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shyanimal's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
vintagegirlreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
natatlie42's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
avacadosocks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Child death and Gore
smokedshelves's review against another edition
2.0
thank you to penguin teen and viking books for young readers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
i guess you could call this bonnie and clyde set in space. but honestly, besides a few quotes at the beginning of each part, and the fact that shane and ava were star-crossed lovers who also happened to be fugitives, it wasn’t really all that comparable…
i hate to say this is just another book in a recent string of books that i just don’t particularly care for. another mediocre book that’ll be forgotten by the end of the month, if you will.
none of the three main characters particularly stood out to me with their personalities. it kind of felt like they were all going in circles with their characterizations. and a particular choice just made it feel like none of the story felt worth it, you know?? (which i guess is accurate to the real story, but still. a lot else has changed, why not that.) it felt like the author was trying to go for six of crows vibes but i just didn’t feel the connection with any of them. besides my personal neutrality towards shane and ava, jared said like literally nothing??? i was expecting for him to be more prominent in the story honestly, given he was with their “gang” before the events kicked off. but nope, he was just kind of there. clara’s main thing was not to trust anyone. ares was the dick. (i can’t even really remember the other two’s names oops). that was it for them. cyrus was honestly the only one i somewhat enjoyed reading from actually. (not great when you’re trying do to bonnie and clyde, and you prefer the third mc who is neither of those).
the world building was subpar to say the least. you mean to tell me that a whole planet goes radio silent for months and not another single other planet in a supposedly large system cares? like at all? nakara has not literally one other ally i guess??? but whatever. i don’t expect most ya sci-fi space operas to be particularly fleshed out, so i kind of knew i needed to suspend my belief for that one. but i guess, i just couldn’t really understand noth’s reasoning for doing literally anything she did. we never really learned her motivations for wanting to invade nakara other than the one time she mentioned to cordova she wants more money… i guess, lol. idk, i guess i found where i personally draw my line. like if you want to make her the villain, that’s fine. but give us more of a reason why she wants and needs this invasion to happen.
overall, i was just hoping for more cohesion. and the poor development was especially noticeable for the last 15%. i feel like a few things were thrown into there just because the author wanted to. shane and ava’s storyline in particular. cyrus and lark kissing, which i personally just didn’t get any of the feelings cyrus was saying he felt toward lark. the man barely thought about him. and now apparently they’ve had this strong chemistry the whole time? noth, as i mentioned.
and i personally think, the author wanted to set it up so that it could either be considered a standalone. but also, set up so that it could potentially get picked up for a second book to be published down the road. like a decent amount felt left open ended. and that’s an odd way to finish a (currently?) standalone book.
i guess you could call this bonnie and clyde set in space. but honestly, besides a few quotes at the beginning of each part, and the fact that shane and ava were star-crossed lovers who also happened to be fugitives, it wasn’t really all that comparable…
i hate to say this is just another book in a recent string of books that i just don’t particularly care for. another mediocre book that’ll be forgotten by the end of the month, if you will.
none of the three main characters particularly stood out to me with their personalities. it kind of felt like they were all going in circles with their characterizations. and a particular choice just made it feel like none of the story felt worth it, you know?? (which i guess is accurate to the real story, but still. a lot else has changed, why not that.) it felt like the author was trying to go for six of crows vibes but i just didn’t feel the connection with any of them. besides my personal neutrality towards shane and ava, jared said like literally nothing??? i was expecting for him to be more prominent in the story honestly, given he was with their “gang” before the events kicked off. but nope, he was just kind of there. clara’s main thing was not to trust anyone. ares was the dick. (i can’t even really remember the other two’s names oops). that was it for them. cyrus was honestly the only one i somewhat enjoyed reading from actually. (not great when you’re trying do to bonnie and clyde, and you prefer the third mc who is neither of those).
