Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company/Norton Young Readers for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions. 

 

This middle grade space adventure had so much potential: an incredible concept filled with amazing characters and creatures set in a literally galaxy of possibilities. However, this title didn’t quite deliver on its promise for me. While the concept of Kobastickers granting powers to their users was awesome, I felt the magic of the world building was let down by the pacing and the characters. In particular, I struggled with the choice of main character: while Zero was the main character, Camih seemed to be the most developed of the group and whenever something interesting happened, it was usually connected to her or her backstory. I also consistently thought the characters were MUCH younger than they were supposed to be. I think Camih and Ladi were meant to be older than Zero and in their mid to late teens (they’re both allowed to pilot spacecraft at least), but the characters read more like they were 10-12, so the reference to Camih’s past “lover” really did not come across well (even for a teenager, I feel like that’s an odd term to use). 

 

While this title wasn’t quite for me, I do hope to see more works from this author in the future. Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC.