I found myself sometimes wondering how much of this work was written by Ai. The descriptions were a bit flat; almost everything was gray, carpets, walls, clothing, it wasn’t quite causing my mind to burst into imagining the details but causing me to read along quickly. The descriptions of emotions and mannerisms were also too universal to all the characters throughout the story, making it difficult to imagine different personalities and complexity to each individual. Everyone cannot possibly sweat that much, and thrust or pinch their chins…etc. It also drove me a little crazy that Jack called Anna “An” only sometimes and only out loud, but when we read his thoughts he went back to referring to her by her name. My thought is that if you decide someone is dear to you and you give them a nickname, you tend to use that nickname both in your head and out loud. Just another detail that left me wanting better character development and richer writing. Having said that, I do appreciate the difficulty in writing a novel and creating a fictional plot that is captivating and regardless of the above harsh criticisms, I did end the book genuinely curious about what was next for our heroes and villains! I also feel compelled to point out how necessary it is (at least for me) to always have an easy read like this with me for the “slow” moments when I need something I can read for even just five minutes, my astrophysics book, for example, can only offer me a headache after minutes.

The story premise was interesting, but this book needs a hard edit. The descriptions of characters, the actions of each person in a conversation, even some of the plot hooks: all feel like a rough draft of someone who only wanted to use a very small set of words to describe them. Everyone is staring and smiling into their lap, slapping their own face, and turning red like a hormonal teenager.

The book was alright.

Exciting. A bit fractured.

While there are certainly interesting plot points explored throughout the book, the overly linear storytelling makes it read like a children’s book. It was good enough to pass the time, much like a Marvel movie, but certainly not worth re-reading or even recommending.

It was an ok read. The plot was fine. More annoyed with constant peoples wardrobe descriptions and the over blushing in every chapter than just telling the story outright. Read more like a sappy soap box novel than an actual science fiction read, to be honest. It was passable, though not by much.

Entertaining sci fi with a very intriguing and inventive plot line

I liked the concept, the characters were well developed and the action kept me reading. My only critique is that every character “blushed”, had “cheeks turned pink” (or red) and then “looked/glanced down at the ground” (or their lap) in almost every conversation in the book. I started counting about half way through and the most I remember is three consecutive pages without a blush and/or glance down to the ground. Oh, and almost all women wore their hair back in a ponytail. Still and all, this was a fun read and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Good read

Not my cup of tea.