Reviews

A few clunky parts (recap and cytonic exposition, the interlude reveal), but overall a fantastic sequel that expands the world, themes and characters in an amazing way!

bookemkinzo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

👾 space opera
👾 sarcastic space ships
👾 a teeny tiny hint of romance
👾 spying and espionage
👾 high stakes and big risks
👾 pew pew scenes

This book is great in a totally different way than book one was. First of all, the world building expands from just the home planet to the entire galaxy, so there some learning and catching up to do, but I never felt as if the information was just dumped in a chapter. It was slowly revealed over the course of the book and I appreciated that! Secondly, Spensa's character grew and matured quite a bit! She was naive and impulsive in book one. Here she learns how to seriously consider her actions, without completely destroying the characteristics already established.

Of course, it's a continuation... so more space pew pew scenes! As someone who's loves that kinda thing, I enjoyed the details of the battle and learning all about this whole new galaxy. There is also just a smiddddge of romance, like seriously small. Maybe a paragraph and small nods here and there. I have a feeling it's building to more in book three, but won't ever be a main plot point, which I'm totally fine with. There is also the same vein of humor as book one, which I was so happy to see continued!

My favorite character's an AI spaceship. So, do with that information what you will.

Genre: YA Science Fiction
Age: 14+
Spice: None
Overall Rating: 5/5

kthedestroyer's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

Well, this was... interesting. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but it sure wasn't what I thought it would be. I thought that Spensa is going to teleport everyone off Detrious and they will explore the universe or something... but nope. The book is not about this at all. It's about Spensa being a spy and M-bot having an existential crisis.

Don't get me wrong, the book was actually pretty good but not exactly what I wanted. The biggest disappointment was actually Jorgen (or rather his absence because I love this annoyingly named prick). The new characters were fun and interesting but took me so long to get used to them and I missed the old ones as well.

Overall, the book is good (especially the last third of it) but there many things could've been better and it's just too disconnected from the first book in my opinion. Still, it deserves the 4 stars I'm giving it no doubt.

I will be including SPOILERS from here on!

This time I will not be starting with the main character (I know... shocking right). I will talk about Jorgen first because he is my favorite character and he deserves love my guys. I love this guy. He is so cranky and up his ass and just amazing overall. Also I'm still waiting for his passionate enemies to lovers romance with Spensa. Somehow I have a feeling that I'm not gonna get it in Cytonic either so please Sanderson... I need this. I really do.

To get back to Jorgen... he is freaking cytonic??? Like, from when? And also he hangs out with Spensa's grandma who is teaching him how to make bread with his eyes closed for some reason. I mean... I love it but still... does this have a point. And when will he tell Spensa about his cytonic powers? I need it to happen as soon as possible please.

Okay, this probably the thing I was most passionate about in the entire book so I'll be more calm from here on. I swear. Also it's Spensa's turn if you were wondering. I like Spensa. And that's honestly kind of it. She's just there and I'm not passionate about her one way or the other (except the enemies to romance lovers part). I liked her training with the other species and she was fine throughout the most of this book but damn it, she had to screw it up in the end. How the hell could she be so naive that she trusted her secret about being human to Brade who was clearly on Winzik's side the entire time??? I was just really frustrated and I really didn't like it.

As for the old characters... I like Cobb. He's just that really kind uncle who's a father figure to basically everyone and I just love his reaction to Jorgen telling him about his cytonic powers. And he's also really nice to Spensa all the time which is just great. M-bot is still great and I love his existential crisis. He is honestly the funniest character in the entire book. Although I am worried about the future because I have a terrible feeling that he will go rogue in either Cytonic or Defiant. I also love Doomslug. She reminds me of my cat and I love my cat so that's cool.

Regarding the new characters though... they're fine. I don't like Brade or Winzik. Actually I kinda hate them because they're complete idiots. Hesho and his crew of tiny aliens are cool and I love their leadership crisis but there's just not much more to them (though I do love the poetry thing). Vapor is interesting but not developed enough. I hate cinnamon though so she would probably get on my nerves. Morrimur is fine... I like how we learn more about their species through their personality crisis but I have no strong feelings for them. Cuna is okay but he kinda only became cool at the end and before that he was just there so yeah.

That's it.

judithisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

4.5

atheneria's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful 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

4.5

hannahmarkezich's review against another edition

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5.0

4.5/5

Okay, so this was interesting.

It definitely went in a direction that I wasn't expecting AT ALL. It took me a little bit to adjust my expectations for this book and to really get into the grove of what Sanderson was doing. But as usual, he's a phenomenal writer. The world/universe-building and characters and plot were all phenomenal. I thought I knew what was going on until I realized that I definitely did not.

I can't wait for the next book!

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