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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
Ever since I read Asimov’s Robot Series, I have been drawn to robot Sci-Fi stories. I am a devoted Murderbot fan and I consider them “comfort reads” to reread it every few months. Yesterday in an Audible sale, I came across this first in a series of three books. As I read it, it became Murderbot-Alternate. I was not familiar with this author. So this was a delight to discover a Sci-Fi story that recalls the type of characters and interactions, and pace through a multifaceted plot with as much snark as Murderbot.
Abel is a mech, specifically Prototype 1-A, a robot with the capacity to learn, to reason, and to love. The book opens with Abel existing in the dark, cold, zero G airlock with both interior and exterior doors locked into position and he has been here for 30 years—ever since his creator (father) fled the ship in an evacuation after an attack by an enemy warship. Noemi is a 17 year old fighter pilot who has been defending her home planet in the Loop (a group of planets colonized by Earth but now being drained of resources to support a greedy dying Earth). She boards the ship desperately seeking help for her injured foster sister and fellow pilot, Esther. In a frantic search for Sick Bay, Noemi accidentally frees Abel from his prison. Abel’s directive one is to obey his creator or the highest ranking human present. When Noemi asked for aid for Esther, he immediately changes from enemy to protector. They begin a journey through the Loop to protect her home planet, Genesis—even from themselves.
I loved the premise, the characters and the world building in this book so much that I now have both volumes 2 and 3 queued up to find out what happens next.
3.5/5 stars
The world this book created was very realistic and allowed you to dive in without too much info dumping. I also appreciated the slow build of the romance throughout the book. The characters do a good job evolving as they explore the galaxy together. I enjoyed both of their arcs. The middle section was a bit slow, and it was overall a bit predictable, but it was an enjoyable story that I was invested in the whole time.
The world this book created was very realistic and allowed you to dive in without too much info dumping. I also appreciated the slow build of the romance throughout the book. The characters do a good job evolving as they explore the galaxy together. I enjoyed both of their arcs. The middle section was a bit slow, and it was overall a bit predictable, but it was an enjoyable story that I was invested in the whole time.
adventurous
emotional
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
I've become much more critical these days, so a 3 star is not necessarily bad. It only means that I wasn't obsessively racing to the very last page. It was interesting and entertaining enough to warrant a nod! I do love a good love story!
"The opposite of faith isn't doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty."
A fun space romp with a cute romance. I wouldn't say I'm impressed or underwhelmed, I just feel okay about this.
Also I cannot for the life of me look at this title and not get Rewrite the Stars going through my head.
A fun space romp with a cute romance. I wouldn't say I'm impressed or underwhelmed, I just feel okay about this.
Also I cannot for the life of me look at this title and not get Rewrite the Stars going through my head.
I highly enjoyed this. It’s action-packed, original, and as much as I love the characters and their development throughout the book, I appreciated that it didn’t come at the cost of the world-building. Space operas aren’t my favorite, I love me some well-established and -explained sci-fi setting and a plot that doesn’t revolve around another person or relationship.
I feared this would be too focused on the romance between the characters, given that some reviews on the back claim that the romance is a selling point, when I found that to not be the case (which I loved). The slow burn development of Abel and Noemi’s relationship made it even the more enjoyable, and I appreciated that they both stood on their own feet as individuals with sharply defined personalities, motivations and senses of purpose and duty. I hate books with poorly written love interests, who only serve as plot devices and only there to add drama.
However, I found the writing to be lackluster and almost too simplistic (and the incorrect overuse of em-dashes bothered me quite a bit, to be fair), which really shone in during the fast-paced scenes. I almost couldn’t feel any suspense or sense of urgency because the writing was so bland during such high action moments. On the plus side, the dialogue was the author’s strongest suit. I found it effective, and the use of modern-day slang was realistic and not trying too hard.
I also appreciated how organic the diversity was. Not that books should get brownie points for having a diverse cast of characters, but this one was authentically done and I liked that.
Another minor criticism, but this is more of a personal taste thing: I would’ve liked to see more exploration of Noemi’s thoughts and world views. I love it when authors do a deep dive into their character’s brain, and I felt like that was certainly the case with Abel, but not Noemi. Hopefully there’s more of that as the series goes on.
With all being said, this was a solid sci-fi book with a unique premise, exciting plot and well-written characters. Will pick up the sequel for sure.
