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Empire of Light (Voyance) de Harrow, Alex

de Harrow, Alex - Género: English
libro gratis Empire of Light (Voyance)

Sinopsis

 Damian Nettoyer is the Empire’s go-to gun. He kills whoever they want him to kill. In exchange, he and his rag-tag gang of crooks get to live, and Damian’s psychokinetic partner and lover, Aris, isn’t issued a one-way ticket to an Empire-sanctioned lobotomy. Then Damian’s latest mark, a suave revolutionary named Raeyn, kicks his ass and demands his help. The first item on the new agenda: take out Damian’s old boss — or Raeyn will take out Damian’s crew. To protect his friends and save his own skin, Damian teams up with Raeyn to make his revolution work. As Aris slips away from Damian and his control over his powers crumbles, the Watch catches on. Damian gets way too close to Raeyn, torn between the need to shoot him one minute and kiss him the next. With the Empire, Damian had two policies: shoot first and don’t ask questions. But to save the guy he loves, he’ll set the world on fire.


Reseñas Varias sobre este libro



Spoilers: I wrote this, so I MAY be just a tad biased.

But I wanted to use this to post content warnings for Empire of Light here:

Content warnings for Empire of Light include:

This book contains graphic violence (including shootings, beatings, tasing, mild gore, depictions of a hanging, and an execution by burning), explicit sexual content (including mentions of sex work, a sexual relationship that begins in a negotiated contract for sexual services, and on- and off-page descriptions of explicit sexual situations involving bondage, control, mild pain play, and Dominant/submissive dynamics), trauma (including allusion to past physical and sexual abuse, and a depiction of a panic attack), deaths of supporting characters (including a young teen, mentions and depiction of assisted suicide, and one queer character who is a person of color), as well as substance abuse (alcohol, smoking, drugs, and a mention of an overdose).

Oh, but don't worry, the cat lives. (Spoilers: The cat ALWAYS lives!)

While some of these warnings may seem undue to some of you, please respect that the same points might bring up deeply painful memories for others. The intent is not to imply that there should be warning labels on depictions of queer sex, kink, sex work, or mental health issues, but to be respectful of those readers who might feel triggered by any of this content.

Be kind to yourselves and happy reading!

-- Alex
31 s Acqua536 223

“Quiet moments? I don't know them”
? Empire of Light, probably

The author says they write "queerness with a chance of explosion" and - for this book at least - that's such an understatement. This is probably the most frenzied book I've ever read.

3.5 stars.

Empire of Light is the first book in a very queer futuristic sci-fantasy series. This first book felt a fast-paced dystopian focused on a m/m/m love triangle to me, but I think that as the series goes on, "dystopian" could become a restrictive term to describe it. I love stories that blur the lines between genres.

As I mentioned before, what stood out to me the most about this book was how it never slowed down. The characters were almost always getting shot at, and when they weren't getting shot at, they were having sex. I haven't seen so many shooting and explosion scenes since Zero Sum Game, and just I said about that book, I think Empire of Light would work well on a screen. However, as this book tries to pull off a lot of plot twists - some better executed than others, I have to say - the "getting shot at" parts got somewhat confusing sometimes.
I could say that this book would have benefited from slowing down, but every pacing choice has its own advantages: I'm in a slump, and I flew through this, and I managed to do that because Empire of Light is the kind of book that doesn't let you breathe. In spite of that, it manages to not become soulless too many plot-driven, action-packed books do, because the main relationships are developed, dynamic and interesting.

This novel is mainly impossible to sum up because of spoilers and the amount of political intrigue, backstabbing and twists there are, but I can say that it is about Damian, an assassin for hire, as he grows apart from Aris, his higly-unstable magical lover, and gets closer to a mysterious revolutionary named Raeyn. I found the development of Damian and Aris' relationship fascinating. I have read many (and still not enough, because the "many" isn't "most") books that have an interesting storyline following two characters who get together, but I have never read a story about a relationship falling apart that felt so real and compelling at the same time.

However, I can't say the same about the side characters, and the aspects in which this book fell flat to me are all related to the side characters. They were flat, underdeveloped, and I didn't feel anything about them when they inevitably died.
Also: I really appreciated the diversity and I'm glad I found another mostly-queer if not all-queer book, with a demisexual main character and prominent supporting characters who are polyamorous no less, but... the fact that the queer black girl died sacrificing herself for the main character didn't sit well with me. The main character is a queer person of color himself and there are trigger warnings at the beginning which explicitly tell you that's going to happen, but I kept thinking that wasn't necessary at all.
Also, at some point I was really annoyed by the fact that all women were either evil or dead, and while that got somewhat better by the end of the novel, I'd m/m books to remember that it would still be nice if they passed the Bechdel test sometimes.

