Krista D. Ball

TLDR: I finished it in less than 24 hours (couldn’t sleep because it was in my head—had to get back up to finish it) and it’s one of the few books that have made me cry.

This is the first book from the author I’ve ever read, and I definitely want to read more from her! She has a deft hand with storytelling and I loved the way she interwove the points of view. Rather than focus on high politics, much of the story focuses on day-to-day issues of those high society has forgotten or found unworthy—mage-slaves, their families, and the poor.

Allegra is a noble who happens to be childhood friends with the highest ranking religious-political figure in a society that’s Inquisition-era in vibes. She also is an outspoken advocate for mage-slaves in a society where magic is considered to be evil—and those who are able to do magic are forced into hard, dangerous labor. She’s tasked with handling peace talks with other nations and the rebel mages within the country—a task that puts her in the crosshairs of every prejudiced person in the country. (And the church here has done a lot of whipping up of prejudice.) Allegra is an incredibly strong character and it was easy to identify strongly with her passion for equality. She’s a great example of a badass female character who’s strong without being a fighter.

To protect her, Stanton and his team are assigned as an escort/bodyguard. Stanton leads the military-like group, and he is a pretty epic character as well. He believes what the church has told him—magic is evil, sent by demons. This of course leads to big fights with Allegra, but he doesn’t resent the fights—he likes how she brings up points he hadn’t thought of before. And the task to protect her is difficult, with assassination attempts, etc. He throws himself whole-heartedly into the job even before he begins falling for her.

The last point of view is Lex, a nonbinary person who’s part of Stanton’s team. Lex is fantastic, and I love the point-of-view they bring to the story, not being privy to the machinations of high society. I think they were done really well too, as they felt like a well-rounded person who happen to also be nonbinary. Lex’s moments of heroism also rock, I must say.

In short, this is a fantastic book if you like high fantasy and/or romantic fantasy with steamy scenes. If you’re iffy on the steam, I believe there are only a couple, but the emotional aspect really moves the characters along their arc, so they feel natural and not bolted on. The characters really bring the book to life, but be prepared for them to pop off the page and camp in your head!… (mehr)

Rebecca used to design fancy gadgets for a secret government agency in Canada. But when the Earth was a invaded, she made a deal with the invaders in order to buy her family's safety. Now she's an indentured servant on a prison planet – until a familiar face shows up.

This is not a happy book – Rebecca is depressed and suicidal. Most of her colleagues are horrible people. And the world the author paints is horrifying. But the story sucks you in and keeps you hooked. The characters are all deeply flawed, but most of them are ultimately redeemable.

Although I've not read the books (I know, I know – they're on my TBR list), the thing this most reminded me of was the Expanse – with a little dash of Tanya Huff's Confederation / Peacekeeper series.

I've been reading a lot of self-published lately and so many of them suffer from insufficient editing in one way or another. This one could have used another pass, but the story itself was solid enough to justify 4.5 stars.… (mehr)

Wow. This is not a fun read. It's not an happy story – but it is an exceptional one.

Rebecca has escaped from the colony on Jupiter where she was an indentured servant. She's traumatised, suffers from PTSD and panic attacks, and is suicidal. But gradually, over the course of this book, we see her beginning to claw her way back from the depths.

In the end, this is an uplifting, optimistic story. It's a story of finding hope for the future when you thought there was none.… (mehr)