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blewballoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
I didn't know how this book would compare to Winter's Orbit. What got me most interested in that book was the arranged marriage plot, and then I found myself more and more invested in the political intrigue and found family aspects. Here we have the concept of a forced mental link rather than a forced marriage, which plays out a bit differently. Also like in Winter's Orbit, we have a character who is more rambunctious paired with a character who is more steadfast, and yet they also feel different. I think either story could be read as a standalone, but perhaps the world building might feel more steep if you jumped in at this book. The author has stated that there is no overlap in characters or locations, and that's an accurate statement from my recollection of the first book.
I love Everina Maxwell's writing. It is focused and conveys the plot and characters clearly, while also leaving room for some beautiful flourishes that immerse you further into the story rather than taking you out of it. I loved getting to know these new characters and watching them get to know each other. There were some bits towards the end that I think were meant to be big reveals, but I had sort of assumed those things already and I wasn't as shocked as the characters were, although their shock did make sense in context. Even though I saw things coming, there is still a nice web of political drama to flow along with the slow burn romance. Slow burn romances are my favorite and I appreciate that the author worked with the pacing of the story to pace the romance so you can see it growing and developing at each stage, and it never diverts the main plot or feels forced.
I listened on audiobook (at 1.4 speed) and I think the narrator was great.
I love Everina Maxwell's writing. It is focused and conveys the plot and characters clearly, while also leaving room for some beautiful flourishes that immerse you further into the story rather than taking you out of it. I loved getting to know these new characters and watching them get to know each other. There were some bits towards the end that I think were meant to be big reveals, but I had sort of assumed those things already and I wasn't as shocked as the characters were, although their shock did make sense in context. Even though I saw things coming, there is still a nice web of political drama to flow along with the slow burn romance. Slow burn romances are my favorite and I appreciate that the author worked with the pacing of the story to pace the romance so you can see it growing and developing at each stage, and it never diverts the main plot or feels forced.
I listened on audiobook (at 1.4 speed) and I think the narrator was great.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Violence, and War
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Torture, and Sexual content
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.avacadosocks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, War, and Drug use
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Sexual content and Torture
nillech's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Minds bend, collide, and shred. An enthralling galactic whirlwind stabilized between a polarizing duo with strikingly aligned morality despite their division by duty and noncompliance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and War
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Sexual content
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.quasinaut's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.75
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Rule-abiding Surit and chaotic Tennal were delights. Dual narratives can be tricky to pull off, but these two had such distinct personalities and histories and incentives and insecurities and, and, and. It really worked for me.
I feel like the story took a while to find its footing, but once things were underway, I was fully along for the ride.
I feel like the story took a while to find its footing, but once things were underway, I was fully along for the ride.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement and Murder
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Sexual content
quirkykayleetam's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
4.0
I knew I was going to be a sucker for this book the moment that the two main characters were introduced as incredibly different, stubbornly loving little shits.
Tennalhin uses his charisma to cause chaos in the social situations he's forced into as the son of the Senator. Surit is a perfect soldier and serial loophole abuser who uses his perfect memory of army regulations to do The Right Thing...and the exactly opposite of what his superiors wanted him to do.
These two men find themselves forcibly linked in the midst of a much larger conflict involving military coups, alien remnants, government conspiracies, murder attempts, and mass brain washings as they learn to find themselves through loving each other...and maybe saving their galaxy along the way.
Extra points for going beyond one concept of non-binary genders and showing how that has always worked in this world.
Tennalhin uses his charisma to cause chaos in the social situations he's forced into as the son of the Senator. Surit is a perfect soldier and serial loophole abuser who uses his perfect memory of army regulations to do The Right Thing...and the exactly opposite of what his superiors wanted him to do.
These two men find themselves forcibly linked in the midst of a much larger conflict involving military coups, alien remnants, government conspiracies, murder attempts, and mass brain washings as they learn to find themselves through loving each other...and maybe saving their galaxy along the way.
Extra points for going beyond one concept of non-binary genders and showing how that has always worked in this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Outing, War, Violence, Terminal illness, and Transphobia
Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Sexual content, Vomit, and Gun violence
wilybooklover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Kidnapping, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, War, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
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
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