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whitneykelley's review against another edition
DNF 71%
I really liked the beginning of this book. Interesting characters, a “breakup to protect you” trope I didn’t hate because it happened before we got invested in the relationship, and a setup that felt like Rogue One, but better. I really wanted to like this.
But about half way through, I started loosing track of what was happening—there’s a lot going on with factions at multiple levels, and betrayals happening in all of them. And the romance takes a backseat to this. Then by 70%, I couldn’t keep track of who all the people on the page were. They were all newly introduced and I had no emotional connection to them
I really liked the beginning of this book. Interesting characters, a “breakup to protect you” trope I didn’t hate because it happened before we got invested in the relationship, and a setup that felt like Rogue One, but better. I really wanted to like this.
But about half way through, I started loosing track of what was happening—there’s a lot going on with factions at multiple levels, and betrayals happening in all of them. And the romance takes a backseat to this. Then by 70%, I couldn’t keep track of who all the people on the page were. They were all newly introduced and I had no emotional connection to them
katyanaish's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoy this author, but she tends to repeat a couple themes that keep her good books from being great books.
We've got a super awesome FMC who has seen some shit but is still basically sunshine.
A MMC who leads a team of people who are skeptical of the FMC, and kind of shitty to her. Like, in this book I was ready to punch Finkle in the fucking throat.
And the awesome FMC bends over backwards to help everyone, including people who don't deserve it. Just one time, I'd like to see the FMC in these books tell people to fuck off. In this book, it was most egregious (imo) at the mines. So here's the info: her father, genius engineer and designer, created a hack for the weigh station to under-report the weight by 20%, so the shitty overlords would take a smaller amount as the tax/royalty/bullshit buyout. And then he and the miners split the profit on that 20% ... 50/50. When he died (evil overlords murdered him), his two daughters were left destitute. The miners continued to profit from his hack, but kept it all to divvy among themselves, while Sofie and her sister Rach starved. A couple visited her in that first year after Dad died, and gave the girls a few credits, which Sofie says they never understood. Guilt money, she understands now that she got the info on this weigh station (she was a kid - barely turned 18 when he died - so dad hadn't looped her in). Well, in this book, Dad's hack failed - well, not failed exactly, it seems he had it set to expire on a timer - and they want her to help figure out how to reset it.
Why doesn't she tell them to eat shit and die?
It is hard, really hard, to respect a fucking doormat. The only thing she owes those miners is her contempt. I give the MMC a pass here - he picked up on Dad's end of things, providing the transportation for a cut - but he didn't know the guy had unsupported daughters, or that his family had no access to his fortune. And he was young too, trying to keep himself from starving after his mom died, stepping into huge shoes and trying to figure it out. He didn't know, and didn't go looking, and I can understand that. But those miners who tried to assuage their conscience by tossing the girls a few credits... fuck them. I'd tell them I will try to help when you pay me for my father's cut of the last 8 years. No? Then good luck not getting murdered when the Core investigates the weird reports and finds out you've been stealing from them for nearly a decade, fuckers.
I liked the book, but the martyr doormat thing is fucking exhausting. It will keep this author off my favorites list, for sure.
We've got a super awesome FMC who has seen some shit but is still basically sunshine.
A MMC who leads a team of people who are skeptical of the FMC, and kind of shitty to her. Like, in this book I was ready to punch Finkle in the fucking throat.
And the awesome FMC bends over backwards to help everyone, including people who don't deserve it. Just one time, I'd like to see the FMC in these books tell people to fuck off. In this book, it was most egregious (imo) at the mines. So here's the info: her father, genius engineer and designer, created a hack for the weigh station to under-report the weight by 20%, so the shitty overlords would take a smaller amount as the tax/royalty/bullshit buyout. And then he and the miners split the profit on that 20% ... 50/50. When he died (evil overlords murdered him), his two daughters were left destitute. The miners continued to profit from his hack, but kept it all to divvy among themselves, while Sofie and her sister Rach starved. A couple visited her in that first year after Dad died, and gave the girls a few credits, which Sofie says they never understood. Guilt money, she understands now that she got the info on this weigh station (she was a kid - barely turned 18 when he died - so dad hadn't looped her in). Well, in this book, Dad's hack failed - well, not failed exactly, it seems he had it set to expire on a timer - and they want her to help figure out how to reset it.
Why doesn't she tell them to eat shit and die?
It is hard, really hard, to respect a fucking doormat. The only thing she owes those miners is her contempt. I give the MMC a pass here - he picked up on Dad's end of things, providing the transportation for a cut - but he didn't know the guy had unsupported daughters, or that his family had no access to his fortune. And he was young too, trying to keep himself from starving after his mom died, stepping into huge shoes and trying to figure it out. He didn't know, and didn't go looking, and I can understand that. But those miners who tried to assuage their conscience by tossing the girls a few credits... fuck them. I'd tell them I will try to help when you pay me for my father's cut of the last 8 years. No? Then good luck not getting murdered when the Core investigates the weird reports and finds out you've been stealing from them for nearly a decade, fuckers.
I liked the book, but the martyr doormat thing is fucking exhausting. It will keep this author off my favorites list, for sure.
emac021's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ceridwenanne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
3.25
Did me right while suffering from insomnia this week: not very challenging in terms of plotting, but also energetic, with a lot of anti-corporate sentiment so I could froth a bit.
claire_loves_books's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't read the prequels which I think I maybe should have as the world was somewhat confusing. I just didn't buy into the characters and the plot, and being slightly confused about the world didn't help. I really enjoyed the class 5 series by Michelle Diener but I doubt I'm going to carry on with this one.
leabookjoy's review against another edition
3.0
French & English reviews
Un premier tome qui m'a laissée quelque peu indifférente ...
