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onceuponanisabel 's review for:
Bonds of Brass
by Emily Skrutskie
Y'all this book is insane and I loved it.
Bonds of Brass is about a young pilot who deserts from his post to protect his best friend, secretly the heir to the empire for whom they both fight. As the two travel across the universe, they discover a large rebellion and new friends.
Many of the most popular reviews of this book so far relate this book to FinnPoe from Star Wars, and while, honestly, this really only has a few tinges of that particular ship, it was very gay and very reminiscent of Star Wars. So it will probably fill that void for you, as it did for me.
The relationship dynamics in the book are really what drive it -- what's going on between Ettian and Gal is constantly shifting and always complicated. They have an unbreakable loyalty to each other despite their very different political affiliations (Ettian was orphaned by Gal's parents' armies), so it's often an "I love you, but I don't like you right now" kind of situation, which I kind of love. They struggle to reconcile their bond with each of their own individual motivations and it was pretty fascinating to watch play out.
This is definitely one of those fun intrigue-y plots where there are a million players who all want slightly different things, and you never really know how it's going to end until you get there. Which is really my favorite thing, so kudos to Skrutskie. I've read her book [b:The Abyss Surrounds Us|24790901|The Abyss Surrounds Us (The Abyss Surrounds Us, #1)|Emily Skrutskie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431014825l/24790901._SY75_.jpg|44425139], and really enjoyed it, and while this really has very few similarities to Abyss, it has a similar flair for the dramatic and equally complicated relationships.
So lastly, why 4 stars instead of 5? It did feel shockingly derivative of Star Wars, and not just in the way that all space operas feel somewhat Star Wars-esque. I wanted a little more originality in the world-building and to be honest, I kind of wanted the Ettian himself to have a little more personality. I know it can be difficult to imbue a narrator with personality, since they can't be described from the outside, but he felt so much flatter than Gal or Wen.
But to be honest, those things are relatively small nitpicks, because I really, really enjoyed this book. If you love space operas and sci-fi like me, this is one to pick up.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Bonds of Brass is about a young pilot who deserts from his post to protect his best friend, secretly the heir to the empire for whom they both fight. As the two travel across the universe, they discover a large rebellion and new friends.
Many of the most popular reviews of this book so far relate this book to FinnPoe from Star Wars, and while, honestly, this really only has a few tinges of that particular ship, it was very gay and very reminiscent of Star Wars. So it will probably fill that void for you, as it did for me.
The relationship dynamics in the book are really what drive it -- what's going on between Ettian and Gal is constantly shifting and always complicated. They have an unbreakable loyalty to each other despite their very different political affiliations (Ettian was orphaned by Gal's parents' armies), so it's often an "I love you, but I don't like you right now" kind of situation, which I kind of love. They struggle to reconcile their bond with each of their own individual motivations and it was pretty fascinating to watch play out.
This is definitely one of those fun intrigue-y plots where there are a million players who all want slightly different things, and you never really know how it's going to end until you get there. Which is really my favorite thing, so kudos to Skrutskie. I've read her book [b:The Abyss Surrounds Us|24790901|The Abyss Surrounds Us (The Abyss Surrounds Us, #1)|Emily Skrutskie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431014825l/24790901._SY75_.jpg|44425139], and really enjoyed it, and while this really has very few similarities to Abyss, it has a similar flair for the dramatic and equally complicated relationships.
So lastly, why 4 stars instead of 5? It did feel shockingly derivative of Star Wars, and not just in the way that all space operas feel somewhat Star Wars-esque. I wanted a little more originality in the world-building and to be honest, I kind of wanted the Ettian himself to have a little more personality. I know it can be difficult to imbue a narrator with personality, since they can't be described from the outside, but he felt so much flatter than Gal or Wen.
But to be honest, those things are relatively small nitpicks, because I really, really enjoyed this book. If you love space operas and sci-fi like me, this is one to pick up.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley