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A review by katyanaish
Space Deputy by Jenny Schwartz
3.0
So this one was pretty iffy. Like, 3 stars is definitely rounding up.
My biggest problem was the FMC, Thelma. I'm not sure how old she is, but given that we got told repeatedly that she'd spent 7 years in training to be a Galactic Justice agent, I'm guessing 25 or so. But her personality reads as like 16. She's really self-absorbed, and while she can be really smart at putting together pieces and solving mysteries, she misses the totally obvious to an almost shocking degree. She's got a huge chip on her shoulder about being from an outer sector, and makes her entire personality about that. She's frankly exhausting. And flip-floppy. She seems to be bonding with Max and his two AI (two! this author really leans into AI characters, but honestly she does them so well and they're always a high point in her stories), but then she'll suddenly flip a switch into being withdrawn, to the point where they ask her if something is wrong. And that's part of what I mean by her really childish personality. Again, exhausting.
All this training to be a badass agent, and she kind of stinks at it. She's a better spy / info broker - as I said, she puts the pieces together to puzzle out what is happening very well - but the only time she was involved in any actual action, she felt pretty useless. Like, from her own POV, she was distracted, confused, kept wanting to get clarification WHILE PEOPLE WERE SHOOTING AT THEM, and felt more like a damsel than an agent or deputy.
I liked the story and the world building. I liked what we saw of Max, but honestly we didn't see a lot. But Thelma's (FMC) story felt lame - she spent all this time and built her life around being an agent. And weeks into it, without accomplishing a damn thing, she blackmails someone into letting her out of her 7 year contract. So Space Deputy is about the FMC ... quitting her job. That's okay, I guess. She wasn't very good at the job.
Despite all that, I'm going to read on because I'm curious whether that reset - quit her job, connected with Max, seems to have pulled her head out of her ass - will make it all better from here.
EDIT TO ADD: I have to also say that man, this cover is terrible. Like, even liking this author, I nearly skipped this book because the cover was so cheeseball awful that it was embarrassing.
My biggest problem was the FMC, Thelma. I'm not sure how old she is, but given that we got told repeatedly that she'd spent 7 years in training to be a Galactic Justice agent, I'm guessing 25 or so. But her personality reads as like 16. She's really self-absorbed, and while she can be really smart at putting together pieces and solving mysteries, she misses the totally obvious to an almost shocking degree. She's got a huge chip on her shoulder about being from an outer sector, and makes her entire personality about that. She's frankly exhausting. And flip-floppy. She seems to be bonding with Max and his two AI (two! this author really leans into AI characters, but honestly she does them so well and they're always a high point in her stories), but then she'll suddenly flip a switch into being withdrawn, to the point where they ask her if something is wrong. And that's part of what I mean by her really childish personality. Again, exhausting.
All this training to be a badass agent, and she kind of stinks at it. She's a better spy / info broker - as I said, she puts the pieces together to puzzle out what is happening very well - but the only time she was involved in any actual action, she felt pretty useless. Like, from her own POV, she was distracted, confused, kept wanting to get clarification WHILE PEOPLE WERE SHOOTING AT THEM, and felt more like a damsel than an agent or deputy.
I liked the story and the world building. I liked what we saw of Max, but honestly we didn't see a lot. But Thelma's (FMC) story felt lame - she spent all this time and built her life around being an agent. And weeks into it, without accomplishing a damn thing, she blackmails someone into letting her out of her 7 year contract. So Space Deputy is about the FMC ... quitting her job. That's okay, I guess. She wasn't very good at the job.
Despite all that, I'm going to read on because I'm curious whether that reset - quit her job, connected with Max, seems to have pulled her head out of her ass - will make it all better from here.
EDIT TO ADD: I have to also say that man, this cover is terrible. Like, even liking this author, I nearly skipped this book because the cover was so cheeseball awful that it was embarrassing.