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litlistening's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
aardwyrm's review
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Fun and functional, with some sharp spots of tension and emotional payoff throughout. The book just assumes your buy in and leans heavily into found-family-space-opera-adventure, which is a good route for such a slim novel, and works just fine on a plot level. My actual investment wavered a lot as a result, though, as the stakes veered wildly around and surface level sketches was all that held the piees together. We're clearly supposed to love this motley crew, but they're all pretty flat. The only character I found remotely likeable was Lassite, who everyone else insisted was impossible to get along with. The pacing is weird and the dialogue tends toward the clunky, and nothing new or interesting ever actually happens. Just skillfully remixed tropes. Like Star Wars for old school sci fi serials. The old school third-person-semi-omniscient narration takes some strange jumps and might have benefitted from section breaks. All this sounds like I hated the book, and I didn't, just wished it was a little more than it was.
jack_iwashyna's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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? It's complicated
4.0
Fun goofy space hijinks for most of it, yet I found the gruesomeness of the torture and abuse of Petalia by the pirates so detailedly described as to jar me into almost stopping reading
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Slavery
chayes77's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
mountainsatellite's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
motaki's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
There were parts that I liked and others that I was 'so uhm, what now'
The plot and the pace were all over the place, sometimes quirky and light while turning extremely heavy and dark the next minute, let me tell you I had whiplash!
For a character driven book we get too many POV switches in the same paragraph, sometimes you had to reread a sentence to get who uttered that.
There is a lot just hinted at but we needed a more solid plot for this book, even if the author planned to have a sequel, they should have at least tidied up some questions left unanswered, this one felt more like a 300 pages of messy preview.
Niko is a good captain and a nice character, she deserved a better story than this useless moping and pining after a toxic ex.
Hope they'll do both her and her ragtag crew justice in the next instalment.
The plot and the pace were all over the place, sometimes quirky and light while turning extremely heavy and dark the next minute, let me tell you I had whiplash!
For a character driven book we get too many POV switches in the same paragraph, sometimes you had to reread a sentence to get who uttered that.
There is a lot just hinted at but we needed a more solid plot for this book, even if the author planned to have a sequel, they should have at least tidied up some questions left unanswered, this one felt more like a 300 pages of messy preview.
Niko is a good captain and a nice character, she deserved a better story than this useless moping and pining after a toxic ex.
Hope they'll do both her and her ragtag crew justice in the next instalment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, and War
anarose13's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
elizbee's review
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm so, so torn on how to rate this, so I'll be generous. The book reads like the kind of story that would come together over a ttrpg campaign, and I mean that both positively and negatively. On one hand, it means there are unique and interesting/lovable characters, accessible worldbuilding, and fun little pop culture references scattered about. On the other, it means there are meandering plot points with convenient or nonsensical resolutions, unsatisfying character arcs and inconsistencies, and ridiculous pop culture references scattered about. I was content to not take things too seriously and enjoy the fun parts for the first two thirds or so of the book, but the sudden bleak turn of the book followed by a bunch of deus ex machina type resolutions soured me on the experience pretty hard. It's a very overtly tropey story that struggles to find its tone. It's got a wealth of great, fun elements and a dearth of satisfying payouts.
linnym55's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
scuttlingclaws's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5