I wasn't expecting huge amounts from this book, just because I normally find young adult books very middley. Commonly giving them either 3 or 3.5 starts, but this was definitely better than others. It's still quite tropey and very fast paced but it's a lot of fun. I can see the firefly in this heavily but Dune is a bit of a reach, it does not have that level of politicial intrigue. The 2 perspective structure works really well, and I couldn't tell at all that it was written by 2 authors. I found it simple to keep track of who's narrating despite it seemingly being a common complaint. Side characters are intriguing, especially Basra, who gives off a bit of the hidden past/life vibe you get from Shepard Bush in firefly. The world itself is interesting and the concept of shadow sets it up for some good plot lines. I'll be adding the next installments to my to-read list, and give it the highest rating yet for a young adult genre.