bookcook's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
So much fun. I initially found Spensa to be pretty annoying but she is a kid and one who is dealing with quite a bit of trauma. I love her schoolmates and I loved the overall message of this. I'll read the next one for sure
kiahgardner's review against another edition
4.0
Though it was slow going for me at the beginning, this book picked right up and I had a lot of trouble putting it down! I was at the edge of my seat up until the last page. Really excited for book 2!
abbiekelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
melethwi's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
YAR!
rosiethespy's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent alien fighting scifi. It can inspire discussions of class and privilege, technology and humanity, freedom vs security, what makes someone a coward or a hero. A super exciting, interesting story of a poor girl with a dream, learning to fly and fight aliens.
iyredism's review against another edition
5.0
Sanderson knows how to make any book work and this was no exception. The characters were great, the plot was great, the ships were so cool! M-bot >>>>>>>>>>> I can’t wait to get my hands on the next books!
dataico's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
porlen's review against another edition
5.0
my gosh this was so so good!!! one of my best reads for the year so far! can't wait to delve into the second book
kmcrawford's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
novelheartbeat's review against another edition
5.0
Claim the stars.
UPDATE: AUDIO RE-READ DEC 2019
The audio for this one was FANTASTIC! I absolutely adored Suzy Jackson as a narrator for Spensa. She brought her to life absolutely perfectly! I also loved her narrating for M-Bot, it had me cracking up! I loved this book just as much the second time around on audio. I’ll definitely be looking for more books narrated by Suzy in the future. Highly recommend!
ORIGINAL REVIEW
I had been DYING for this book, but I tried to read Mistborn and couldn't get into it, so I was worried I wouldn't like this one. I needn't have worried, because I loved it!! It was such a fun and engaging read, and honestly the perfect Jessi book because 1) it's sci-fi, 2) it's set in space, and 3) it has tons of awesome banter! Three things that are a huge win for me!
The setting was awesome! It was super vivid and felt real, I had zero problem picturing it all in my head. This world is so cinematic! I loved the idea of it all. The existence of the Krell did feel a bit vague, but not necessarily in a bad way. Some things didn't make much sense, but instead of being implausible, it felt like there was something else going on and we just didn't have all the answers. It felt like a huge revelation was looming and you were just waiting to find out what was really going on.
I loved Spensa so much! I knew from the very beginning when she (as a small child) named her teddy bear Bloodletter that I would love her. She was hilarious! She cracked me up with the dramatic things she said - things like I will let my wrath burn within me, until the day when it explodes and vengeance is mine! I loved that she was unapologetically herself - she was weird, but she didn't back down from who she was. She stood proudly, despite what other people thought of her. I also felt bad for her - her father was branded as a coward for deserting, so she lived in ridicule by association. The unfairness of the way she was treated really struck me. But despite all that, she didn't let anything keep her down! She was extremely passionate; but more importantly she was determined and perseverant in the face of hardship, despite everyone who expected her to fail. Definitely a lead we need to see more of!
More than Spensa, I loved M-Bot! I loved him to PIECES! I laughed out loud so many times at the things he said, because even though he claimed to be logical and not be able to express human emotion, he was sarcastic in a deadpan way and it killed me! Particularly his 'moral support subroutine' of you’re quite bipedal and very efficient at converting oxygen into carbon dioxide. I'm dead!
Spoiler
Also, the fact that he came back from shutting himself down and told Spensa "I chose a new pilot" FEELS FEELS FEELS"And there's a lot written about it?" Rig said.
"By me," M-Bot said. "Earlier today. I wrote seven thousand pages. My processors work very quickly, you realize. Granted, most of what I wrote is just 'humans are weird' repeated 3,756,932 times."
"You were supposed to be running a diagnostic!"
"Rig, that took like thirty seconds. I needed something more engaging to occupy my time."
Oh and I loved Doomslug too!! She reminded me of Morph from Treasure Planet with the way she repeated everything!
I like that this book doesn't shy away from war. People die. It's realistic. I also loved that it took a hard look at what it really means to be a coward, and how you never really know what reasons a person has for the things they do, or what you would do if you were put in a given situation. Things aren't always black and white, and you shouldn't judge anyone until you've been in their shoes.
Something else I really liked about this book is that there is no romance! There's a tiny hint at a budding relationship in there, but very subtle. I love that the main focus of this book is Spensa's struggle with herself and the action of war.
After reading this book, I definitely want to give Mistborn another chance, as well as try some of Brandon's other stuff! (Namely, the Stormlight Archive, which I have heard AMAZING things about!)
This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review here.