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A review by lbarsk
Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston
5.0
Wow, Ashley Poston DID THAT! What a fun, dramatic space romp jam-packed with found family, queer romance, and lots of bravery.
I really appreciated several things about this book in particular:
1. The pacing! It felt fast enough to keep me engaged but gave space for character development and "small moments" that really showed, not told, what was going on. Oftentimes books like Heart of Iron really mess that up, and I think Poston did a great job on that front.
2. CASUAL INCLUSIVITY! Would that more authors could be like Poston. We had folks of varying races, sexualities, and abilities/disabilities in this book and none of them felt like tokens. Plus, there was solid gender parity in terms of good guys vs. bad guys. I REALLY wish more books (both YA and adult) would catch onto this trend faster -- it is SO EASY, and Poston proves that, to create diversity without tokenizing and the world feels that much richer for it.
3. THE TWIST! If you know the story of Anastasia you have a sense of what's coming, but then out of nowhere Poston pulled a serious GOTCHA! I was reading this next to my friend on the train and when the twist happened I literally turned to her and went OH MY GOSH!!!! What a delight to be surprised inside of a familiar tale.
4. SPACE! Poston depicted space (and SPACE PIRATES) in a way I love -- much more Star Wars Realistic and A Little Gritty as opposed to J. J. Abrams Star Trek Clean Minimalism Future Times.
5. The worldbuilding in general. There was the right amount of depth to HEART OF IRON's setting that has me clamoring to know more, but without burdening the reader.
Overall I REALLY RECOMMEND!
I really appreciated several things about this book in particular:
1. The pacing! It felt fast enough to keep me engaged but gave space for character development and "small moments" that really showed, not told, what was going on. Oftentimes books like Heart of Iron really mess that up, and I think Poston did a great job on that front.
2. CASUAL INCLUSIVITY! Would that more authors could be like Poston. We had folks of varying races, sexualities, and abilities/disabilities in this book and none of them felt like tokens. Plus, there was solid gender parity in terms of good guys vs. bad guys. I REALLY wish more books (both YA and adult) would catch onto this trend faster -- it is SO EASY, and Poston proves that, to create diversity without tokenizing and the world feels that much richer for it.
3. THE TWIST! If you know the story of Anastasia you have a sense of what's coming, but then out of nowhere Poston pulled a serious GOTCHA! I was reading this next to my friend on the train and when the twist happened I literally turned to her and went OH MY GOSH!!!! What a delight to be surprised inside of a familiar tale.
4. SPACE! Poston depicted space (and SPACE PIRATES) in a way I love -- much more Star Wars Realistic and A Little Gritty as opposed to J. J. Abrams Star Trek Clean Minimalism Future Times.
5. The worldbuilding in general. There was the right amount of depth to HEART OF IRON's setting that has me clamoring to know more, but without burdening the reader.
Overall I REALLY RECOMMEND!