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unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
This incredibly twisty, tense installment picks up right where Blighted Stars left off. I loved the layered plot and the ways Naira and Tarquin continue to grow towards each other. The last half of this book is basically all-consuming and I found it impossible to put down. Can’t wait for book 3!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, War, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual content
greystory's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I'm really uncertain how to rate this. Did I like it? I think so. Was I satisfied with the book at the end? Kinda? Mostly? It's an ending but definitely nowhere near a full resolution.
The epilogue gives a peek into the possibility of what could be, an eventual positive future, but things are still pretty shitty where it leaves off. There's still conflicts and a lot of unease and it's unclear if a major character will survive long-term.
The overall story was good. Solid. Timing was a little confusing sometimes, especially listening rather than visually reading since I'm a visual person, but the mystery and action were well written and I listened for far longer than I should have more than once. The jumping around in characters, locations, and time were overall done pretty well. It also felt fitting to sort of match the experience of the characters who were finding themselves printed and reprinted or double printed with gaps in memory and uncertain of their surroundings.
The "romance" was overall lacking still. It relied heavily on the connection built between Naira and Tarquin in book one, which I felt was a little flat, and there's only a little bit of a new connection(s) made in this one. For the most part, that was fine, but at times it was clear that their feelings for one another were meant to be this be driving force that, as a result, didn't make sense due to the lack of proper romantic foundation built earlier on. Ah well. It worked okay, just wasn't great.
The overall worldbuilding diminished in this book compared to book one. That kind of makes sense in that book one had a lot of introductory stuff to get through that was continued in book two but there were definitely things brought up in book one that weren't continued in book two, and that was disappointing. (Example: the ship unexpectedly having a real sentient AI. It's touched upon, discussed briefly, denied, and then never talked about it again.) There wasn't anything new really developed either, despite book two having a gajillion more locations and settings than book one which was almost entirely on the 6th cradle.
The character building was pretty good, especially when it came to Naira and Fletcher. Naira was a phenomenal character with so much intrigue around her past, who she was, who she became. I loved that she had inner strength even when she was no longer physically strong. I loved seeing her in a mentorship type role as well and would have loved to see more of that.
Fletcher gave me the fucking creeps and was written excellently for that purpose. I was afraid at one point that he was too unrealistic, a villain that was TOO powerful and smart for the author to reasonably write the other characters making any successful victory over him that wasn't absurdly overpowered but it worked out alright.
Tarquin was still unfortunately a bit whiny and immature, although that improved over book one. He was also mentioned as being a lot younger than I thought but listening to the audiobook makes it difficult to go back and look for where age may have been mentioned before so I may have been completely off in my review of book one when I said he was in his 50s. It may be more like 20s, early 30s? Still old enough to be handling himself better, though.
Some great minor characters were in this, like EX Caldweller, Cas, Helms, and Dr Sharp, and I really wished we saw more of some of the other minor characters, like Kav and Kuma.
I'm looking foward to book three. Naira better be alive and more or less healthy by the end of it or I'm gonna be kind of pissed, lol.
The epilogue gives a peek into the possibility of what could be, an eventual positive future, but things are still pretty shitty where it leaves off. There's still conflicts and a lot of unease and it's unclear if a major character will survive long-term.
The overall story was good. Solid. Timing was a little confusing sometimes, especially listening rather than visually reading since I'm a visual person, but the mystery and action were well written and I listened for far longer than I should have more than once. The jumping around in characters, locations, and time were overall done pretty well. It also felt fitting to sort of match the experience of the characters who were finding themselves printed and reprinted or double printed with gaps in memory and uncertain of their surroundings.
The "romance" was overall lacking still. It relied heavily on the connection built between Naira and Tarquin in book one, which I felt was a little flat, and there's only a little bit of a new connection(s) made in this one. For the most part, that was fine, but at times it was clear that their feelings for one another were meant to be this be driving force that, as a result, didn't make sense due to the lack of proper romantic foundation built earlier on. Ah well. It worked okay, just wasn't great.
