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rthpr's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I think the concept of this book is great, and I did enjoy it, but I don’t think it reaches its full potential. Some more editing could have benefited this book massively. There were repetitive bits, and at some point the book has the line “much to Asha’s surpise (not!)” - seriously? This line made it through edits to be put in an actual book???
The 1812 plot line started off great, and then once Obi left was a complete drag. The prophecy was a bit heavy handed, it liked the archive notes at the end of each chapter though, that was a great idea. AndAziza being the weapon was great! Even if the foreshadowing wasn’t very subtle.
Could not get behind Xavier, didn’t care about him in the slightest and the romance between him andAsha wasn’t very convincing.
The firstprison break was completely pointless. Why wasn’t this edited out? It added nothing to the plot and made the second one feel less high stakes, even with an exploding planet and how many times do we need to describe stealing a spaceship!
I probably will read the sequel (presuming there is one) because overall I liked the ideas! The main let down of this book seems to be the lack of a proper editor
The 1812 plot line started off great, and then once Obi left was a complete drag. The prophecy was a bit heavy handed, it liked the archive notes at the end of each chapter though, that was a great idea. And
Could not get behind Xavier, didn’t care about him in the slightest and the romance between him and
The first
I probably will read the sequel (presuming there is one) because overall I liked the ideas! The main let down of this book seems to be the lack of a proper editor
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Slavery
kiwij96's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Great concept but genuinely a painful read. Two reluctant young adults with prophesised roles end up trying to bring down a space tyrant while in search for the FMC's sister.
It was just so painfully repetitive at times and the characters didn't feel fleshed out enough. The friendships and relationships felt rushed but the prophecy was so long drawn out as if to hammer home that there was a prophecy (just in case by the 100th page you were unaware). Parts of the plot felt like they had been forgotten about at timesQala shows up, tells Obi he has 3 weeks to make a decision and then returns what feels like a month and a half later in the story's timeline. I also really just didn't understand the relevance of the 1812 storyline other than it being a romance subplot for the majority, it just felt out of place.
The editing process needed to be more thorough, too. This book could have been like 100-150 pages shorter, and was just riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. Also, as much as I love a book with long chapters when done correctly, this made the long chapters FEEL longer.
Felt like DNFing after 50 pages but stuck with it for the rest of the book just to see where it got me. Found family trope was introduced well, good concept and creativity, great introduction to a series albeit a bit long. But generally speaking, this one wasn't for me.
It was just so painfully repetitive at times and the characters didn't feel fleshed out enough. The friendships and relationships felt rushed but the prophecy was so long drawn out as if to hammer home that there was a prophecy (just in case by the 100th page you were unaware). Parts of the plot felt like they had been forgotten about at times
The editing process needed to be more thorough, too. This book could have been like 100-150 pages shorter, and was just riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. Also, as much as I love a book with long chapters when done correctly, this made the long chapters FEEL longer.
Felt like DNFing after 50 pages but stuck with it for the rest of the book just to see where it got me. Found family trope was introduced well, good concept and creativity, great introduction to a series albeit a bit long. But generally speaking, this one wasn't for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Death of parent, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Torture
Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Blood, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Colonisation, Trafficking, Death, and Slavery
Moderate: Genocide, Grief, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, War, Child abuse, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Minor: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Rape
pvbobrien's review
adventurous
emotional
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicide, Trafficking, and Slavery
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Classism
Minor: Blood, Rape, Torture, Child abuse, Infidelity, War, Mental illness, and Sexual content
emily_journals's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
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? No
4.5
I really enjoyed this book and I'm very excited to see not only where this series goes, but where this author goes as well.
The characters are really the heart of this story, and I really loved that this was such a character driven story, especially for being a big space opera where I think the emphasis is usually put on the plot. I really loved both of our main characters and they both felt extremely complex and lifelike. All the side characters also very much felt like they were their own people and not just devices of the story which I found really impressive, especially for a debut author. I also think the overall plot was really satisfying, I did see most of the "twists" coming but I don't think the book was necessarily trying to hide the twists from you. It was more wanting to take you on the journey that the characters had to go through experiencing these things, so the plot still felt satisfying even seeing where the story was going. I also generally enjoyed the prose of this book, I think the author had a really beautiful way of selecting and composing the words in this book generally.
