A review by althea
Local Star by Aimee Ogden

4.0

This is my first book by Aimee Ogden and it certainly won't be my last! Local Star follows Triz who, at the start of the novella, is witness to her partner being dragged off by justice officials to stand trial for war crimes, but her partner is adamant that she didn't commit these crimes. What intrigued me about this book was the fact that it's sci-fi that focusses around a polyamorous triad and, although I don't read a lot of sci-fi, I was definitely not disappointed! Triz grew up having nothing and although she was taken in by her partner's family, she still feels very much on the outside of their dynamic. She's a mechanic on the hub that she calls home and I loved how much detail was shown about her work. The interpersonal relationships were also done really well, between Triz and her partner Casne, Triz and her ex Kalo, Triz and Casne's family, and all the side characters, too! For being such a short book, so much was packed into the 170-odd pages and it really felt like the perfect length! I also adored how normal polyamorous relationships and families, as well as the frequent use of neopronouns, are in this book - it was such a joy to read!

My only reason for taking a star off the rating is that I felt, particularly at the start but also throughout the entire book, that I was missing so much background information. Although I said that the book is the perfect length, I wouldn't have been mad if there was more explanation of the 'jargon' used throughout. Though there is a glossary of sorts at the end of the book that explains these words, I read the book on my Kindle and really was not aware of it being there until I had finished, so I would have much preferred that the information be developed throughout the prose. All in all, though, I highly recommend this novella!

Thanks to Netgalley and Interstellar Flight Press for an eARC in return for an honest review!