A review by tsunni
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

I liked this a lot. There’s a really rich and imaginative world here, one somewhere in the middle between Red Rising and The Expanse; the extreme religion, the warring space factions, the brutal technology, all of the creative ideas keep coming nonstop. There’s some clumsiness to the writing that made me unsurprised to see this was their debut novel, but the bones are there and very solid.

I’m hoping the next books fixes what I felt was missing, by lingering longer on building up the characters and their motivations, expanding on more of the super fascinating world, doing more showing and less telling. Quite a few of the character moments felt rushed, and plenty of times I read about something I wanted to know more about, but the story had already moved onto the next thing. I would love if it slowed down the pacing and just gave more of the characters and world, which were really enjoyable.

I did also wish more happened with

the relationship between Hiro and First Sister

, but I get the sense that there's more coming along those lines in books 2 and 3. Can't wait to find out!