Tag: Series

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs

Leave a comment

Nemesis

Author: Brendan Reichs
Series: Project Nemesis #1
Reviewer: Inopinion

Content Warnings

Violence

Summary

In a small, secluded town, sixteen-year-old Min has been living a nightmare. Every two years since she turned eight, she is murdered on her birthday by a man in a  black suit and wakes up in the same clearing in the forest outside of town. And since she was eight, she’s been under psychological evaluation and medicated, though it doesn’t stop the delusions. Ostracized by the popular kids – mostly children of the town’s rich and powerful – she spends most her time trying to keep her loud-mouth best friend, Tack, from provoking yet another beat down.

Life is thrown into chaos as a planet-threatening asteroid heads towards Earth. Everyone waits for the calculations, will this be the end or a very, very near miss. And then, the earthquakes start.

View this book on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Equal parts high school drama, Lord of the Flies, and government conspiracy, this nifty little novel pairs it all with dynamic characters into a quick-reading ride. There’s a lot to appreciate about this book starting with its ability to soundly target the middle of the YA range. This book is 100% written for the 14-18 crowd with a focus on the relationships and dynamics and not on the ultra heavy options that come with a planet-killing asteroid. There’s a definite ask for the reader to suspend belief as everything comes out, which harkens to a simpler time in YA when we didn’t require our books to spoon-feed us every possible detail.

As a fan of Brendan’s first series, The Virals, I see many parallels between these books. The primary protagonist is a young girl who doesn’t really have anyone she can talk to. She has a moody best friend who likely has a crush on her. And she steps over the boundaries of her peer groups to connect with Noah, a popular kid, to solve problems. There’s a maniacal nemesis in Ethan and his clique, and, of course, the government conspiracy is totally in line with his earlier series. But for all these similarities there is a freshness that I appreciated and the twists in the plot set up the second book nicely.

Which brings me to the last sign of a great series starter… I’m buying that second book!

Appeal: Great choice for readers that like their books squarely in the definition of YA, and who like a touch of sci-fi with their modern setting. Also a great choice for anyone that likes a subtle love triangle, though there isn’t much love going on in this first book there is potential in the next. And remember reading Lord of the Flies? It definitely has that element of kids on their own making their own societal rules and asking questions around leadership, structure, and how to govern for the common good.

Shadowscent by P.M. Freestone

Leave a comment

Shadowscent

Author: P. M. Freestone
Series: Shadowscent #1
Reviewer: Renee

Summary

Across the Aramtesh Empire, scent is everything. Prayers only reach heaven on sacred incense, and perfumes are prized status symbols. 17-year-old Rakel has an uncanny ability with fragrances, but her skills aren’t enough to buy her dying father more time.

 Ash bears the tattoos of an imperial bodyguard. When his prince, Nisai, insists on a diplomatic mission to an outer province, Ash is duty-bound to join the caravan. It’s a nightmare protecting Nisai on the road. But it’s even harder for Ash to conceal a secret that could see him exiled or executed.

 Rakel and Ash have nothing in common until smoke draws them to a field of the Empire’s rarest flower. Nisai’s been poisoned, flames devour the priceless blooms, and the pair have “suspect” clinging to them like a bad stench. Their futures depend on them working together to decipher clues, defy dangers and defeat their own demons in a race to source an antidote . . . before the imperial army hunts them down.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I picked up an ARC at BookCon 2019 because the premise sounded interesting. I had mild expectations but it blew me away. It’s equal parts mystery and fantasy. I don’t think I’ve read a book that focused so much on scents before. I was a bit overwhelmed by all the descriptions of scents, but I quickly learned which ones were really important.

This book focuses on two characters. Rakel is on the run because she’s being falsely accused of attempting to kill the prince, Nisai, and the only way to save her and her father’s lives is to find an antidote to a poison she didn’t create. Ash is the Prince’s Shield and has sworn upon his life to protect Nisai. He has to determine if his duty to protect the prince means he stays put as the commander orders, or if he must run (and look guilty) to find an antidote. He chooses to run because that’s the only way to help the prince.

I liked Rakel right away. She was making tough decisions and doing what she needed to do in order to save her father from the Rot, a disease that slowly consumes the person affected. She’s determined and confident. She knows she’s one of the best and she’s not afraid to prove it. She puts everything on the line to prove she’s the best and get a good job to send money and medicine back to her father.

