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aacinonyx's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I'm not sure where to begin here... spoilers ahead for those of you who care.
This book has split character point of views. There are technically three point of views. The first sister, Lito, and Hiro. I say technically because Hiro's point of view is from a recording they made for Lito. I love the concept! Having whole chapters dedicated to a transcription of this recording of Hiro explaining themselves to Lito is interesting, however, I found that the execution of it was lacking. My main grievance with it is because they speak just like the author's writing. They would say direct quotes and use dialog tags! No one quotes themselves and then says "I demanded".
and Lito oh my goodness. I can not get behind this boy. During the big moment where he's like "if only I knew how awfully they treated the Astors! I would never have allowed that to happen! Yet he quite literally ignored the harassment of an Astor on the bus earlier in the book. Why was this earlier scene included if he felt so strongly about the treatment of astors? Even his excuse for not stepping in to protect the astor from harassment was "not my job". I cannot believe that this is the same character that decided to risk everything to join the rebel astor faction or whatever they call themselves.
My frustration continues with the implants that rapiers and daggers receive. We have just learned that rapiers and daggers have some quasi communication through these implants. Then on the first mission Ofelia and Lito are tasked with, Ofelia takes a little too long for her portion of the mission Lito gets concerned and LEAVES HIS POST TO FIND HER. You can communicate through the implant!!! why are you physically going to find her if you just need to "think" at her?? Lito continues toruin the mission by killing an innocent astor kid he thought was threatening and Ofelia is all pissed about it. We find out later that Ofelia is special because she can control other implant users with her implant... Why did she let Lito kill the kid? Clearly both of these things needed to happen so that the plot could move forward but it it incredibly frustrating that that is the case.
Lastly we come to the First Sister. Hers was the most interesting of the story lines for me. However, I felt blindsided for her sudden love for Ren? They didn't actually have any meaningful conversations that made me feel like they were falling in love. Then in the end when the First Sister discovers the truth about Ren there is no conversation about this? She just lets Ren go? What was the point of this plot line? There could have been something interesting there with the first sister confronting Ren about their "love" in front of Lito and have Lito be like Nahh that's my partner Hiro! Ren/Hiro would have to explain themselves and actually make a decision about who/if they are in love, but no, All we get is "hey i'm not who you thought I was" and the First Sister just is ok with it? how boring.
All in all the book was entertaining enough to read since I finished it, but I don't think I will be continuing the series.
This book has split character point of views. There are technically three point of views. The first sister, Lito, and Hiro. I say technically because Hiro's point of view is from a recording they made for Lito. I love the concept! Having whole chapters dedicated to a transcription of this recording of Hiro explaining themselves to Lito is interesting, however, I found that the execution of it was lacking. My main grievance with it is because they speak just like the author's writing. They would say direct quotes and use dialog tags! No one quotes themselves and then says "I demanded".
and Lito oh my goodness. I can not get behind this boy. During the big moment where
My frustration continues with the implants that rapiers and daggers receive. We have just learned that rapiers and daggers have some quasi communication through these implants. Then on the first mission Ofelia and Lito are tasked with, Ofelia takes a little too long for her portion of the mission Lito gets concerned and LEAVES HIS POST TO FIND HER. You can communicate through the implant!!! why are you physically going to find her if you just need to "think" at her?? Lito continues to
Lastly we come to the First Sister. Hers was the most interesting of the story lines for me. However, I felt blindsided for her
All in all the book was entertaining enough to read since I finished it, but I don't think I will be continuing the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual assault
rattification's review
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Confinement
Minor: Xenophobia, Vomit, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Classism, Rape, War, Bullying, and Cursing
thysparklyreads's review
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I wanted to rate this book higher because I loved the Sisterhood and the First Sister herself.
I was thrilled by the complexity of the world building with its characters at the beginning but soon I found myself dreading reading certain character's POV despite enjoying the character itself.Choosing to make Hiro's POV audio messages instead of letters or something else ruined it. No one speaks that way. Felt so very info dumpy that every time which is unfortunate because I do love them.
Overall an alright read that is a good setup for the next installments.
I was thrilled by the complexity of the world building with its characters at the beginning but soon I found myself dreading reading certain character's POV despite enjoying the character itself.
