beyond. The first of a trilogy, a backstory and explanation of the role of the dominant species must wait for the rest of the sequence.

Thirty males comprise Tallow’s tribe, and each has been hoping for a bride for years. However, neither sexual frustration or homosexuality is apparent. A similar naivete exists in the actions of Sicily’s father and neighbors, little nuance or complexity in their personalities. The writing style is predominately declarative sentences, which might complement the simple lifestyle of the Tether people, but not necessarily Sicily’s people. In all, these qualities made the narrative, for me, seem closer to an outline or first draft than a final novel.

My impression is that young adults might best appreciate Kallen Samuels’ Grasping at Gravity, and that other readers might want to wait for the three novels to be published in order to have more depth and momentum.

I received a copy of this book from the author and Goodreads; this is an honest review. ( )

I was sent a review copy by the author through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

Grasping at Gravity is a novella set in a world where gravity on each half works in opposite directions. It follows Tallow and Sicily, two people from these two different sides, meeting, falling in love and finding out that not everything they've been told about their world is true.

While that premise might sound a little familiar, Kallen Samuels' writing really shines in his worldbuilding. Learning about the social and technological differences between the two sides and even between the different Tether Tribes was fascinating. What I would've liked a bit more of is finding out what knowledge and pieces of technology from our world ended up surviving, but I can easily see those being reveals in future novels, so this can't be counted as a hit to the novella.

On the note of reveals, they are extremely well done here. The setups are woven into the surrounding narrative and dialogue in such a way that when the reveal does happen, you're genuinely shocked at how plot-relevant those pieces of information were.

As for negatives, I'd mainly say that I wish Sicily was a bit more of her own character. She's a POV character, which sets you up thinking that she'd have her own motivations and arc, but it just feels a bit disappointing when all she's really used for is to drive Tallow's story of discovery along. Furthermore, I wish a few more plotpoints and character details were shown to us, rather than told to us. It's confusing because we are shown these things rather often and it's done really well and that just creates a bit of a disconnect when something is told to us in a more clumsy way.

A personal note would also be how weird a lack of a mention of queerness felt in the novella. I'm not usually someone to point this out, but when the men of the tether tribe are constantly speaking about wanting to meet a woman, it seriously begs the question. It isn't even mentioned that sex between men is a taboo in the tribe, it's just completely ignored that it would exist.

Overall, I think this is a very well written and well paced novel. I'll definitely be giving the other States of Inversion novels a go when they come out. ( )