just…god, these books are all so good. Barnes KNOWS what she’s doing, and she does it so so well. Cold Eternity feels more isolated and sadder maybe than I expected; the protagonist is alone for a lot of this novel, and the core  connection/relationship in this one actually WRECKED ME. I really appreciated the exploration of what it means to do good in a system too large to effectively change on your own, and a lot of the larger worldbuilding and themes felt insanely relevant to the here and now. 

I thought the plot and pacing were both very solid, the tension and spooky levels were HIGH, despite it being such an introspective book, and I loved Halley and the other sympathetic character. I’ll be thinking about the tragedy of that plot line for a LONG time, I think. 

As for the audiobook—Amara Jasper’s narration was lovely. I thought she handled the pacing and tension well and she was easy to listen to. I didn’t notice any editing issues either! I’ll definitely recommend this one to folks. 

And of course, the book in general is going on my list of recommendations for sci-fi horror.

Huge thanks to Tor Nightfire for sending me this arc via netgalley! Happy to offer my honest review of this banger.