I actually really enjoyed this! I have been trying to get into sci-fi, and this definitely helped! I also am a sucker for a sapphic book so there’s that.

My favourite part of this book was the characters, which there were many good ones which was great, as I am a person who enjoys good and likeable characters. Asa was amazing. I related to her because she’s someone who gets looked down on, but she’s actually a strong girl who had amazing development! Riven is such a badass, she’s snarky and a bit impulsive, which I honestly enjoyed reading about.

My only issue was the world building, I got confused at times, but that might’ve just been my problems with comprehension and imagery, so it is definitely not the author’s fault!

I overall recommend this book and can’t wait to get a physical copy!

Read this book if you like:
↝Bi love triangle
↝Strong female leads
↝Multi-layered plots
↝Loveable found family

~4.5 Stars~

Writing and Plot: I was BLOWN AWAY by the way this book was written. The world-building was beautifully done and helped me imagine as someone who struggles with imagery. The plot was also well constructed. All the twists left me shook and on my toes for more.

Characters:
Asa: I absolutely love Asa!! She was your “I get looked down on because of my look and reputation but I’m actually a badass mechanic who’s head-strong” and I lived for it. Her character growth was so satisfying to see.

Riven: Riven is the “badass with a gun and impulsive choices who’s dealing with illness” She made questionable decisions but that simply made her more real and a vulnerable character. I loved how she held herself and others.

Diego, Ty, and Samir: I wished they had a bit more development but the side characters really added to the story. The little banters and communication really created a fabulous found family.

Romance:
I enjoyed the love triangle a lot for someone who usually hate them. It made sense and was not cliche like other typical YA books. I would’ve been happy if it went either way, but the ending choice was perfect.

Thank you Netgalley and North Star Editions/Flux books for the arc in exchange for an honest review

5/5
sapphic heist story what more could i want?
city of shattered light was amazing overall, with interesting characters that feel incredibly real, a fast paced story and captivating writing.
while the beginning was a bit slow in my opinion, the rest made more than up for it. the action scenes were insanely well written and made me feel as if i was right there with the characters who you really grow to live during the course of the novel.
no words stunning

What a remarkable read!
Our main character Asanna is heiress to a tech empire and our other main character, Riven is a badass smuggler with her own crew and ship. I mean just that was enough for me to crave this book. The story starts as Asanna and Riven (+her crew) get together to fight a virus that is destroying their city, Asanna wanting to save her sister and Riven to get revenge while both want to save their city.
The world setting and building was outstanding, the tech, the ships, the AI and robots. I really enjoyed reading that but also the character dynamic was 10/10 and even though I would've a enjoyed a little more banter I still really enjoyed the connections between the characters and all the couples.
The ending was spectacular, just that cliffhanger had me. This book is releasing in October itself and I've already started waiting for the next one. Someone please help jsjsjs.
Also the writing was so we'll done, it sets such an amazing tone and is just really refreshing overall. An amazing futuristic sci-fi with badass characters and also an absolutely gorgeous cover, I would recommend it to everyone wanting an awesome story.

The beginning was a bit confusing, since the book started with a completely different world, with no information given about it. I found it hard to really immerse myself in the book at first, since I wasn't sure of the setting, As the book progressed, though, it got easier.

As the book progressed, the world-building got better and much clearer. Everything was so brilliantly thought out! The descriptions were so beautiful, now I kind of want to move to Requiem! I also loved all the technology/AI; it was all so creative.

The characters were also very interesting, and Riven was definitely my favorite! Asa was also a really well fleshed out character; and her arc from being naïve and reserved to becoming clever and calculating was very well written. I loved the chemistry between Riven and Asa, and Asa and Ty, although Riven and Asa are endgame for me. Diego and Samir were also very interesting characters, although I wish they had been explored more. The relationship between the characters, and the crew slowly coming to trust Asa and her also relying on them more was very well written too.

The plot was very unique, and definitely kept me captivated. (translate to: I read 90% of the book in one afternoon) The crew's heists were beyond intense, and I loved the action sequences. The plot twist was slightly predictable, but it was logical and I found it to be really engrossing to read.

Overall, the book was really good! I have no words for the last chapter; there's just a very long internal scream. I can't wait for the second book!

