Off Planet by Aileen Erin Series: Aunare Chronicles #1
Published by Ink Monster LLC (3.19.2019)
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Format: Audiobook, 405 pages
Length: 14 hours, 18 minutes
Narrator: Frankie Corzo
Source: Library
In an all-too-plausible future where corporate conglomerates have left the world’s governments in shambles, anyone with means has left the polluted Earth for the promise of a better life on a SpaceTech owned colony among the stars.
Maité Martinez is the daughter of an Earther Latina and a powerful Aunare man, an alien race that SpaceTech sees as a threat to their dominion. When tensions turn violent, Maité finds herself trapped on Earth and forced into hiding.
For over ten years, Maité has stayed hidden, but every minute Maité stays on Earth is one closer to getting caught.
She’s lived on the streets. Gone hungry. And found a way to fight through it all. But one night, while waitressing in a greasy diner, a customer gets handsy with her. She reacts without thinking.
Covered in blood, Maité runs, but it’s not long before SpaceTech finds her…
Arrested and forced into dangerous work detail on a volcano planet, Maité waits for SpaceTech to make their move against the Aunare. She knows that if she can’t somehow find a way to stop them, there will be an interstellar war big enough to end all life in the universe.
There’s only one question: Can Maité prevent the total annihilation of humanity without getting herself killed in the process?
My thoughts
I expected so, so much more from this. Here I am again, the black sheep – the ratings for this book on Goodreads are fantastic (seriously, WHERE are the 1 and 2 star reviews?!), and with it being a space book? I was sure I’d love it. Womp, womp.
I remember exactly nothing about the plot or what happened in this book. I remember that the writing was super bland and the story was generic AF, like a million other books I’ve read before. Generic plot, generic characters, generic world. Overall flat and forgettable. I didn’t care for the main character, either. The narrator was pretty decent, which is probably what saved this book from being a DNF for me. Oh, and there was excessive cussing just for the sake of cussing.
Other than that, I barely remember anything about this book at all. I was actually second guessing if I’d even read it. (Do you guys ever have those books?!) I had to go back and skim through it. I can sum this book up in one word: meh.
Overall Assessment
Plot: 2/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 2/5
Originality: 1/5
Characters: 1/5
World-building: 2.5/5
Pace: 2/5
Feels: 0/5
Narration: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 1.5/5
The Disasters by M.K. England Published by HarperTeen (12.18.2018)
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Format: Audiobook, 352 pages
Length: 8 hours, 33 minutes
Narrator: James Fouhey
Source: Library
Hotshot pilot Nax Hall has a history of making poor life choices. So it’s not exactly a surprise when he’s kicked out of the elite Ellis Station Academy in less than twenty-four hours.
But Nax’s one-way trip back to Earth is cut short when a terrorist group attacks the Academy. Nax and three other washouts escape—barely—but they’re also the sole witnesses to the biggest crime in the history of space colonization. And the perfect scapegoats.
On the run and framed for atrocities they didn’t commit, Nax and his fellow failures execute a dangerous heist to spread the truth about what happened at the Academy.
They may not be “Academy material,” and they may not get along, but they’re the only ones left to step up and fight.
My thoughts
I literally went through this entire audiobook thinking the main character’s name was Max. Oops.
This book is basically Aurora Rising (although to be fair, it did come out first) but without that extra spark that makes AR so dear to my heart. It was fun, and I enjoyed it, but it was just lacking something to make me love it like I wanted to. I liked the found family trope, but there was something missing from the characters that created a disconnect. I guess I just wanted more from the story – more action, more stakes?
I actually think the narrator saved it for me. I might have liked it even less if I was physically reading, but I enjoyed the narrator’s sass and voice. Worth the read, but won’t stick with me.
Overall Assessment
Plot: 3/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
World-building: 3.5/5
Pace: 3/5
Feels: 1/5
Narration: 4/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Overall rating: 3/5
Escaping Eleven by Jerri Chisholm Series: Eleven Trilogy #1
Published by Entangled Teen (12.8.2020)
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian
Format: Audiobook, 400 pages
Length: 12 hours, 48 minutes
Narrator: Justis Bolding
Source: Library
In Compound Eleven, the hierarchy of the floors is everything.
My name is Eve Hamilton, and on my floor, we fight.
Which at least is better than the bottom floor, where they toil away in misery. Only the top floor has any ease in this harsh world; they rule from their gilded offices.
Because four generations ago, Earth was rendered uninhabitable—the sun too hot, the land too barren. Those who remained were forced underground. While not a perfect life down here, I’ve learned to survive as a fighter.
Except my latest match is different. Instead of someone from the circuit, my opponent is a mysterious boy from the top floor. And the look in his eyes tells me he’s different… maybe even kind.
Right before he kicks my ass.
Still, there’s something about him—something that says he could be my salvation... or my undoing. Because I’m no longer content to just survive in Eleven. Today, I'm ready to fight for more than my next meal: I'm fighting for my freedom. And this boy may just be the edge I've been waiting on.
My thoughts
This book totally brought me back! It’s been a long time since I read a dystopian – you don’t see them much anymore in the sea of fantasy books. This one gave me Across the Universe vibes mixed with a little bit of the bunkers in the 100 and the District 12 compound in Hunger Games. Plus add in a little bit of the hierarchy on the Titanic, with lower levels being the poor and the higher levels being the rich/higher class. (The romance reminded me of Titanic, too!) Like I said, it brought me back. Ah, the good ole days.
It was a little predictable, and a little generic, and the pacing was a bit slow at times; but I did enjoy it while I was listening! It was interesting, even if it wasn’t particularly original or unique. The narrator was good enough to keep me going when nothing was happening in the story. Mostly I was just in it to find out what the outside was actually like. Eve’s desire to get to freedom and find out what was out there was a driving point for the novel. The ending was what I was waiting for, but it was so abrupt! I will probably pick up the second eventually just because I want to see the outside world.
Overall Assessment
Plot: 3.5/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 3.5/5
Originality: 2/5
Characters: 2.5/5
World-building: 3.5/5
Pace: 3.5/5
Feels: 1/5
Narration: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 3/5
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