This sci-fi adventure follows Johnny Gomez, a lowly space station janitor whose life takes a dramatic turn when he accidentally stumbles upon a valuable data chip. Suddenly thrust into a dangerous world of mercenaries and smugglers, Johnny must rely on his wits and a newfound found family to survive. i enjoyed the fast-paced plot, engaging action sequences, and the unique premise of a "space broom" protagonist and the lighthearted tone and the humor, comparing it to a fun space romp, while others found the humor to be juvenile or the lightheartedness inappropriate for some of the heavier scenes.

The book's world-building is appreciated the creative descriptions of space stations, alien species, and the overall galactic setting. The development of Johnny's relationships with his ragtag crew was another highlight, with many reviewers enjoying the found family trope and the supportive friendships depicted. The author's ability to balance the sci-fi elements with the character-driven narrative was also noted, creating a world that felt both immersive and accessible.

I felt the pacing was rushed, particularly towards the ending, and that the story could have benefited from more depth. As mentioned previously, the humor was divisive, with sometimes finding it entertaining and other cringeworthy. Despite these criticisms, many reviewers expressed a desire for more adventures in this universe, highlighting the overall enjoyment and potential of the story.

With thanks to Angry Robot and NetGalley for the ARC!

I requested this book because I am a huge sci-fi fan. I love anything to do with space, including space opera. This book caught my eye because I loved the cover and the description, and I was ready to dive into this new world!

I loved the world-building. I loved learning about the different space stations, the different aliens, the ships, the different cultures and people. I was so interested in all of it, and I thought this was smartly presented to the reader. All that information wasn't info-dumped so it was easy to keep up with it all. I also really enjoyed learning about the characters backstories, and I think the author really excelled at the found family trope here.

However, there were a few points where this book fell short for me. The first is how short the book is. Normally this wouldn't necessarily be an issue but I feel like it was very rushed a times, including the ending. The second is the humour. It definitely fell a bit flat, and at times I was rolling my eyes. And the third point is our main character himself. We are told he is in his thirties, yet some of his interactions around certain characters are so incredibly juvenile. I think this is where the author tried to play up the humour but I'm afraid all I did was cringe instead of laugh.

I do recommend this for people who want a short romp through space, or are interested in galactic world-building.

A very light hearted space adventure. I found it a bit too lighthearted at times in it's reactions to some quite heavy scenes which made the plot and characters feel a bit flat. The humour wasn't really for me and the insta found family a bit rushed and unbelievable. However I really enjoyed the galactic world building and the space dog! A quick read that could work well as a palette cleanser.
Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for the arc, all thoughts are my own and left voluntarily.

I enjoyed this book. Aside from the great, well-paced story, its strong points included good character development, ensemble cast, and world-building. The book is light-hearted and I was expecting a certain amount of silliness, but was surprised by the books’ thoughtfulness. Certain passages were so well-written that I would read them over and over. Overall this is a great read and I look forward to more adventures of this crew. Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot for the advance reader copy.

What a fun romp through space this was! I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This was a wildly entertaining story of a janitor or ‘space broom’ on a space station who is feeling a bit disillusioned with his life and his job. He’s been on this station for ten years and things haven’t panned out as he hoped. I loved having a character in his mid to late thirties. His motivations and life experience just felt so perfect for the choices he makes throughout the book. When he’s cleaning he finds a data chit and suddenly he’s being attacked by mercenaries before finding some smugglers to help him escape his predicament.

We have found family elements here which I love and I am always here for! A sweet romantic interest, however it’s the best friendship that was the absolute winner! What a wonderful, supportive and loving friendship that added a wholesomeness to this book to contrast with all the violence.

The author did such a great job with the sci-fi setting with this book. There was no overly complex descriptions, a perfect balance between creating the sci-fi world without derailing the story and giving enough detail that you could envision the world. I thought the space stations were really well done. It reminded me of playing games like Starfield and I really enjoyed it.

I would recommend this book for the unique and fascinating main character. He’s an unusual choice as he’s not a fighter, but that means he has to be creative to get out of scrapes sometimes. He’s got a fine attention to detail and listens to people around him. I really enjoyed the found family here.

Great fun!

Review: A Sci-Fi adventure that may have been titled "The space life of Walter Mitty". Johnny is a great MC and while this is a frenetic space romp, it is also about the pain of self-discovery.

A fun read with good characters and plot progression. I had a good time and I think you will too.

I received this ARC for an honest review.

4.7/5

It was entertaining from the start with an action sequence worthy of a sci-fi pulp fiction. Until Johnny finds the data chip and the action begins, we follow him in his daily routine and it could have been boring but I was surprised to casually follow his story with all his funny daydreaming adventures.Then these daydreams appear from time to time throughout the story and I kept looking for them, they were fun and entertaining.

The worldbuilding was excellent but the best part for me was the development of his relationship with the team of characters he ends up with. The humor, the ragtag crew, the impossible situations Johnny finds himself in, made me feel like I was watching an episode of Firefly.

I laughed, I stressed and I cried, because behind every humorous adventure there are always moving moments.
I really hope this is the first in a series. I want more adventures from the crew of the Mentirosa, and I want to know more about this world we only have a glimpse of, especially Rygar's backstory.

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the eARC

Meet Johnny Gomez, a space broom, the space station’s most hopeless janitor. His life is pathetic, until he picks up a piece of forgotten trash during a particularly nasty job, which dangerously puts him in the way of all sorts of baddies who want it. Aided by a pair of smugglers, Johnny goes on the ride of his life…will he survive, or become space trash himself?

I thought the premise of this was promising and did think the world building was interesting, but the overall execution fell flat for me. The humour wasn’t really to my taste, in that guy-writing-scifi-for-guys way, and some of the conversations or plot points made me roll my eyes. While the world building and characters were descriptive, they lacked depth, though this novel is quite short so I wasn’t expecting anything more beyond a space adventure. And in that it delivered: if you want a sardonic romp across another universe then this is for you. If you’re looking for compelling prose, then perhaps look elsewhere.

Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this was a good book! I liked how it was lighthearted and entertaining!! It was fun and it kept me engaged while reading. I liked the way htis book flowed, and it was just good!


Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Enjoyable space adventure romp. Johnny Gomez is down on his luck, down on himself and in a dead end job. His boss hates him so Johnny gets the jobs others just love, not! But who knew cleaning out the bowls of a space station would lead to so much expectation, trouble and bodily damage as Johnny, by accident, finds an item worth a lot, to a lot of very dangerous people. Johnny’s fortune or Johnny’s demise? Two very real possibilities. Johnny needs some friends, and they may be closer than he knows. Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Gaaahh this is SO. GOOD. I can't believ I finished this in less than a week!

We follow Gomez, a Space Broom. A cleaner on Kilgore.. until gets himself involved in some serious mess completely by accident, of course.

This was full of action and I LOVED the sci-fi in this! Rodriguez has created a whole world and bought ao much life to it. I thoroughly enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next!

Thank you Netgalley and Angry Robot for the ARC!