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relin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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
- 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 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.
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.annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Cursing and War
Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Addiction, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Torture, Body horror, Murder, Vomit, Alcohol, Confinement, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Slavery, and Terminal illness
re: ableism: people have genetically-inherited mind-reading/commanding abilities, and mind-readers are stigmatized. re: slavery: discussions of aforementioned mind-readers being conscripted into the military and basically worked to death. re: terminal illness: mcs find themselves in an untenable, rapidly worsening mental statejessie_h's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Confinement
dolores_madil's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Gaslighting
aromarrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Medical content, Violence, War, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
jjjreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, War, Confinement, Medical content, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Xenophobia
ronniethereader's review against another edition
- 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
Definitely check out the author's website for a more detailed look about content warnings since it does have to do with mind control/coercion/consent/etc.
Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, and Alcohol
Minor: War and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
caseythereader's review against another edition
- 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
- OCEAN'S ECHO is basically a sci-fi twist on the fake dating trope, and I adored it. Even more than WINTER'S ORBIT, which I didn't think would be possible.
- Tennal and Surit are perfect opposites-attract pair, and the slow burn between them is marvelous.
- This book expanded on the worldbuilding set up in the OCEAN'S ECHO, uncovering more history and more secrets along the way. Maxwell's detailed universe is masterful, and i hope she writes more books about other parts of it.
Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Medical content, Murder, Violence, War, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief