This book was conceptually really good. I enjoyed the MC of Pendt Harland. I loved the magic system and how it affected Pendt specifically. The early days of learning about Pendt’s magic, how it manifests, how she is treated by her “family” really drew me in.

I got a little more confused and a little less interested once she left the ship. I totally didn’t understand the dynamic with the Brannick twins, the author kept saying there was a difference between the twins but me not having any idea about genetics, I completely missed what she was trying to say. I read a different review and learned it there. Too subtle for dummies like me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


I loved Pendt and the twins as characters. The twists were good, but everything was very simple and quickly resolved in all cases. There was danger but it went by so quickly and everything they experiment with works perfectly the first try.

I thought the book had a lot of heart, good ideas and great world building but it fell a little flat for me as a novel. It was more like a novella and I would have liked more of all of it.

★☆☆☆☆ 1/5

this book was marketed to me as a “queer space opera” but i must have missed the “queer” and the “opera” in this book... the info-dumping was so bad i ended up just skipping through some of the beginning, and the whole pregnancy-plot was extremely uncomfortable for me to read, as was the obsession with calories. this book just wasn’t for me.

(arc provided by netgallery and Penguin Teen. all thoughts and opinions are my own)

****Just a fair warning, this review will contain spoilers!*****

Aetherbound is a YA adventure novel that takes place in the dark depths of space. Space is all our main character, Pendt Harland, has ever known. Seen by the rest of her family as useless, she fights hard to earn every breath of oxygen she can. The only thing Pendt has known is survival and the Harland, and she leaves it all behind when she decides to escape during a space station layover. Immediately she is met with attention from the Brannick twins and together form a plan to escape their pre-determined destinies.

I was very excited when I picked this book up, the premise was interesting, and I love a good 'escaping your destiny' trope. The beginning at the Harland was so captivating, and I loved the magic system and the action scenes. It's engaging and makes the reader want to continue, but once Pendt leaves the Harland, that's where more of my problems with the book begin.

I felt like it lulled a lot when Pendt makes her way off the Harland. The middle of the book becomes unexpectedly boring. I anticipated a lot more action and adventure, but that is hard to achieve when your whole cast of characters is bound to a space station. (***Spoilers for the second half of the book***) The pregnancy plot was very off-putting as well and never really resolved towards the end. Pendt gets pregnant with Ned's baby, but she ends up with his brother. This feels very creepy. Especially when Pendt is kissing Fisher and thinking about how "Fisher knows my only experience is with his brother.' Once she meets the Brannick twins, she feels much more like a side character. And the attention is shifted to Ned and how he is being a hero fighting for the rebellion. The relationships also felt very rushed. I didn't see them develop as people, friends, let alone lovers. My least favorite part of their relationships is that Fisher, for a good portion of the book technically owns Pendt. Which is an automatic pause in the book for me. Fisher feels uncomfortable with this fact and, they find some kind of 'workaround' so that Pendt can be her own person. but it is still so weird to include something like that in a YA romance. Overall a lot of it felt very predictable. I also found myself disappointed with how veiled and confusing the trans representation was. It was an exciting premise, maybe others would enjoy it, but I felt let down by this book.

Any issues I have with this book are related to its length, because what's in between the covers is good, often great, there just isn't enough of it. So, what you end up with is a story where every single ingredient for an epic sci-fi series is there, it just needed more room to breathe.

Interesting and evolving cast of characters, fascinating system of magic, a dark and complex history, practical world building with a ton of potential, ambiguous moral lines, all dressed in a strong sci-fi sensibility. All of this plus a ruling body who prefers domination through limited choice and genetic control, a conscionable and passionate rebellion, and a compelling “chosen one” lead who has a keen interest in a galaxy-wide self-determinative uprising. All good things that deserved more and I have no doubt E.K. would be up to the task.

Despite all that grandeur and occasional bouts of direness, E.K. keeps things grounded and hopeful, firmly entrenched in the YA genre, which it is. So, things like romance and self-discovery are on the menu…along with cheese, lots of cheese. She infuses the book with humor and real-world language that make for some of the more entertaining scenes as the book’s lead, Pendt, is experiencing many things for the first time. On a side note, you’ll love Pendt.

This is where the book does get crowded, as Pendt is experiencing many new things and developing at a fast rate, all with the help of her found family, Ned and Fisher Brannick. As many ideas come together in a short amount of time, some get lost in the mix or don’t necessarily get the time to really thrive. Like I said, I’m sure there’s at least a duology in there and am convinced E.K. has a lot more to tell.

The bottom line is Aertherbound is overflowing with good ideas and her characters are thoughtful and compelling. If the worst thing about the book is that it leaves you wanting more of it, that’s a good spot to be in I suppose.