Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the arc! Hm, I appreciate what this book was trying to do, but it did fall very flat to me. Let me break down my grievances:

I did like the world building we got, but there should have been more. I wanted to be more immersed than I was. I felt the same with the descriptions. I loved what cyberpunk descriptions we did get, but for a book that pitched itself as a Blade Runner comp… yeah I was let down.

The plot was boring and damn laborious to read through. I ended up being uninterested in the plot pretty early on, but pushed myself through. Yet, my apathy didn’t go away, even as it ended. I think my feelings (or lack thereof) stemmed from the fact that I’ve read many stories like this before -the plot was not unique in the slightest. So many books have done what this book is trying to do, and so much better.

I could have hung on more if only we had compelling characters. Unfortunately, I was not engaged with any of the characters, nor were they compelling. In addition, the antagonist I found to be cartoonishly bad. He was as dimensional as a straight line.

The romance was irritating and predictable, not to even mention the fact that there was barely any development. In my opinion, this was the weakest aspect of an already weak book. The relationship between Angel and Edie was toxic and unbelievable all the way through. You’re telling me that Angel ruins Edie’s life and the for the vast majority of the book they fight all the goddamn time, yet all of a sudden they’re in love and have loved each other forever??? Huh??? Jesus fucking Christ give me a fucking break.

The ending made me roll my eyes. This book is a Lifetime movie

I will give this book points on its cultural (diaspora) and socioeconomic commentary. The most intriguing parts of this book came from Edie and their family practicing and hanging onto their cultural identity. The same can be said for Edie’s thoughts and feelings on class difference and gentrification; of wanting to become the man, yet hating them all the same. The author ate with that one little thing

To make the long fucking story short, if you’re looking for a good sci-fi, cyberpunk-esque read, unfortunately you won’t find it here. There were a couple things this book did well, yet most of it I found lacking and uninteresting. I’m very disappointed and sad, and if anyone has any diverse cyberpunk recs, I need them indubitably 😭 -2.5 corporations rounded up

Makana Yamamoto wrote this perfectly and had that scifi element that I was looking for. I thought the world was wonderfully done an enjoyed getting to know that world and characters. I cared about what was happening to the characters and how they worked in this story. I enjoyed the heist element and wanted to continue reading this universe and from Makana Yamamoto.