Nice to see a YA type sci-fi that builds a good universe and the story is dependent in part on the unique science Belleza has created for her novel. The characters are built out well, with dimensionality and backstory. The suspense and thrills build consistently even as we are switched between two intertwining story lines.

Besides having all that going for it, the characters are not all good or all bad. People act out of revenge. People make bad decisions or don't always do the noble thing. I'd highly recommend this book if you're looking for more sci-fi in your YA sci-fi. I took off a star for leaving us at a cliffhanger but I can't wait to see where Belleza's imagination takes us next.

I liked this book, I just wanted to like it more. Conceptually, it had so many good points. It dealt with racism and classism in a way that was very accessible and humanizing. It dealt with advances in technology and how that can alter how you perceive yourself and other people (i.e. identity). So many great foundational ideas which were incorporated into a page-turning story line. However, some of the characters and the pacing of the book took away from these good points. I Hated one of the main characters (Rhee). She was childish, entitled, and annoying. She was supposed to be this way. All the secondary and periphery characters talked about how she possessed all these traits. She did change over the coarse of the book, but this didn't make her any more likable than she was at the beginning. The saving grace of this book was Aly. He was absolutely wonderful.

Never made it past chapter 3, but might go back and read it later.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fun story but it just didn't stand out as something absolutely amazing. I'll probably be picking up book 2 when it releases but it's not one that I'm absolutely dying to have in my hands.

This was one of my most anticipated 2017 reads, and it was...a lot different than I thought it would be. It's almost more like it should have been a setup novella for book 2-- where I'm guessing things actually come together? If you are looking for an epic, intergalactic romance, then this isn't the right choice for you. Because there is none. I enjoyed it, the writing was well, and it had some fun twists. But just never really connected with the main characters. The plot is a LOT of setup. And I'm not sure why the back of the book says that

Spoiler

the two main characters will save the world together. THEY DON'T EVEN MEET IN THIS BOOK. At all.

Kind of a misleading summary. I'll still give book 2, and anything else Rhoda writes in the future a chance though.

This was a book I was really excited about reading, but unfortunately, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

The book follows Rhee and Aly, and their stories didn't match up the way I thought it would.  I felt like the story in the summary was completely different than the story I actually read.  The alternating POV's didn't really work for me (which is usually what happens), and I didn't care for either of their stories.  Also, I felt like it made things more confusing than they needed to be.

If you're going for similar books, Carve The Mark and These Broken Stars come to mind.  Especially Carve The Mark, so I think if you liked that one, you'd probably like this one.

Unfortunately, I didn't really like Carve The Mark, so it's not that surprising that I didn't like this one.  It's your typical lost princess out for vengeance who is also trying to re-claim her throne story.  It's different enough, though, because someone gets accused of murder who didn't actually do it- this happens pretty early on, so while it is a spoiler, I don't consider it too big of a spoiler.  

I did feel bad for Aly, because he really had to think twice about his behavior.  Things that other characters could do without a second thought, Aly had to think about because he faces a lot of prejudice.  There are some parallels to things we see, and I thought that part was really well done.  

Overall, though, I just wasn't into the story.  As pretty as the cover is, and as cool as the book sounds, I had a hard time getting into it.  I also had a really hard time picturing where all of the planets were in relation to each other.

My Rating: 2 stars.  Unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan of the book, but if fantasy in space is your thing, this is a book worth checking out.

I really wanted to like this one. I did like all the characters except for Rhee; she constantly made rash decisions and never learned from her mistakes. Outside of Alyosha, there was little to no character development. There were also a lot of similarities between this story and the Lunar Chronicles--enough that it made me cringe in some spots. I think if I hadn't read those books so recently, I might not have made the connections though. (It also didn't help that they have the same narrator for the audiobooks.)

this story had potential and the world building was good but i was just bored. the characters are flat and not much actually happens. okay not true stuff happens but its interspaced by a character having the same discussion with themself over and over again snooze

this wasn't what I expected and maybe sort of misleading ... and I kind of saw that plot twist coming but you know what, this was well developed and the POV's come together nicely that really kept me intrigued.