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bookswithbets's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
skycrane's review
4.0
I was looking for a book to read and remembered Melinda Snodgrass's interesting sci-fi story from the Dangerous Women anthology, so I started this series. Stories about human contact with aliens are often a way to explore what it really means to be human by putting us in comparison to another species. In this series, humanity doesn't come across very well. The society of the Solar League is aggressive, xenophobic, fractious, parochial, and decadent. I think the characters in this sense are very realistic, with their noble aspects living alongside their flaws, and their personalities reflecting the society that shaped them. Mercedes' attitude to her "lessers" is what you'd expect from someone raised to be obeyed, but she's also genuinely kind, especially to those she could easily mistreat with no consequences. Tracy is usually bitter and resentful, but when he forgets his grievances he's naturally caring and even self-sacrificing. Even the Emperor, who is theoretically in charge of this deeply unfair society and who benefits most from its systemic oppression, is shown to also be a caring father and concerned ruler (to some extent). This certainly isn't any kind of apologia for sexist, racist, or classist oppression, but it recognizes that such societies exist and the people who live in them are human, with all the good and bad that entails.
The story mostly about the social dilemmas Mercedes and Tracy face trying to make places for themselves in a space that is naturally unwelcoming to them, for different reasons. There's all sorts of political intrigue going on, but it's mostly relegated to the background, which I liked. The focus is on the characters and their immediate concerns. There may be civil war or alien attacks on the horizon, but at the moment, they're just students, and they have to make it through the academy first.
Anyways, this book was very good, and I've already started the sequel, which might be even better.
The story mostly about the social dilemmas Mercedes and Tracy face trying to make places for themselves in a space that is naturally unwelcoming to them, for different reasons. There's all sorts of political intrigue going on, but it's mostly relegated to the background, which I liked. The focus is on the characters and their immediate concerns. There may be civil war or alien attacks on the horizon, but at the moment, they're just students, and they have to make it through the academy first.
Anyways, this book was very good, and I've already started the sequel, which might be even better.
blodeuedd's review
2.0
It started well enough, though it was so YA. Nothing wrong with that, but I really feel like this should not be marked adult. Nothing makes it so. They act like 14 year olds. We see them at school, soccer game, bullying. Make them 20, make it adult, or make them actually 14. I felt that the book was conflicted.
And then it just got depressing, and I started skimming, I checked book 2 how her life will be and it will suck, and still suck in book 3. Rather depressing.
I guess she could not make it YA, cos they are older in the next one. But an adult book can still be about kids, just make the writing less YA then.
And then it just got depressing, and I started skimming, I checked book 2 how her life will be and it will suck, and still suck in book 3. Rather depressing.
I guess she could not make it YA, cos they are older in the next one. But an adult book can still be about kids, just make the writing less YA then.
mad_matx's review
3.0
Well. The first three chapters were a bit tough, but once we got past establishing the YA bonafides, it read quite well, and I have just started the second book, so that’s a pretty positive note.
lolasreviews's review
4.0
Audiobook review
I had seen this book in passing when I was looking for other books narrated by Nicole Poole , I have to admit the cover and blurb didn't catch my attention and I scrolled past it. Then I saw one of my blogger friends review this one and her review made me curious and combined with the fact it was narrated by Nicole Poole, I decided to give this one a try. I wasn't quite sure what to expect form this book, but I definitely had a great time listening to it.
The High ground is told in mostly dual point of views from Tracie and Mercedes. The first two chapters have other point of views, but after that it sticks with those two. Tracie is one of the lower born citizens, but thanks to a scholarship he gets the chance to attend The High ground, a prestigious school for the elite to become officers for space combat. Tracie wants nothing to with the elite nobles and doesn't plan to attend.
Mercedes is on the totally opposite side as Tracie when it cums to social class. She is the heir to throne. Her father only got female kids and he changed the law so Mercedes can be the heir. Now the first step she has to take is attend the High Ground as all nobles have to attend. But Mercedes doesn't want to attend The High Ground.
