really liked how well the characters were written, and the story was pretty fast paced too so i didn’t want to put it down. there were a few points where i feel the author could have put more detail in but it’s great overall

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

Interesting, romantic, dynamic, and different, Adrift in Starlight mashes romance tropes and sci-fi tropes together into something compelling and new.

This book offers an exciting queer romance with yearning and asexuality in a way that does not contradict or compromise. The anthropological ventures were gorgeous and easily one of the most interesting parts of the book - looking at our future from the perspective of a far future and imagining where we might go. The writing though was sometimes flat - the characters say exactly what they mean always, and we never see the characters coming together. They do not have to learn how to love each other, which is always half the fun. It was a lovely and fun story, but I ended it wanting more conflict.

For some reason, it took me ages to get through this book. I thought the writing was good, the plot held a lot of variety and yet ...I just wasn't drawn to come back and find out what happens next. Maybe Aisha and Tai didn't feel engaging enough? I'm honestly not sure.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute, fairly light sci-fi story about a nonbinary courtesan and an asexual archaeologist finding a path outside the ones that other people have allocated them. It does touch on some serious subjects, but on the whole it’s a pretty gentle story about found family and acceptance – I found the plot meandered at times and I really had to push through the middle third of the book, but it’s worth it for the developing relationship and sweet characters. This would be good for fans of Kitra by Gideon Marcus!

Ok, so I'm convinced the premise of this science fiction romance was written solely to make me freak out/squeal with delight/expire on the spot. An ace museum curator?? Who studied xenoanthropology? And an enby courtesan who doesn't believe in love? I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead.

So basically, courtesan Titan (Tai) is hired to seduce curator Aisha by her arranged fiancee (so arranged that Aisha isn't even aware of it). Tai is chosen because of their brain implant which helps them interpret body language, an asset against a woman that has been helpfully labeled a "prude" by said would-be fiancee even though she has said she's asexual. Tai picks up the contract without knowing this tiny yet super consequential detail because the pay for the job is so exorbitant as to wipe out Tai's predatory medical debts incurred by the implant they never asked for in the first place. On their first "date," Aisha and Tai accidentally activate a necromancy machine created by another species (the activation itself was no accident, but the result was very much unexpected). This in turn brings a fossilized ant alien back to life. The alien kills a museum security guard and makes off with the necromancy machine to keep it out of human hands, seeing as we obviously can't be trusted not to monkey around with advanced tech and destroy things in the process. The two go on the run with two other people who go from strangers to found family under the pressures of protecting an alien species and evading the authorities.

The story covers important topics, but the overall tone is light, peppering in cute moments and silly jokes that make this a quick and pleasant read. It's both romance and adventure, and the found family elements are a heart-warming foundation that prevent the romantic plot from becoming creepy and all-consuming. It feels more like a balanced set of real-life relationships I would want for myself.

Now for the ooey-gooey, gushy part of my review. Aisha's journey as an ace person (which I believe to be an ownvoices depiction from the author's acknowledgments) was very emotional for me to see play out. Early on, Aisha casually mentions the impossibility of finding a romantic partner that will respect her physical boundaries, but then she finds a person who respects her aversion to touch and seeks permission/cares about her comfort and I 😭😭😭. Well, I have no words. Only emojis. Let's all just assume there was crying involved. Like sobbing. Maybe a lot of it. Like it's good I was by myself at the time because it was ~ugly~ and *dramatic* and I'm lucky no mascara was involved. And we get to see Aisha explore with another person where her boundaries are with no pressure or judgment. She doesn't have to feel like Tai is missing out on something by choosing her and just. This is why representation matters, people. Go read it before you talk to me again. I am now going into hibernation to await the sequel.

Adrift in Starlight was a fast-paced sci fi romance. The connection between Tai and Aisha was wonderfully done. The two bring their own experiences that make them hesitant to form a deeper relationship with the other. I really enjoyed watching their romance slowly blossom over the course of the story. It was also so lovely to see an asexual character have a romantic arc where asexuality is just as aspect of who Aisha is rather than a problem that needs to be "fixed."

The found family of Hue, Aisha, Tai, and Jimin was one of my favorite things about Adrift in Starlight. Seeing this group of people come to trust and care for each other was a nice counterpoint to the hectic, at times high-stakes, problems they faced.