On the rating: I'd give this book more than four stars for the enjoyment and less than three stars for the last paragraph, and that's I ended up at 3.5. This is the kind of novel I'd really need half stars for.adult arc assassin ...more23 s Franci608

34th book of 2019.

What a wild ride!!!
Full of action, intrigue, betrayal, assassinations, love, friendship, loyalty and magic.
Set in the future. It's kinda dystopian and kinda sci-fi and part fantasy, part love-triangle, but then so not triangle.
This book does not fit into a box, into a genre and by the looks of it, neither does the author.

The story is told through Damian's eyes, a thieving gun for hire in the Empire (consists of the whole earth under one government, but lo and behold- they are corrupt.) But all the action is happening in Helos (Old New York).

Raeyn was my absolute favourite. His wit, his charm....oh darling...

There was a content warning at the start, which I found totally unnecessary. It's almost a "this book has a lot of violence and sex in, don't read it" when you know that will only make people want to read it more.
If that is the case, and they (the author whose pronouns are they/them/their) did it on purpose, I don't agree with the method.

That being said, I enjoyed this book immensely, I rooted for the characters and cringed when they got shot at (again and again and again), when they got stabbed (less than shot, but still a lot), basically anytime their lives were in danger (so, all the time).

The Firefly reference near the end was a wonderful surprise.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.4-stars arc dystopian-post-apocalyptic-utopian ...more15 s J1B243 29

Sometimes less is more. This is one of those times. Ignoring the gratuitous use of the word 'queer,' a slur used primarily to belittle and demean gay men (regardless of what your 'friendly' LGBT activist has told you), and ignoring the yet another bisexual MM addition to the catalogue, what seals this as a no-way-no-how for me is the cheating--the bisexual cheating. It's a difficult trope to successfully pull off without coming across as nauseatingly disgusting and I feel this book fails to execute at the level required. I can stomach 'cheating though consensually agreed by both partners sex work' when it's finely woven with appropriate considerations met--I don't it, but I can stomach it--but, again, I don't see that here.bisexual-gfy unnecessary-heterosexual-elements6 s Fabi1,021 153

Post apocalyptic / dystopian. Queer inclusive. Sci-fi fantasy.

Oh, and also action and intrigue with a sprinkling of romance.

As you can see, it's hard to describe this story. However, the characters were easy to fall for. I immediately felt an emotional pull towards Damian, Aris, and Raeyn. I enjoyed the varied side characters, from the funny teenage sidekick, to the blind but all seeing gang boss, to the femdom Lara. Even non-binary Cora had a spotlight.

I came away from it thinking how interesting and colorful this dim, seedy world was.

I'm invested and can't wait for more in this series.


Review ARC graciously provided by IndiGo Marketing & Designarc kindle mm-romance-gay-lit ...more6 s Meegy693 14

I d the concept of the book and I really d the characters. But it got confusing with what was going on. And who was with who etc.6 s Cyril180

This was hands-down the best book I’ve read so far this year. This book is if you took firefly made it super dark added some fucked up magic, political intrigue and then made everything queer. There were so many small narrative choices that really made this book stand out and stopped it from being too heavy. The characters were incredible and varied and had such depth. The interpersonal relationships were unparalleled and kept you reading and guessing until the very end. Honestly this book was so surprising and that was incredibly refreshing. I absolutely cannot wait until the next one! I need to know more about EVERYONE. I’m going to need everyone to read this book so that we can talk about it! ??faves m-m military-police-guns ...more6 s JT Moore77

If you sci/fi full of action, political intrigue and intense character relationships, read this book.
It takes place in a near future mess of a world that's a few steps towards where we are currently heading. Where the difference between the haves and the have-nots is a yawning chasm. The diverse cast of characters will have you cheering one moment and cursing the next with the choices they make. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to see where these characters take me in their next adventure. 6 s Devann2,452 173

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley

actual rating: 2.5

This was an okay book and I enjoyed parts of it, but for whatever reason it just never really clicked for me. I think part of is that I often find sci-fi difficult to get into and the plot moved incredibly fast so I never felt I actually knew what was going on. With all the focus on action and plot, the characters seemed a bit two dimensional to me and a lot of their actions didn't make sense to me [the ending I thought was especially weird]. I think it was more that I was in a weird mood while reading it and also unfortunately rereading a book in my favorite series that has a similar snarky narration style, so I often found myself just thinking about that book while I was trying to focus on this. Also all the trigger warnings made it sound it was going to be MUCH more messed up than it actually was so I think I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't as dark as I was expecting as well. Still, these are all really more personal problems than any actual shortcomings with the book and I'm sure that a lot of people will find it much more enjoyable than I did. 0-abandoned-series 2-5-star a-adult ...more5 s Emily (moonlight&moths)265 43

Rep: gay, brown mc, pansexual li, gay li, lesbian sc,

I wasn't a huge fan of this mainly because of the weird pacing and odd lack of character development. The story felt choppy at best, with uneven transitions between the action scenes. The character relationships were underdeveloped, so any emotional scenes lacked the gravity necessary to make me feel them. Damian and Raeyn's relationship was fun until it was revealed that [redacted] and suddenly there's all these weird undertones of jealousy and comparisons. Which made this story super awkward and I honestly never got over that revelation. I'm honestly over love triangles as a source of drama in stories and that was a major part of this one. Also taking the whole "found family" trope and slowly killing it was pretty disheartening, I'm not gonna lie.

What I will give this story credit for is an interesting plot and an AMAZING world. As a reader, I wish I could have had more information about the world this story takes place in. The premise of the story was uniquely told and had a lot of promise up until some of the bigger reveals happened that made it harder for me to read.in-the-stars lgbt poc-lead ...more4 s Neil1,494 11

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

This felt a real let down.
Although the world building was well done and the actual story was enjoyable.
Unfortunately the characters and there relationships felt underdeveloped.
netgalley science-fiction4 s R172 23 Read

For those curious because goodreads doesn't have a page count, this book is 280 pages. 280 pages of a pretty great plot, well written characters, and enough violence to shake a stick at. There's also some explicit sex scenes but those are well written and not drawn out. They only total about 12 pages when you add up the different scenes. I appreciated the content warning in the beginning because this book does get pretty gruesome. I didn't really mind it at all, but I still appreciated the heads up.

So with so much violence you may be asking yourself what this book is about. Well, it's about an assassin for hire in a world where people have magic (called "voyance" in the book) and said magic will eventually kill you but also helps you heal? It's strange, but it works. Said assassin has a lover with magic (they call them voyants in the book) and the government is out to kill anyone with magic. As you might guess there's lots of political intrigue but it's more of an assassination plot than anything.

Anyway, it's pretty fucking good to be honest? I didn't feel anything was gratuitous but I also didn't feel anything was rushed. The pacing felt balanced between the action and the other non-action-y scenes.

I said before the characters were well fleshed out, especially the main character. You really get to learn why he does what he does and he does a lot of stupid shit. The other characters may not be as fleshed out but they never once felt caricatures.

The romance in this book is also pretty great if I'm being completely honest. I'm not a huge fan of explicit sex scenes, but I didn't mind them too much because I d the characters and understood their relationship dynamics. Also, I really d what ended up happening at the end when it came to the romance plot.

My only real complaint is that I felt the world building could've been a bit better. We're dropped into a world that is supposed to be our own after presumably another world war, but despite seeming to be what would've been the US, everything has a French name? And people actually speak French when someone dies? I would've d clarity on that. Also, it took me about 100 pages to get used to them using "hells" instead of "hell." It really bothered me initially, but as the story progressed I found myself caring about it less and less.

Overall, if you're okay with gruesome violence, explict and not necessarily vanilla sex scenes, then I would recommend this book.3 s Corinne Sparks118 3

Woah there Nellie! This book is mile a minute! Those who enjoy a more sedate pace through the galaxy look elsewhere, because this wild ride gallops through scenes in a blur. Whilst it's certainly not boring, I sometimes would have d a little more time in scenes before the characters rushed off to do something else!
The focus is definitely on action.
It felt classic (if rushed) space opera, with convulsed lines of plotting and backstabbing and all the intrigue of a medieval fantasy series - but in space!
I'd argue the pacing is a little to the books detriment, as most of the characters (apart from the main three) didn't really feel 3d to me. Also we didn't get any time with them!
The world building is pretty darn good though, and it's always good to see more mlm in sci fi.
Recommended for people who enjoy space opera.3 s Natalie 2,839 30

Received from Netgalley. I loved it but don’t think I could go through that again. From broken pasts to fragile futures, Damian has a small group he’d do anything to protect. I d the shadows, their little makeshift family. Not too keen on Aris but I did Raeyn with his ‘darling’ drawl. I d how everything played out in the end but the rollercoaster had more than enough surprises. Felt a bit a sci-fi wild west. Contains death, romance, a little smut and plenty of guns.3 s AliceAuthor 22 books154

Alex Harrow's Empire of Light captured me on page one. Damien, Aris, and Raeyn made me laugh, gave me thrills, and wrung my heart.

