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popthebutterfly 's review for:
City of Shattered Light
by Claire Winn
adventurous
emotional
tense
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
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: City of Shattered Light
Author: Claire Winn
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Diversity: M/M romance side characters, bisexual foster child MC, bisexual MC
Recommended For...: young adult readers, science fiction, heist
Publication Date: October 19, 2021
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Recommended Age: 13+ (sexual innuendos, violence, gore, death, language, romance)
Explanation of CWs: Some sexual innuendos are here and there. The book is full of gore and violence. There are a few “bad” words used here and there. The romance is sweet, but small.
Publisher: Flux
Pages: 400
Synopsis: As darkness closes in on the city of shattered light, an heiress and an outlaw must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other.
As heiress to a powerful tech empire, seventeen-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she's more than her manipulative father's shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue A.I. hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem.
Gun-slinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly the bounty Riven needs—until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive.
Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The A.I. exploits the girls’ darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever.
Review: For the most part I liked the book. It had good action and character development. I appreciated the bisexual rep, even though I wanted more of it in the book and had to wait until 40% in to get to the rep. The book was well plotted and I loved how well timed this book was in the wake of kidney-gate in the book community (joking, there is organ selling/kidnapping in this book). The book also did well to switch gender norms. The two leads were the captain and the mechanic respectively and those are roles that media typically shows men in. The book also let a man get kidnapped multiple times, making him the damsel in distress instead of the female identifying people.
The only issues I had with this book is that the book had an incredibly slow and confusing start. The book takes a bit to explain what’s going on and it felt like I spent most of the book playing catch up. The world building could have been better as well.
Verdict: It was good.
Book: City of Shattered Light
Author: Claire Winn
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Diversity: M/M romance side characters, bisexual foster child MC, bisexual MC
Recommended For...: young adult readers, science fiction, heist
Publication Date: October 19, 2021
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Recommended Age: 13+ (sexual innuendos, violence, gore, death, language, romance)
Explanation of CWs: Some sexual innuendos are here and there. The book is full of gore and violence. There are a few “bad” words used here and there. The romance is sweet, but small.
Publisher: Flux
Pages: 400
Synopsis: As darkness closes in on the city of shattered light, an heiress and an outlaw must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other.
As heiress to a powerful tech empire, seventeen-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she's more than her manipulative father's shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue A.I. hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem.
Gun-slinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly the bounty Riven needs—until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive.
Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The A.I. exploits the girls’ darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever.
Review: For the most part I liked the book. It had good action and character development. I appreciated the bisexual rep, even though I wanted more of it in the book and had to wait until 40% in to get to the rep. The book was well plotted and I loved how well timed this book was in the wake of kidney-gate in the book community (joking, there is organ selling/kidnapping in this book). The book also did well to switch gender norms. The two leads were the captain and the mechanic respectively and those are roles that media typically shows men in. The book also let a man get kidnapped multiple times, making him the damsel in distress instead of the female identifying people.
The only issues I had with this book is that the book had an incredibly slow and confusing start. The book takes a bit to explain what’s going on and it felt like I spent most of the book playing catch up. The world building could have been better as well.
Verdict: It was good.