It is hard to put into words how little I cared about reading City of Shattered Light. I don’t know what it was, whether it was my mood, or something about the book itself, but I just didn’t care about the characters, or the plot, or anything at all. None of it interested me.

So, really, this review is probably not a good yardstick for working out if you want to read this book. It’s a perfectly decent book, I’m sure. It just came up against me as its reader.

But let me try to put into some words at least why I felt like this. If I can.

First and foremost, I think my problem was that there was a lot going on that had very little basis to it. For example, if you’re going to push a relationship on me, I have to see both characters wanting it, or if you’re going to have me believe one character sacrifices themselves for the sake of another (and thus clears the way for that side of the love triangle!), you have to have established that character’s personality and overarching motivations and reasons you might expect them to do that. As it was, I read that scene and was… taken aback to say the least.

And I think the same was true of the worldbuilding, because it felt very much like a lot of vibes and not much basis. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, I know, and the plot didn’t rely too heavily on worldbuilding which wasn’t there, but it did, at times, feel lacking in that respect. It wasn’t a lot, so I think this one I can chalk up more to mood or tastes in general: I just want my science fiction to have a bit more depth to its world than this did. Mostly because I find that filling out the world contributes to the characters also feeling more rounded.

And then there’s the fact that the development of the f/f relationship, which I’m supposed to be rooting for, is part of a very lopsided love triangle. In the sense that the m/f relationship gets all the development, and the f/f basically none. Which wouldn’t be such a problem (it’s not a standalone after all), but for the fact that this is where the aforementioned sacrifice happens. Ty who has, not two chapters before, been kissing Asa, sacrifices himself, for no reason, and tells Asa and Riven that they “deserve each other” and to “look after one another”.

So, I come full circle into the most annoying part of this book: the lack of established motivations. There’s absolutely no emotional payoff for this scene, because there’s absolutely no set up to it. I don’t want to keep harping on about it (but I can tell I’m going to), but it makes no sense to have your final emotional beat be something you haven’t even set up for. You want this to be a big angsty ending, but I just don’t feel a thing. (Although, admittedly, here it may have helped if I’d cared about the characters in the first place…)

But in the end, what I’m left with, is yet another YA SFF novel that has let me down.

Excellent debut in a sci-fi setting with strong main characters and an interesting plot. Good lgbtq+ representation, nice action and world building. I thoroughly enjoyed the story about Asa, a tech entrepeneurs daughter and heir, and Riven with her ragtag crew consisting of Ty and Samir who cross paths and seeing as they have a similar goal they team up for a while. When trust becomes an issue both girls have tough decisions to make while everyone's life hangs in the balance as they are being chased by a dangerous lifeform.

My biggest critiques would probably be that a) the wlw romance felt a little rushed— not on-page but in the characters’ minds— and b) there was a definite overuse of em-dadhes. Which is a really weird thing to notice, but they were used so often that it actually stood out to me. Which. Uh. Says something. Mostly, I think that Winn’s novel is good, but simply could be better. Hopefully the editing process will clear some of that up, and by the time the novel is in hardcover, it’ll be purely enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this because I was not about to wait months to experience it! Goodreads Review link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4093309382

City of Shattered Light is an excellent book as a whole- great universe with lots of detail (you can tell Winn put a lot of thought into it) and characters you get attached to (+ lots of diverse rep). Asa is my comfort character but I would absolutely throw down for any of them.

We have Asa, our former-heiress turned kind of criminal and mechanical genius trying to save her sister paired with Riven, bada**, daredevil, and ambitious thief. Asa grows through the story- she grows bolder and more sure of herself and I found her very likable. Riven is strong and bold from the start to the finish, even though we also get to see a lot of vulnerability and depth behind her guns-blazing exterior. Together, the two are explosive in many ways, literal and otherwise. My only gripe with characters is that I feel some side characters like Samir and Ty lost their development and depth at the expense of Riven and Asa being so beautifully built- a little more backstory and personality with them would've made this book a lot better.

The plot itself is also really fascinating- I feel like even though you see a lot of tropes throughout (enemies to lovers, love triangles, and found family among them) they're done in a way that make them feel really fresh and original which is a rare talent. The whole plot feels like it doesn't fit into any archetype I've read- as the summary tells you, we have unlikely pair Asa & Riven who need to team up against all odds to save Requiem. It's not a classic heist story nor is it fully a mystery nor an action novel- it's kinda like the best parts of all of those things. And it also takes place in a world that's really beautifully described and again- SO well thought out!

