While I did enjoy this book and found the world interesting, I felt like the book was way too short and left too much unexplored to really leave much of an impact. I think everything just happened too quickly and didn’t allow for much tension to build, so I wasn’t able to really connect to the characters. I wish this was a much longer epic space opera that explored the dynamic between the stations and the Stavengers I feel like that would have been a great story, but unfortunately this just left me feeling like there was a lot missing.

As always, thank you to @Netgalley and @PenguinTeen for the #gifted e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Enjoyment: 1/5
Execution: 1.5/5
Final rating: 1.25/5

This was a really cool and interesting premise but it ended up being such a drag to read. While there is a content warning at the beginning for the calorie counting (which was its own weird thing), there are definitely other significant ones to be considered, and I was unpleasantly surprised by the excessive abuse Pendt suffers in the beginning of the book. Pendt and the twins are all very dull and it was hard to feel invested in any of them or their relationships. Furthermore, the pacing is very choppy where not much happens until the ~40% mark, and then after that becomes very rushed. The constant info-dumping combined with the extremely dry writing style makes the read feel more like a history textbook than a space adventure. Dull and disappointing.

Content Warnings (may include spoilers, may be incomplete): intensive calorie counting/food restriction through rationing, emotional & physical abuse of minor from family members, bullying, confinement, trafficking, forced insemination/pregnancy, human trafficking, violence, blood,

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After reading E. K. Johnston’s Star Wars book Ahsoka, I was really excited to delve into another young adult space story by Johnston. I am not sure if what I was given by NetGalley was a really rough draft, but this story unfortunately read like an unfinished draft. The book is about a young girl named Pendt Harland who lives on her family’s spaceship in which she is despised by her entire family. Pendt, eager to escape her fate of forced insemination, manages to secretly leave her family’s ship and sells herself to a set of young adult male twins to help continue their family line by becoming pregnant.
 
I was taken aback by the middle-grade writing interwoven with very adult themes. These themes include sexual content, human trafficking, confinement, and uncomfortable medical content. What else bothered me about Aetherbound was the inappropriate use of an eating disorder plotline which I found to be unnecessary and potentially triggering for young adult readers. The other plotlines were unfinished, the writing was poor, and the main character’s choices inadvertently imply that it is ok for women’s bodies to be used at the discretion of a man.

Content warnings: eating disorder, sexual content, human trafficking, confinement, medical content, child abuse, kidnapping

I will preface by saying that I haven't read many books set in space. I find sometimes there can be an overwhelming amount of information for me to ingest. This book doesn't do that thankfully. I found the overall story very interesting and the last few chapters just flew by. I found it to have an original storyline and I just loved Pendt. and the Brannick twins and was so invested in their lives.

Thank you to Penguin Teen Canada and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you to @penguinteen for the eARC! Aetherbound is out May 25. 💫

This review contains some spoilers, so read at your own risk!

I’ll be honest, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one. I’m a big fan of Johnston’s Star Wars novels and I was so excited to try out her new original fantasy sci-fi novel set in space, especially knowing it featured a trans character and love interest. However, while the writing and the setting were beautiful, the plot just missed the mark for me. It’s a strange mix of boring but also weird; the idea of calories as fuel for magic was interesting but, even with the trigger warning at the beginning, was a little too heavily focused on. The emphasis on genetics was also a lot to follow, and the unusual pseudo-pregnancy subplot bordered on the wrong side of strange for me. The love story also fell flat, even though the characters were well written there was just absolutely no chemistry. Ultimately, it was a very ambitious novel but the risks just didn’t pay off.

“Not knowing was a weakness, and no weakness could be tolerated in space.”

Thank you to penguin teen for sending an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This review is based on an unfinished copy of the book & any quotes included are subject to change.

Content Warnings: calorie counting (rations), forced insemination & pregnancy, human trafficking, medical violence, confinement, familial emotional abuse

Overall rating: 2 / 5
Characters: 2.5 / 5
Writing: 2 / 5
Plot: 1.5 / 5
Setting: 3 / 5

Aetherbound follows Pendt Harland, a girl born to a family who runs a space cruiser. In space, everything is centered around survival, and everyone aboard the Harland is only seen as valuable as what they contribute.

The worldbuilding was unique, but the info-dumping made it un-enjoyable. While the setting was interesting, there wasn’t enough time to sink into the world or story.The first third of the book felt like background information to set up the main story. From there, everything felt rushed. In some parts, conversations felt forced. The balance of plot and dialogue felt awkward, as did the narrative.
Pendt and I share a love of cheese, but I found it hard to relate to her beyond that. That said, Pendt underwent a lot of character development in the story, and I enjoyed watching her growth. I also enjoyed Fisher’s character, and I found Pendt’s idea of survival and how it changes over the course of the book interesting.
I appreciated that there was a content warning at the beginning of this book, but it only included medical violence and calorie obsession.

Rep: Transgender MC (Fisher)

Thank you Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This short ass book packs such a punch!! Ever since I fell in love with EK Johnston's The Afterward and That Inevitable Victorian Thing, I've been eagerly awaiting her next novel! And it was sci-fi which is even better!!

Aetherbound follows Pendt Harland, she's a gene mage on the freighter Harland. As her magic isn't helpful to running the ship, she's treated as a discard and given the bare minimum to stay alive. Pendt knows that as soon as she turns 18 the ship will hire her out to pay for her existence basically--it's harsh and it's involuntary prostitution. During a layover, Pendt decides to make her escape into Brannick Station. When she's found by the Brannick twins, they strike up a deal to keep Pendt with them.

I loved Pendt so much! She's curious and wants to be loved/belong somewhere. Her magic as a gene mage lets her control her DNA and change it. As well as see what other peoples' DNA looks like. She ends up using it a lot to learn about plants.

The beginning of the book was a bit slow. Pendt's life on the Harland is so sad and I wish they'd treated her better. Once Pendt makes it to Brannick Station, things start to pick up. We see what Pendt is capable of with not only her magic but her brain. She integrates herself into the Brannick and becomes an important piece of the administration.

The bond Pendt has with Ned and Fisher was the best thing ever. I loved these three together so much. Ned and Pendt don't have a romantic relationship, but I loved their friendship and how they understood each other so easily. Then there's Pendt and Fisher. Holy slow burn and pining. I was gone once I knew Fisher liked Pendt. Fisher is also trans! To me, Pendt read aspec, but I don't know exactly where or if she's on the spectrum.

While the ending for Brannick Station was pretty set, it feels like there's so much else that needs to happen in the greater empire of the Hegemony and I hope there will be a sequel or continuation.

Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

On an interstellar freighter like the Harland, everyone is expected to earn their oxygen and rations. When at five, Pendt is found to have the ability to manipulate genes, her mother and aunt declare it worthless. Seen as useless by the family, Pendt is relegated to menial tasks and basically starved, given just enough to survive. As her eighteenth birthday draws closer however, she knows the day she will be contracted out to other ships is coming, and with it, what little freedom she does have will be gone too. As the Harland docks at Brannick Station, Pendt sees her chance and escapes. The twin brothers who run the Station find her and realizing that she is a powerful gene mage, they make her an offer that will not only take her out of her family’s control forever, but also allow Ned Brannick to escape the gene lock that traps him on the station.

With such an intriguing premise, I really wanted to like this book. The brief history of the world we are given at the beginning seemed to lay the ground for what sounded like an exciting space opera – and for the first half, it did feel like the story was building up to something big. I liked how fast paced and easy to read this was, not to mention short, which is quite a novelty in YA these days when nearly every book is almost 400 pages. The magic system was really unique and combined with the lore of the world, made for an fascinating backdrop to this story (although the obsession with calories started to get a bit weird after a while).

Pendt’s character arc was fantastic. Her years aboard the Harland and the hardships she undergoes were depicted in a lot of detail, which made it very clear how much and how quickly she grows once away from her family, turning into an incredibly strong character. Ned and Fisher Brannick, the twins, were interesting characters, though I did feel that the story would have benefitted more if they had been introduced right at the beginning rather than waiting until almost halfway through the story. It felt quite abrupt, especially since their POVs were suddenly added in at that point too when we were already used to Pendt’s voice.

While there were many things about this book that didn’t work for me, three in particular stand out. While the writing and dialogue feels like YA, the topics or atleast the way they’re discussed certainly are not and there were many plot points, especially in the second half of the book, that made me more than a little uncomfortable. While there are content warnings at the beginning, I didn’t feel like it was nearly comprehensive enough. Second, I knew there was LQBTQ representation in this book, but I am very disappointed with how vague and confusing the portrayal was. Maybe it was just too subtle for me, but I didn’t figure out that Fisher was trans until very late into the book and felt that the author could have made it clearer earlier on why only Ned and not Fisher could run the Station. Finally, it was really annoying that all that build up in the story went literally nowhere – once Pendt escapes the Harland, things became boring. There was no action or real excitement and all the interesting stuff happened off page, making this read more like a prequel to a series. It’s really hard to care about a rebellion you can’t see.

The climax of this book was a huge letdown, mainly because the plan the three of them come up with was ridiculous and aside from it actually working, this scene was also such a wasted opportunity for Pendt to confront her mother and aunt. With how smoothly this scene worked out, the stakes didn’t feel high at all, not even a last minute twist to liven it up. There is significant room for a sequel, and I am rather curious about what could happen. Overall, while this book had some great ideas with a lot of potential, the execution just didn’t live up to it. It was unfortunately not to my taste and didn’t really work out for me.

DNF
The writing was difficult for me to get into. When I was having troubles with the writing but found numerous forms of abuse I decided it wasn’t for me.
The abuse and forced pregnancy were enough to turn me off. I find those things in young adult books usually don’t sit with me well. I’d rather stop reading sooner than end up hating the book later.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 20%

Unfortunately I don't think this book is for me, and it wasn't quite what I was expecting. The first part of the book had a number of things I was uncomfortable with so I decided to take a look at other reviews and based on those, I don't think it's going to get better. This is the story of a girl born to a family that owns and operates a space freighter where everything is about survival and people are only as valuable as what they can contribute. We meet her at 5 years old and basically see various forms of child abuse from restricting food to severe punishments to her mother telling her she's worthless because of the kind of magical ability she has. As she gets older we see her cousin at 17 forced to become pregnant to serve the family, and lots of other things that are pretty horrific. And note that this is a YA book, which is part of why this gives me pause. But I thought maybe there would be a point to it, a reason to keep reading. But based on reviews with spoilers, things just get worse from here. If you don't mind the spoilers, I would recommend checking out this review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Unfortunately I will not be continuing with this and would urge readers to check content warnings. I received an advance copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I liked but didn't totally love this one -- the story felt a little uneven but the characters made up for it!

Reading this book’s synopsis, I was expecting more of a Star Wars level action plot, not a Gattaca genetic-perfection motivated romance that resolves in the of the most uncomfortable ways I’ve ever read.

Aetherbound reads like a book inspired by and written during a global pandemic quarantine, in a bad way. The limited setting and strange choices in time jumps and information overload all lead to a very confusing reading experience over all.

Other reviews have mentioned this, but I too found it strange that the author included a content warning for calorie counting and disordered eating, but not the human trafficking, familial emotional abuse, or forced pregnancy.

Pendt, our protagonist, is hard to connect with or sympathize with despite her terrible situation. The narrative tries to convince the reader that this incredibly strange plot is the norm in this universe but it’s just too out-there for me to suspend my disbelief.To call this a “space adventure” is generous, and the whole book is strangely unsettling in a way that I just couldn't overlook.

Very excited to read this book - the premise sounded fantastic. Pendt knows life only on the ship Harland. Being born on a generation ship your life is only as important as what you can provide for the sake of the ship. Unfortunately Pendt isn’t like the rest of her family and her aether abilities don’t help the ship and she finds out early on that she’s useless to her family. There is a huge info dump at the beginning of this story to get you to understand Pendt’s world and how she’s grown up and the magic in it. There’s a lot of familial abandonment and isolation explored early on in this book - from a young age. There are definitely multiple content warnings for some people in this book. The book was hard to get into with learning the world. In addition Pendt was just a character I couldn’t connect with. Interesting world but a slow start for me.