So we start with two opposites in social class who both have no intention of joining the elite school, but then a chance meeting changes everything. And they both end up at The High ground. Most of the story takes place at The High ground and it's a bit of an academy style story set in space, which was fun.
This book is full of social and cultural complexities and most of the focus is on that. The differences between the high and low born, the way they threat each other, how Tracie doesn't quite fit in because he's a scholarship student, how Mercedes doesn't quite fit in because she is the heir and the first female to attend The High ground. There are lots of social complexities, decisions that have to made, who they have as friends and who not. It was all well thought out and the author's world building really shines in the way she brings this futuristic civilization to live.
The pacing is quite gentle, with the focus on the social intricacies. It kept my attention the whole time, but when it sped up toward the end I really couldn't stop listening. There is quite an action packed part at the end and the consequences and implications of what happens are heartbreaking. And it feels like this book has a lot of set ups and hints and foreshadowing for future events, but at this point it's hard to predicts where it will go. I am excited to find out where the story goes next.
I enjoyed following Tracie and Mercedes along as they try to find their way and place at the academy The High ground. See who they make friends with and most of all how they interact with each other. There is a bit of romance as well, it's nicely woven in between the other parts. I also liked how different these two characters are. Tracie might be a low born, but he is proud and has to find out how to fit in and make a place for himself among the nobles. While Mercedes is quite isolated due to her position and politics play a role in almost everything she does. And while for the most part she seems okay or even happy with her role, there are moments where you really see the struggle it is. And when she slowly realizes what being a ruler entails and the difficult decisions they have to make, I really felt for her. She has to make some difficult decisions toward the end of the book.
Besides the two main characters there is a huge cast of side character. Everything from family members, to other students, to teachers, to important nobles, to the alien servants. The big amount of side character could be a bit overwhelming for me and at times I struggled with remembering who was who. And in some cases only the narration of their voices reminded me of who they were. Other times it took me a while to remember it until the right cue came along. It does make sense why there are so many characters involved, but it could make it difficult to remember everyone at times. There are some great side characters, but mostly every character has it's role and place and with the big amount of them, it's hard to really get to know many very well.
The author did a great job with the world building, both the social aspect of it as well as the space part of it, although the latter we see less of than the former. Most of the story takes place aboard a space station and a lot of the focus is on the space part, but it's also still pretty small scale for now as most of what we see is the planet and the space station. It's also a lot about the social order of this futuristic society, their social norms and how it works and that gets shown really well to the reader. And it's also about the solar league which humans lead, the aliens they have enslaved and the way their elitism creates enemies as well as those who want to keep the social order in place. There are a multitude of alien species around. I especially liked Donald, who is Tracie's servant. There are hints about how not all aliens are happy with their enslaved position, but besides mere hints, it doesn't go much further. I can see how throughout the series that might change.
Nicole Poole really did an awesome job with the narration. I am still pretty new to audiobooks and this was the first time I picked up another audiobook series by a narrator I already knew and I was surprised how already knowing the narrator and their style made it so easy to slip into the story. I really like Nicole Poole's narration style and how she gives each character their own voice and vibe just be the way she does their voices. This story has a lot of Spanish words in it and she handled those great as well. It was easy enough to figure out what most of the Spanish words meant form the context too and I thought it added some flavor to the story, although there never was an explanation why English and Spanish are the two common langues now. I am really glad I picked this up as audiobook as I think that helped me enjoy the story more.
To summarize: after a review by a blogger friend and seeing Nicole Poole narrate this book i decided to listen to the audiobook of this book. I really enjoyed this story, with it's focus on the social complexities of this futuristic society, but also a well done developed world with well done sci-fi elements. I enjoyed reading about Tracie and Mercedes, who are on opposites sides of the social ladder, but who form a connection nonetheless. They both end of at the prestigious High Ground academy and it was interesting to see them find their way and the challenged they faced. they both face very different challenges too and I liked seeing the perspectives of two such different characters. There is a huge cast of side characters and I struggled at times remember who was who. There is a lot of hints and foreshadowing that I think will become relevant in later books. The pacing is quite gentle, which works here, but toward the end things sped up and I had to know what would happen. Nicole Poole's narration was awesome. The audiobook was pleasant to listen to and I like how everyone has a different voices and vibe due to how she narrates them. She also handled the Spanish words well. All in all this was a great science fiction read and I am glad I picked it up and am eager to see how the series continues.