I wish there had been a bit more world-building as I finished Adrift in Starlight with SO many questions. There are dragons that can mentally link with people and teleport them! That's so cool yet we get so little about where the dragons came from or what they look like. (Maybe I just wanted more dragons? That would be on brand for me.)

If you're looking for a sweet, fast-paced story with a great romance and lots of queer representation, you should check out Adrift in Starlight.

Thank you to City Owl Press and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love sci-fi and this is soooo cool. the technology is interesting, the characters are fascinating and well written. it's great! I really liked how the author developed the characters relationship with each other. also just really beautiful prose. I'm still thinking about it.

An absolute delight. I was sold on Adrift in Starlight from the blurb, but it delivered so much more than I could have hoped. Perfect for fans of Becky Chambers and the Wayfarer series and the recent She-Ra reboot. Also reminiscent of an extended holodeck episode from Star Trek. I loved Tai. I liked Aisha. All the smaller characters are great. As a demisexual, I found the gender non-conforming aspects rep good but I would defer to others with more lived experience. The worlds are great. The plot is silly but delightful. It’s a book to be enjoyed rather than analysed. I’ve recommended it to tons of people. I hope it gets the love it deserves.

If you're looking for a sweet, simple read that allows you to turn off your brain and just enjoy a cute story, look no further.

I had a great time reading this. The characters are colorful and imaginative, not to mention splendidly queer! The writing itself is really easygoing with a quick flow - so much so that I finished the book within a day.

There were plenty of things to like about it: the inventive world-building, the different species/planets, the humor, the way the plot kind of hops around from place to place - it was a fun little adventure! I also grew to like that the author included a bit of queer education. At first, it didn't really make sense to have characters explain their sexuality in dialogue when they live in a fairly accepting world (even the bad guys were surprisingly respectful of personal pronouns), but there could be readers out there who don't really know or understand a lot about the LGBTQ+ community, so it made sense to include it.

As fun and silly as it was, it, unfortunately, didn't seem to go much deeper than that for me? Like, yeah, more serious things happen, but because of the way that they were written, the scenes seemed to lack quite a bit of depth. I'm honestly not sure how to explain it. The book is categorized as an adult book, and there are definitely adult issues presented, but I kept getting YA vibes. Enough that I would forget that the main characters were adults until they cursed or something.

Overall, the book just comes across as very juvenile. Part of the reason might be that it's very much written in black and white in terms of "good guys" and "bad guys." As a result, there's a pronounced divide with no grey area to be found, and it really takes away from the flavor of the story. Yeah, there's the fact that Tai agreed to the initial seduction scheme in the beginning, but as a reader, Tai's internal morality is never really in question. All the main characters never really dip below the "good person" persona, and it made it kind of...boring? I feel like there was an attempt to test their values (see: alien crocodile), but even then, it was a seemingly pointless scene that was kind of hurriedly thrown in. Even the characters themselves never really question each other. There were multiple opportunities where even a minor conflict could have been thrown in to spice things up, but no - it's all just assumed that they're wonderful people, and it's lovey-dovey BFFs-4-life from beginning to end. At one point, they even visit a planet called Eden for crying out loud. Like, someone, please - bite the damn apple!

The lack of moral complexity, I think, plays into why the story comes across as so young - it's just so sweet. But like, cloyingly sugar-coated-sugar sweet. And when you mentally say, "cool, ready for something savory or sour now," you just get more sweetness. (I don't know why I'm so stuck on this "flavor" metaphor, but this is where we are now, so just cinnamon roll with it). I don't know. I think the author was trying to achieve a certain level of sophistication, but it missed the mark by a significant margin for me. Again, serious dark-ish things happen or are mentioned, but the events themselves clash with the mood and atmosphere presented by the writing style. I can feel this turning into a repetitious rant, so I'm just gonna put down the stick and move on.

I also noticed some pretty big plot holes and things that were never truly addressed. They're kind of spoiler-y, so I won't get into it but just know that at one point, I literally, out loud, said, "Wait, what?" Though, I noticed this is the first in a series, so I'll let that slide for now.

Rant-inducing criticisms aside, I'd like to emphasize that I honestly still really enjoyed the book. As a whole, the story was creative, inclusive, and silly, and I'd still recommend it to anyone who just wants something light and fun.

Thank you, NetGalley and City Owl Press, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Link to review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4716697983

Thank you to City Owl Press and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this sci-fi romance! It had a lot of wonderful elements, such as great asexual representation in one of the POV characters named Aisha, a nonbinary MC named Tai. I thought their romance was very well-done, and both characters were wonderfully complex. This book also had a great cast of supporting characters as well that brought everything together. The characters were definitely the strongest part of this book, and since I am a more character-driven reader, that worked perfectly for me.

The plot was a little bit disjointed, however. There were a ton of cool plot points, like an archeological heist involving an alien ant, space pirates, telepathic alien dragons, and a cult that colonized a planet. I honestly wish the story had focused solely on the whole deal with the teleporting, telepathic dragons. That was my favorite building detail, but I felt it was pushed to the side and done a disservice by the time spent on the other plot points. But, since this is a series, hopefully there will be more about them in the next book. I will definitely be picking up the sequel to find out what happens next with Tai and Aisha!

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

Adrift in Starlight caught my eye when I spotted it on Netgalley. I love scifi romance books and the premise of this one sounded good. I struggled a bit with my device displaying the book in italics, but the story was so good I got used to the italics and kept reading. I thought this book felt fresh and realistic and I enjoyed reading it.

Tai is a courtesan hired to seduce Aisha, the fiancé of their client, but when they meet they quickly grow to like one another and they end up working together on an accidental heist. While that is the set up and how they meet I feel like the story quickly moves beyond that, although Tai keeps it a secret for a while about how they were hired.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot as I thought it had some interesting twists early on already. The plot of Adrift in Starlight is a bit meandering, but I liked that, it felt very organic with how one set of events led to another. The plot kept my attention and was excited to see what would happen next. I liked how everything got resolved at the end and leaves enough open for a sequel too. I am excited to that there will be more books in this universe.

I liked the main characters in this book and there are some great side characters too, as well as some intentionally not likeable ones. I haven't read a lot of books about asexual or gender neutral characters, so that was interesting. I liked both Tai and Aisha. There is even more to them than you first realize and I liked how we learn more about them as the story progresses. They both haven't had the easiest pasts and have their own struggles and I liked how this time away from everything gave them the chance to figure out what they wanted in life. Hue, Jimin and Perry were great side character and there are a few more interesting characters they meet along the way.

I liked the romance. From the way Tai immediately express interests in what Aisha is studying to the way they talked to one another. I liked seeing them spend time together and there are some great scenes where their relationships deepens. I liked how there wasn't too much drama, but there are some things that upset their starting relationship and I thought they were handled well. Both characters reactions felt realistic, they both have their doubts and other emotions getting in the way sometimes. I liked how there was clear communication between them and even the one secret Tai keeps was handled well and I thought it made sense why Tai didn't reveal that immediately.

I thought the author did a good job giving me a feel for the world, there are a lot of things we don't get a lot of details about, but I still felt like I got a feel for what was normal and possible. I especially liked the interesting aliens, there is an interesting alien civilization that Aisha is studying and we learn more about them. Then there are the dragons and how you can only communicate with them when you have a calm mind, which was pretty interesting and the dragons play an important role in this book.

To summarize: I really enjoyed reading this book. The plot and writing style pulled me into the story and I wanted to keep reading and see what happened next. The plot meanders a bit, but I liked that in this book and thought it felt very organic. It kept my attention and I wanted to see what was next for the characters. Both Tai and Aisha are great characters and I thought they felt real, I liked how I kept learning more about them as the story progressed. I thought they made for a great couple and I liked seeing how their romance develops. There isn't much drama and in my opinion even the secret Tai keeps was handled realistically. The world building feels fresh and there is enough details for me to get a feel for the world. I liked the details like the dragons and an interesting race of aliens we meet. The ending wraps things up well and also leaves room for a sequel. I look forward to more books by this author!

A Book with great potential that just never really grips you.

First of all, the representation is amazing and I loved it! I'm always happy to see ace characters in a book.
The writing was also really good, it was easy and enjoyable to read.

The best thing were definetely the characters. But I think this book just fell a bit flat for me. It just never managed to really pull me in. There are also multiple elements that were just kinda glanced over and could have been explored a bit deeper to make the book more interesting.