Ash has a mysterious background that gets brought up a few times until the reveal at the end. I enjoyed how he had to decide on how best to protect Nisai. He’s sworn to protect him and will lose his life if he fails. Nisai was poisoned and it seemed like nobody was looking for the antidote so Ash decides it’s his duty to go find the girl and discover what she knows. Unfortunately for him, Rakel doesn’t know much and only had advice from a mysterious person who told her to find a place that doesn’t exist if she wants to save the prince. With no other option, the two journey together. Obviously, they don’t really trust each other but Rakel pushes forward since this is her only chance to prove she’s innocent and to save her father.

I didn’t like how the book ended. It was wrapping up nicely but so many things were revealed and the last line is almost along the lines of “ok, let’s get started.” But we just finished! I generally don’t like when books end in a way that means the characters are going to take an immediate action. Regardless, this book surprised me and I really enjoyed it. I’m excited for the sequel.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Leave a comment

The Raven King

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #4
Reviewer: Marlou

Summary

All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love’s death. She doesn’t believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore

View this book on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

“He was a book, and he was holding his final pages, and he wanted to get to the end to find out how it went, and he didn’t want it to be over.”

I did not want this story to end and yet I wanted badly to know how it ends. I think we all know that feeling…

The Raven King was a very interesting read. It often had me smiling like crazy or just plainly laugh out loud:

“The kitchen window groaned open, and Jimi shouted out, “Blue! Your boys are out front, looking like they’re fixing to bury a body.”
Again? Blue thought.”

There were some really nice and cute Ronan and Blue moments:

“No homework. I got suspended,” Blue replied.
“Get the fuck out,” Ronan said, but with admiration. “Sargent, you asshole.”

There was Ronan being Ronan:

“Are you going to lock your shitbox?”
Adam said, “No point. Hooligans got in anyway.”
The hooligan in question smiled thinly.”

Sometimes it got a little confusing because so many people were mentioned:

“Depending on where you began the story, it was about…”

And then suddenly there was Henry. Good, funny Henry:

“Look at this,” Henry called from a few yards away. His voice was theatrically shocked. “I have discovered that, at some point, this side door was broken into by a teenage Korean vandal.”

“Make way, make way, make way for the Raven King.”

And that was that. The book has ended. The series is done. My heart has been stolen by these lovely Raven Boys and this one spectacular girl. Don’t mind me, I’m just gonna cry in a corner somewhere.

And that’s the last review of The Raven Cycle! All 4 books! But wait! A new trilogy spinning off of the original four is coming! Starting with Call Down the Hawk on November 5th!!

See Marlou’s reviews starting with The Raven Boys, (book 1) in this series!

Books in this series

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Leave a comment

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #3
Reviewer: Marlou

Summary

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. 

The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

View this book on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

“Blue was perfectly aware that it was possible to have a friendship that wasn’t all-encompassing, that wasn’t blinding, deafening, maddening, quickening. It was just that now that she’d had this kind, she didn’t want the other.”

No one would want a normal friendship when you could have Gansey, Ronan and Adam. I mean, duh. Who wouldn’t want their own set of lovely Raven Boys? Sign me up.

I loved this book so much. The second book was a bit slow paced, but this book more than made up for that. There were a lot of things happening at once, and yet, I could follow everything perfectly fine. Maggie Stiefvater, you are a magician with words.

There were some lovely, heartwarming scenes in this book. I do think this one is my favorite:

“In the hall stood Richard Campbell Gansey III in his school uniform and overcoat and scarf and gloves, looking like someone from another world. Behind him was Ronan Lynch, his damn tie knotted right for once and his shirt tucked in.

Humiliation and joy warred furiously inside Adam.

Gansey strode between the pews as Adam’s father stared at him. He went directly to the bench, straight up to the judge. Now that he stood directly beside Adam, not looking at him, Adam could see that he was a little out of breath. Ronan, behind him, was as well. They had run.

For him.”

Welcome to the new class; How to break my heart, repair it and then warm it completely 101.

I can’t really say anything more without spoiling the entire book, so I’ll just mention, again, how much I loved this book. I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK.

Stay tuned for more reviews of The Raven Cycle as we approach the release of Call Down the Hawk on November 5th!

See Marlou’s reviews starting with The Raven Boys, (book 1) in this series!

Books in this series

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Leave a comment

The Dream Thieves

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #2
Reviewer: Marlou

Summary

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

“In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them. Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness. Her raven boys.”

Same, girl, same. I didn’t like this one as much as the first one, I don’t exactly know why though. I do know that I despised Kavinsky. I don’t like Adam in this book and he already wasn’t one of my favorites to begin with. Somehow everyone seemed a little more annoying in this book but that could just be me.

