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adaora_ble's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Up until the last few chapters I would have given it 5 stars, the tension was building, the mystery and intrigue was ratcheted up and ready for a satisfying payoff with all the characters ready to figure out everything together and lay out all the answers for the readers but I found it fell flat on its face in the last 10 pages. I couldn't imagine how they could possibly resolve some of the major plot elements and they couldn't.
The book is split into 5 very uneven parts that detail different parts of the journey to space during the Apollo 18 Mission, and you start off with Kaz as our main character and our eyes into the world of space travel. He's a good, compelling, intelligent character with a burgeoning personal life and good position as an overseer of most of the action of the plot and yet all his skills as a NSA Navy pilot astronaut or whatever he does barely helps him at all in figuring out what's going on which. Part 1 is the longest part because it sets us up with who I think will be the main POV, the stakes of the mission ect but Kaz kind of falls to the way side once they launch into space and his story kind of doesn't matter at all to be honest. Chad, another major character especially in the latter half of the book, is IMMENSELY annoying and arrogant, he acts like he has these master plans he's thinking up in his head but when he executes then they make no sense and make everything worse for him. I feel this meant to be purposeful for his character but again all it does it set up this amazing chain of events that never come to fruition. The only decently smart character is Gromova who actually does manage to stay a couple of steps ahead of everyone and is the most badass of all the other characters and even then I'm not entire sure if she succeeded or not at the end.
There better be a sequel because this story is not over.
The book is split into 5 very uneven parts that detail different parts of the journey to space during the Apollo 18 Mission, and you start off with Kaz as our main character and our eyes into the world of space travel. He's a good, compelling, intelligent character with a burgeoning personal life and good position as an overseer of most of the action of the plot and yet all his skills as a NSA Navy pilot astronaut or whatever he does barely helps him at all in figuring out what's going on which. Part 1 is the longest part because it sets us up with who I think will be the main POV, the stakes of the mission ect but Kaz kind of falls to the way side once they launch into space and his story kind of doesn't matter at all to be honest. Chad, another major character especially in the latter half of the book, is IMMENSELY annoying and arrogant, he acts like he has these master plans he's thinking up in his head but when he executes then they make no sense and make everything worse for him. I feel this meant to be purposeful for his character but again all it does it set up this amazing chain of events that never come to fruition. The only decently smart character is Gromova who actually does manage to stay a couple of steps ahead of everyone and is the most badass of all the other characters and even then I'm not entire sure if she succeeded or not at the end.
There better be a sequel because this story is not over.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Murder, Vomit, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Gun violence
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