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maxcooper's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Minor: Child abuse and Physical abuse
elwirax's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Rep- Two bisexual MCs, POC, mentions of non-binary characters, gay side couple.
"When all the world has burnt, even the ashes feel like home".
The worldbuilding in City of Shattered Light was vivid, the imagery was atmospheric and easy to picture. However, I couldn't really connect with any of the characters, they weren't fully fleshed out and it made it difficult to care for them. They were written to be 17/18 but didn't act as such and I think the characterisation would've made more sense had they been in their early to mid 20s. There was also a love triangle of sorts which I don't enjoy in books and this one didn't really serve a purpose because it wasn't developed in a believable way. In all honesty I didn't care for the romance between Asa and Riven either which was a wee bit dissapointing considering that was the the main reason I picked it up. I didn't think them getting together at the moment they did was appropriate and made me feel bad for the male in the triangle.
Although I wasn't overly invested in individual characters they were very distinct from one another and I appreciated the found family. There's something about people from different walks of life coming together and forming bonds that really makes me happy. They had some good banter which I very much enjoyed and it was clear they cared for each other. As for the ending, I was quite dissapointed. City of Shattered Light was full of action and sometimes jumped from scene to scene which negated from the character's situation. The apparent sacrifice really came out of no where, there was no build up and none of the emotional impact it could have had. It was jarring to say the least especially when even the characters didn't have a drastic reaction. This is where some of the bonds felt loose compared to earlier in the book.
The writing was a a bit juvenile and fanficy at times and the villain was entirely predictable from the beginning. Nonetheless, for a debut it was still enjoyable, easy to get into and therefore, a solid read. Based on the epilogue I assume there may be a continuation in the future which I would definitely consider reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Drug abuse, Body horror, Self harm, and Medical trauma
sarahmreads's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The first thing that sold this book to me was gays in space. Need I say more? However, those high expectations led to a kind of big letdown.
Asa is the heir of her family’s legacy, Almeida Industries, but finds out that the project she’s supposed to inherit has much darker roots. She flees and somehow finds help with a ragtag group of bounty hunters on a neighboring planet, hoping to take her father down.
The world-building of this story I think was pretty well done. It didn’t focus as much on why exactly humans had to move planets, but more on the tech and the structure of society and hierarchy on Cortellion and Requiem. I especially liked Requiem’s matriarchy system. It was unique and not something I’ve really seen before.
Now let’s talk plot and pacing. The pacing was a little weird. There were several points where I thought that it would make for a good closure to the story, but it kept going, so that threw me off. Also the reveal of Asa’s identity happened WAY earlier than I thought it would, and I wasn’t really a huge fan of how it was done. Plot was kind of cliche but I thought it worked.
The execution fell a little flat for me. I only ever really felt attached to Asa and her own ambitions and goals. Riven was too headstrong and willing to die for my tastes. Also she has a terminal illness and I felt it was sloppy in how it’s demonstrated. Basically her illness strengthens under extreme stress, which happens maybe twice in the story? It’s only really used as a plot device and just explains why she is okay with dying so much. But I felt it could have been explored more and given her more depth as a character instead of it being just tacked on to her like a last minute decision. The last chapter was meant to be a cliffhanger, but was more of a “this didn’t really need to be here but here it is anyway,” and I wasn’t a huge fan of the buildup to it either, which I won’t say cause spoilers.
Some characters, like Samir, could have been excluded from the story because they didn’t contribute much if not nothing to the story. On top of that, I was EXTREMELY confused about the love story situation in this book. Asa starts off falling for Ty, even though it’s advertised as a queer story. I think Asa and Riven are both at least bisexual, which is nice. But when that relationship becomes rushed in the last 25% of the story, it doesn’t really help. And the WAY it comes about was horrible in terms of where it happens in the story in relation to other events. Just… why? Yes there was some buildup for Asa and Riven getting together, which is fine, but why then have the whole romance subplot with Asa and Ty? It didn’t really make sense to me. And to be honest, I actually preferred Asa with Ty.
City of Shattered Light is a breakthrough science fiction story with great world-building, but lackluster everything else.
Asa is the heir of her family’s legacy, Almeida Industries, but finds out that the project she’s supposed to inherit has much darker roots. She flees and somehow finds help with a ragtag group of bounty hunters on a neighboring planet, hoping to take her father down.
