- Note: I was approved for a review copy of both the US and UK editions of this book and am using the same review for both since the books are the same!

I loved Winter's Orbit when it came out and have been recommending it with glee to the majority of my audience and real-life friends and so I was thrilled and delighted to hear there would be another book in a similar vein by Evarina Maxwell and I dashed to read Ocean's Echo as fast as humanly possible.
I was initially somewhat nervous about this particular topic as mind control is something that I personally find quite difficult to read and it can open up a lot of questions around consent particularly in the context of a romance. However, much like her handling of the topic of abuse in Winter's Orbit, Everina Maxwell masterfully handles this topic, seamlessly making it feel like the bad thing that it could be and also a core aspect of why these two characters are thrust together.
For those looking for a MLM romance with the stickler for the rules and the rebel having to work together I don't think you'll be dissapointed. I do think the romantic aspects of the book are stronger overall than the more plot-based elements but that may be a reflection of the things I care about as opposed to an actual point about the book - I'll have to see what other people think.
Overall I had a wonderful time with this book, with these characters and I'm already anticipating what Maxwell has for us next. In the meantime I'll settle for having TWO amazing books I can throw at everyone I know!
I received a free digital review copy from the publisher via NetGalley - All opinions are my own.

At times it feels rare to find two main characters who are equally well-developed and nuanced. Maxwell creates and shares two of these rare finds with Tennal and Surit. Ocean’s Echo includes intergalactic politics, complicated family relationships, political intrigue, and a pairing of two people who remain individuals despite so many reasons and chances to either lose themselves, one another, and their livelihoods. Loved this one and will continue to read anything by Maxwell!

*hides in shame*

Don’t kill me Tor….Please? Idk what’s wrong with me but me and this book just didn’t click.

Later down the line I’ll definitely give it another go but right now? I’m not in love with Surit or Tennel or the chemistry they shared.

I’m so sorry Tor I failed you 🥲

Author Everina Maxwell gives us another engaging sci-fi with a beautiful queer romance.

This is sci-fi that's fleshed out but still accessible to the average reader, and she does a great job balancing that. This romance is just as sweet and adorable as her other book!

It felt a little slow in the middle, but overall I really enjoyed this book!

I liked Winter's Orbit more, but the forced proximity of this one was fun! And the pining and angst lol, it was a fun read and I wouldn't mind another in this world!

I read Winter's Orbit and would say that I liked it, but didn't love it. I was hearing good things about Ocean's Echo, and I just love this premise so much that I decided to jump into this one too, and I was not disappointed at all.

What I love about this book is that I felt an instant emotional connection to Surit and Tennal. While this world-building is a bit complex and does come at you pretty quickly, the emotional thread of understand what drives these two characters makes it easy to stay invested and wrap your head around the larger forces at work in their lives. This is, at its core, an opposites attract, slow burn romance, with a slower burn than is usually my preference, but again, being emotionally invested in each of their stories and why they have to come together made it easy stick with it until the payoff. I also love when characters are given room to grow and change over the course of the story, and that very much happens here too.

I see this as a step forward from Winter's Orbit in terms of overall storytelling and romance, and will eagerly snap up anything that Maxwell writes in the future!

OCEAN'S ECHO is the much anticipated companion to WINTER'S ORBIT that explores another part of the galaxy and the remnants, as well as being a space-faring adventure about consent and control and being in your own head.

This is a book about space militaries being dodgy and the characters drawn into that whirlpool onboard space ships and space stations. I loved all the regulation-quoting from characters - used to obey the rules and be shipshape by one, and to cause absolutely havoc by the other. It was a nice way to set up their differences but also just to cause chaos between them by giving very different approaches. Also just funny. (No idea what that says about my humour.)

It's fast paced (I binged this in about a day on the way to and from uni) and doesn't let up as they rocket from disaster to disaster, Tennal alternatively talking them in and out of messes (and Surit trying to itemise his way out.)

The mind syncing was very interesting and did not go where I was expecting it. The book takes all your expectations for how and why and when and then the fallout of the sync and takes you another way (which was way more satisfying and really lets it explore the idea of consent.) The side effects were also a lot of fun (to read about.)

This is a very different type of romance to WINTER'S ORBIT. That book is an immediate punch of awkward feelings the couple have to parse out. This is a slow burn that takes its time getting to the payoff, which I really liked. Plus there's a lot of life or death that gets in the way (not to mention mind hijinks of many varieties to push romantic feelings to the bottom of the "to interrogate and work out" pile.)

