Scan barcode
themelodyofspring's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Confinement, War, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
relin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I found myself highlighting different lines because they hit so hard emotionally. Facisniating to see a world that is altered in this way and how it impacts the main characters (Tennal and Serit) think and understand the world. The picture it paints is beautiful in the middle of a ton of intergalactic politics of people trying their best. Also has an amazing structure of gender.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, War, Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexual content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence
There are power dynamics built into the ways that 'magic' (scifi magic anyway) is seen in their world. This includes ideas about people being able to overwrite commands on other people.athenian_frog's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
Would have liked the hear a bit more about the supporting cast, they were pretty interesting and had fun interactions with the two leads.
Would have ALSO liked to see a bit more of the relationship the lead characters had with their guardians/family.
The political intrigue was at times hard to follow, but it got a bit more engaging around the halfway point. The religion was left a bit under explained. Much of my enjoyment came from seeing the leads work together, along with their crew, to make the best out of the military screwing them over.
Romance is slow burn but it works for the story, and the lead characters work well together! Overall a fun read.
Would have ALSO liked to see a bit more of the relationship the lead characters had with their guardians/family.
The political intrigue was at times hard to follow, but it got a bit more engaging around the halfway point. The religion was left a bit under explained. Much of my enjoyment came from seeing the leads work together, along with their crew, to make the best out of the military screwing them over.
Romance is slow burn but it works for the story, and the lead characters work well together! Overall a fun read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Murder, and War
Minor: Sexual content
The world includes people who can mind control (“Architects”) and people who can read minds (“Readers”). Reading someone being compelled into saying or doing something may be emotionally distressing. A main character is given suppressive drugs while under medical care without their consent or knowledge. This makes it easier to mind control them. This may be distressing to those with anxieties surrounding medical treatment. Sexual content is sparse, nondescript, and consensual. Mainly just kissing described passionately.shelvesofivy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Cursing, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Drug use, and Addiction
Minor: Death of parent and War
sarahmiller98's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.5
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
OCEAN’S ECHO is the mind-control version of a forced marriage/fake dating plot… in space. It’s fantastic.
Tennal doesn’t want to be synced, Surit is affronted by the very idea that he’d be forced to mentally link for life with someone who’s unwilling. Together they hope to pretend the sync worked and fake it long enough for Tennal to get away and for Surit to keep his military career intact. The political intrigues are complex enough to imply a great deal of other stuff that’s happening while reducing the pieces Tennal and Surit have to track into a relatively small list.
I love Tennal and Surit, they make a very interesting team. Tennal is an absolute mess, and Surit is grounded in a way that lets him notice Tennal’s antics without getting bowled over. The course of their relationship is affected early on by the circumstances of their meeting just as much as it is by their personalities, something which continues to matter right until the end of the book. It’s a character-focused story, centering their reactions to what’s happening whether or not one of them was the catalyst. They’re frequently buffeted by someone else’s moves, piecing together what’s going on and why while the adjust their course. It means that even though there’s a lot happening other than their relationship, everything is filtered through their processing of events, singly or together.
Though technically not a sequel, this is in the same universe as WINTER'S ORBIT. The main way this matters is they share a galactic convention for gender-markers by way of jewelry material. Someone could read them in either order or even just read one or the other and have everything make sense.
The ending leaves open the possibility that they’ll show up in later books, tying off major and minor plot threads so that this is a complete story on its own while giving an indication of what they’ll do next.
OCEAN’S ECHO is the mind-control version of a forced marriage/fake dating plot… in space. It’s fantastic.
Tennal doesn’t want to be synced, Surit is affronted by the very idea that he’d be forced to mentally link for life with someone who’s unwilling. Together they hope to pretend the sync worked and fake it long enough for Tennal to get away and for Surit to keep his military career intact. The political intrigues are complex enough to imply a great deal of other stuff that’s happening while reducing the pieces Tennal and Surit have to track into a relatively small list.
I love Tennal and Surit, they make a very interesting team. Tennal is an absolute mess, and Surit is grounded in a way that lets him notice Tennal’s antics without getting bowled over. The course of their relationship is affected early on by the circumstances of their meeting just as much as it is by their personalities, something which continues to matter right until the end of the book. It’s a character-focused story, centering their reactions to what’s happening whether or not one of them was the catalyst. They’re frequently buffeted by someone else’s moves, piecing together what’s going on and why while the adjust their course. It means that even though there’s a lot happening other than their relationship, everything is filtered through their processing of events, singly or together.
Though technically not a sequel, this is in the same universe as WINTER'S ORBIT. The main way this matters is they share a galactic convention for gender-markers by way of jewelry material. Someone could read them in either order or even just read one or the other and have everything make sense.
The ending leaves open the possibility that they’ll show up in later books, tying off major and minor plot threads so that this is a complete story on its own while giving an indication of what they’ll do next.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Vomit and Ableism
bookstarbri's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
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
I think what's first and foremost important here is the writing. I mean this is just some of the best writing I've ever witnessed????? And I don't know how Everina Maxwell wrote it. Like there are so many moments of description in this where I genuinely wonder how she was able to write this so seemingly effortlessly. Without giving too much of the story itself away, there were a lot of moments when we were "in" someone's mind. And those were some of my favorites, though I don't know how Everina was able to write it in a way that was so easy to comprehend despite this book having many concepts that were simply difficult to grasp (I will be having an existential crisis promptly after writing this review). So basically, the writing in this was glorious. I have no notes.
The plot is well developed. At the quarter mark, I stopped trying to guess where it was headed because that was futile. I swear I was so shocked at some of the turns the plot took, I had to take a step away from the book for a moment. I loved it and it kept me guessing until the end. This book reminds me why I love science fiction so much.
Then there are the characters. I came here from Winter's Orbit with the characters really being a driving force of the story for me. And the same goes here! I mean Everina can write a plot like no one's business, but they write characters that are also just astonishingly beautiful to read. If you've read Winter's Orbit, Tennal is similar to Kiem in a lot of ways, but I think the differences are also very evident. Tennal is a mess and he's selfish at times and he's lazy, but he's also incredibly selfless and hardworking and bright and ready to take on anything thrown at him as he goes. Surit was an awesome balance to him. While there isn't a ton of romance in this, the love between Tennal and Surrit is HEFTY. Their affection, their love is felt throughout this book in some way. The idea of oceans and sand in a book set in space was such a brilliant contrast that was somehow so intrinsically part of the story and so well developed, all I can say is that Everina is a genius and I will read any book they write from here on out.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
The plot is well developed. At the quarter mark, I stopped trying to guess where it was headed because that was futile. I swear I was so shocked at some of the turns the plot took, I had to take a step away from the book for a moment. I loved it and it kept me guessing until the end. This book reminds me why I love science fiction so much.
Then there are the characters. I came here from Winter's Orbit with the characters really being a driving force of the story for me. And the same goes here! I mean Everina can write a plot like no one's business, but they write characters that are also just astonishingly beautiful to read. If you've read Winter's Orbit, Tennal is similar to Kiem in a lot of ways, but I think the differences are also very evident. Tennal is a mess and he's selfish at times and he's lazy, but he's also incredibly selfless and hardworking and bright and ready to take on anything thrown at him as he goes. Surit was an awesome balance to him. While there isn't a ton of romance in this, the love between Tennal and Surrit is HEFTY. Their affection, their love is felt throughout this book in some way. The idea of oceans and sand in a book set in space was such a brilliant contrast that was somehow so intrinsically part of the story and so well developed, all I can say is that Everina is a genius and I will read any book they write from here on out.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use and Emotional abuse
More...