Then why give it 4 stars just like The Raven Boys? Because Maggie’s writing deserves a solid 4 stars. Her world building is magnificent. Her characters are immensely diverse. The bromance is real. God, I love good male friendships without feeling like they’re gay.

Oh wait, one is definitely gay though. I want to keep this review as spoiler free as possible so I hid the names in this quote. You can decide if you want to know the names, just google it and I’m sure the internet will tell you!

“Don’t say (NAME), man. Do not say it. He is never going to be with you. And don’t tell me you don’t swing that way, man. I’m in your head.”

“That’s not what (NAME) is to me,” (NAME) said.

“You didn’t say you don’t swing that way.”

(NAME) was silent. Thunder growled under his feet. “No, I didn’t.”

This book was a bit long for my taste. There wasn’t necessarily much happening and the things that did happen weren’t that impressive. I also didn’t quite get the things that were going on with Adam and that confused me from time to time. I did like it that we got to see more of Ronan and that we got to know more about his strange ability. It’s still a 4 star read for me because it was well-written, the characters are amazing, and the world is just awesome. And I just love them all so much.

Stay tuned for more reviews of The Raven Cycle as we approach the release of Call Down the Hawk on November 5th!

See Marlou’s review for The Raven Boys, book 1 in this series!

Books in this series

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

5 Comments

The Raven Boys

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #1
Reviewer: Marlou

Summary

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

View this book on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

“The way Gansey saw it was this: if you had a special knack for finding things, it meant you owed the world to look.”

And look for things he did. Gansey’s obsession is amazing. Stiefvater wrote it in a way that he doesn’t seem like a madman yet he’s still completely obsessed. With Gansey it’s more like he finally found something that money can’t buy.

Let’s talk about the friendships in this book. Can I have a tight group of friends like that please? They’re all different, they all have issues and they could have been enemies; instead they’re friends and kinda scare the crap out of people. The friendship was real strong at the beginning of the book, NOT.
“Did you get notes for me?”
“No”, Ronan replied,”I thought you were dead in a ditch.”
And yet I still want a friend like Ronan Lynch… Something is either epically wrong with me or totally right. I don’t wanna know which one it is.

My favorite Raven Boy is Gansey, Ronan is a solid second. I don’t like Adam… Noah is alright. As for the ladies at 300 Fox Way, I love them all. Blue is so lovely and eccentric and doesn’t take shit from anyone.

Why not give this book 4.5 or 5 stars? I really like this book, but that’s just it: I like it, not love it. I love different worlds and magical characters, so yeah basically Epic Fantasy. The Raven Boys is more Urban Fantasy, which I totally like but I doubt Urban Fantasy and the like will ever be any of my favorite books.

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
And then the questions that have been bugging me. Is this epic foreshadowing? Are both things gonna happen because Blue kisses him and then he dies? Are Blue and Gansey gonna end up together? Does this series have a happy ending?
Btw, I don’t want to know the answers to these questions, I wanna find out for myself.

Stay tuned for more reviews of The Raven Cycle as we approach the release of Call Down the Hawk on November 5th!

Books in this series

The Steel Prince by V.E. Schwab

Leave a comment

The Steel Prince

Author: V.E. Schwab
Series: Shades of Magic Graphic Novels
Reviewer: Finja Marie

Summary

Before he became King Maxim Maresh, father to Rhy and adoptive father to the Antari Kell, he was a prince. Young, arrogant, and inexperienced.

When his own father sends him to the Blood Coast of Verose, Maxim must learn that Red London was a sanctuary in a cruel world. Out here, the people don’t obey the law; violence rules, magic runs wild, and even the guard doesn’t stand a chance against the evil under the surface.

Maxim learns this the rough way, even though he refuses to adapt to this dire situation. But the biggest thread still awaits, for the pirate queen returns to claim her bloody throne…

View this book on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Steel Prince is a prequel to Schwab’s much acclaimed Shades of Magic series. The first bound-up contains issues #1-4 and spans the first adventure of a still young Maxim Maresh, formerly known to  readers as the stern king of Red London. In the first arc of the comic series, he must learn that his world is not as sugar-coated as he formerly thought, and he must face his first real opponent in Arisa, the self-proclaimed pirate queen. 

The world of Shades of Magic works splendidly in a visual medium. The magic system comes alive through Andrea Olimpieri’s artwork, which is more on the rough, edgy side – a perfect fit for the darker tone of the setting. 

The story itself is solid, but nothing new. It pulls out all the tropes one would expect for character introductions. The execution is still interesting and entertaining enough, though, as one would also expect from an author as well-established and hard-working as Schwab is. 