Damien, Aris, and the rest of the crew make a pretty good living smuggling and carrying out contract hits in their dystopian city. Shadow, their grounded spaceship home, has plenty of hidden spaces to conceal smuggled goods. The one thing they can't conceal is Aris' Voyance. This telekinetic power morphs at need and consumes its user. People with the Voyance don't live long. Oh, and there's the small matter of the Empire's mission to annihilate everyone with the Voyance.

Harrow creates a world too close to a possible future for comfort and populates it with quirky, tough, gritty, and despicable characters. The story of how Damian and Aris are roped into the rebellion against the Empire of Light (and trust me, the empire was labeled "light" on Opposite Day) grabs you by the throat and carries you along without giving you a chance to catch your breath.

The heart-wringing part I mentioned? Damien and Aris' love story. I won't cuss in a review, but allow me to say that in my head I cussed the author more than once. That's how invested I was in their story. You will be too. I loved this book.3 s Solly481 35 Shelved as 'dnf'

I'm gonna DNF this at 34% but only for now. I was not expecting this to be so dark and also so fast-paced and it's not what I need right now but I will probably go back to it when I'm in the right mood for it because I some stuff in this a lot. Anyway, just in need of something softer at the moment.3 s Owl213 15

Empire of Light by Alex Harrow

5 of 5 stars

This review was originally posted on yarnowlreads.wordpress.com.

I received an eARC from the author in exchange for my honest review.

REP: The main character is a Person of Color (POC), gay, and demisexual. One of his love interests is pan, and the other is pan, polyam, kinky, and a sex worker. They are all three amazing beans that I love with my whole heart. Supporting characters include a badass old lady who’s blind and a WOC, a whole variety of gender identities, sexualities, and other ways of existing, and a run-down spaceship called Shadow (it’s a character and you can’t tell me otherwise).

CWs: There’s a lot. This is a dark book. There are many graphic depictions of violence, several executions (some attempted, some successful, varying from hanging to burning to shooting), and some of this violence is against kids, queer folks, and POC. There are some intense trust violations and several instances of unwanted/non-consensual groping. The main character is a survivor of sexual abuse and there are both flashbacks to that and lots of him dealing with those feelings in the present day. One of the love interests has an intense fear regarding fire (I’m not sure if it would be considered a phobia when this fear is 1000% rational… more PTSD, I think). The author offers very detailed warnings at the beginning of the book as well, which can I just say I LOVE AND APPRECIATE.

In June of 2018 I participated in a daily Twitter challenge called #LGBTWIP. It was there I met Alex Harrow, who was discussing their 2019 debut and described it as gay Firefly with magic. We ended up becoming friends and Empire of Light jumped to my most anticipated read of 2019 (tied with Mason Deaver's I Wish You All the Best).

I think this was the first time I was this hyped for a first book in a series. I threw my heart and soul into being excited for this book, which was definitely a little scary. I had moments of worrying: what if I was building it up too much in my head? What if I just didn't click with Alex's writing? Was I setting myself up for failure with this book? I am so incredibly grateful that wasn't the case and I ended up loving it just as much as I had hoped.

Though there are many amazing parts of this book, the crowning jewel was the characters. The three main characters (heretoafter referred to as The Murder Boys*) all stood on their own with compelling backstories and unique voices. While the secondary characters didn't get as much development (yet! Alex is working on some short origin stories), they still added to the story in important and enjoyable ways.