I had seen this book in passing when I was looking for other books narrated by Nicole Poole , I have to admit the cover and blurb didn't catch my attention and I scrolled past it. Then I saw one of my blogger friends review this one and her review made me curious and combined with the fact it was narrated by Nicole Poole, I decided to give this one a try. I wasn't quite sure what to expect form this book, but I definitely had a great time listening to it.
The High ground is told in mostly dual point of views from Tracie and Mercedes. The first two chapters have other point of views, but after that it sticks with those two. Tracie is one of the lower born citizens, but thanks to a scholarship he gets the chance to attend The High ground, a prestigious school for the elite to become officers for space combat. Tracie wants nothing to with the elite nobles and doesn't plan to attend.
Mercedes is on the totally opposite side as Tracie when it cums to social class. She is the heir to throne. Her father only got female kids and he changed the law so Mercedes can be the heir. Now the first step she has to take is attend the High Ground as all nobles have to attend. But Mercedes doesn't want to attend The High Ground.
So we start with two opposites in social class who both have no intention of joining the elite school, but then a chance meeting changes everything. And they both end up at The High ground. Most of the story takes place at The High ground and it's a bit of an academy style story set in space, which was fun.
This book is full of social and cultural complexities and most of the focus is on that. The differences between the high and low born, the way they threat each other, how Tracie doesn't quite fit in because he's a scholarship student, how Mercedes doesn't quite fit in because she is the heir and the first female to attend The High ground. There are lots of social complexities, decisions that have to made, who they have as friends and who not. It was all well thought out and the author's world building really shines in the way she brings this futuristic civilization to live.
The pacing is quite gentle, with the focus on the social intricacies. It kept my attention the whole time, but when it sped up toward the end I really couldn't stop listening. There is quite an action packed part at the end and the consequences and implications of what happens are heartbreaking. And it feels like this book has a lot of set ups and hints and foreshadowing for future events, but at this point it's hard to predicts where it will go. I am excited to find out where the story goes next.
I enjoyed following Tracie and Mercedes along as they try to find their way and place at the academy The High ground. See who they make friends with and most of all how they interact with each other. There is a bit of romance as well, it's nicely woven in between the other parts. I also liked how different these two characters are. Tracie might be a low born, but he is proud and has to find out how to fit in and make a place for himself among the nobles. While Mercedes is quite isolated due to her position and politics play a role in almost everything she does. And while for the most part she seems okay or even happy with her role, there are moments where you really see the struggle it is. And when she slowly realizes what being a ruler entails and the difficult decisions they have to make, I really felt for her. She has to make some difficult decisions toward the end of the book.
Besides the two main characters there is a huge cast of side character. Everything from family members, to other students, to teachers, to important nobles, to the alien servants. The big amount of side character could be a bit overwhelming for me and at times I struggled with remembering who was who. And in some cases only the narration of their voices reminded me of who they were. Other times it took me a while to remember it until the right cue came along. It does make sense why there are so many characters involved, but it could make it difficult to remember everyone at times. There are some great side characters, but mostly every character has it's role and place and with the big amount of them, it's hard to really get to know many very well.
The author did a great job with the world building, both the social aspect of it as well as the space part of it, although the latter we see less of than the former. Most of the story takes place aboard a space station and a lot of the focus is on the space part, but it's also still pretty small scale for now as most of what we see is the planet and the space station. It's also a lot about the social order of this futuristic society, their social norms and how it works and that gets shown really well to the reader. And it's also about the solar league which humans lead, the aliens they have enslaved and the way their elitism creates enemies as well as those who want to keep the social order in place. There are a multitude of alien species around. I especially liked Donald, who is Tracie's servant. There are hints about how not all aliens are happy with their enslaved position, but besides mere hints, it doesn't go much further. I can see how throughout the series that might change.