The only qualm I had with this comic book was the fact that it’s too much story on way too few pages. Especially towards the end, one or even two more issues would’ve done the story a much better service. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but the way some of the scenes were brushed over took too much suspense away from what could’ve been one of the best scenes in the entire book.

Other than that, I am really looking forward to the next arc. Maxim Maresh is an interesting character with a lot of potential. I also liked that you don’t have to read the Shades of Magic trilogy first – new readers can jump into this world right with this comic book!

Nemesis by Genevieve Iseult Eldredge

Leave a comment

Nemesis

Author: Genevieve Iseult Eldredge
Series: Circuit Fae #4
Reviewer: Renee

Summary

What would you do if your beloved girlfriend suddenly became your worst enemy? That dilemma’s all too real for Syl Skye.

As the last princess of the fair Fae, Syl is all things brightness and sun and white flame. But even though she’s Summer incarnate, she’s drawn to Rouen Rivoche, the dark Fae princess-assassin of the Winter Court.

They should be mortal enemies, but they’re best friends. Girlfriends. In love.

That is, until an old enemy puts Roue under a dark spell that makes her forget all about Syl, their lives and their love. Now Roue rules Dark Faerie as a cruel and cold Queen, and she wants nothing more than to destroy Syl and her fair Fae people. 

Worse, both opposing Faerie realms stand on the brink of utter destruction, and only their queens, Syl and Rouen, can save them—and only if they can put their differences aside for two seconds and fight together as allies.

But how can you fight against an enemy when your true nemesis is on your team?

View on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Spoiler warning: this review contains minor spoilers for the series, but none for this specific book. If you’ve read this far in the series, you’re good to go.

Every book in this series gets better, and Nemesis is no exception. I discovered this series right before Inimical (book 3) released. If you’ve read this far in the series, you know that is the WORST one to end on because of what happens to Rouen. It was painful waiting for an entire year for the next main installment after reading 1 – 3 back to back. I’m so excited Nemesis is here and we can finally save Rouen! (I hope!)

Nemesis is shorter than the other books in the series but so much happens! There’s lots of action and tension since, you know, Dark Rouen wants to eliminate Syl and take over all of Faerie. Do yourself a favor and read it in one sitting. Don’t get to about 50 pages from the end and have to go to bed so you can go to work because that is NOT a good stopping point! 😅

Throughout Nemesis, we get background information on some characters we’ve met before, meet a handful of new ones, and the dark Fae kids return! The background info-reveals affect both Syl and Rouen which changes how they tackle their current situation. I suspected who a character really was when they were first introduced in an earlier book and I celebrated when I found out I was right…then I read a few more sentences and DID NOT SEE THAT COMING! 😱 Celebration to shock in 3 sentences.

Per usual, Syl and Rouen are excellent together. Their entertaining banter lightens the tense action scenes, even with Rouen under a spell. I really loved Rouen’s struggle now that her dark side is in control. She remembers her feelings for Syl but her dark side wants more power and doesn’t really care about Syl. Enter Jarden (yes, that puca!!) who decides to gift Rouen with a way to control Syl and become Overqueen of all Faerie. Rouen’s dark side can’t turn down the offer of more power, even though Rouen knows Jarden can’t be trusted. It’s never good when Jarden enters the picture and you know it’s terrible for Syl that she’s helping Rouen.

Syl learns the fair Fae will wake soon and thinks it’s great because they can stop the dark Fae. Then she learns both Faerie realms will perish in seven days when they wake. It’s not a lot of time, especially when Dark Rouen knows she has to kill Syl to prevent Faerie Armageddon and has no problem doing it.

During all this chaos, Syl and Rouen also grow in their relationship. Syl refuses to give up on Rouen even though Dark Rouen has control and decides Syl is a rival to eliminate. Rouen struggles between her feelings for Syl and trying to be the queen her people need. Syl learns some things about Rouen that impact their relationship, but they work through all this while also trying to figure out how to save their people. The ending is perfect.

There are a couple loose ends (mostly, I’m not giving up on a certain character who got swept up in one of the battles!). I’m assuming these will be handled in the final book which releases in 2020. I hope it ends with them on a Disneyland trip because they deserve a vacation after all this. 😉

Books in this series

Moribund
derailed-1
Ouroboros
Dethroned
Inimical
Rekindled
Nemesis

Radioactive Revolution by Richard Hummel

Leave a comment

Radioactive Revolution

Author: Richard Hummel
Reviewer: Inopinion

Summary

LitRPG, GameLit, RPGLit, GameFiction…. So many names for this genre!