Overall an alright read that is a good setup for the next installments.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Classism, and War
Moderate: Dysphoria and Physical abuse
kassidyreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Medical trauma and War
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Bullying
livelaughlesbian99's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to love this book! Unfortunately the structural problems are just glaring. I spent the first third of the book trying to keep up with largely unexplained worldbuilding. Without that grounding the flow of the plot was kind of confusing. I didn’t fully understand the significance of characters’ choices when I don’t fully understand their position in the world. It’s too bad— good world and premise but the execution killed a lot of it for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual violence
beebeewin's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I enjoyed this book and the casual queerness built into an otherwise classic sci-fi tale. I love the multiple perspectives and the viewpoints from both sides of the war, as it got me so engrossed in all angles. It built in me an excitement to see how this series plays out as I want to see all the characters interact. Linden Lewis built a beautiful world and I am excited to see how they build off it and how the characters dynamics change. Plus, the I found myself so conflicted in the end about the romance which I love because the twist totally subverts the tropes of most novels. Plus gay love in any form is super appreciated.
I think why this book doesn't crack the 4 star region is simply because at the end all the realizations came almost too rapidly. I wanted the end to be drawn out with the extreme detail and thoughtfulness that the earlier part of this book had. I feel like I got to know the characters so well I just wanted a little more time to see them processing and really growing into the character growth we were shown.
With all of that I am definitely excited to read the sequel. The world that Lewis built is rich and I am excited for all the political intrigue and interactions of all these characters. I would recommend this book for anyone look for a fun sci-fi space read with lots of queer representation and some exciting potential for a sequel.
I think why this book doesn't crack the 4 star region is simply because at the end all the realizations came almost too rapidly. I wanted the end to be drawn out with the extreme detail and thoughtfulness that the earlier part of this book had. I feel like I got to know the characters so well I just wanted a little more time to see them processing and really growing into the character growth we were shown.
With all of that I am definitely excited to read the sequel. The world that Lewis built is rich and I am excited for all the political intrigue and interactions of all these characters. I would recommend this book for anyone look for a fun sci-fi space read with lots of queer representation and some exciting potential for a sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, and Violence
katsmedialibrary's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, War, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content and Sexual assault
Minor: Ableism
major_tom's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
This book has been in my TBR pile for some time and I’m so glad I finally got to it!
At first, I was afraid the lore would be too confusing - I am not very familiar with space-related fiction and never had much interest in it. Here, the story started straight away - I liked how we discovered things along the way, without long and boring history lessons. Each chapter has a short passage before it, which could be a letter, a quote, or other short piece that gave more insight into the world. I love good exposition and, I’m my opinion, Linden A. Lewis here did a great job.
The main character are interesting, flawed and have their own priorities and desires. There are some flaws, but I’ll talk about them later.
I loved how unique this world is. It really stands out with how logical historical development of each nation is.Why the religion is the way it is, or why there is no AI anymore. And guess what? It’s THAT easy to include queer folks! And it only enriches the plot, the world building and everyone’s satisfaction from reading.
However, I got quite disappointed by the end. The ending felt rushed, used mostly explanation rather than exposure, and gave a bit of flat character development. I saw how some things before could be linked to the plot twists, but still it wasn’t satisfactory. I felt that the ending was made that way to create reason for the next book. I am afraid that the next books will turn to obvious conflicts and will greatly worsen in world-building. In my opinion, the book by itself is great as stand-alone (if the ending was changed). I hope I’m wrong, because I still enjoyed it most of the way.
At first, I was afraid the lore would be too confusing - I am not very familiar with space-related fiction and never had much interest in it. Here, the story started straight away - I liked how we discovered things along the way, without long and boring history lessons. Each chapter has a short passage before it, which could be a letter, a quote, or other short piece that gave more insight into the world. I love good exposition and, I’m my opinion, Linden A. Lewis here did a great job.
The main character are interesting, flawed and have their own priorities and desires. There are some flaws, but I’ll talk about them later.
I loved how unique this world is. It really stands out with how logical historical development of each nation is.
However, I got quite disappointed by the end. The ending felt rushed, used mostly explanation rather than exposure, and gave a bit of flat character development. I saw how some things before could be linked to the plot twists, but still it wasn’t satisfactory. I felt that the ending was made that way to create reason for the next book. I am afraid that the next books will turn to obvious conflicts and will greatly worsen in world-building. In my opinion, the book by itself is great as stand-alone (if the ending was changed). I hope I’m wrong, because I still enjoyed it most of the way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Body horror, Bullying, Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Racism, War, and Slavery
eegekay's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Violence
jeniwarren's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
The First Sister
By Linden A. Lewis
It’s weird but in a good way. The book is sci do- fantasy - romance - political thriller. All these genres wrapped into one.
I finished this book I just a few days. It’s easy to read. It’s enjoyable. Again, not the best thing I ever read but enjoyable none the less.
I will continue on in the series without a doubt. The world building was pretty darn good. The characters were believable. The romance- not so much. (zero spice).
4 out of 5 stars ⭐️ on Goodreads
4 out of 5 stars ⭐️ on Storygraph
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence