(Heart of Iron #2)
Publication
Date: July 23, 2019
Hardcover, 400 pages, Balzer + Bray
Genres:
YA, Sci-Fi
Once, Ana was an orphaned space
outlaw. Then she was the Empress of the Iron Kingdom. Now, thought dead by most
of the galaxy after she escaped from the dark AI program called the HIVE, Ana
is desperate for a way to save Di from the HIVE’s evil clutches and take back
her kingdom.
Ana’s only option is to find
Starbright, the one person who has hacked into the HIVE and lived to tell the
tale. But when Ana’s desperation costs the crew of the Dossier a terrible
price, Ana and her friends are sent spiraling through the most perilous reaches
of the Iron Kingdom to stop the true arbiter of evil in her world: an ancient
world-ending deity called the Great Dark.
Their journey will take the
sharp-witted pilot, Jax, to the home he never wanted to return to, and the
dangerous fate he left behind. And when Robb finds out who Jax really is, he
must contend with his own feelings for the boy he barely knows, and whether he
truly belongs with this group of outcasts.
When facing the worst odds, can Ana
and her crew of misfits find a way to stop the Great Dark once and for all?
My Review
This series has been lauded as a perfect read for fans of Marissa
Meyer’s Luna Chronicles series, and I would definitely agree. It’s super fun,
without being overly scientific or technical. It’s just an action-filled young
adult sci-fi book with some space elves, killer robots, and an Anastasia
retelling.
The main thing I loved about the first book in this duology
was the relationship between Jax and Robb. While I thought it developed a
little too fast, I still really enjoyed how cute they were together.
Unfortunately, in Soul of Stars, I still missed some of that development.
Don’t get me wrong, I adore Robb and Jax, I just wish there had been more
to their relationship. (A third book could’ve helped with this, along with some
issues I had with the ending that I’ll get into soon.) Jax's family background and history was super cool. I wish we could've seen more with that too.
Di and Ana are good characters as well, but I never got
super attached to them. Maybe it’s because Di is a robot. It’s hard to truly
ship characters who started out non-human. While they’re fun to read about
separately and together, they just pined for each other a little too much in
this book. And not in a good angsty way.
As for the action and plot, sometimes the twists were too easy.
Everything was a little too convenient with a lot of last-minute rescues and simple
solutions. Though, I will say that the ending had me going for a little bit in
regards to a couple of character arcs. But even with those characters’
journeys, the ending still felt somewhat unfinished, like there should’ve been
another 100 pages. As I mentioned earlier, a third book could’ve helped with
that. Oh, and I don’t think the six-month time jump between book one and book
two helped, either. But at the end of the day, it was still an entertaining
journey with Poston's witty dialogue and often-times adorable characters.
All in all, if you liked Cinder and Aurora Rising,
you’ll have a good time reading Ashley Poston’s space duology. Space elves,
light swords, and robots. What’s not to love?
*Note: I purchased
a copy of this book myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I LOVE your comments! And I do read all of them so keep at it! Thanks for visiting!