As a fan of "Ashoka," I honestly was expecting more from E.K. Johnston's "Aetherbound." While a brilliant sci-fi in its own right, the problems I had were enough for me to rate it only a three-star.

First, I would like to address the fact that I think this book should be New Adult and not Young Adult. Bodily autonomy, transgender characters, and sex should be discussed in YA books, but the way these themes were central to Johnston's book created issues; mainly in that much was left to innuendo and vague references did not fully delve into the nuances of the subjects. To be short, those parts were confusing enough that I often had to reread sections to fully understand what they were referencing. This lack of clarity would have been far better solved by using the correct terms and not "YA-ing" it. And, to ensure I am clear about this: the pregnancy plot was extremely off-putting. I understand Pendt still controlled her body and did what she wanted to, but it felt like such an odd switch from escaping her family's ship to avoid to agreeing within a week, especially after she saw what happened to her cousin.

Secondly, the pacing of this book really threw me. The first half is all about Pendt's life on the Harland and horrifyingly dystopic in a perfect way that sets up the setting of the book and the Hegemony. But once we get to Brannick station, there was a shift — suddenly, for the next more than a quarter of the book, there is almost no conflict or serious problems. The introduction of the Brannick brothers, too, I thought, seemed out of place and odd. I think this book would have been better served as dual perspectives that started from the beginning. I think that would have also given space for more lore and setting to be developed to fully flesh out the world.

Lastly, I felt there were parts that felt, frankly, unoriginal to me. Olgasas are essentially just purrgils from "Star Wars." The romance, aside from one of the characters being trans (which was, in my opinion, a WONDERFUL addition to the story that actually matters and was handled beautifully), was uninspired. It was sweet but didn't give me anything to fall in love over.

Fortunately, the magic system in this book is fascinating and completely unlike anything else I've seen, save possibly "Gideon the Ninth." The use of calories for a catalyst was brilliant since it is such a limited resource in space. This and the lore that this book is obviously just an introduction for and truly its saving graces. This book reads like a prologue because you know more will happen later. And while I enjoyed the that there was so much else going on in the world that didn't pertain to Pendt but was still happening, it made me want to delve into those stories more, and at times, made Pendt's story boring by comparison.

In short, "Aetherbound" was a sci-fi with a lot of potential that I felt just wasn't realized. I'm hoping the next books in the series will provide more action, lore, and conflict.

Disclaimer: I got this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is perfect for fans of Ahsokha from Star Wars!! I adored Pendt’s story and I knew the comp title raised my expectations for this book. If you’re a Star Wars fan, this one is for you!!

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the arc of this book!

Can we talk about how gorgeous this cover is?!

Pendt grew up knowing she was only worth the good she could do for the spaceship and her Family, and that her body was worth more than herself. On Brannick station, Ned and Fisher strain against the way they are trapped in their roles by their genetic heritage. The three make an alliance that seems to get what each of them want, but as the threat of the empire and Pendt's family looms, they will have to pull off unlikely schemes to survive.

I really enjoyed the plot of this book! I was immediately hooked with Pendt's personality and her struggles with her family. She is such a strong character and was able to stay soft and caring even through her upbringing. I also immediately loved Fisher when his pov started. I loved the found family aspect and enjoyed the building relationships between Ned, Fisher, and Pendt.

My complaint about this book is that it felt like it was building up to something that it never got to. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a series or not, but this entire book kind of felt like an extended exposition that was building up to something. It almost felt like a prequel? I really enjoyed the story, but it just felt like more action needed to happen. The pacing was a little strange, and every time I started to really enjoy a section it would change. I definitely think this could continue into a series with more action.

That being said, I would definitely read this again and really loved the plot and characters!

Pub Date: May 25, 2021
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Trafficking

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Grief

Well, that was unexpected. I've always been a fan of E.K. Johnson's Star Wars books, and was glad to get my hands on this book. Its something new and wonderful, full of surprises around every turn.