It was really fun to see a forced proximity premise play out so differently. It helps make the books feel different but also clearly from the same author and helped develop the series-esque feel more. These books are unrelated save for world and remnants being problematic, so trope continuity builds that cohesive feel if you binge the books back to back.

I hope we get another book in this galaxy because I feel like there's a lot more to explore with the remnants.

A stand-alone space adventure by the author of Winter's Orbit, Ocean's Echo will wrap you up and keep you up all night!

Meet Tennalhin Halkana, rich, connected, nephew of a very powerful politician, Tennel is a "reader" someone who can read minds, space and chaos. He is hiding from his politician Aunt but is quickly scooped up and conscripted into the army where he is tied to Yeni Surit, his polar opposite in every way. Yeni cannot understand Tennel but realizes something is amiss with his conscription. Before sparks can fly or flame out, the two are stuck between the powerful groups battling to control the planet. While at its heart, this is a basic opposites attract and a space operatic conflict, Maxwell has created rich and complex characters and situations that elevate this novel to much more than science fiction, romance, or adventure.

I truly loved every bit of it and will go back and read Winter's Orbit and anxiously await her next novel. If you like sci fy, underdogs stories with a hints of romance, amazing worlds and tense situations, Ocean's Echo is for you!

In this universe we've got "readers" and "architects". Readers can read minds (and they're illegal). Architects can "write" commands and they're perfectly acceptable, they're actually leading the military. Tennal, a wealthy socialite screw up, is forced to sync with a reader hes never met, allowing Surit to always completely control him. But, of course, everything isn't what it seems and Tennal and Surit might just have to save the world.

This is a really cute MLM romance in the background of an interesting political sci-fi. Both main characters are great in totally different way. I like the story, the twists are good and, although I tried, I didn't do a very good job of guessing whats next. The romance isn't the focus of the story ... but the longing is the best part of the story ... other than the great plot.

Recommend this to anyone who likes political sci-fi but also wants queer romance.

Alas, the 2022 curse seems to have claimed another book for me. After absolutely <i>loving</i> Maxwell's debut, Winter's Orbit, I couldn't wait for <i>Ocean's Echo</i>.

Unfortunately, while I knew based on Maxwell's previous comments that this would have less romance than Winter's Orbit, the level of romance here was barely a breathe and the sci-fi itself, very confusing and nebulous. As evidenced even by the synopsis, the mental sci-fi powers / element in this is hard to explain and really grasp and throughout the book I found myself often quite lost. I couldn't really understand what we were supposed to feel or understand as Tennal's internal mind, or what writing and reading would feel like to the receiver or the one doing the act. There's a lot of descriptive language used, like a swirling ocean and many depths, but this to me didn't really make sense or illustrate what the inside of someone's mind might feel like.

The politics in this book were also much less successful in my mind because very little is explained until the end, and by then, there's a very rushed resolution. I'm not clear on who the Regulators are or why everyone is afraid of them. I don't understand what happens to the leadership at Archer Link Station - seems like a big loose end. And the remants...still really unclear about what they are, if theyre supposed to be used at all, and what that all means for Tennal in the end.

The characters were similarly not successful. Tennal early on was just very grating for me. He isn't arrogant and charming, he's just pretty arrogant and mean to people. Again, this was teased by the author -- that Tennal makes his problems everyone's problems, but I was hoping there would be some deft handling of this, or at least some humanization of Tennal's behavior to help us understand him. But there isn't any. There's really no reason for Tennal acting the way he does, he's just actually a very privileged, entitled, spoiled 20 year old that self-sabotages. It's hard to come around to someone like that. There just didn't feel like there was anything redeeming or interesting about him. Surit was like a watered down version of Jainan, but much less compelling and memorable. Surit's over dramatized stiff military and rule abiding nature doesn't seem to even align with his basic personality, so I'm left leaving like I don't really have any sense for who Surit actually is. Maybe that's by design, a challenge for Surit to see who he is without the military, but after nearly 500 pages, that just feels a bit too lazy for me.

The romance and chemistry between Tennal and Surit never really materialized for me and the ending leaves that very lacking. There's some promise of a future for them, but with how little we got, I'm not really even convinced they should be together. The ending overall still leaves so much wide open and given it isn't a series...I think that's a real letdown. I'll add some of these below in spoiler tags.

