Month: April 2022

Reviews

Cytonic Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Cytonic Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Spensa’s life as a Defiant Defense Force pilot has been far from ordinary. She proved herself one of the best starfighters in the human enclave of Detritus and she saved her people from extermination at the hands of the Krell—the enigmatic alien species that has been holding them captive for decades. What’s more, she traveled light-years from home as an undercover spy to infiltrate the Superiority, where she learned of the galaxy beyond her small, desolate planet home. She faced down a Delver and saw something eerily familiar about it. And maybe, if she’s able to figure out what she is, she could be more than just another pilot in this unfolding war. She could save the galaxy.

I liked that again we have a new setting that we get to explore throughout the course of the book. I found myself a little disoriented for the first 100 pages or so simply because I had a hard time understanding how the Nowhere worked and the concept of the different fragments. Once I got my head around it and was settled into the story it was easier to comprehend what was happening.

I don’t think that Spensa has evolved all that much in this book. Sure she gets a better grasp on her cytonic abilities but she’s pretty much the same character that we’ve seen in the rest of the series. At the end she does have a little bit of an epiphany when she has to choose what path she is going to take next but other than that she didn’t really do anything that overly captivated me.

All of the other characters carried the plot in this book in my opinion. I was definitely more fascinated by Chet and who he actually was and his background being in the Nowhere for so long apparently. The manner in which he is introduced was entertaining and I liked learning about how his abilities differ to Spensa and how he helps her navigate through the Nowhere. M Bot we learn is much more integral to the plot than what I was anticipating. A super entertaining character however the constant talk about emotions and feels and asking Spensa to explain things annoyed me a bit, it was just too repetitive.

Repetitive overall is the word for this book. I had hoped it would be more action packed and adventurous than what it was. I was disappointed to be honest with the story overall. I was expecting crazy hijinks, twists upon twists and revelations to come out at every turn but this just felt like a filler book. Sure we are given a few little twists and new characters and a new setting but overall I didn’t really feel like I needed to know this story before Spensa comes back to the somewhere and reunites with her crew back on Detritus.

⭐️3/5 stars entertaining yet disappointing

Reviews

Skyward Flights Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Skyward Flights Review

I realised before I got stuck into Cytonic that I needed to catch up with the two novellas that take place between Starsight and Cytonic and then there’s a third novella after. I sped through the first two novellas and figured I would just post two short reviews in one!

Sunreach – I had quite forgotten about Spensa’s flight team back on Detritus because for the most part the series revolves around Spensa and her adventures. But I like the fact that we’re taken back and given different perspectives and we can see what these other characters are dealing with while. We were given short little interludes in Starsight about Jorgen finding the other Taynix with Gran Gran and I really enjoyed how in this novella we get to see them figure out that they are actually the hyperdrives. I also really enjoyed the rescue mission to Sunreach and just how fast paced and action packed it was. There were definitely some revelations and twists and I feel like this just added so much needed depth and context to the series. ⭐️4/5 stars

ReDawn – For ReDawn I thought it was definitely a necessary decision to have a novella from the point of view of one of the aliens and Alanik has been a pretty integral part of this series so it was nice to get to see things from her perspective. She is another Cytonic who has a different grasp on the abilities so it was interesting to see how she uses her powers in comparison to Spensa or even Jorgen with his limited knowledge. I liked the fact that we have a different setting as well on ReDawn and how we get to learn about a different race of being and how they govern themselves. It was a just a little a hard to visualise a lot of the fighting scenes in the air, that whole sequence was a bit chaotic and confusing. I really enjoyed seeing how all the pilots have bonded with the Taynix and how they are able to utilise them throughout their flights and integrate them into all of their plans. ⭐️3/5 stars

These novellas have definitely drawn me back into this series and has me reinvested in the storyline and eager to find out what will happen next and what is going on with Spensa in the Nowhere!