We continue to follow the adventures of the You Sexy Thing. My heart aches for Thorn as he tries to deal with his grief over the death of his brother. (Not a spoiler as it happens in book 1) Atlanta is trying to figure out where her place is in the world. Niko is determined to protect Petalia.

This book was enjoyable, but it felt very much like a middle book meant to take us from point a to point b.

I will read the next in the series.

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

<i>Devil's Gun</i> is a sequel to <i>You Sexy Thing</i>, a space opera romp that mixes in a lot of fantasy elements along with some light-hearted foodie aspects. I highly recommend starting the series with the first book, as there's a lot of world-building and the narrative hops between perspectives in a broad cast.

Most of the protagonists are former soldiers/current restauranteurs. I'll avoid specifics to keep away from spoilers, but I shall say that the events of the first book resulted in the loss of their business as they came aboard a sentient space ship named Big Sexy Thing. A big bad guy sought revenge against them and somewhat succeeded, and the crew now seeks to eliminate him once and for all so that they can resume cooking in peace.

This very much feels like the bridge book in a series. There's not a lot of action, and instead, the focus is on character development; there's also not as much cooking. That said, I still found it a fairly fast and breezy read. The combination of science fiction and magic fascinates me, and the developments here in book two make me very curious about how things will play out in the next volume.

Oh, right. I requested this ARC because I remember the shape of the story from the first book but had blocked out the annoying bits. I started reading and pretty immediately got hit with the awkward phrasing and weirdly jumpy close-3rd-person POV.

Some things happen, although I would say there’s less action than the first book— no fights, a lot of time off-screen going through multi-day space trips. There’s a pretty big cliff-hanger, so readers who like this writing style will have a pretty exciting reveal.

I’m not ready to say I’m done with this author, but I’m definitely done with this series.

eARC from NetGalley.

Sci fi can be a harder sell for us, but this seemed like it would lean more toward action, and the cover is more a thriller-type cover, so I was hopeful. Unfortunately, I don't think it will move in our libraries specifically because the writing itself is slightly unnatural and a bit stilted. That said, I'm wondering if it was done purposefully for effect.

The ship is really cool. I want one. I personally love sci-fi, but I wasn't getting into the story myself and stopped after chapter 1.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

Following on closely from the events of You Sexy Thing, this sees the crew of the Thing each trying to come to terms with what happened and who/what they want to be, while the ship itself continues to try and understand its passengers. With the shadowy presence of Tubal Last hanging over them, Niko and the crew set out to find Petalia (Niko’s once-lost, now-estranged love), hopefully keep her safe, and figure out what to do next. Before they go far though, they stumble across an archaeologist/con artist who claims to be able to find an ancient, deadly weapon they could use against Last. Working together is a risk, but it’s also an opportunity that Niko can’t turn down.

I loved You Sexy Thing – it was pacy, action-packed, great characters, and just a lot of fun. I’d been looking forward to the sequel for ages, but honestly I’m puzzled by Devil’s Gun. The characters are all there, and it was fun to spend more time with them and get to know them all a little better. The plot though, and the pacing…it just felt completely off. Nobody so much as leaves the Thing until 50% of the way through, and it hits 60% before the plot properly starts going. After that, the rest of the book is good fun, balancing action and excitement with interesting character development, but it all feels a little rushed. Which is no surprise really, after that slow first half.

Your enjoyment of Devil’s Gun may depend on how much you liked the characters last time around, and how much you can appreciate just spending time with them talking, planning, training and cooking for a full half of the book. Oh, and also how you feel about head-swapping mid-chapter, which occurs with alarming regularity here – I got used to it, but I don’t love it. I think it probably happened in You Sexy Thing too, but somehow it seems more noticeable here. Overall, I did kind of enjoy this in the end, and I do want to know what happens next, but it feels like a very strangely paced book. Proceed with caution, I’d say.

I thought that this would be a fun book to just escape reality with, however, I quickly realized that this book was not for me. It was too far out of reality and instead of escaping I got lost. I just found it ridiculous and did DNF it.

Thank you to the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. I will not be posting outside netgalley for this one as I did DNF it.

This is a sequel to You Sexy Thing. I almost didn’t read You Sexy Thing due to the title. I’m not particularly interested in sex in my sci-fi but it was just the name of the ship. The ship is a self-aware ship that illustrates some of the current concerns about AI. Some of the ship’s decisions are decidedly questionable. It is a major character in the book. Captain Niko and her mixed alien crew are trying to go on the offensive with the pirate Tubal Last. They pair up with a con artist and paladin and go on a quest.
Rambo does a good job illustrating the success and foibles of interpersonal relationships. Talon’s loss leads him into questionable behavior but is a good study of how grief can impact the logical decision-making process.

There is action, deceit, and acceptance.

I enjoyed the book.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.