While this is a darker book (see CWs above), it also had an amazing, dry humor that spoke to my soul. From witty banter to snarky one-liners, I giggled much more that I expected to while reading. Some of my favorite lines included:

"I would ask if you had any last words, but I prefer we cut the theatrics, don't you?"
"Well, I always wanted to go out with 'Fuck you,' but whatever."
Chapter 8?
Ferris blinked at the heap of guns, knives, and spare clips I piled in front of her. Aris gave me a look and a nudge. I sighed, adding a beat-up pocket knife on top of it all.
Chapter 11

A crow perched high on some of the Shadow's rusty piping. Its head cocked to one side, then it slowly righted itself again as it stared at me with flat, beady black eyes...
"At least wait 'till I'm dead, damn it... 'S bad manners. Staring at your food while it's still twitching."
Chapter 17

Alex is also the reigning monarch of tropes. They talked about how they incorporated and subverted tropes in a blog post soon after Empire came out. There are several overarching tropes they did well, such as enemies-to-lovers and hurt/comfort. A few smaller tropes we saw in individual scenes were leave-all-your-weapons-at-the-door-wait-one-more (see quote above) and the fake-out-make-out. Alex wielded these to create humor, vulnerability, and relatability in each moment.

I would recommend this book to readers who :
* science fiction that's not set in space
* dystopians set in post-America
* stories with some magic thrown in
* fast-paced stories with lots of action and explosions.

You can pick up your own copy of Empire of Light from the publisher (e-book), Amazon (e-book and paperback), or from Alex themself (signed paperback).

*P.S. I'm sorry I didn't actually refer to Damian, Aris, and Raeyn as The Murder Boys again in this review, but I call them that often enough that I felt I should leave it in.e-arcs favorites-2019 for-travis ...more2 s L.B. VigneAuthor 6 books16

I definitely recommend this book for anybody whose in to queer scifi. It was a bit heavy on the scifi aspect for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless. I immediately fell in love with Aris and found him very likable; also there’s quite a few dark themes in here such as murder, drug use, and cursing. But as somebody who s my queer romance a bit more gritty, all it did was add to the story and make it more realistic.
I enjoyed my read, and the naughty bits ;) There was a lot of emotion at some points, especially with Aris’ escalating voyantism, so I definitely had the feels throughout. This should definitely be in your TBR pile.
2 s Toya (thereadingchemist)1,285 135 Shelved as 'dnf'

DNF at 50%

Laura betrayed me on this one. It’s terrible. 2 s Joyfully Jay7,998 462

A Joyfully Jay review.

5 stars


So much of this story is plot driven that I don’t feel comfortable going into any real detail about who does what to who, who betrays who, who ends up being the bad guy or the good guy — not that there are any good guys or bad guys in this book as much as … well, guys. No one is white, no one is black, and try not to get too attached to the characters because there is a great deal of death, betrayal, and pain in this story. And the true heart of it is the relationship between Damian, Aris, and Raeyn.

When Damian was younger he was in a facility and there he fell in with another boy and became infatuated with him. Unfortunately, the other young man used Damian’s affections and raped him, also allowing at least one other boy to do the same. Damian killed his attacker, but the event left him wary and wounded. Not just the rape and the betrayal, but his own enjoyment of the violence as he beat his rapist to death. When he met Aris, Damian not only found a friend and a lover but … a savior. Aris helped him get over his past and gave him a cause. Aris, as a voyant and as a person, is fragile. He needs, and Damian is more than willing to step up and take care of him in every way he can. Unfortunately, Damian can’t be exactly what Aris wants.

Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.elizabeth2 s Leah1,167 350 Shelved as 'did-not-finish'

DNF @ ~25%

This isn't a bad book, but it's just not for me. I may try to come back to it in the future--for now, though, it's a DNF.

Content Warnings (for what I read & from the pub's website):
graphic violence (including shootings, beatings, tasing, mild gore, depictions of a hanging, and an execution by burning), explicit sexual content (including mentions of sex work, a sexual relationship that begins in a negotiated contract for sexual services, and on- and off-page descriptions of explicit sexual situations involving bondage, control, mild pain play, and Dominant/submissive dynamics), trauma (including allusion to past physical and sexual abuse, and a depiction of a panic attack), deaths of supporting characters (including a young teen, mentions and depiction of assisted suicide, and one queer character who is a person of color), substance abuse (alcohol, smoking, drugs, and a mention of an overdose), police brutality, drowning, blackmail, anti-STI language, vomiting, strangulation, racism/xenophobia0-stars-or-cant-rate ace-spectrum adult-lit ...more2 s Sara CodairAuthor 32 books54

No shortage of explosions!

It took me a little time to really get immersed in this novel, but once I did? I had to stay awake until I finished it, even if that meant not going to bed until after 2:30 a.m. There were some missing pieces from the world building, and a few too many characters died for my taste, but the plot kept me on the edge of my seat, and I was rooting for Damian and Raeyn for the last half of the book. I don't usually love triangles, but I was okay with this one. Harrow handled it well.