The world-building of this story I think was pretty well done. It didn’t focus as much on why exactly humans had to move planets, but more on the tech and the structure of society and hierarchy on Cortellion and Requiem. I especially liked Requiem’s matriarchy system. It was unique and not something I’ve really seen before.
Now let’s talk plot and pacing. The pacing was a little weird. There were several points where I thought that it would make for a good closure to the story, but it kept going, so that threw me off. Also the reveal of Asa’s identity happened WAY earlier than I thought it would, and I wasn’t really a huge fan of how it was done. Plot was kind of cliche but I thought it worked.
The execution fell a little flat for me. I only ever really felt attached to Asa and her own ambitions and goals. Riven was too headstrong and willing to die for my tastes. Also she has a terminal illness and I felt it was sloppy in how it’s demonstrated. Basically her illness strengthens under extreme stress, which happens maybe twice in the story? It’s only really used as a plot device and just explains why she is okay with dying so much. But I felt it could have been explored more and given her more depth as a character instead of it being just tacked on to her like a last minute decision. The last chapter was meant to be a cliffhanger, but was more of a “this didn’t really need to be here but here it is anyway,” and I wasn’t a huge fan of the buildup to it either, which I won’t say cause spoilers.
Some characters, like Samir, could have been excluded from the story because they didn’t contribute much if not nothing to the story. On top of that, I was EXTREMELY confused about the love story situation in this book. Asa starts off falling for Ty, even though it’s advertised as a queer story. I think Asa and Riven are both at least bisexual, which is nice. But when that relationship becomes rushed in the last 25% of the story, it doesn’t really help. And the WAY it comes about was horrible in terms of where it happens in the story in relation to other events. Just… why? Yes there was some buildup for Asa and Riven getting together, which is fine, but why then have the whole romance subplot with Asa and Ty? It didn’t really make sense to me. And to be honest, I actually preferred Asa with Ty.
City of Shattered Light is a breakthrough science fiction story with great world-building, but lackluster everything else.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Terminal illness, Murder, and Gun violence
caseythereader's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
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? No
4.0
Thanks to Flux Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- CITY OF SHATTERED LIGHT is chock full of action, adventure, romance, and queerness: what more could you want from your sci-fi novels?!
- Truly though, this one is a great ride. I loved the world of this book and Asa and Riven are both excellent hardheaded protagonists with hearts of gold.
- You know I'm a sucker for queer found family crews doing heists, and this is all that and then some. Love triangle! Chronic illness! Cybernetically enhanced bounty hunters! Rogue AI! A variety of queer identities and no homophobia! Evil technology conglomerate! Oh wow, this turned into a QUEER SCREAMING review, huh?!
- CITY OF SHATTERED LIGHT is chock full of action, adventure, romance, and queerness: what more could you want from your sci-fi novels?!
- Truly though, this one is a great ride. I loved the world of this book and Asa and Riven are both excellent hardheaded protagonists with hearts of gold.
- You know I'm a sucker for queer found family crews doing heists, and this is all that and then some. Love triangle! Chronic illness! Cybernetically enhanced bounty hunters! Rogue AI! A variety of queer identities and no homophobia! Evil technology conglomerate! Oh wow, this turned into a QUEER SCREAMING review, huh?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual content
foreverinastory's review
adventurous
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
5.0
Loved this so much!! The action and characters were incredible. There better be a sequel! *Cries*
Rep: Chronically ill bisexual female MC, BIPOC (Asian coded, most likely Filipina) bisexual female MC, achillean BIPOC male side characters, side character with cybernetic implants, queer normative world.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, body horror (forced cybernetic implants), chronic illness, cursing, death, gaslighting, grief, gun violence, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, terminal illness, violence. Moderate: suicidal thoughts, gore, kidnapping.
Rep: Chronically ill bisexual female MC, BIPOC (Asian coded, most likely Filipina) bisexual female MC, achillean BIPOC male side characters, side character with cybernetic implants, queer normative world.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, body horror (forced cybernetic implants), chronic illness, cursing, death, gaslighting, grief, gun violence, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, terminal illness, violence. Moderate: suicidal thoughts, gore, kidnapping.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping
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