the world building was subpar to say the least. you mean to tell me that a whole planet goes radio silent for months and not another single other planet in a supposedly large system cares? like at all? nakara has not literally one other ally i guess??? but whatever. i don’t expect most ya sci-fi space operas to be particularly fleshed out, so i kind of knew i needed to suspend my belief for that one. but i guess, i just couldn’t really understand noth’s reasoning for doing literally anything she did. we never really learned her motivations for wanting to invade nakara other than the one time she mentioned to cordova she wants more money… i guess, lol. idk, i guess i found where i personally draw my line. like if you want to make her the villain, that’s fine. but give us more of a reason why she wants and needs this invasion to happen.
overall, i was just hoping for more cohesion. and the poor development was especially noticeable for the last 15%. i feel like a few things were thrown into there just because the author wanted to. shane and ava’s storyline in particular. cyrus and lark kissing, which i personally just didn’t get any of the feelings cyrus was saying he felt toward lark. the man barely thought about him. and now apparently they’ve had this strong chemistry the whole time? noth, as i mentioned.
and i personally think, the author wanted to set it up so that it could either be considered a standalone. but also, set up so that it could potentially get picked up for a second book to be published down the road. like a decent amount felt left open ended. and that’s an odd way to finish a (currently?) standalone book.
dragonclaws18's review against another edition
5.0
I want to thank BookishFirst for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When I first read the First Look, I knew I would be addicted to this book. It definitely did not prove me wrong.
This book is a fast paced sci-fi with a thrilling set of events that keep you on the edge of your seat. Definitely made me read it all in about a week, which is usually pretty fast reading for me.
Now it's to the characters of this story. I thought Shane was okay towards the end, but it was a very fast change in between like ten chapters. Like from the beginning of this book he was one person, and at the end he was someone else different. And he just kept fighting between these two personalities of his.
Ava was pretty much the most steady character in the whole book. She did change a little, but not suddenly like Shane.
Now, Cyrus is where the real character development happened. It was absolutely stunning how he still kept changing even in the end of the book. I didn't think he would be my favorite character by the end of the book, but he is.
Also, I feel like Henry and Ares was just thrown in there for the heck of it. Pretty much to have someone to get rid of to further the story. Clara, though, is a different story. As she became a little more important in the story itself, but I still felt like she had the feel of a background character.
And don't even get me started on Commander Noth. Like she was absolutely a horrible person. Even at the beginning of the book, I had a bad feeling about her. It turned out it was true, but way worse than I expected.
Those last five to six chapters though. So many emotions in so little span of pages. From sadness to shock so suddenly.
When I first read the First Look, I knew I would be addicted to this book. It definitely did not prove me wrong.
This book is a fast paced sci-fi with a thrilling set of events that keep you on the edge of your seat. Definitely made me read it all in about a week, which is usually pretty fast reading for me.
Now it's to the characters of this story. I thought Shane was okay towards the end, but it was a very fast change in between like ten chapters. Like from the beginning of this book he was one person, and at the end he was someone else different. And he just kept fighting between these two personalities of his.
Ava was pretty much the most steady character in the whole book. She did change a little, but not suddenly like Shane.
Now, Cyrus is where the real character development happened. It was absolutely stunning how he still kept changing even in the end of the book. I didn't think he would be my favorite character by the end of the book, but he is.
Also, I feel like Henry and Ares was just thrown in there for the heck of it. Pretty much to have someone to get rid of to further the story. Clara, though, is a different story. As she became a little more important in the story itself, but I still felt like she had the feel of a background character.
And don't even get me started on Commander Noth. Like she was absolutely a horrible person. Even at the beginning of the book, I had a bad feeling about her. It turned out it was true, but way worse than I expected.
Those last five to six chapters though. So many emotions in so little span of pages. From sadness to shock so suddenly.
bent5390's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
jennalwiegand's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book was very well done! I enjoyed the plot and I loved all of the characters! The world building was also awesome! I honestly wish it was longer so that could have seen more of it! the ending did not surprise me because the book was described as having Bonnie and Clyde elements… so I knew our main duo would die but it still hurt 😭 I’m glad Cyprus finally got his life together to save the rest of the gang though, and part of me wants a spin-off of their adventures now!
lemontreereads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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
4.25