The reason this is a four star book instead of a five star one is a series of minor gripes- I wanted a lot more characterization of side characters and motivations for them, a little more Asa/Riven chemistry and buildup (also I had issues with <spoiler>the way Asa and Riven interacted- I felt like Riven couldn't fully trust her until the very very end and didn't trust that her crew had grown to trust her and it felt like Too Much enemy, not enough lovers</spoiler>), and more in terms of the story's closing- I know this is a series and I will 100% be picking up book 2 (and crying until it is available because oh lord that ending) but I would've liked a few more loose ends tied in this one. Also for such a fast paced book, it feels really long- less one-night read, more reading a few pages daily for several weeks which isn't bad per se, just not what I expected.

Despite its flaws, this book in my opinion is a wonderful debut and I'd recommend it to even people who aren't huge on sci-fi because it's very pretty and fun and worth the read (and worth the TORTUROUS wait for book 2!!)

4 Stars

When I was scrolling through NetGalley to request some newly released ARCs, this one caught my eye. The cover was so pretty, and so I clicked on it to read more. The Synopsis sounded super interesting, and it sounds like it would be promising. A sci-fi sapphic romance sounded right up my alley. I don’t usually read sci-fi, but I decided to give it a try. Let me tell you that this book did not disappoint, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The worldbuilding was well constructed, and it was clear that the author took the time to do her research. The world was very vibrant, full of technological advancements, and it creates colorful pictures in my mind while reading. Requiem was a lively planet that was ruthless, colorful, and full of many low lives. Whereas, Cortellion was an upper-class area filled with the rich and far more advanced technology. And lastly, earth.

I could picture what each planet looked like, and Winn’s writing helps to put more details into my pictures. When going from each planet, it was like a new song would play. Requiem would be like hard rock with some dubstep, Cortellion would be like classical music with various instruments coming in and out, and earth would be a wide variety of music.

The locations of where scenes would occur are well thought out! From hangars, run-down streets, clubs, and many more! Having all these different locations brought more depth to the world allowed it more fleshed out and like a real place where someone could live.

The pacing of this book was excellent, and there was never a moment where I was bored. The plot never slowed down, but rather it just kept going and going. It flowed smoothly, and there were never any bumps in the road. The action never stopped and kept going. The plot was filled with twists and betrayals that I would have never expected in a million years. The story was original, unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and was full of intricate little details. Everything was connected flawlessly, and it wasn’t just a heist-type story like Six of Crows, but rather, it has other side stories about the characters and the world.

I’m going to use a comparison to describe the main characters and side characters. So you know how when your painting something, you have to use multiple layers. And if you don’t use more than one coat, then it comes in light and is not fully covered. The protagonists were layered with many coats, but the side characters only had one layer falling flat.

Riven is a formidable opponent that takes nothing from nobody and can come off as cold sometimes but is extremely loyal to those she loves. There were many times where I wish she would open up, and those little moments when she did made me so happy. She was reckless, leaving everything on the line, but she has good intentions for it, which are to protect her family. Honestly, she is such a unique character, and I loved reading her perspective.

In Requiem, Asa may not seem that much of a threat, but she truly is. Even though she may not seem that much of a physical threat, she can beat anyone in the mental game. At the beginning of the book, Asa is wide-eyed, not knowing what the world is truly like, but wants to live up to her father. But as the book progresses, Asa no longer wants to appease her father and does what she wants to. She wants to live her own life and make decisions for herself. Her perspective was far more interesting to me than Riven’s, and I got so excited whenever I got to read her part.

You may be wondering why this book isn’t five stars? The side characters were not developed enough and didn’t have enough layers to them. I would have loved to learn more about Ty, Samir, and Diego. They were likable characters, but without that development, they fell flat. I would have liked more scenes to give them more personality or give them some backstories to explore.

I loved the element of romance in this book, and I didn’t mind the love triangle. I kind of enjoyed it, which is surprising, to say the least. The love triangle didn’t play that much into the plot until the last third. I felt like Ty and Asa had more connections compared to Riven and Asa. Ty and Asa had more romantic scenes and were into each other more. Even though the main romance is supposed to be Riven and Asa, the other relationship worked better.

Overall, this was a fast-paced read with lots of action set in a dangerous vibrant world with an enjoyable main character but lacked when it came to the side characters.

