Starswept by Mary Fan [Review]

Title: Starswept
Author: Mary Fan
Genres: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Romance
Format: eBook
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing
Release Date: Aug 29th, 2017
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads Summary:

A century ago, an advanced race of telepathic humanoids made contact with Earth. Now, fifteen-year-old violist Iris Lei considers herself lucky to live on the high-tech campus of Papilio, a prestigious performing arts school powered by their futuristic technology. Born penniless, Iris’s one shot at a better life is to attract an Adryil patron. But only the best get hired, and competition is fierce.

A sudden encounter with an Adryil boy who breaks into Papilio upends her world. Iris longs to learn about him and his faraway realm, but after the authorities capture him, the only evidence she has of his existence is the mysterious alien device he slipped to her.

When she starts hearing his voice in her head, she wonders if her world of backstabbing artists and pressure for perfection is driving her insane. As her connection to him grows stronger, she discovers that her visions of him are real—by way of telepathy—and soon finds herself lost in the kind of impossible love she depicts in her music.

But even as their bond deepens, Iris realizes that he’s hiding something from her—and it’s dangerous. Her quest for answers leads her past her sheltered world to a strange planet light years away, where she uncovers secrets about Earth’s alien allies and the artist trade that shatter everything she knows.

 

Iris Fei attends the prestigious performing arts academy Papilio, where she’s perfecting her viola playing in order to attract a rich patron to take her into their employ. One day, Iris crosses paths with an infiltrator in the school – an Adryil boy, member of the telepathic humanoid race that made contact with Earth a century prior. He slips her a foreign device with which, Iris later learns, he is able to communicate with her telepathically. But this boy holds many secrets and no matter how close he and Iris become, he will not share them. Iris is determined to learn the truth, but it might be more dangerous than she ever thought.

This book intrigued me with it’s sparkling cover, beautiful title and promising synopsis. I went in fully expecting to love it. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I did enjoy Starswept to a certain extent, but I also had some major problems with it.

Sovereign by April Daniels [Review]

Title: Sovereign
Author: April Daniels
Series:  Nemesis #2
Genres: Young Adult, Sci-Fi
Format: eBook
Publisher: Diversion Publishing
Release Date: July 25th, 2017
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads Summary:

Only nine months after her debut as the fourth superhero to fight under the name Dreadnought, Danny Tozer is already a scarred veteran. Protecting a city the size of New Port is a team-sized job and she’s doing it alone. Between her newfound celebrity and her demanding cape duties, Dreadnought is stretched thin, and it’s only going to get worse.

When she crosses a newly discovered supervillain, Dreadnought comes under attack from all quarters. From her troubled family life to her disintegrating friendship with Calamity, there’s no trick too dirty and no lever too cruel for this villain to use against her.

She might be hard to kill, but there’s more than one way to destroy a hero. Before the war is over, Dreadnought will be forced to confront parts of herself she never wanted to acknowledge.

And behind it all, an old enemy waits in the wings to unleash a plot that will scar the world forever.

Sovereign is the thrilling sequel and conclusion to the Nemesis duology. The story follows a young transgender girl, Danny, that inherits the previous Dreadnought’s powers after he is killed in a battle with a supervillain. In the first book, Danny had to deal with her new appearance, her abusive family and the superheroes from the Legion, as well as the ultimate supervillain the world has ever known. In Sovereign, Danny faces new challenges in the faces of new and old foes alike, including one that threatens to rip the world apart.