A review by onthesamepage
Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.
This has some interesting ideas, like afthands and being able to manipulate the chemicals in your brain so you don't overreact to bad situations. I was also really intrigued when they finally reached the ship they were looking for and the events surrounding that.

My biggest problem is the chatty inner monologue of the main character. On page 14, she says:

But my log might turn out to be important: a historical document or evidence in a hearing or even an inquest and trial. So now I'm thinking about, well, who am I talking to? Because I'm not just talking to myself anymore.

Based on that, I was expecting a much snappier, to the point story. Instead,  it took me an incredibly long time to get as far as I did, because the interesting parts are bogged down by every single thought the main character has ever had, even though she is apparently logging this after the fact. 

I went ahead and looked up a few reviews, and based on those I don't think my level of interest warrants pushing through, so I'm putting the book aside.