Reviews

You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

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cornflower's review

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adventurous funny hopeful tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

csdaley's review

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4.0

I thought there were a few pacing problems. Places where the story went to fast or two slow. I also thought the ending was entirely too predictable. Having said that, I really enjoyed nthis book. I want to spend more time with each and every character and look forward to the next book in the series.

riazero's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

missprint_'s review

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4.0

Captain Nicolette "Niko" Larson knows better than most that leaving the service of the Holy Hive Mind is no small thing. It's easy enough to join the ranks with promises of vast earnings to come. But once you're in, it's funny how the debt keeps mounting and those payments never come.

For a moment, Niko thought she could work within the system but now, known throughout the system as the "Ten Hour Admiral," Niko knows better.

Luckily for Niko and her crew, the only thing the Hive Mind values more than conquest is art. Including culinary art.

After proving their artistic prowess with food, Niko and her crew have settled at TwiceFar station where they try to make a go of their restaurant, The Last Chance. With a reservation book for a prestigious food critic empowered to award a coveted Nikkelin Orb to worthy restaurants, it seems like things might finally be looking up.

Until the station blows up, of course.

With their past reduced to a smoldering pile of space rubble, Niko and her crew escape onto a sentient ship called You Sexy Thing. Unfortunately, the bioship thinks it's stolen and steers them towards a prison planet. And that isn't even the worst of Niko's problems as the crew tries to fend off sadistic space pirates, deliver an intergalactic heir safely to the seat of the empire, and keep Niko's other plans alive all while still chasing that elusive Nikkelin Orb in You Sexy Thing (2021) by Cat Rambo.

You Sexy Thing is a standalone space opera that hints at more to come. The story is told in omniscient third person following Niko and her motley crew. The cast of characters includes humans, humanoid aliens, and other alien characters with a range of skin tones, presentations, and gender identities. Vivienne Leheny narrates the audiobook and ably navigates the large cast during shifting perspectives and dialog.

Pragmatic strategist Neko is complimented well by the ensemble cast here including my personal favorite characters Dabrey, Niko's four-armed former-sergeant responsible for the restaurant's culinary achievements, and Lassite--a lizard-like priest who joined the crew to follow Niko on her journey along the spiral of destiny. Although the plot focuses squarely on Niko and her own plans, no character is given short shrift as the entire crew has moments to shine. The madcap journey of the first half of the story shifts to something darker and grittier (including moments of mental and physical torture that while not explicitly described are unpalatable--particularly in audio) before the novel's denouement.

You Sexy Thing skillfully combines moments of sci-fi absurdity with action and high emotion as Niko and her crew face numerous obstacles after escaping TwiceFar station. Rambo delivers a story filled with adventure, found family, and ultimately with hope for the future to come.

Possible Pairings: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, Space Battle Lunchtime by Natalie Riess, The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz, Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

farfromdaylight's review

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2.0

Honestly, I think my biggest issue with this book might be the POV choice. I’m not really a fan of POV jumping around between characters within a scene, which made it hard to really get into the characters. There’s an interesting character-focused story here, but it’s bogged down in strange plotting choices and detours to delve into characters that don’t actually forward the narrative in a meaningful way. Really I just didn’t like it very much, which is a shame as I had high hopes.

accidentalspaceexplorer's review

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4.0

Definitely fun - I liked a lot of the characters in this, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens down the line for them. However, the constantly bouncing perspectives didn't work well for me, and I was clearly supposed to feel more about some of the events of the book than I did, probably because I wasn't attached to the characters as much. Ultimately, this was fun and I'll definitely read the sequel, but it also isn't a new favorite.