My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: June 21st, 2016
Publisher: Mirabel Inc
Point of View: 3rd Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Novella, Space Opera, Action
BLURB:
Most know her as the Bloody Baroness, the captain of a fearsome glass starship called The Marauder. Androma and her crew strike terror in the hearts of those who cross them amongst the many corners of the Mirabel Galaxy.
When a routine mission goes rogue, the all-female crew is captured by a bounty hunter from Andi’s past and forced into a job that could, quite literally, start a war that will devour worlds.
For someone who is known as the ‘‘Bloodly Baroness,’’ and ‘‘one of the most notorious criminals in all of Mirabel,’’ Androma is disappointingly only barely more dangerous than a cute little puppy.
It’s all telling and no showing.
Are we supposed to just believe that she relishes in killing others—when she clearly shows signs of constant regret over what she has done in the past? One can even go as far as saying that she is emotionally unstable, or almost.
It’s fake—her supposedly bloodthirsty side. It’s fake.
Regardless, that is not the worst part.
Zenith promises danger, adventure and a relatively dark atmosphere.
We get none of that. But most regretfully, the plot is so recycled I can’t believe it still holds.
Let me ask you something. You, who is a fan (I assume) of science fiction/space opera stories, how often have you witnessed a spaceship chase—or the reunion of two enemies who detest one another to the point of seeing red?
Or even what seems like a monumental misunderstanding? I don’t believe for even a nanosecond that Androma killed her, so I assume, best friend on purpose. Is she even dead? Whenever we are given detail on her past, it’s not only brief, fleeting, but also extremely unclear. More questions usually arise from those moments, and that is simply not the way background on characters is done.
Alright, alright, let’s skip to the good stuff.
The writing is far from bad. In fact, I strongly think that this could have been a hit, had it not shown countless eye-roll-worthy situations.
Moreover, it has charm—the characters, although not always believable, are interesting enough and, with more (this time clear and detailed) background on them, they can become truly likeable.
Though I am a tinsy bit underwhelmed by the result (since I have been waiting on this publication with much anticipation), I still look considerably forward to the next chapter in Androma’s so-called cut-throat life!
Follow me on:
Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Google+ | Goodreads | Bloglovin’
I have been eagerly awaiting Zenith for a long time. It sounds good, but I am a bit unsure about it now. Should I read it?
LikeLike
Sure. It’s fast-paced and short and sorta fun, so why not?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have this one on my e-reader and I’ve heard so many mediocre reviews 😦 I’ll read it anyhow as its fast but I’m a bit disappointed that it’s not living up to the hype. Great review 😀
LikeLike
I think I’ll skip this one. I can’t stand when books tell and don’t show. Excellent review though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been trying to teach the show-don’t-tell concept to my writing students. It’s quite a challenge for young writers to develop but it’s the one thing I need when reading a novel.
http://runwright.net
LikeLike
Boo for the all telling and no showing. That makes a boring read. Sorry this wasn’t better.
LikeLike
Damn. I don’t like scifi so I wasn’t going to pick this up but even the synopsis didn’t sound interesting. I’m not too surprised with your thoughts
LikeLike
I think I won’t buy it for now. Maybe when the sequel comes out, who knows !
LikeLike
I get this meh feeling, yeah, I would not love it
LikeLike
Brilliant review! I definitely agree with so many of your thoughts! I was really excited to read this because of how Androma was described, but she just felt so two dimensional. It was really hard getting attached to anyone either and it was very info-dumpy. I’m still going to read the next part though, haha. I think it would have been better releasing it once the entire book was finished or even in 2 parts.
LikeLike
Oh sorry it ended up like that but I can understand…
LikeLike
It’s really sad when you look forward to a book but don’t enjoy it.
I hope your next read is better.
May I suggest you check out my short story collection.
It’s called It’s Complicated: Short Stories About Long Relationships and it’s available on Amazon.
I think you will enjoy it 🙂
LikeLike
Oh no! Not the eyeroll! Darn. Yea, I do think I’ll skip it but thanks for the brilly review.
LikeLike
I am not bothering with this one, sorry not sorry. I have no interest whatsoever–and it looks like I’m not missing anything.
LikeLike