All in all not a bad book though.

Cute, inclusive story. I got a little frustrated in moments from the use of macguffins in the plot but I really enjoyed the positive relationships the characters enjoy.

Ragtag crew ✔️
Adventures in space & other planets ✔️
LGBTQ+ rep ✔️

Umm, why wouldn’t I like this book? 😁 I think the relationship between Tai & Aisha was handled well. I don’t see many books with ace rep, and while Aisha does develop feelings it still showed her as ace (you know, instead of magically being “fixed”). Now, I do think there were a few too many hijinks going on, but it was still fun. Oh, and there’s telepathic dragons 🐉 which the book world needs more of, right? Overall a good time & I’m curious to see what else this author comes up with.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.


TW: medical experimentation, PTSD, forced drugging, parental abuse, negative self talk (referring to themselves as a “glitch”)

trigger warning
<spoiler> trauma, ptsd, forced marriage, being drugged, slurs against sex workers, misogyny </spoiler>

A non binary curtesan gets asked to seduce a famous actor's fiancée for reasons that don't sound good however you phrase it. Since Tai has a mountain of medical debt, they agree to do this.

Said fiancée doesn't even know of her engangement. She's an archaeologist, just putting the finishing touches on an exhibition that's dear to her heart.

Of course, something goes wrong. A fossil <i>accidentally</i> comes back to live, and they have to decide between doing the thing that will make them rich and the thing that is right.

Let me rephrase that. We have a non binary person who is developing feelings for an ace person and they have to navigate all that confusion <i>while being on an sci fi adventure</i>. And add dragons on top. Ethereal, beautiful dragons who communicate by telephathy and use neopronouns.
I am sorry, it's like someone had looked out for things I might liked and mushed them together to a coherent mass. To add to that, we have warnings provided by the author. Hell yeah.

In the afterword it's hinted that there might be more from this universe coming, and I am here for it. Sign me up, I want more of this. Full recommendations.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

A ragtag band of people accidentally embark on an intergalactic heist...

This was an uncomplicated and easy read, although it did read more like a YA than adult sci-fi to me. With canonical queer characters such as asexual and genderqueer MCs, as well as non-traditional relationships, I really enjoyed the fact that they weren't just relegated to the sidelines and were three-dimensional, beautifully-written characters.

The fast-paced action and humour interjected into the interactions of the characters from the beginning felt well-suited for the book! Though I wish the book had gone on for a bit longer, as the ending felt a bit rushed to me, with the resolution coming on a little too quickly.

Overall, I would recommend this as a light, fun, space travel story with effective and clear-cut worldbuilding.

Dragons, insect-aliens, found family, and a well-written, diverse cast of characters. Do I have to say more? Adrift in Starlight is a lovely sci-fi story that centers around the two main characters Tai and Aisha, who couldn’t be more different from each other. But when they end up fleeing the planet on a spaceship together, both their lives are turned upside down.

My favorite part of this book was definitely the characters. Each of them is super interesting on their own, and together they created an endearing found family that I’d love to read more books about. The story was interesting too, though I’d hoped for a little bit more if that makes sense. What happened was interesting enough, but I was always waiting for a plot twist or something big to happen or be uncovered, and that simply didn’t happen, the story stayed pretty straightforward. (Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I was just expecting something else for some reason). Apart from that I really have no complaints :).

I’m really intrigued though because there is a note at the end that there’ll be more books set in the same universe and I wonder if it’s going to be about the same characters or new ones and when that’ll be written/released because I’ll definitely be checking it out. If you’re looking for a quick sci-fi book with interesting world-building and a wonderful, diverse cast of characters, I’d definitely recommend Adrift in Starlight.

Drowning in medical debt, Tai is given an offer they cannot refuse: seduce Aisha Malik. The money could completely free Tai of all medical debt that they are struggling under. Aisha Malik is a career-focused woman set on remaining focused on her work and not love life. But when a heist goes wrong, the pair are thrown together on the run from the authorities. As their adventures evolve, so do their feelings for one another. The one thing that threatens to ruin it all is the reward money Tai could earn.

A quick and lovely read, Adrift in Starlight is a heartwarming found family that has wonderful and diverse representation. The romance does not overshadow the worldbuilding or plot, and the scifi aspects are not too convoluted or complex to understand.