Despite of all the action, I loved how Harrow found time slip in some gorgeous, lyrical descriptions. Their writing shined most when describing people and in the sexy scenes.

Empire of Light is a must read for anyone who s assassins, smugglers, and dystopias.

Read my full review here:https://saracodair.com/2019/02/23/boo...2 s K.Author 5 books14

I received an advanced copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A strong voice, awesome action, interesting character dynamics, fast plot, and a fun writing style makes this sci-fi adventure a very enjoyable read! I loved the world-building, the intensity of the stakes, and the protagonist who was just a joy to follow - even as physically battered as he got! I also enjoyed his relationships with other characters, including the 'found family' vibe with his Shadows crew. It's a book that I definitely recommend. 2 s K.F. SilverAuthor 1 book8

Romance. Queerness. Explosions.

With an atmosphere reminiscent of Joss Whedon's FIREFLY, and a cast of characters as diverse as they are complex, Empire of Light is a strong opening in the Voyance series. Set in a future that is a brutal projection of our current times, the story follows Damian as he struggles to keep his found family safe, fed, and paid. And his lover, Aris, out of the hands of a government hell bent on eradicating those gifted (or cursed) with the Voyance.

The author does an excellent job in ratcheting up the stakes time and time again. The answer to the ever-present 'could this get any worse?' was always: 'yes, yes it can and look as it does'. On the other hand, though, there were enough lighthearted moments to make me smile and at times laugh out loud. The twists and turns to kept me guessing, and as a lover of high-action scenes I was not disappointed.

My favorite part of the book, however, would have to be the relationships. Some strengthened, some fell apart, and others blossomed. The way the characters interacted with each other kept me hooked, even when the guns weren't blazing and all there was to do was eat pancakes (seriously, one of my favorite scenes!). I do wish I could have known more about the Big Bad, but I felt the characters had enough personal motivation against them that the resulting conflicts were believable.

I would recommend this book to light scifi lovers, those who enjoy high action, and anyone interested in a diverse cast that isn't just tokened in.1 Matt Fraser93 2

DNF at 43%

I tried so hard to get through this book; but the thought of picking it back up just exhausted me.

The pace is very fast, the violence seems s it's solely for violence sake. I have little to no attachment to any of the characters and the world-building has been almost non-existent. I can tell it's a sci-fi? I think...

I found this book on a list of LGBT sci Fi recommendations .. I don't think I'll be trusting that book riot list again. This book reads a YA novel, which I have been known to enjoy, but I guess I'm not in the mood for right now?

I see there are a lot of people who have enjoyed this novel, so read some of their and see if it is for you before you knock it. Happy Reading everyone!1 Free_dreamer362 28

A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review

Buckle up and hold on tight, you’re in for one hell of a wild ride with “Empire of Light”. And don’t forget the hard hats and bullet proof vests! Oh, and do take a look at the trigger warnings on the publisher’s website, there’s a lot of violence and other stuff going on.

Usually it’s a bad sign when a book makes me wince. That means the writing is so bad, it physically hurts. But here I was wincing in sympathy with poor Damian, who’s constantly getting beaten up or shot. Not that he’s an innocent victim, he doles out his fair share of violence as well. Now, I’ve never been beaten up or shot, but the author did such a brilliant job at describing it all, I could almost feel the pain.

The plot is full of action and leaves you kind of breathless. There’s always something happening and our heroes never get to really catch their breath. This makes for an extremely addicting read. I had to force myself to put the book down and get some sleep.

The setting is quite dark, very much a dystopia for adults, with plenty of blood, sweat and tears. And some sex, but no romance in the traditional sense. Honestly, the romance kind of broke my heart.

But despite the action packed plot, there was a lot of feeling as well. It really affected me and I had to swallow back tears once or twice. And I really rooted for the three MCs. They probably don’t qualify as nice guys and they did some pretty bad stuff, but it made sense in the context.

I enjoyed the world building, I think it was really well done and made a lot of sense.

Honestly, I loved everything about this book. And the best part: This is the start of a new series, so there’s more to come! The ending definitely left potential for more, but there’s no cliffhanger. I still can’t wait for book two.

The cover by Natasha Snow is aesthetically very pleasing, but I’m not sure it quite fits the story. I’d expect a space opera, not a dystopia set in a futuristic New York.favorites lgbt review-copies ...more1 miahthemastermind39

uhhhh not worth it? I was running on half an hour of sleep when I read this it might be unfairly judged…waiting for magnolia parks to come back from the library because I wasn’t done
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