A review by the_bookish_rose
Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

3.0

So when I first heard about this book, it was described as a “Red, White and Royal Blue but make it a space opera”. While it initially drew me in to read the book, I don’t think that’s how I would describe it.

In this novel, there’s two characters that are joined in a political marriage in order to keep the two major planets at bay. This comes after one of the characters, Jainan, is widowed by his late partner’s sudden death. The whole book reads more as solving the mystery of who killed Taam, and there’s plenty of twists and turns along the way. There is definitely some romance in the book, but to me it didn’t really seem like the main plot.

I enjoyed following the plot in the classic “who dun it” style, but towards the end I got a bit confused as to what was happening but the ending was well done and satisfying. Would definitely recommend if you like a good mystery read, as well as well as a LGBTQ+ space opera with a cute main ship between the main characters.
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