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jesuismoi's review
Blargh. Couldn’t finish it.
I had to stop when the heroine and the hero get together and one, two, three really easy plot devices fall into their laps in the space of about four pages.
Let’s just say the concept of everything the heroine stands for is thrown out pretty quickly. Also, some fairly heavy handed political screeds in there.
I had to stop when the heroine and the hero get together and one, two, three really easy plot devices fall into their laps in the space of about four pages.
Let’s just say the concept of everything the heroine stands for is thrown out pretty quickly. Also, some fairly heavy handed political screeds in there.
katyanaish's review
3.0
So this one was pretty iffy. Like, 3 stars is definitely rounding up.
My biggest problem was the FMC, Thelma. I'm not sure how old she is, but given that we got told repeatedly that she'd spent 7 years in training to be a Galactic Justice agent, I'm guessing 25 or so. But her personality reads as like 16. She's really self-absorbed, and while she can be really smart at putting together pieces and solving mysteries, she misses the totally obvious to an almost shocking degree. She's got a huge chip on her shoulder about being from an outer sector, and makes her entire personality about that. She's frankly exhausting. And flip-floppy. She seems to be bonding with Max and his two AI (two! this author really leans into AI characters, but honestly she does them so well and they're always a high point in her stories), but then she'll suddenly flip a switch into being withdrawn, to the point where they ask her if something is wrong. And that's part of what I mean by her really childish personality. Again, exhausting.
All this training to be a badass agent, and she kind of stinks at it. She's a better spy / info broker - as I said, she puts the pieces together to puzzle out what is happening very well - but the only time she was involved in any actual action, she felt pretty useless. Like, from her own POV, she was distracted, confused, kept wanting to get clarification WHILE PEOPLE WERE SHOOTING AT THEM, and felt more like a damsel than an agent or deputy.
I liked the story and the world building. I liked what we saw of Max, but honestly we didn't see a lot. But Thelma's (FMC) story felt lame - she spent all this time and built her life around being an agent. And weeks into it, without accomplishing a damn thing, she blackmails someone into letting her out of her 7 year contract. So Space Deputy is about the FMC ... quitting her job. That's okay, I guess. She wasn't very good at the job.
Despite all that, I'm going to read on because I'm curious whether that reset - quit her job, connected with Max, seems to have pulled her head out of her ass - will make it all better from here.
EDIT TO ADD: I have to also say that man, this cover is terrible. Like, even liking this author, I nearly skipped this book because the cover was so cheeseball awful that it was embarrassing.
My biggest problem was the FMC, Thelma. I'm not sure how old she is, but given that we got told repeatedly that she'd spent 7 years in training to be a Galactic Justice agent, I'm guessing 25 or so. But her personality reads as like 16. She's really self-absorbed, and while she can be really smart at putting together pieces and solving mysteries, she misses the totally obvious to an almost shocking degree. She's got a huge chip on her shoulder about being from an outer sector, and makes her entire personality about that. She's frankly exhausting. And flip-floppy. She seems to be bonding with Max and his two AI (two! this author really leans into AI characters, but honestly she does them so well and they're always a high point in her stories), but then she'll suddenly flip a switch into being withdrawn, to the point where they ask her if something is wrong. And that's part of what I mean by her really childish personality. Again, exhausting.
All this training to be a badass agent, and she kind of stinks at it. She's a better spy / info broker - as I said, she puts the pieces together to puzzle out what is happening very well - but the only time she was involved in any actual action, she felt pretty useless. Like, from her own POV, she was distracted, confused, kept wanting to get clarification WHILE PEOPLE WERE SHOOTING AT THEM, and felt more like a damsel than an agent or deputy.
I liked the story and the world building. I liked what we saw of Max, but honestly we didn't see a lot. But Thelma's (FMC) story felt lame - she spent all this time and built her life around being an agent. And weeks into it, without accomplishing a damn thing, she blackmails someone into letting her out of her 7 year contract. So Space Deputy is about the FMC ... quitting her job. That's okay, I guess. She wasn't very good at the job.
Despite all that, I'm going to read on because I'm curious whether that reset - quit her job, connected with Max, seems to have pulled her head out of her ass - will make it all better from here.
EDIT TO ADD: I have to also say that man, this cover is terrible. Like, even liking this author, I nearly skipped this book because the cover was so cheeseball awful that it was embarrassing.
humanignorance's review
4.0
4 stars. This was a fun, well-written little book. The protagonist was interesting, and she tackled the issues the book threw at her with aplomb. The world-building was a little weak, even for such a short book. For example, we didn’t really get a hint of the social structures that allowed anti-Rock-sector-citizen bias to be so blatantly expressed. Nor was there any attempt to explain the science fiction concepts that underpin the novel. However, these weak points were overshadowed by the fun, smoothly-flowing plot.
tessisreading2's review
3.0
Too much telling - like the other series of Schwartz’s I’ve read, there’s a LOT of exposition in here. This one was also hampered, like that one, by not enough “futurism” in some of the world-building - in this one, the heroine explicitly wears 1950’s-style clothing for dressing up, which doesn’t make a ton of sense (why did one specific decade become The Fashionable Retro Look) and also just seems uncomfortable. Imagine navigating a space station in spike heels, you know? The heroine also sets herself up as a part-time “information broker” literally RIGHT as she turns up in a totally new, unfamiliar place about which she knows virtually nothing. How on earth would she have any information worth brokering? Everything is wrapped up incredibly neatly, and the romance happens without much foreshadowing beyond "of course there will be a romance." I don't want to give it two stars because there's nothing actually wrong with it and I enjoyed reading all the way through, but it felt like a first draft in a lot of respects.
ursula_fricke's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cmbohn's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Despite that cheesy title, this was a fun and interesting book. Thelma was a solid character. Harry was my favorite though. I didn't feel that the romance was explored enough to be convincing, but I liked the idea. Good enough that I want to read book 2.
effectordinary's review
3.25
It was kind of shallow but i feel like anyone considering reading that would already know that going in. nothing super off-putting in the book—EXCEPT THAT THEY’RE SPACE COPS—and the writing is strong. If you like space opera and romance then give it a go
happenstance's review
3.0
Enjoyable concept and interesting characters - a bit too easy in the solution department, and I'm not sure if I buy into the heroine's growth arc entirely. I wasn't exactly expecting the romance (not a huge part of the story) but it also felt like it developed mostly out of nowhere so it wasn't entirely satisfying for me.
I like the "old west in space" feel, and some of the ideas around AI are also really interesting.
I like the "old west in space" feel, and some of the ideas around AI are also really interesting.
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