In this new world, people have special abilities that can help them navigate space ships or help out in other ways. Some are more special than others. On the Pendt's family ship, things are hard and our main character grows up thinking that she is nothing special. When she see a chance to escape, she takes it and starts her own life on a space station. When she realizes she has the most rare ability of them all, one that was of the utmost value to her family, she knows they will come looking for her, but that's not the only secret they've been keeping from her. As family goes, they are not the outstanding citizens she had believed her whole life. They are knee deep in human tracking, and this crime was also at the expense of her twin sister.

Love and honor come into play when Pendt realizes what her abelites are capable of and of course all hell breaks lose when the family cruiser comes looking for her.

A wonderful story within a unique world. Loved it from start to finish. Five stars.

My review will be live on my blog Book Confessions on April 7th, 2021.

CW- counting calories/calorie restriction, trafficking, child abuse and neglect, forced impregnation, grief, abortion
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Aetherbound follows Pendt, a girl who has never left her family cruiser, as she escapes from her life of neglect and meets a set of twins that will change her world forever.
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This book was... strange. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to find going into it, but yet I am still kind of confused on what happened. I liked the first part, but in the second part it just got weird and started to drag. There were multiple plot points that made me a bit uncomfortable.
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I did appreciate Pendt’s growth throughout the book! She had great character development.
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I also appreciated that the author included content warnings in the beginning of the book, although there were some major ones that were not included.
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Overall, a combination of weird plot points and a slow second half caused this book to not really work for me.
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Thank you to NetGalley and PenguinTeen for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I would not recommend this novel to people. To be quite honest, it confused me and even made me uncomfortable a few times. The premise immediately set me on the edge of my seat, and I was very excited to try a E. K. Johnson title for the first time. It promised me takeovers and gene mutations, but honestly all I got was a few shapeshifting moments and the brothers already running the station. Even when the Harland comes back to stir up trouble, their presence means nothing because they are easily fooled by the trios plan.
The stakes were supposed to be high, and instead I felt hardly anything.
Anyway, most of the novel takes place land locked on this space ship. This made reading monotonous and boring throughout all of the middle portion of the novel because the escape from Harland was so early on within the novel, and even with the rebels and Harlan plots at the end, they never really had an sway over Brannick.
Then with such few pages, none of the relationships stuck with me. I felt nothing when a significant character "died," and I was weirded out that as Fisher and Pendt grew closer, Pendt would bring Ned up into her head and how he was her first for many things as she was making out with Fisher. It was just this weird brothers and Pendt situation.
Moreover, the entire marriage and pregnancy plot point seemed illogical and downright creepy. Pendt met the boys at 17, and then within a short period of time (her 18th birthday/ afterwards) she becomes married, pregnant, and tied to these brothers like property just to keep her freedom (don't even get me started on Pendt ending up with Fisher who is not the father of the baby but rather his brother Ned). It's just love triangle gone crazy at this point. Plus, the sad reality for Pendt is that I'd argue she only chained herself to another group of people. Pendt never felt like she truly had her own authority and decisions, and I think that's the downfall of this story. She was stagnant instead of this bright, powerful star. It made no sense to me.
Lastly, the rebellion was this side show readers never truly got to witness. There's a moment at the end where they come into play, but otherwise, Pendt is either telling us what the rebellion is doing through her POV, or Ned's referenced since he ran away to join them. They're the elephant in the room because we know nothing about them.
Overall, I'm not trying to be harsh on this story. My disappointment is just rampant.

2.5/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for the early ARC via netgalley.
TW: counting calories and medical violence.

THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS (from first 25% of book)
I really wanted to love this one and honestly the weirdness and the magic had me super interested at first. I liked Pendt. I liked Fisher and Ned, but the whole story was just odd.

It's a YA book and the writing is very much YA but the content doesn't feel YA at all. Pendt obsessively counts calories from like 5 years old as she makes sure everyone gets the exact amount needed to live. And later it turns out she was very thin. Her family treats her horribly because her magic isn't the right magic to be "useful" on the ship. And she witnesses a family member get strapped down to a table and impregnated. How is that YA content? It honestly gets even more weird as you continue it. I liked the idea just not the full execution.