I feared this would be too focused on the romance between the characters, given that some reviews on the back claim that the romance is a selling point, when I found that to not be the case (which I loved). The slow burn development of Abel and Noemi’s relationship made it even the more enjoyable, and I appreciated that they both stood on their own feet as individuals with sharply defined personalities, motivations and senses of purpose and duty. I hate books with poorly written love interests, who only serve as plot devices and only there to add drama.
However, I found the writing to be lackluster and almost too simplistic (and the incorrect overuse of em-dashes bothered me quite a bit, to be fair), which really shone in during the fast-paced scenes. I almost couldn’t feel any suspense or sense of urgency because the writing was so bland during such high action moments. On the plus side, the dialogue was the author’s strongest suit. I found it effective, and the use of modern-day slang was realistic and not trying too hard.
I also appreciated how organic the diversity was. Not that books should get brownie points for having a diverse cast of characters, but this one was authentically done and I liked that.
Another minor criticism, but this is more of a personal taste thing: I would’ve liked to see more exploration of Noemi’s thoughts and world views. I love it when authors do a deep dive into their character’s brain, and I felt like that was certainly the case with Abel, but not Noemi. Hopefully there’s more of that as the series goes on.
With all being said, this was a solid sci-fi book with a unique premise, exciting plot and well-written characters. Will pick up the sequel for sure.
a really organic character development and a believable, unsudden romance. a p straightforward read, but i had big fun reading it. enjoyed the high stakes plot and commend the author for taking her time developing our main characters from enemies who have no choice but to work together to great allies, friends, and love interests. the end was a little too easy and too neat but does it job, and i don’t really mind if it sets up well for book 2!
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-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
When I first read Claudia Gray's vampire books in high school, I had no idea that she'd go on to become one of my favorite sci-fi writers, yet here I am.
I loved Claudia Gray's Firebird series so I was really excited for a new Sci-Fi story from her. The story of Noemi and Abel intrigued me before I even started it and with each page, I found myself getting more and more invested in their stories, both separately and together. It was an interesting dynamic. For a lot of the book, it was just the two of them on the mission Noemi was hell bent on completing but they did meet up with some great supporting characters.
The book was a dual POV between Noemi and Abel. I always find it interesting when a dual POV has two such different characters and it was hard to get any more different than these two. Noemi was a soldier from a planet cut off from the rest of the galaxy and whose people had strong opinions about the technology the rest of the galaxy was using. Abel was a machine, a mech, with such advanced programming that it was almost impossible to tell he wasn't human. These were two individuals with limited life experience who'd both been raised to believe one way of thinking and were learning that maybe their elders/creators weren't telling the whole truth.
I was a little surprised that I didn't miss the crew feel in this Sci-Fi book. Usually, that would be high on my list of loves when I read a book involving space and missions, but the dynamic between Noemi and Abel was so well done and so entertaining that they filled all the areas I would normally look for in a crew. I loved watching the relationship between them change and the little ways they realized they'd become to care for each other, much to their own confusion.
The plot was a mix between the type of action scenes one might expect(and hope) for in a space book and a slow build-up toward the mission's end goal. It did a great job setting up for the second(and final?) book. It didn't get too slow that I felt my attention wandering and it didn't get too fast where I felt like I was missing pieces of information. I'm very excited to see where the travel takes us in book two.
*I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Indigo Books & Music Inc. in exchange for an honest review*
The book was a dual POV between Noemi and Abel. I always find it interesting when a dual POV has two such different characters and it was hard to get any more different than these two. Noemi was a soldier from a planet cut off from the rest of the galaxy and whose people had strong opinions about the technology the rest of the galaxy was using. Abel was a machine, a mech, with such advanced programming that it was almost impossible to tell he wasn't human. These were two individuals with limited life experience who'd both been raised to believe one way of thinking and were learning that maybe their elders/creators weren't telling the whole truth.
I was a little surprised that I didn't miss the crew feel in this Sci-Fi book. Usually, that would be high on my list of loves when I read a book involving space and missions, but the dynamic between Noemi and Abel was so well done and so entertaining that they filled all the areas I would normally look for in a crew. I loved watching the relationship between them change and the little ways they realized they'd become to care for each other, much to their own confusion.
The plot was a mix between the type of action scenes one might expect(and hope) for in a space book and a slow build-up toward the mission's end goal. It did a great job setting up for the second(and final?) book. It didn't get too slow that I felt my attention wandering and it didn't get too fast where I felt like I was missing pieces of information. I'm very excited to see where the travel takes us in book two.
*I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Indigo Books & Music Inc. in exchange for an honest review*