The Skinny
(aka Back of the Book Summary in a Sentence)
Captain Androma Racella and her starship’s all-girl crew find themselves on a life-threatening mission when a routine space job goes wrong.
Nutritional Value
(aka What’s Good)
This all-female crew of space privateers is completely self-sufficient and fiercely independent. They expertly pilot their starship and take down anyone who stands in the way of their goals. Girl power!
Freezer Burn
(aka What’s Bad)
One of Captain Androma’s gunners is just thirteen years old. Are there no child labor laws in space?
There’s also something about the writing itself that feels…off. I was an English teacher for about seven years and the writing in this book is like something I’d get from one of my high school students. It’s too heavy-handed and clichéd.
Lingering Aftertaste
(aka My Prediction)
I’m pretty sure Androma’s ship is going to get captured and she’ll be forced to deal with mistakes from her past. But somehow she and her crew will end up saving the galaxy from a corrupt planetary government. That’s how books like this usually go.
Taste Test Verdict
(aka Would I Read More?)
As much as I love the girl power vibes this book gives off, all of Androma’s inner thoughts are so dark and dramatic. She’s haunted by the memory of all the people she’s killed as the Bloody Baroness, and I’m not sure I want to keep reading about her guilt-induced sleep deprivation. Plus, I can’t get past how heavy-handed the writing is. So, I’ll have to pass on reading the rest of this book.
Memorable Morsel
(aka Quotable Quote)
Space mercenaries are the best kind of mercenaries.
The girls had taken on more high-profile jobs than that—like the time they kidnapped a rich Soleran’s mistress and left her on a meteor, the job requested by the man’s furious wife. She paid a pretty penny for their services.
What kind of space revenge would you ask for? Sound off in the comments below!
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Gwen thinks that it’s as close to magic as humans can get when a blank Word document is filled with groups of letters, and those groups of letters turn into lines, and those lines turn into a whole new world.
When Gwen isn’t reading or writing, she’s drinking boba milk tea and singing along to Steven Universe. You should sing along with her.