Trigger warnings: transphobia, homophobia, violence, implied SA, implied domestic violence.

In the future Democracy has collapsed in the United States and seven corporations own everything. On the fringes the Democratic State Force fights to overthrow them. One of the most important teams they have has fallen into chaos after the death of their commander. It’s up to Aidan Headly to bring them back to their former glory.

This has to be one of the best sci-fi books I’ve read in a long time. The world building was fantastic. Things are futuristic but not so much that the situation is unrealistic. The tech is explained wonderfully. You feel like your living in the book as you read it. The book really gets into the nitty gritty about what is needed to keep a base like the one in the book up and running and undetected. It’s really a fascinating read.

I love the main characters. Aiden is a trans male and white I’m not trans myself so I can’t say how good the rep is I think his story is very well handled. I just love his relationship with David. It’s amazing and I wish only the best for them. Tweak is my absolute favorite and she has a wonderful story/character arc. Some of the side characters are a little underdeveloped but I’m sure that’s going to be addressed in future sequels. Tbh I wasn’t expecting spicy scenes when I picked this up but they were very well written and not cringy imo.

I listened to this in audiobook form and I recommend it if you find this in that format. The narrator does a fantastic job with the many characters in the book:

Like I said I loved this book. There’s a lot of very heavy subject material sprinkled in so I don’t recommend this for younger readers but I heartily recommend for fans of sci-fi and dystopia of appropriate age.

This is not the kind of book that I would normally pick up, but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the world building and action in this story. It’s a Sifi/ dystopian story full of rebellion, hacking, drones, hidden bases and more. There were huge themes of found family and acceptance found throughout. The characters were such a mix in the best way and all of them felt fully fleshed out and important even if they were more of a background character. They reminded me a lot of the motley crew of misfits from the Disney Atlantis movie. Testing all the buttons and limits of their new commander. My favorite character was the stuttering, sassy, smarter than everyone teen coder Tweak. The spice was there, but so was the plot. One didn’t overshadow the other. You could definitely tell this was the first in a series, but not in that slow dragging way; the buildup was good! I hope the next book dives into other characters in more depth. I loved the whole team and all their nonsense.

Well this was pretty interesting. It starts with a warning about spicy scenes that may not be between genders that fit the readers expectations. This immediately had my interest piqued.

So we have a book that has a dystopian/sci-if type storyline AND spice?! I’m here for it.

Now I can’t make comments on the accuracy of the included smut as I am a cis-gendered, straight female but I gotta say - I’m not disappointed. They were done well and tastefully with plenty of communication and I appreciate that in a book.

Apart from the spice, we also have a solid storyline that meshes well with the spice and makes it balanced. This is something else I appreciate. I’m all for pure smut, don’t get me wrong, but a book like this needs a solid storyline as well. I feel like it delivered.

My main complaint is that there was so much thrown at me in this one. It did establish the world building and give the characters solid personalities but it was A LOT and it felt like it was all at once.

I received an audio of this one through NetGalley, and I want to thank them for it. Definitely worth the listen and the narrator makes it easy to listen to.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ let’s see what happens next!

A ragtag team of misfits gets assigned a green new commander as a last-ditch effort to show that they can work effectively together.

- A literal Corporate America in mid 22nd Century, ruled by seven major Corporations
- A diverse cast of characters with a trans man main character
- Found family that finds its way together through difficulty


The writing, the world-building, and the plot

The book takes place in the 2150s in an America which very easily reads as an amplification of the current state of the country we’re seeing. There are seven major Corporations that rule the society that has reformed decades ago as a result of the great Disillusionment. Everything is up for sale and people can be engineered to fit criteria deemed normal and desirable based on the views of each Corporation respectively. Deviancies can be weeded out before birth, and those who end up not fitting the mold are discriminated against based on the values of the Corporation they happen to be owned by.

The plot of this first installment in the series is very much just about team building. We get introduced to a large group of characters who are technically a team but practically a family, and like most families, when tragedy strikes, so does unrest and acting up. Different members of the team are reacting in different, self-destructive ways to the loss of their previous commander, and the arrival of a new team leader in a line of several unsavory commanders is greeted with deep suspicion and distrust.

There’s also a side plot romance between the new commander and one of his underlings, and this relationship also explores the difficulties and anxieties a trans person might go through in their first romantic and sexual relationship after transitioning. I can’t speak to the quality of the representation as anything but a cis person, but personally I found it very insightful. O. E. Tearmann is a pen name of an author duo, and one of the authors is (to my knowledge) a non-binary person, so I’m sure there’s a somewhat personal understanding of body dysmorphia behind the writing.


The characters and their relationships

I found the characters overall well written. Some of them are very likable from the get-go, and others take a little more time for you to come around to them. Much like any decent blood family, sometimes you like them, sometimes you hate them, but at the end of the day you’d give your life for them.

I thought the main romantic relationship was very sweet, and while I usually prefer my sci-fi with minimal romance, I really liked the discussions that were had here. Aidan had his insecurities but both he and Kevin both had the patience and emotional maturity to have the conversations that needed to be had to address those insecurities.

Aidan in general is a really nice character and I’m very jealous of his ability to not be ruled by his emotions when dealing with his underlings. The way I would have flown off the handle so many times trying to corral that pack of feral asshats, and there he goes just taking in deep breaths and not speaking without thinking first. Couldn’t be me.


My reading experience

I liked this book and I’ll be continuing in the series very soon. The only reason this is a four star rather than a five star is the fact that this was so clearly an intro to the actual story. We got to know the cast and some of the world, but very little plot development was actually involved, at least outside of the main romantic relationship. Hopefully, the second book will be done with the introductions and will include a little more action and a more complex plot.


Recommended to

I’d recommend this to people who like the shenanigans of the Firefly kind, and the vibes of Becky Chambers.