J'ai voulu essayer cette série après avoir lu la série The Rising Wave de la même auteure mais j'ai été assez déçu : les personnages sont plats, l'univers un peu fade et l'intrigue trop simpliciste ...
Ce n'est pas horrible c'est juste bof ...
Bref, je vais tenter le deuxième tome pour voir si ça s'améliore mais je suis loin d'être convaincue ...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A first book that left me somewhat indifferent ...
I wanted to try this series after reading The Rising Wave series by the same author, but I was quite disappointed : the characters are flat, the universe a bit bland and the plot too simplistic ...
It's not horrible it's just blah ...
Anyway, I'm going to try the second book to see if it improves, but I'm far from being convinced ...
Un premier tome qui m'a laissée quelque peu indifférente ...
J'ai voulu essayer cette série après avoir lu la série The Rising Wave de la même auteure mais j'ai été assez déçu : les personnages sont plats, l'univers un peu fade et l'intrigue trop simpliciste ...
Ce n'est pas horrible c'est juste bof ...
Bref, je vais tenter le deuxième tome pour voir si ça s'améliore mais je suis loin d'être convaincue ...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A first book that left me somewhat indifferent ...
I wanted to try this series after reading The Rising Wave series by the same author, but I was quite disappointed : the characters are flat, the universe a bit bland and the plot too simplistic ...
It's not horrible it's just blah ...
Anyway, I'm going to try the second book to see if it improves, but I'm far from being convinced ...
bookfever's review against another edition
4.0
Breakaway is the first full novel in the Verdant String series. But I would highly recommend readers to read Interference/Insurgency. These are two novellas that are really great introductions to the Verdant String world and I loved both of those stories as well.
The story introduced us to the first main character, Sofie Erdo. She lives on Garmen, which is a breakaway planet and not part of the Verdant String Coalition (or VSC), meaning that companies owned by sketchy people basically control all of Garmen so the people living there don't have the best existence to say the least. And although Sofie is part of the resistance fighting it all, she just wants to leave Garmen as soon as she can. Enter Leo Gaudier, the second main character, a crime lord working in the shadows who, just like the resistance, wants to overthrow those in control of Garmen. Oh and he's the guy Sofie recently started dating...
Let's just say right away that Sofie was a badass. She saved Leo's life several times and isn't that just a nice change of pace compared to how it's usually the hero doing the saving. Don't get me wrong, I did love Leo, he was a really great character to read about but Sofie was one heroine I could definitely get behind.
The world building was amazing as well. It's a pretty complex world that the author created but oh that's just how I like it. And I gotta say, the author has written many books in different genres but her scifi worlds are some of my all time favorites.
Overall Breakaway was an amazing book that I couldn't put down. Well-written, excellent world building and Michelle Diener does romance like no other. There's no unneccesary drama, the heroine is not a helpless damsel in distress and the hero isn't overly protective. I loved it!
The story introduced us to the first main character, Sofie Erdo. She lives on Garmen, which is a breakaway planet and not part of the Verdant String Coalition (or VSC), meaning that companies owned by sketchy people basically control all of Garmen so the people living there don't have the best existence to say the least. And although Sofie is part of the resistance fighting it all, she just wants to leave Garmen as soon as she can. Enter Leo Gaudier, the second main character, a crime lord working in the shadows who, just like the resistance, wants to overthrow those in control of Garmen. Oh and he's the guy Sofie recently started dating...
Let's just say right away that Sofie was a badass. She saved Leo's life several times and isn't that just a nice change of pace compared to how it's usually the hero doing the saving. Don't get me wrong, I did love Leo, he was a really great character to read about but Sofie was one heroine I could definitely get behind.
The world building was amazing as well. It's a pretty complex world that the author created but oh that's just how I like it. And I gotta say, the author has written many books in different genres but her scifi worlds are some of my all time favorites.
Overall Breakaway was an amazing book that I couldn't put down. Well-written, excellent world building and Michelle Diener does romance like no other. There's no unneccesary drama, the heroine is not a helpless damsel in distress and the hero isn't overly protective. I loved it!
owlread's review against another edition
2.0
world building kinda takes romance and plot very tell not show
ingridelyse's review against another edition
3.0
Sigh...I wanted to love this. I maybe wasn't in the right headspace but I just didn't feel like I could get into this one. I really LOVE Michelle Diener books so much, even though I prefer more spice in my books. Part of my issue here I think is that the FMC and MMC are already very much into each other before the book starts so there isn't really any tension building or any surprise here. They're already there.
My other issue is that the world-building on this one was at times, very very spotty. I found myself not understanding some of the politics or issues and would have to go back and jog my memory to see if the author had mentioned bits and pieces that I had just forgotten. I will give Book 2 a try, but I'm not that excited about it. But Michelle Diener is such a reliably good author I can't help but feel maybe it's me?
My other issue is that the world-building on this one was at times, very very spotty. I found myself not understanding some of the politics or issues and would have to go back and jog my memory to see if the author had mentioned bits and pieces that I had just forgotten. I will give Book 2 a try, but I'm not that excited about it. But Michelle Diener is such a reliably good author I can't help but feel maybe it's me?
wilwarinde's review against another edition
2.5
Had some potential, enjoyed the MFC being competent. Struggled to follow the threads of the plot at points, especially the significance of the different races.
Unfortunate typos including pubic for public.
Unfortunate typos including pubic for public.