I do think there were some craft issues with this book, but most of them were easy for me to gloss over and didn't interrupt my reading experience. I also think all of the craft issues are ones that I would typically expect from a debut author, especially one who started writing this book as a teen. Sometimes there was quite a bit of over explaining and I think this book could have been trimmed down by getting rid of some of the repetition. Also, there were a couple of times that there was head jumping, but it didn't happen often enough or extreme enough to really interrupt my reading experience. There was only one time where I really stopped and was like "wait, who are we focusing on right now?", but all the other couple of times it would just be a brief second of confusion. Also, I really really wish there was a glossary in the back of this book and I'm hoping there will be one in the next book.
Overall, this was a good introduction to this world and a very good debut.
The characters are really the heart of this story, and I really loved that this was such a character driven story, especially for being a big space opera where I think the emphasis is usually put on the plot. I really loved both of our main characters and they both felt extremely complex and lifelike. All the side characters also very much felt like they were their own people and not just devices of the story which I found really impressive, especially for a debut author. I also think the overall plot was really satisfying, I did see most of the "twists" coming but I don't think the book was necessarily trying to hide the twists from you. It was more wanting to take you on the journey that the characters had to go through experiencing these things, so the plot still felt satisfying even seeing where the story was going. I also generally enjoyed the prose of this book, I think the author had a really beautiful way of selecting and composing the words in this book generally.
I do think there were some craft issues with this book, but most of them were easy for me to gloss over and didn't interrupt my reading experience. I also think all of the craft issues are ones that I would typically expect from a debut author, especially one who started writing this book as a teen. Sometimes there was quite a bit of over explaining and I think this book could have been trimmed down by getting rid of some of the repetition. Also, there were a couple of times that there was head jumping, but it didn't happen often enough or extreme enough to really interrupt my reading experience. There was only one time where I really stopped and was like "wait, who are we focusing on right now?", but all the other couple of times it would just be a brief second of confusion. Also, I really really wish there was a glossary in the back of this book and I'm hoping there will be one in the next book.
Overall, this was a good introduction to this world and a very good debut.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Genocide, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Slavery, Racism, Addiction, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Death, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Alcohol, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual content
persephonefoxx's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.0
It is a story about a girl and her friends, and how hard times made heroes of them, whether they wanted to be or not. It is a story of loss, and adventure, of daring and of courage burning in the bleakest of times. It is a story about love.
Can we talk about how insane it is that this is a space opera meets historical fiction…and yet, somehow, it works?!
I may not be the biggest sci-fi girlie when it comes to literature (something I am trying to improve upon). But I am a historical fiction girlie, and definitely had an intense Doctor Who phase as a teenager, so this book has its appeal.
Asha and Obi are so complex. The romance had me in my feelings, and there were twists I didn’t see coming. It’s engaging, fun, and (in some places) a little soul wrenching. You know what you did Part Three. I am keen to see where this series goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, and Slavery
Moderate: War, Medical trauma, Racism, and Torture
Minor: Rape
ruthhelizabeth's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
I received an e-arc of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved our main characters, and their flawed, courageous warmth. It was a genuine joy to see their character development throughout their building adventure. I'm not normally a fan of books with British royalty in, but I loved how many parts of this faced up to the most problematic elements of having a prince tied up in colonialism interact with a commoner.I look forward to seeing how this is developed in the sequel.
I don't read a lot of epic fantasy or sci-fi and at times I was a little lost in all the detail. However, the strong characterisation kept me invested and moving through the bits I was a bit unsure in.
I would echo another reviewer and raise a word of caution around characterising a ruling class as anything similar to a lizard. I felt like if they had been portrayed on screen, this could have been fleshed out more so it was clear they were not similar to antisemitic tropes. However with so much left to the reader's imagination and in the place they held in the society, I felt this might have benefitted from an amendment.
Overall, this was a satisfying and epic tale, and I can imagine myself picking it up again before the sequel comes out.
I loved our main characters, and their flawed, courageous warmth. It was a genuine joy to see their character development throughout their building adventure. I'm not normally a fan of books with British royalty in, but I loved how many parts of this faced up to the most problematic elements of having a prince tied up in colonialism interact with a commoner.
I don't read a lot of epic fantasy or sci-fi and at times I was a little lost in all the detail. However, the strong characterisation kept me invested and moving through the bits I was a bit unsure in.
I would echo another reviewer and raise a word of caution around characterising a ruling class as anything similar to a lizard. I felt like if they had been portrayed on screen, this could have been fleshed out more so it was clear they were not similar to antisemitic tropes. However with so much left to the reader's imagination and in the place they held in the society, I felt this might have benefitted from an amendment.
Overall, this was a satisfying and epic tale, and I can imagine myself picking it up again before the sequel comes out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Colonisation, Death, War, Suicide, Abandonment, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Drug use, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Genocide, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia
Minor: Gore and Death of parent
chelskee's review against another edition
This book needed some more rounds of editing. Typos, sudden shifts in narrative, and meta examination of the relationship between Obi and George that felt more like reading a tumblr analysis post of the relationship than the story OF the relationship. It needed more show and less tell.
Also, while some of the contents (i.e. details about the sexual nature of Obi and George's relationship) are certainly adult content the book is written in a very YA voice. The brushing over ofIyanda's brutal rape and torture at the hands of her captors leading to the abandonment of her first child felt awful, especially when she herself seemed to affirm that it gave her Asha so it is what it is. An incredibly important statement about the abuse of women's bodies in war and oppression boiled down to half a page of dismissive conversation.
There was also an issue with inconsistency. In Chapter Six it is stated that Obi's father left him at 8 years old. TWO PAGES LATER, we see something of a flashback about Obi with his father breaking into the museum at age 10 in which it is stated that "Six months later, his father was gone."
There is... one more issue that I'm nervous to even bring up. The reptilian overlords that took power through economic control to dominate other races was ringing some red flags for certain conspiracies. Given the authors young age, I'm going to hope that it was an issue of simply not knowing the associations.
I REALLY wanted to like it but I'm afraid this was just not for me at its current iteration. I may check back in with the author a few books down the line because I LOVE the creativity and the interesting ideas she's making.
Also, while some of the contents (i.e. details about the sexual nature of Obi and George's relationship) are certainly adult content the book is written in a very YA voice. The brushing over of
There was also an issue with inconsistency. In Chapter Six it is stated that Obi's father left him at 8 years old. TWO PAGES LATER, we see something of a flashback about Obi with his father breaking into the museum at age 10 in which it is stated that "Six months later, his father was gone."
There is... one more issue that I'm nervous to even bring up. The reptilian overlords that took power through economic control to dominate other races was ringing some red flags for certain conspiracies. Given the authors young age, I'm going to hope that it was an issue of simply not knowing the associations.
I REALLY wanted to like it but I'm afraid this was just not for me at its current iteration. I may check back in with the author a few books down the line because I LOVE the creativity and the interesting ideas she's making.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Police brutality, and Colonisation
Moderate: Abandonment, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Domestic abuse
blacksphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.5
I agree with two things I've seen in other reviews:
1. The author wrote this book between the ages of 16 and 18, and you can tell.
2. Marketing this as an adult book is a massive mistake, and it should have be aimed at a teen audience.
This is not to say that the book is bad. I applaud the young author for her genre smashing approach, wanting to create a time traveling space opera that is also an epic fantasy and a gay regency romance. It's also a blisteringly fast-paced book with little meandering and downtime. I think if I was a teenager I would have really enjoyed it. But wow, having an ill-defined prophesy the characters must all follow really fills this book with insta-found family and insta-love. Some characters that are supposed to be educated, wise adults come off as extremely childish (see: the commentary on the prophecy we get sometimes at the end of chapters that no academic would have written in such a casual tone). I think there's potential here, and I'm curious if she keeps writing after this series is finished.
I just can't get past looking at the King George IV, known womanizer and extravagant spender, and going "what if he was a progressive, anti-imperialist gay man with a Black lover?" I can't do it. It is so hilarious it makes my brain shut down.
1. The author wrote this book between the ages of 16 and 18, and you can tell.
2. Marketing this as an adult book is a massive mistake, and it should have be aimed at a teen audience.
This is not to say that the book is bad. I applaud the young author for her genre smashing approach, wanting to create a time traveling space opera that is also an epic fantasy and a gay regency romance. It's also a blisteringly fast-paced book with little meandering and downtime. I think if I was a teenager I would have really enjoyed it. But wow, having an ill-defined prophesy the characters must all follow really fills this book with insta-found family and insta-love. Some characters that are supposed to be educated, wise adults come off as extremely childish (see: the commentary on the prophecy we get sometimes at the end of chapters that no academic would have written in such a casual tone). I think there's potential here, and I'm curious if she keeps writing after this series is finished.
I just can't get past looking at the King George IV, known womanizer and extravagant spender, and going "what if he was a progressive, anti-imperialist gay man with a Black lover?" I can't do it. It is so hilarious it makes my brain shut down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Addiction, Slavery, and Drug use
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Confinement, Gun violence, Genocide, Blood, Classism, and Vomit
Minor: Medical content, Police brutality, Torture, Trafficking, and War
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