I love a good space opera. You add on LGBTQ+ to space opera and you can guarantee I’m going to be interested in reading it. But there’s something that needs to be said about novels that claim to be space operas: They need to be operatic. Redsight obviously wants to be operatic, but it just isn’t. 

Redsight is a good book, but it’s not a space opera. It’s just a really solid sci-fi/fantasy novel about a space war between…well, that’s another thing. It starts out as a war against a pirate in a dangerous and uninhabited part of space. Then the message gets muddied and never quite gets completely back on track. 

The thing is: This book is fun. We’ve got three orders of space witches with really cool powers, all following their own cultures and customs. There’s an enemies-to-lovers sapphic romance subplot that’s angsty-cute. There’s a ton of blood, gore, pain, and torture–and some of it is inflicted with consent or self-inflicted for the sake of magic. (Oh, btw, you might want to find a list of CW/TWs for this book). 

A chunk of the plot of this book deals with faith and choices you make because of it. What you give up. What you endure. What you bear witness to. What secrets you hold. Who you lose. Who you choose to survive when the time comes to choose. When do you close your eyes and leap? 

Had this book followed through on a few of the loose threads left dangling at the end of the book I would’ve liked it a lot more. As it is, it’s a pretty good read and a great standalone. 

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.