booksnspacebuns 's review for:

Arc of the Universe by Nikki Alexander

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I enjoyed this book. It is not my usual genre by any means, but this book had this Romantasy girlie feeling ALL THE FEELS. I was happy, scared, angry, sad, angry again, worried, proud. Carrie is bad ass, educated, sometimes shy, and struggles with balancing her responsibilities sometimes. She is very relatable. She likes take out and vodka, and wants to change the world for the better. And the Hamilton musical mentions? Amazing. Oh yeah, and the Seattle Sonics are a thing again in this time frame. Love that! There’s tons of fun little Easter eggs that really help to lighten the heavy commentary of this book. 

The “villain” (for lack of a better word) is a white man that just can’t grasp that the US constitution isn’t perfect, and he thinks diversity is “radical”. It’s almost too close to home in this climate. He’s a total jerk. And he may not be the only “villain”.

There is a big twist of “who can you really trust” in this book that shocked me for sure. 

This book is the antithesis of “I don’t like to think when I read” in a good way. The “lessons” aren’t cringey or insanely obvious like they can be in some books with political commentary. This is a story of using your own strengths to change things, not letting people put you in a box they’ve created for you, and accepting the help of those that around you that love you. You are not alone, and we all have the power to enact change.

My only “complaint” is that I feel like the ending was kind of rushed- it seemed like everyone changed their minds in like 10 minutes. And I think the romance with Shauna continuing was unnecessary. But it was still good!

Thank you to the Nerd Fam for this eARC! Nikki Alexander is a very talented writer and I can’t wait to see what comes next!