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abbysneddon's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
Thank you to netgalley and Flux for the ARC!! All opinions are entirely my own.
Okay, I see you technology based, sci fi, interplanetary future. I’m here for you. What I’m NOT here for is the cybernetic body modifications. Blades grafted into bone? Mind links to wires? No thanks.
In this sci-fi, sapphic YA, we follow both Asa and Riven as they attempt to carve out their futures, Asa, as the heir to her father’s experimental tech industry, and Riven, as matriarch in a glorious crime syndicate. When an experiment involving Asa’s abused older sister, Kaya, goes terribly wrong and is corrupted by a malevolent virus infecting tech everywhere, the fates of the two girls become gloriously entwined in this colorful, violent novel.
I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t love it. Despite having solid motivations, I never felt compelled to care very much about Asa saving her sister, nor did I feel sympathetic toward Riven’s backstory as one is very much supposed to.
A diverse cast of characters sparkled on the page, which was great to see and read. I’d definitely die for Diego and Samir. This book was billed as a sapphic story though, and the sapphic relationship took up very little of the book (around 20ish percent.) Both of the main girls are bisexual which is amazing, and I love that it was never questioned if one was bi when they were both in relationships with men, but I would have liked to know their m/f relationships took up as much page time as they did.
All in all, I’d sincerely recommend this. It was fun to read and kept me interested enough to get to the end (and holy SHIT that epilogue) but as always in my life, I expected more girls kissing and more of a reason for them to tempt fate a billion times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual violence
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