Jared and his dragon companion, Scarlet, emerge from the depths of the earth bound together and with a mission to restore dragons back to the ecosystem and free humans from their captivity. They set out across the radioactive wasteland that stretches between the refugee camps and larger cities facing both small and enormous mutated critters collecting nanites and boosting their skills, strength, and size all along the way!

Can they gather the army they need to take on the corrupt human world? Can they wake the dragons and return them to their proper place on the surface of the Earth?

View this book on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I received a book in exchange for reading and reviewing. What follows is my honest assessment. I read approximately half of the book in print and the other half through my Kindle Unlimited subscription (great place to find many indie authors!).

I am new to this genre, and if you, like me, are participating in the Pop Sugar Challenge (download a PDF of this year’s list here), you know that LitRPG is an ‘extra’ category this year. So I was delighted when our blog was contacted for a review. So, bear-in-mind, this is my first foray into this type of book and so my review has no bearing on if this is an exemplary title for the genre or if it deviates from the typical. I’m just going to keep this to the story, the writing, and the potential for the series.

Here we go…

Appeal: This book would appeal to fantasy readers who enjoy dragons, but mostly, this book would appeal to those that love quests and a touch of dystopia. I was reading this book at the same time as Ink Mistress and found several parallels with the quest, boss-fight, quest, boss-fight formula (and that’s a good thing for me!). If you want to cover ground and see new things and skip the political maneuvering, this book will work for you.

Review:

This book has a strong opening that introduces the world, the characters, and the challenges in a post-apocalyptic New York. The introduction to the world and the ‘point system’ is gradually blended into Jared’s actions and overall both are well integrated into the story. So while the idea that Jared has nanites he can assign to different attributes was a little hokey for a first-time reader in this genre, it wasn’t jarring and so I was well adjusted to references to this system by the time Jared and Scarlet are really starting to level-up. 

The story has a strong premise. Jared makes a vow to assist Dragons to return to Earth and they uncover a long-standing conspiracy that makes humans dependent on Boosters. And thus, they also want to free humans. I really like the conversations between Scarlet and Jared as they navigate these two goals throughout the book. And I especially like the first half where they are truly working together and are equal participants in the book.

Starting around the 65% mark, I started to struggle with the pacing. I would liken the middle of this book to watching someone play a video game: mildly tedious. There’s still things going on, but the stakes are just not as high as they were before the major boss fight. Now, I believe this part of the story is going to be crucial to the overall series or I don’t think the author would have spent time on it, but honestly, I struggled to get through. At about 80%, the book picks right back up and Jared and Scarlet are off on another quest, another series of fights, and the opening to the next book is clearly laid out.

If it weren’t for that troublesome middle, I would be rating this book at 4 stars. Even with it, I’m eyeing that book 2 on Kindle Unlimited, and I don’t waste time on continuing bad series. So that’s a solid half-star-plus from me.

Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

Leave a comment

Aurora Rising

Author: Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman
Series: Aurora Rising #1
Reviewer: Marlou

Summary

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

  • A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
  • A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
  • A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
  • An alien warrior with anger management issues
  • A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

HOLY MOLY I HAVE NO WORDS

I’ll try to put my thoughts into words without writing asdfghjkl…

Story: it’s interesting enough. Lots of little pieces of info given, but nothing major revealed until the very end. It’s a solid scifi story but not necessarily anything majorly impressive.

Multiple POV: I thought this was going to bother me, but it didn’t. It was very clear in whose POV you were reading even if you forgot to look at the big ass name above the beginning of the chapter.

Characters: OMG everyone is so fun to read about. Banter is amazing, sass activated, sarcasm is definitely Kristoff-worthy and they all started caring about each other in the end. LOVE IT. I do just generally love a good story about misfits.

Why 4 stars? I didn’t LOVE this book. The story is interesting and I want to know more. The ending has left me in a state of utter despair. BUT I feel like there’s too much info left out. The romance between Kal and Aurora is okay, but I find it unnecessary. There was just a lot of build up and then it didn’t feel like a OH WOW SHIT OKAY SO THAT’S WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON… It was more a Oh is that it? I was expecting something grander.

Turns out I have plenty of words for ya 😂 I definitely recommend this book, but maybe read it when you have the whole series in hand. I’m not okay with waiting Maker knows how long for the next book. I’m so curious about what they’re gonna do with the story.

Solid 4 stars for the squad full of misfits and a book filled with sarcasm and banter.