Spensa longs to be a pilot to defend the remnants of the human race which are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters.
What I liked
✅ Fun to read and fast-paced
✅ Enjoyable, gripping action sequences
✅ Witty dialogue and character banter
What I didn't like
✖ Sanderson has admitted in the past that he struggles to write female characters and Spensa falls into the normal pitfalls of a male writing a female character — you could change the pronouns and nothing about her character would change
✖ Spensa is the typical overachieving, strong, likeable, smart female young adult protagonist
✖ Weak supporting cast of characters
✖ Lack of tension — it always feels like Spensa is going to succeed matter what
✖ The world and characters do not really come alive — a lot of telling rather than showing, surface-level information rather than depth
To consider
- It is a sci-fi book for people who don't like sci-fi — more fiction than science
Rating
2.5/5 🌟
Genre: sci-fi
Verdict: Entertaining, but excessively young adult