About the nature of love in the presence of barbarity, the story tells of growth, love and courage. The first chapter foreshadows the narrator's last known thoughts, yet we are left with only that voice. A dystopian SF tale.

2 1/2 Stars. Have you ever finished a book and thought "what the hell did I just read?" It has only happened to me once or twice, but it absolutely happened after reading this book. I'm struggling to process what I just read, how to review it, and even how to rate it.

I love lesfic sci-fi, and will happily read any new books in that category that come out. I was really looking forward to this. I'm just so torn. I thought the setting and world building really worked. The book is very fast paced, and I got into it quickly. It isn't overloaded with made up or real scientific terms; I understood everything that was going on.

The characters were so so. The main character absolutely drove me nuts, contrary to her her rank, she wasn't always the sharpest tool in the shed. And when it came to the Captain, she wasn't as captain-ish, as she needed to be. The romance is almost nonexistent, which I felt was a real missed opportunity.

However, my biggest issue is with the ending, if you can call it that. What the heck was that? Can I even call it a cliffhanger? I don't know. Was that the end of the story, or will there be a book 2. The book just ends, like it is missing the last 1/3 of it. The book is short, almost a novella, so it really seemed like the book was just cut off. I absolutely hate this kind of ending, and I came away actually feeling angry about it. I really wish the author would have written Fin, End, The End, or let us know the adventure will continue in book 2. Something, anything, but how this book "ended".

I just can't recommend this. I would have rated this 3 or 3 1/2 stars without the ending, it just ruined it too much for me. I think people that read this will get into this book and enjoy the fast paced story. But there is going to be plenty of people that say, "what the hell did I just read?"

An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.