Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

DNF AT 10%
I'm giving Stargun a 2 star review because there are some neat concepts and I totally get why this would be someone's thing. Turns out I'm just not that someone. I couldn't... GET IT, y'know? Like it felt more like the author was throwing around Sci-Fi esc terms and phrases without giving any of them substance. A lot of the scenes felt... empty. Like they expected us to just know what was going on, but I was fucking lost because nothing really gets mentioned enough for it to stick and worldbuilding terms are thrown about like satnav directions. Other than the alcohol, that Idari seems to think about consistently.
I just... I don't get it man.
The dialogue especially felt quite poor to me. I think dialogue should flow like a river but this in particular felt like people were dropping rocks in said river just to see if it would fork. Often times it would, but much like the fork itself, it wasn't natural. It all just felt forced.

I just couldn't get through the setup at all. Idari felt unlikeable and CR-UX... well CR-UX existed alright.


Though, for some positives. I did like some of the concepts. Living stars? COOL AS SHIT! Idari being sad she isn't human? A little cool, won't lie.

But overall, whilst I see why someone would enjoy this book, I wouldn't jump the gun to recommend it.

A fun sci-fi adventure, Idari is a spunky protagonist, there's amusing back and forth between chararcters, insta-love happens but it's okay because they are lesbians, and interesting groups and conflicts are introduced.

Personally, I felt that the writing didn't provide a strong sense of space/setting for the events that were taking place and overall there needed to be more worldbuilding and exposition.
Though there were really cool concepts, it often felt like the grand far-reaching things explained didn't have any weight in this world outside of the scenes that they were explained in. Similarly, for the massive existential questions addressed here (primarily what makes you 'human'), there was a slight lack of dimension that additional chapters from idaris past could have provided.

Interesting storyline. I liked the adventure of it all. I did struggle to figure out the plot holes, however, Not a bad read but not my favorite sci-fi adventure

Overall, I enjoyed the characters and plot in this book, but found the writing lacking in some areas. While the story was engaging and had me hooked from beginning to end, I felt like there were some gaps in explanation when it came to the characters' travels and escapes. The author seemed to skip over important transitions and left me wanting more details about how they managed to traverse light years and evade danger. Despite these flaws, I would still recommend this book to others who enjoy sci-fi adventures.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. Unfortunately I DNF’ed the book at 20%. The story follows a sentient robot with a second sentience within her brain. She drinks constantly and makes poor choices at every turn. I feel like she’s supposed to come off as a female Han Solo type but instead of fun and kinda hot in a rogue-ish way she just comes across as sad. The idea of her second sentience watching her sexual exploits is cringeworthy especially because it doesn’t seem like she’s up front about it. Overall I fell like the author used more sci-fi sounding terminology than world building. Overall the story felt weird and a little cringey.

I've been enjoying the writing style of Darby Harn since Ever The Hero and this was what I was looking for from the author. I enjoyed how good the story was and enjoyed getting to know Astra Idari as a character. It had what I wanted from the genre and it worked well. I can't wait to read more from Darby Harn.

"He gently moves my hand away. “The Taker of Names has no use for me among his crew, old man. When I die…” Binja casts a despairing glance at the tired and dirty people cluttering the narrow pass ahead. “I’ll be as this lot. Unwanted. Cast off. Nameless.” “It’s all just poppycock, anyways. There isn’t any great corsair in the sky, Binja. No eternal crew pillaging the realms of Setnalon.” “You remember more than you think.”