A review by absolutechaos
Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a really great relaxed read to get through a tough week. It hit a lot of favorite tropes and ideas for me without feeling too formulaic. If you liked Winters Orbit, you'll like this because it's very similar. However, I found the characters enjoyable and their dynamic worked well for me. They had genuine chemistry and it takes good writing for me to buy such an intense bond in such a short amount of time. I loved the genderqueer representation in this book and as always, Maxwell's worldbuilding for having public markers of gender that allow all characters to get their pronouns used correctly is so cool. The romance is one hell of a slow burn, but that allows the character bonds to get fleshed out further and more focus on the plot, which is a big plus for me. 
Overall, I really liked this and would happily read it again, but I will say it follows a lot of similar beats from Winters Orbit and to be honest, I found a lot of parts in the end difficult to follow.  That being said, I loved reading this and tore through it in a little over a day. It reminded me a lot of a Strange and Stubborn Endurance with its slow build up, political mystery elements, and focus on exploring character trauamas. 
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