I’m not sure how to out this book into words other than to say I enjoyed this book way way more than I expected. This book deserves more love, it’s an excellent standalone sci fi!

Firstly, our main character is incredibly unlikable to start with, she refuses to see anything wrong with their life and ignores the people around her other than to see how they could benefit Gaea station. But her growth was epic…the journey she goes on is crazy and she learns A LOT, way more than she was prepared for and it shakes her foundations as she readjusts her perception of everything she’s ever known. So if you struggle with Kyr at first then stick with it.

I also loved the rest of the cast, they were dynamic and all broken or traumatised in their own way and the ways they showed this was really well done. Even Avi, another deeply unlikable character I still wanted the best for him?? I couldn’t hate him because Tesh helped us understand why he made his choices, how deep that pain and trauma ran. With the radicalisation of children a central theme these characters have been taught violence first and that the only people that matter are them. Even as opinions slowly change they all struggle immensely with what they’ve been taught to believe as fact their entire lives versus what feels wrong. There’s a lot of intense themes in this book but I thought it was really well done and the story drew me in and didn’t let me go. I had no idea how this story would unfold or if there was even a way for it to end well but Tesh delivered an excellent story full of twists.

There are some heartbreaking moments and it gets rough and Tesh really managed to connect me to these people and feel their pain. The second half had a lot of wild sci fi science that goes through my brain like water through a sieve but it was understandable and well written. Tesh wove a complicated plot together beautifully whilst keeping us connected to the characters. The universe she brought to life was fascinating but not too overwhelming to understand.

The plot was compelling and had the perfect mix of suspenseful action and meaningful character development, it felt fast paced but not rushed and I just really enjoyed this. Having not read a really addictive sci fi for a while this hit the spot.