<spoiler>First, what was the point of the sync at all if eventually, Tennal and Surit break theirs - twice? It feels like that just shouldn't be possible given how the sync is set up and described throughout. Why even set up this notion of syncmates like soulmates to undo it?

Next, we're told the whole reason architects and readers were created as halves instead of with both capabilities (as the original neuromods were) was because they grew unstable. Apparently our puny human brains just can't handle being both. But in the end...Tennal is both! Tennal, who we are told acts out and self-sabotages the way he does BECAUSE of his brain and that its all just too much apparently, ends up with BOTH powers and we're supposed to believe that he's...better? He's ok? I don't know, if you make someone's entire personality an asshole who is self destructive because he can't shut off his brain, I don't think giving him the power to read AND write other people is going to help. Also Surit has no powers -- why was this necessary?

Also, what about the pension for Surit's alt-parent? That was the whole point of his military career. You're telling me that after everything he goes through, all he sacrifices and does, that no one could have gotten the pension issued and guaranteed? How does that make sense? Even when we see Surit interview with Zin, it's a clerk role, unlikely to pay well at all, so how does that address any of Surit's poverty issues for his alt-parent?

Lastly, we end with Tennal having to go to the Regulators (whoever or whatever they are) for 6 months, knowing Surit asked to go and was told no. Given how little these 2 had in terms of a relationship and how the bond they created (the syncs) were broken twice, how does this feel right? They exchange a total of 3 kisses, make no declarations of their feelings, have each gone through a ton, and haven't even really discussed the syncs they underwent. Maybe they need time apart, yes, but in that case, I would just table the whole romance. Everything feels tainted by that sync which doesn't seem to have even been a good thing of represent soulmates. It just felt..very lackluster, confusing, and honestly I don't have hope these 2 would work together or even should. </spoiler>

Overall, this was very flat for me. It felt much less balanced than Winter's Orbit between sci-fi and romance. The sci-fi felt heavier but also very confusing and the romance was too far into the slow burn category, they're more like besties maybe. While I found the beginning interesting and I love the cross-genre blending Maxwell seeks to do, this just didn't capture each side well to be a success.

I do desperately hope the author's next outing returns to that magic and balance achieved in Winter's Orbit, which I think is so special and unique, this one just fell short.

4/5 I enjoyed Ocean's Echo more than Winter's Orbit. The concepts in this world, especial gender politics and labels are truly unique and I wish more authors thought this outside the box with these topics. The cover art is great and I felt like the character development was a little better, but still nothing too great. Needed more spice!

I didn't get a chance to read Winter's Orbit (I have it, but thought why not throw caution to the wind and read this one) and it was so wonderful!

Loved the diverse characters and there's something so comforting about the writing style. I did get a little confused with some of the "space" / science logistics but it wasn't a huge deal.

Very excited to dive into the first book, which is set in the same universe!

I was expecting something else when I picked up this book but ended up liking what it ended up being. What I mean by that is I thought this was going to use more conventions typical to the romance genre and instead this ended up being more of a military space opera with strong romantic components. For this reason I had some pacing issues at the beginning, since I was expecting a sci-fi romance. That said for a military space opera I really enjoyed exploring this world and this different genetic manipulation and how the political tensions played out. Exploring this genetic manipulation with our main characters was also fascinating, especially in the later half of the book. Similar to the first book in this world (Winter's Orbit) we have one lead who has a lot of chaotic energy and another who is more organized, I enjoy this dynamic and actually enjoyed the relationship development in this more than Winter's Orbit, probably because it was glacially slow burn but with still A+ pining. Although I would still say that if you are expecting a similar experience to Winter's Orbit this is not 50/50 sci-fi/romance, this is more 70/30 in my opinion.

Everina Maxwell’s writing was still such a pleasure to read in Ocean’s Echo! Sadly, this book didn’t quite work for me.

I had a lot of trouble getting my head around the world-building and I believe that was because the story dealt quite a bit with mind control/brainwashing in a way that wasn’t particularly fun for me. Others will probably find the set up very intriguing and enjoy the way it was developed throughout the novel–because it is extremely well developed and detailed–but, due to personal preferences, that was not the case for me.