The overall worldbuilding diminished in this book compared to book one. That kind of makes sense in that book one had a lot of introductory stuff to get through that was continued in book two but there were definitely things brought up in book one that weren't continued in book two, and that was disappointing. (Example: the ship unexpectedly having a real sentient AI. It's touched upon, discussed briefly, denied, and then never talked about it again.) There wasn't anything new really developed either, despite book two having a gajillion more locations and settings than book one which was almost entirely on the 6th cradle.
The character building was pretty good, especially when it came to Naira and Fletcher. Naira was a phenomenal character with so much intrigue around her past, who she was, who she became. I loved that she had inner strength even when she was no longer physically strong. I loved seeing her in a mentorship type role as well and would have loved to see more of that.
Fletcher gave me the fucking creeps and was written excellently for that purpose. I was afraid at one point that he was too unrealistic, a villain that was TOO powerful and smart for the author to reasonably write the other characters making any successful victory over him that wasn't absurdly overpowered but it worked out alright.
Tarquin was still unfortunately a bit whiny and immature, although that improved over book one. He was also mentioned as being a lot younger than I thought but listening to the audiobook makes it difficult to go back and look for where age may have been mentioned before so I may have been completely off in my review of book one when I said he was in his 50s. It may be more like 20s, early 30s? Still old enough to be handling himself better, though.
Some great minor characters were in this, like EX Caldweller, Cas, Helms, and Dr Sharp, and I really wished we saw more of some of the other minor characters, like Kav and Kuma.
I'm looking foward to book three. Naira better be alive and more or less healthy by the end of it or I'm gonna be kind of pissed, lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror and Torture
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This series combines so many fantastic sci-fi tropes and story archetypes - space opera, a romance sub-plot that is enemies-to-lovers but also bodyguard romance, sentient AI, evolutionary crisis - with some additional hidden identity plots, lots of body swapping and mind mapping, and a well-developed and compelling cast of characters. And while book two didn't have sentient ship POV like book one (RIP), it did bring all of the right notes of horror as humanity devolves further into total chaos.
The central conflict (which I won't outline to avoid spoilers) is balanced by the earnest and genuinely tender romance between Naira Sharp and Tarquin Mercator, our two main characters. The development of this relationship in The Fractured Dark is one of the most nuanced on-page depictions of two people navigating significant power imbalance in a relationship that I've read in any genre. The vulnerability in their communication with each other, their insistence to heal from past trauma to be better partners to each other, their faith in each other in all circumstances and in the face of terrible odds - it's so affirming. Please note, though, this romance is entirely fade-to-black/closed door, so consider this a "sci fi with romance sub-plot" vs. a "sci fi romance."
My only significant content warning here (aside from the genre-typical notes of death/murder/body horror/medical trauma/etc. etc.): extended on-page attention to a deeply abusive (both emotionally and physically) relationship between one of the main characters and a side character.
I highly recommend this series to sci-fi fans, particularly those who love a good romance sub-plot!
The central conflict (which I won't outline to avoid spoilers) is balanced by the earnest and genuinely tender romance between Naira Sharp and Tarquin Mercator, our two main characters. The development of this relationship in The Fractured Dark is one of the most nuanced on-page depictions of two people navigating significant power imbalance in a relationship that I've read in any genre. The vulnerability in their communication with each other, their insistence to heal from past trauma to be better partners to each other, their faith in each other in all circumstances and in the face of terrible odds - it's so affirming. Please note, though, this romance is entirely fade-to-black/closed door, so consider this a "sci fi with romance sub-plot" vs. a "sci fi romance."
My only significant content warning here (aside from the genre-typical notes of death/murder/body horror/medical trauma/etc. etc.): extended on-page attention to a deeply abusive (both emotionally and physically) relationship between one of the main characters and a side character.
I highly recommend this series to sci-fi fans, particularly those who love a good romance sub-plot!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Stalking, Body horror, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Torture
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