Nicole Poole really did an awesome job with the narration. I am still pretty new to audiobooks and this was the first time I picked up another audiobook series by a narrator I already knew and I was surprised how already knowing the narrator and their style made it so easy to slip into the story. I really like Nicole Poole's narration style and how she gives each character their own voice and vibe just be the way she does their voices. This story has a lot of Spanish words in it and she handled those great as well. It was easy enough to figure out what most of the Spanish words meant form the context too and I thought it added some flavor to the story, although there never was an explanation why English and Spanish are the two common langues now. I am really glad I picked this up as audiobook as I think that helped me enjoy the story more.
To summarize: after a review by a blogger friend and seeing Nicole Poole narrate this book i decided to listen to the audiobook of this book. I really enjoyed this story, with it's focus on the social complexities of this futuristic society, but also a well done developed world with well done sci-fi elements. I enjoyed reading about Tracie and Mercedes, who are on opposites sides of the social ladder, but who form a connection nonetheless. They both end of at the prestigious High Ground academy and it was interesting to see them find their way and the challenged they faced. they both face very different challenges too and I liked seeing the perspectives of two such different characters. There is a huge cast of side characters and I struggled at times remember who was who. There is a lot of hints and foreshadowing that I think will become relevant in later books. The pacing is quite gentle, which works here, but toward the end things sped up and I had to know what would happen. Nicole Poole's narration was awesome. The audiobook was pleasant to listen to and I like how everyone has a different voices and vibe due to how she narrates them. She also handled the Spanish words well. All in all this was a great science fiction read and I am glad I picked it up and am eager to see how the series continues.
jerseygrrrl's review
3.0
A solid, well executed space opera. Nothing terribly original or imaginative here, but a good, entertaining escape.
morgan_haybook's review
2.0
I couldn't get into the story. I kept thinking of ways I wanted this story to be better. It was read for a book club, and I was constantly distracted while reading the book, which means I just couldn't believe the characters or story enough to get lost in it.
meh.
meh.
snazel's review
4.0
This is so YA. Characters are teenagers forced into military service, there's a love triangle, the entire political system is palpably corrupt, a looming evil is on the horizon -- despite the cover art, it's YA.
Note that I don't mean this as a criticism, just an observation.
Another observation-- we know from the conceit of the book that our main characters are gonna end up being very good at military and political stuff. But right now they're just learning, and it was fun to have characters who didn't really WANT to be there. Mercedes wanted to make an advantageous marriage and be a mom and not have to worry about the empire, and Tracy wanted to be an accountant. SORRY KIDS, YOU GONNA BE GENERALS. LEARN TO FIST FIGHT.
Note that I don't mean this as a criticism, just an observation.
Another observation-- we know from the conceit of the book that our main characters are gonna end up being very good at military and political stuff. But right now they're just learning, and it was fun to have characters who didn't really WANT to be there. Mercedes wanted to make an advantageous marriage and be a mom and not have to worry about the empire, and Tracy wanted to be an accountant. SORRY KIDS, YOU GONNA BE GENERALS. LEARN TO FIST FIGHT.
buuboobaby's review
4.0
3.75 stars
I found the world-building a bit confusing, and wish it had been more detailed. The writing could be pretty flat, and only the two main characters had any depth. There were pacing issues, but the action at the end made up for the sluggishness throughout. This spent a lot of time setting up the relationships and challenges that both Tracy and Mercedes will have to face in future installments, but if you enough space operas, this should entertain. I will read at least the next book, which won't be out until July of '17.
I found the world-building a bit confusing, and wish it had been more detailed. The writing could be pretty flat, and only the two main characters had any depth. There were pacing issues, but the action at the end made up for the sluggishness throughout. This spent a lot of time setting up the relationships and challenges that both Tracy and Mercedes will have to face in future installments, but if you enough space operas, this should entertain. I will read at least the next book, which won't be out until July of '17.