Tennal and Surit as main characters and narrators were great. They had very distinct voices and personalities and it was super fun to read about them clashing and then slowly learning to respect and trust each other. Their dynamic was an interesting one and I did like how Maxwell played with that throughout the book.

With that said, I didn’t exactly buy the romance element? It was very very light since the focus here was very much on the political plot and conflicts. There wasn’t enough build up for me to be fully convinced that Tennal and Surit loved each other–which is a strange thing to say considering that only really came into play at the final 15% or so.

The ending was also more of an open ending type than a tightly shut case. There were a few threads that were left without answers and even Tennal and Surit’s future together was presented more as a hopeful thing than a sure one. I wasn’t entirely upset about that since I had issues with the romance. I will keep an eye out for other Maxwell works, but this one wasn’t for me.

Lightning does stike twice 'cause I enjoyed this just like its predecessor. This was the answer to my slow burn dreams. I adored Tennal and Surit's relatioship especially the contrast between the two with Surit's colour within the lines and always do the right thing mentality that will remind everyone that we should always strive to do the right thing. Tennal's will burn the world down qttitude just to piss you off was just what I needed to keep a steady heart rate during the nerve racking parts. I adored the boys and will read everything that the author puts out going forward. It is not everyday that you find an author that writes easy to digest sci-fi that you click with on a micro level. I can't wait for the next adventure.

I was so honored to get an ARC of this book. After LOVING Winter's Orbit I was so ready for the next installment. I will say, these stories while connected by certain cultural customs, are completely disconnected and you could read either without reading the other (or read them in either order).

I have a lot of thoughts about this book but I decided to bullet point them for easier understanding:
-slow burn with no real pay off
-a fun twist on fake dating
-romance is amazing, but gets lost in the world in the second half
-science is a bit hard to understand at times
-should have been shorter, ending took too long to resolve
-some of the rules for the world didn't make sense
-great writing
-amazing characters
-diverse cast
-the yearning was top notch

Overall I really enjoyed my read of this book and would recommend it to people, but let them know not to get too invested in the romance as it seemed to take a back seat through the second half of the story and the pay off felt lacking. I would also continue to read anything by Maxwell!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

ARC provided by Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books via NetGalley.

Ocean's Echo is due to be released in the US on November 1, 2022.

I liked Everina Maxwell’s 2021 debut novel, Winter’s Orbit, so I was pleased to have a chance to review her new book, Ocean’s Echo, another stand-alone novel set in the same sci-fi universe. Ocean’s Echo is a queer space opera with politics, coups, military corruption, people with psychic powers, and alien artefacts. And yes, romance. As in Winter’s Orbit, the story is finely balanced between the political/military plot and the complicated relationship that develops between the M/M leads amidst all the action; Maxwell seems to prefer to focus on the rapport building between two people rather than the actual consummation of those feelings. I wouldn’t mind a little more heat but on the whole, but Maxwell obviously has a lot of fun playing with romance tropes that I find plenty entertaining. The first 2/3rds of the book were extremely well-paced and the latter 1/3 a little chaotic, with less room for the relationship than I would have liked. I also think the culminating alien-artefact-mind-battle situation could have been written better (for some reason it felt a little silly), but I did appreciate the way it expanded on the world building. On the whole a very fun read, and has way more genre-oomph to it than a lot of romance crossover books achieve. I’m definitely looking forward to Everina Maxwell’s next book, whether or not it’s in the same universe.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the ARC! Everina Maxwell knows how to blend a great political intrigue tale with science fiction and great slow-burn romance. Tennalhin and Surit are captivating, fully fleshed out leads and are solids pillars of the story. If you liked Maxwell's Winter Orbit, don't hesitate to pick up Ocean's Echo.

I thoroughly enjoyed this scifi! It has a great mix of action, romance, and even humor at some points. I didn't read the first book but it was easy to pick up without any confusion. The dynamic between the two main characters is definitely what kept me reading. They're such opposites and the romantic tension between the two of them is so believable and well-written. If you like scifi with your romance or a romantic scifi, definitely give this a try!

I loved Maxwell’s debut and didn’t think I could love anything more, but I was in love with Ocean’s Echo from the first line.

Maxwell writes intriguing characters into an even better plot, and I can’t get enough of it. Tennal and Surit will always have a little place in my heart.

This has solidified Everina Maxwell as a “must buy” author for me, and I can’t wait to see what they write next.