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earthurnreads's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
katyanaish's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't like this one as much as I liked the first one, primarily because I didn't like the h/h.
Cas was disappointing to me. For someone who was supposedly this badass, she was unbelievably docile as she was taken prisoner again and again. She had so many situations where she had the upper hand and she did nothing with it. She wasn't exactly what I'd call TSTL - she always managed to escape or do something to get the upper hand - but when she got it, she folded like a house of cards. It made her an incredibly annoying character, and it also made the whole thing feel contrived. I'd rather she didn't manage these escapes at all, than have her do it and be such an idiot about it that she just hands her gun over to her captors every time.
Even worse, I thought she was a shitty officer. She is in a bad position in the last third of the book - a position she let herself get put into (see above - she had a damn easy way out, that she didn't take). She's a fucking terrible officer, and should be bounced down to latrine duty, because between the idiocy on her escape attempts and the inability to make the hard call and protect thousands of people, she's incapable of being in charge of anyone. Officer, my ass.
Tolemek is even worse, to me. He's just not redeemable. Here's the thing: this guy is an inventor of weapons of mass destruction. These weapons have been used, twice, to take out villages. Hundreds of civilians killed each time. Over the course of the story, we find out that this thing he invented was a weapon, and deliberately so. It wasn't some tragic case of "hey guys, I invented this unlimited power source, it should revolutionize energy for the modern world... oh shit, did you just make that into a bomb?" Instead, this is like the guy who invented Hitler's gas chambers. It could never have been used for anything good, and his intent was actually to create a weapon so terrible that other countries would just surrender when his home country came to invade. There's no "oh, wow, I didn't realize that could be used to kill people" going on here. It was always his intent.
So I give no fucks that this guy angsted a bit about the weapon when it was actually used. Hey idiot, that's what you made it for. It was always going to do that. And in my opinion, anyone who invents that shit is just fucking evil. Period. They are responsible for their shit, and they are responsible for all the innocent men, women and children who died in its use. I don't want him to get a happy ending. I want him to rot in jail. I want the families of the people who were massacred by his weapon to get in a line and take turns beating him up.
I most certainly do NOT want to see him get a HEA and his own fancy new lab, where he swears he's only going to invent GOOD things from now on. No, fuckbag. You had your chance, and you chose, of your own free will, to invent hideous shit designed only to murder civilians. And now you get to pay that coin.
Unfortunately, this may ruin the series for me, because if he and Cas are recurring characters, I will be ill every time they show up. She's an idiot and he's a monster. They're intolerable.
Cas was disappointing to me. For someone who was supposedly this badass, she was unbelievably docile as she was taken prisoner again and again. She had so many situations where she had the upper hand and she did nothing with it. She wasn't exactly what I'd call TSTL - she always managed to escape or do something to get the upper hand - but when she got it, she folded like a house of cards. It made her an incredibly annoying character, and it also made the whole thing feel contrived. I'd rather she didn't manage these escapes at all, than have her do it and be such an idiot about it that she just hands her gun over to her captors every time.
Even worse, I thought she was a shitty officer. She is in a bad position in the last third of the book - a position she let herself get put into (see above - she had a damn easy way out, that she didn't take).
Spoiler
She actually pilots the lead ship in an invasion of her homeland capitol city. I'm sorry, but they can't MAKE you do that. And if they are stupid enough to put you behind the wheel, then you crash the ship. The story makes a point of telling us that Cas has 6 hours to fly. And she comes to the realization that it is her duty to crash the ship, rather than let thousands of innocent civilians be killed. End chapter. Start of next chapter, they are arriving at the city. Cas still piloting. Angsting about crashing the ship. Are you fucking kidding me?Tolemek is even worse, to me. He's just not redeemable. Here's the thing: this guy is an inventor of weapons of mass destruction. These weapons have been used, twice, to take out villages. Hundreds of civilians killed each time. Over the course of the story, we find out that this thing he invented was a weapon, and deliberately so. It wasn't some tragic case of "hey guys, I invented this unlimited power source, it should revolutionize energy for the modern world... oh shit, did you just make that into a bomb?" Instead, this is like the guy who invented Hitler's gas chambers. It could never have been used for anything good, and his intent was actually to create a weapon so terrible that other countries would just surrender when his home country came to invade. There's no "oh, wow, I didn't realize that could be used to kill people" going on here. It was always his intent.
So I give no fucks that this guy angsted a bit about the weapon when it was actually used. Hey idiot, that's what you made it for. It was always going to do that. And in my opinion, anyone who invents that shit is just fucking evil. Period. They are responsible for their shit, and they are responsible for all the innocent men, women and children who died in its use. I don't want him to get a happy ending. I want him to rot in jail. I want the families of the people who were massacred by his weapon to get in a line and take turns beating him up.
I most certainly do NOT want to see him get a HEA and his own fancy new lab, where he swears he's only going to invent GOOD things from now on. No, fuckbag. You had your chance, and you chose, of your own free will, to invent hideous shit designed only to murder civilians. And now you get to pay that coin.
Unfortunately, this may ruin the series for me, because if he and Cas are recurring characters, I will be ill every time they show up. She's an idiot and he's a monster. They're intolerable.
tatertot2005's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
annkniggendorf's review against another edition
5.0
This book had none of the issues I had with the first book of this series. It was a true delight reading it, though someone should fashion a badge for Tomelek's outfit reading 'most gullible/naive scientist/pirate ever'! ;-)
rock_mom's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lost_goddess's review
3.0
Like the 1st one, it was a lot of action with very little romance or character development.
boosmummy's review
3.0
An okay book but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first in the series, not quite sure why but the characters Ahn and Deathmaker didn't seem quite real to me.
abbeysykes's review against another edition
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kitten638897's review against another edition
5.0
While not perfect, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely read again at some point (I actually listened to it on Audible and the voice actor was amazing).
an be read as a stand-alone because it follows a second set of characters different from the first book in the series. A strong female character and a kind (with a splash of danger but without the toxicity) male character.
an be read as a stand-alone because it follows a second set of characters different from the first book in the series. A strong female character and a kind (with a splash of danger but without the toxicity) male character.