TW: strong language, gun violence, death, blood, mild gore, emotional abuse/manipulation, mild body horror (cybernetics), references to suicide, terminal illness, drug and alcohol references.

Thank you to NetGallery for providing me an ARC of City of Shattered Light in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley, North Star Editions and Claire Winn for allowing me to read this eARC!
I've been living Sci-Fi and been wanting to read more of the genre and thank God this appeared in my life! Love the worldbuilding, the very different and very unique characters, the enemies/threats were also a really great addiction!
These last few chapters had me on edge of nervousness and THAT EPILOGUE.... Oh damn, this better have a sequel!
A 4.5 stars for me!!!

i loved every second of this book! sci fi isn’t usually my go-to but this book just had me hooked from beginning to end and i can’t wait to pick up a physical copy of it later this year! this was a quick and exciting read and made me feel so many emotions all at once. by this point, i am highly attached to both asa and riven as well as ty and the rest of the characters in this book. also the cover is *chefs kiss*

what i loved:
-the characters
-the friendships
-the sisterly bond
-the world building
-the bi rep! (&lgbtq+ and more)
-most things, to be honest

i’m so excited for others to read this book and hope they love it just as much and it gets the hype it deserves<3

Thank you North Star Editions and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

The world building made me intrigued by this story; I liked the storyline very much. The writing style was another thing I liked. Besides that it was a fast paced adventure that was interesting. The main character however felt flat for me and couldn’t hold my attention much which made me decide to give it 3*

Wow. This book was amazing!

I love a good YA sci fi and this one truly did not disappoint. This book has everything you can want in a ya sci fi: great characters, great plot, and great diversity!
I loved seeing the love triangle. One of my favorite aspects of the book.
I really hope we get a sequel and soon!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Flux for the eARC.

first things first: if this doesn't get a sequel I will eat a broom [shakes fist at publisher] because what is not to love about this book? Look at the cover, look at the summary - this checks so many of my boxes.

Tech prodigy and heiress Asa runs away from her manipulative father to save her sister (loving sibling relationships ✅). During her escape, she stumbles upon Raven and her crew of friendly thieves (morally grey characters ✅) who take her in, maybe not for quite the right reasons. This brings her in the awkward predicament to rethink everything her life used to be (great character growth ✅) and a bit of a love triangle (chaotic bisexual sapphics ✅). On the run from her father, a ruthless bounty hunter and a disturbingly smart tech virus, she might just find everything she never knew she wanted (found family ✅) . Bonus points: all this plays out in the distant future in a whole different galaxy where humanity has moved on from Earth to some degree. If any of this didn't tick your boxes yet, may I present a cyberpunk matriarchal colony on a moon?

I was a bit wary if my expectations weren't too high going in. Well, they weren't high enough it seems! There's hardly anything I didn't like about this book at this point which is why I'm chewing my nails hoping this turns into a series or at least a duology.

You have compelling main and side characters with their own motives and desires, an interesting world (that wasn't too complicated with all this high-tech even for someone with little interest and knowledge in these things, like me), and a plot that is far from over and just about to truly kick-off. Winn does such a great job of grabbing you and pulling you in, immersing you in the bright lights and smoke and danger of Requiem fully. And yet there is so much I still want to see: of Riven and her crew, of Diego and Samir's backstory and hey how is their dog doing btw?, of Asa and Kaya, of [redacted] and [redacted] and [redacted] because well, spoilers. You get the idea though.

The only true downside I've had with this is the love triangle. Which... I get it... bisexuals. And I know the author is also bi so I'm not mad about it. Just personally tired of bi characters being torn between two love interests of different genders. (That being said though both pairings were God Tier so I'm mostly okay with this in the end).

Trigger warnings for: emotional and physical abuse by a parent and ex, terminal illness, sexual assault, generally much violence and gore, death (on page and mentioned), and pretty much everything you could think of on a lawless planet.

I absolutely adored this book!!!! I could not put it down it was that good. I loved the found family in this book and I loved Asa and Riven’s story together. Riven was my favorite character, she was so amazing and well developed (as were all characters) and so badass!! This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I truly loved everything about it. Also really loved the cliffhanger ending and I will definitely be looking for a sequel should one come👀

I did not expect to like this book as much as i did

City of Shattered Light is a sci fi novel (plus its sapphic) and it was absolutely amazing. The beginning didn’t really interest me but when I got a little farther it was so good.

