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A review by katyanaish
Alien vs. Alien by Gini Koch
2.0
***2.5***
Well, this one honestly nearly killed the series for me. The two biggest recurring plot threads - Kitty being sidelined, Jeff being a douche - moved into the main plot arc for this book. That coupled with Reader's character being, quite frankly, ruined meant I came pretty close to DNF in the first half.
I hate this transition, with Kitty, Jeff and Christopher being powerless in the Diplomatic Corps and Reader (in particular), Serene and Tim being these egomaniacal douches that order everyone to obey them. Aside from not liking what this does with the characters, I just don't feel like it makes any logical sense. Firstly, because we had been told previously that Diplomatic Corps is a separate branch of the A-C government, serving as a check and balance against the military wing (Centaurion Division). So Reader SHOULD NOT have authority over them, in the same way that Jeff and Christopher did not have authority over the DipCorps when they were Team Evil. The fact that he seems to have that authority now is not only inconsistent, it is concerning. Because... that means the military runs A-C on Earth? They are a military dictatorship - because that's what it is called when your guy in charge is the head of your military division. So, really? Because that's fucked. And it undermines so much of their overall arc. Why are they concerned about being War Division? I mean, who cares, if they are a people already under military rule, right?
Secondly, this makes no sense because it kneecaps the power players. Like, hey, you used to be able to go out and handle stuff, but now you can't without getting a hall pass. And getting snarked at.
In this book, particularly, it just felt like there was boatloads of TSTL stuff happening. Like, hey guys, it is clear the bad guys have manipulated events to keep Kitty out of the loop. Oh well, guess we just do what the bad guys want. Also, who is the one who randomly decided - RIGHT NOW - that Kitty's high security clearance was revoked pending this test? Because she's been working with high security intel for LITERALLY 3 years at this point, and 6-8 months of that was here in DipCorps, so NO, it's not just a thing that had to happen when she transitioned to DipCorps. Frankly, if I wanted to look for the Head Bad Guy, I'd be looking for the guy who revoked her security clearance and set this whole chain of events in motion. But no one - literally no one - even thinks about that at any point in this book.
It wasn't much saved by the coming together of stuff at the end of this book, either, because it felt ... I don't know, jumbled. Like pieces never fit really well, and there was lots of random stuff, and ... at the end of the day, I don't really feel like Kitty - or anyone on the team, really - contributed much to the foiling of the plan. It was very odd to feel like ... honestly, Kitty and team were largely incidental to what was going on. It felt like a heck of a lot of wheel-spinning, and then... *shrug*
I've already bought the next 3 books, so I'm reading on, but not hopeful. This one was pretty dismal. I'd give it 1 star for the first half, 3 stars for the last half as pieces started coming together, but only 2 stars for the resolution.
Well, this one honestly nearly killed the series for me. The two biggest recurring plot threads - Kitty being sidelined, Jeff being a douche - moved into the main plot arc for this book. That coupled with Reader's character being, quite frankly, ruined meant I came pretty close to DNF in the first half.
I hate this transition, with Kitty, Jeff and Christopher being powerless in the Diplomatic Corps and Reader (in particular), Serene and Tim being these egomaniacal douches that order everyone to obey them. Aside from not liking what this does with the characters, I just don't feel like it makes any logical sense. Firstly, because we had been told previously that Diplomatic Corps is a separate branch of the A-C government, serving as a check and balance against the military wing (Centaurion Division). So Reader SHOULD NOT have authority over them, in the same way that Jeff and Christopher did not have authority over the DipCorps when they were Team Evil. The fact that he seems to have that authority now is not only inconsistent, it is concerning. Because... that means the military runs A-C on Earth? They are a military dictatorship - because that's what it is called when your guy in charge is the head of your military division. So, really? Because that's fucked. And it undermines so much of their overall arc. Why are they concerned about being War Division? I mean, who cares, if they are a people already under military rule, right?
Secondly, this makes no sense because it kneecaps the power players. Like, hey, you used to be able to go out and handle stuff, but now you can't without getting a hall pass. And getting snarked at.
In this book, particularly, it just felt like there was boatloads of TSTL stuff happening. Like, hey guys, it is clear the bad guys have manipulated events to keep Kitty out of the loop. Oh well, guess we just do what the bad guys want. Also, who is the one who randomly decided - RIGHT NOW - that Kitty's high security clearance was revoked pending this test? Because she's been working with high security intel for LITERALLY 3 years at this point, and 6-8 months of that was here in DipCorps, so NO, it's not just a thing that had to happen when she transitioned to DipCorps. Frankly, if I wanted to look for the Head Bad Guy, I'd be looking for the guy who revoked her security clearance and set this whole chain of events in motion. But no one - literally no one - even thinks about that at any point in this book.
It wasn't much saved by the coming together of stuff at the end of this book, either, because it felt ... I don't know, jumbled. Like pieces never fit really well, and there was lots of random stuff, and ... at the end of the day,
Spoiler
given that it was a big giant alien invasionSpoiler
Really, Alpha Four had been monitoring the situation, and when they were needed, Alpha Four came in and handled the situation. Even having figured out the plan and wrangled her people, Kitty and the team didn't have much impact. At best, they stalled things a little, until the cavalry showed up.I've already bought the next 3 books, so I'm reading on, but not hopeful. This one was pretty dismal. I'd give it 1 star for the first half, 3 stars for the last half as pieces started coming together, but only 2 stars for the resolution.