This book includes some of my favorite tropes: friends to enemies to lovers (I guess?? but it also goes back and forth between friends and enemies a lot), found family, love triangles (I hate these but this one isn’t a big deal at all), slow burn, and more.

It was super fast paced, but well written despite the pacing. The world building was great and super interesting. I loved it so much.

The dynamic between all of the characters was so fun! Riven and Asa are literally perfect together, but I didn’t mind Asa and Ty’s dynamic. Also Diego and Samir supremacy !! The way Riven treated her crew was great also. Kaya and Asa had a nice sibling dynamic (though it wasn’t shown much) and I hope to see more of them.

I’m guessing there’s going to be another book? I mean the epilogue sets it up. I did like the ending a ton, but when I read the epilogue… I NEED MORE PLS

Anyways, I loved this book and it’s definitely a new favorite! Thank you Netgalley and Flux for giving me the City of Shattered Light arc in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Netgalley and Flux for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As heiress to a powerful tech empire, Asa Almeida strives to prove she's more than her manipulative father's shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue A.I. hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem.

Sapphics, criminals and found family! What more do I need ? This book was amazing. It was so fun and engaging, I really look forward to reading the sequel, there has to be one after that cliffhanger ending.
The writing was very immersive and refreshing. The descriptions of the setting and the different technological devices were really interesting.

This book was really easy to get into, with loveable characters and witty dialogue. The queer found family was definitely the highlight of the book. There was a love triangle which I usually can't stand but I didn't mind this one that much. The secondary characters had potential but they lacked depth and development.

Overall, this was very good. It's fast paced and the plot is full of twists. The main characters are endearing and there's a romance sub plot among all the fighting. If you love sci-fi, found family, heists and gangs then you should read this.

This was such an amazing read. I thought it handled several hard discussions in a beautiful way and the relationships and friendships in this were so heartwarming. The say that this book had in how allies can often get things wrong when trying to support was so important and I thought it was handled nicely. This book was also very beautiful artistically, I really loved the art style and the colors that were used to support different scenes. Overall 5 out of 5 stars!

City of Shattered Light (ARC) Review

I absolutely loved this YA sci-fi debut novel and was hooked from the start. The story follows two girls; Asa, an heiress to a major tech company (she’s practically a princess) and Riven who is a member of the grimy underworld of Requiem aiming to claw her way up the matriarchal hierarchy that rules the city, as one needs to save their sister and the other wants to save their city whilst fighting against a monstrous AI. Whilst both Asa and Riven come from very different backgrounds and are very different/unique characters, both are extremely badass MC’s and I loved reading both of their POV’s through out the book.

The story was filled with action, heists, and escapes which were very well written and I loved seeing how everything unfolded. The pacing of the book felt perfect to me and never felt like there was to much or to little going on which meant I was constantly engaged with the storyline. It also features a bunch of queer rep with both Asa and Riven being bi/pan, as well as queer side characters and casual non-binary rep. Plus, it includes the found family trope which is one of my favourites! Go add this your TBR right, I can’t wait for this to be released and have already preordered my copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and Flux Publishing for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

this book was super good!

I loved the writing style and how immersive it was. It described what was happening so beautifully and made it so easy to picture in my head. However, I wanted more showing than telling in the writing. Instead of telling us about something I wanted it to be shown and described to me. Overall the writing and plot was super fast paced and helped me with my reading slump. The world building was so well done and really easy to grip for a sci-fi book.

I loved the 2 point of views and it was nice to see what Asa and Riven were thinking. The plot was all over the place but it was still really captivating. The characters were kind of relatable, but I wish I would have been able to connect with them more. I wish they had more relatable struggles. I also wish that some of the characters motivations were more elaborated on so we would have a better time understanding why they did what they did.

This book had some super intense scenes that were really fun to read. I wish we expanded more upon this world Winn created. THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN RIVEN AND ASA WOWWWW. Riven gave off Jesper vibes to me in the best way possible. Also I really enjoyed the bisexual rep. The plot twists were okay and kept the story moving forward.

Overall it was really entertaining and enjoyable but nothing super out of the box. Still recommend! Thank you netgalley and the publishers for letting me have this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!!