27 Hours is not a straightforward review. For the most part, I adored the diversity, the character’s personalities, and the fact that there is some broader alluded to conspiracy. But at the same time, there was discomfort as well lurking in there.

So the thing I enjoyed the most from 27 Hours was the amount of diversity in terms of sexuality. We have some bi-sexual, gay, lesbian, asexual, and trans characters in the main cast and side crew as well. Not only that, but these factors impact their character and are discussed in the book. Yet at the same time, they never overshadow their actual personalities. And here enters my first little caveat. While some of these characters are also diverse in terms of race, this never impacts their actual storyline or is discussed really in depth. The only real discussion is that because of their life on the moon, there are no discussions of race because those relations are seen as more ancestral - since people don’t have connections to it anymore.

Not to mention, this book is straight up action. It starts from page one and leaves you at the end, feeling like you’re run a marathon - and you have. And so have the characters. This 27 hour novel is a marathon of action, new realizations, and confusion. The characters have to grow and challenge their misconceptions of their world - to fight through the ‘business as usual’ mindset to question their society. And I enjoyed that aspect, but for me because it was paired with this intense rhetoric against the native species, it felt uncomfortable. There are very real prejudices of colonization - an intense us versus them mindset. But also in a real way. There’s no denying that pieces of that rhetoric is present in our society.

27 Hours celebrates sexual diversity in a plot that will keep you running and guessing from page one. There are some problems with the book - the lack of racial representation and the colonization narrative - but there is also a huge potential, one that I think could blossom in the next book. To me, the sequel has even more promise, not even because of the characters and their relationships.

I was extremely happy to receive an early copy of this book, especially after hearing so many great things about it. Unfortunately this did not end up being the book for me.

When the human race travelled to an abandoned moon, the first thing they did after colonization was build a lake. What they didn't know, is that during their building, they flooded the nest of the Chimera, an ancient species that has lived on this moon for many years. The war between the two species over the land has gone on since the beginning, but when the Chimera attack Hub2, Rumor ends up being the only survivor, and he relays the message that everyone in his colony are dead, and the rest of the Chimera will start a war within the next 27 hours.

This book was so good... yet so bad at the same time. It definitely had huge potential and possibly with a few minor changes, this book could have been even better. Lets break the reasons down.

The characters. This book follows four points of view. Three boys and one girl. Three colonists and one member of the human group living in the forest that is neutral between the war. Right off the bat, it felt really weird to have four points of view, without having at least one of them actually be a chimera/gargoyle, so we only get to see their side of the story from the colonists/forest group's point of view.
The thing I really liked about these characters was the diversity. Each main character is so unique and different, not only based on their background, but also on their sexuality. While I'm not a member of the glbt community, which means that my opinion here may not be the best, I really enjoyed the diversity of the main characters, and I thought that this part of the story was very well written.
On the other hand, I couldn't find myself actually get connected with any of the characters. The way the author wrote about the characters and what they were doing, they just didn't feel like real people to me, I couldn't connect with any of the characters, they just felt very flat. The POV was switching so rapidly that they all eventually just blurred into one, and I found myself forgetting who's voice I was reading in. I think, with a little more time and effort into each character I could have enjoyed it a lot more.

The world-building is where I had the most problems with this book. So this story is set about 200 years into the future, and it is set on a "moon" where it is light for 27 hours and then dark for 27 hours. The author has mentioned multiple times that the colony of humans on this planet has over the years merged into one. There are no races, no discrimination against skin colour, and everyone eventually learned a common language and now this is the only language that the humans speak. Having said all this, the book focuses a lot on ethnicity and where each character comes from, and while its not passed off in a racist way, it is still very important to the characters. To me, it seems like either the author got lazy in descriptions and just chose describe their characters as "half Nigerian and half Portuguese" to make it easier for herself, or this "world" that she's created has some major flaws in it.
The second thing that I absolutely could not stand about this world was the colonization part. You're telling me that a race of humans, which in 200 years is able to find a habitable planet, find people and technology to travel there and create cities in that short amount of time, has completely forgotten their history on Earth about colonization? These people must have obviously been extremely smart, since they were able to do so much in such little time, yet its like they've never had a history lesson in their life. The humans on this planet have completely colonized the land, and basically taken it away from the Chimera which have lived there for much longer. Ie, basically how Europeans colonized the Americas. Every history lesson will teach you that eventually the indigenous community fought back, and tons of lives were lost. The worst thing is, is that the humans on this planet are completely oblivious to what they have done. They treat the land like it belongs to them, and rather than trying to make peace with the Chimera, or at least respect their culture, they chose to act in war and portray the Chimera as monsters that must be killed on sight.
One last note on the world-building/writing. This book contains a lot of current day humor, such as slang and even some meme jokes that are currently in our pop culture. This makes no sense to me, especially since this world is set 200 years into the future. Once again, either the author was very lazy and didn't want to create her own slang/jokes, or the editing team didn't notice that the language the characters used did not fit the time frame of this story.

The pace of this story is another area where I had problems with. The action in this story starts right away, like definitely within the first 5 pages of the story. While I usually like action to start early on in books to make it entertaining, this was just a bit too early. I would have at least liked to learn more about the characters before everything happened.
With a beginning like this, I assumed the story will be action packed and keep the reader entertained throughout the whole story, and while I was right about there being tons of action, I wasn't engaged in the story at all. I think this was mostly because I couldn't connect to the characters and the fact that the writing style of the author contained excessive descriptions and lots of unnecessary details. After a few chapters I found myself skimming sections just to get to the dialogue, and only pausing during the important parts of the story.

Overall, I still want to give this book two stars because I think this book can be really important due to its huge range of diversity. If you're interested in this book, borrow a copy first and if you find yourself connecting with the main characters and enjoying the story after a few chapters then keep reading, otherwise I'd recommend just giving up, because if you don't like the beginning, then it will not get better for you.

<p>Centuries in the future, the colonization of a distant moon has led to war with the chimera, an indigenous species. &nbsp;The chimera see the humans as parasitic invaders while the colonists believe that the chimera are a violent, bloodthirsty, savage race of monsters. &nbsp;A small group of teenagers may be the only ones who have what it takes to bring the war to an end.</p><p>Enough people have gone over the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1873444239?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1">plot</a> and the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1523690254?book_show_action=true&amp;from_review_page=1">writing</a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1765510160?book_show_action=true&amp;from_review_page=1">style</a>, so I don’t really feel like I need to do that in my review. &nbsp;I’ve also seen a ton of conflicting reviews of this book, so how about an interview-style review?</p><p><b>Was this the&nbsp;best book of 2017?</b><br>No.</p><p><b>Was this&nbsp;the worst book of 2017, like OMG how did&nbsp;it get published?</b><br>Also no.</p><p><b>Is this&nbsp;basically Tumblr: The Novel?</b><br>Yes, most definitely.</p><p><b>Is there a really diverse cast of characters?</b><br>In some ways, yes. &nbsp;In other ways, not really. &nbsp;All of the major characters are LGBT. &nbsp;There are also a number of&nbsp;POC, but&nbsp;the&nbsp;various&nbsp;cultures from Earth have&nbsp;kind of blended together in this futuristic society, so&nbsp;race doesn’t play a big role in the&nbsp;book.</p><p><b>Was it sometimes a struggle to keep reading this book?</b><br>Yes, but I think that’s mostly related to other things going on in my life. &nbsp;It’s no&nbsp;fault of the book.</p><p><b>Did I consider DNFing?</b><br>No, I was too invested in Rumor/Jude.</p><p><b>Would I read the sequel?</b><br>Maybe? &nbsp;I’m honestly not sure that a sequel is really necessary.</p><p><b>Was there sometimes too much going on?</b><br>Yes, for sure. &nbsp;Sometimes I’d get distracted while reading and have no idea what was going on. &nbsp;After going back and re-reading, I’d find that approximately eighteen things had happened over the last two pages. &nbsp;The pacing could be off sometimes, but it wasn’t a bad book.</p><p><b>Why did I give this book four stars?</b><br>Because three wasn’t enough and five was too many. &nbsp;I’m not even being sassy -- that’s my subjective opinion. &nbsp;I appreciate what Wright tried to do here and while I don’t think that she’s written the next Hunger Games or Harry Potter, I think she’s written a book that will resonate with a lot of kids and may be some much needed representation for teenagers who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender, or asexual.</p><p><b>I received a free ARC of <i>27 Hours </i>from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.</b></p>

I was super excited to be approved for this ARC as 27 Hours has been on my TBR for a long while now - for the most part, it lived up to my expectations! <3

I'll get the few negatives out of the way first. For me personally, there were too many POV characters and I did get a little mixed up as to whose perspective we were in, especially when we didn't really know our cast that well and I couldn't distinguish between a couple of the male characters. This meant when their chapter started, I had to pick up situational cues to remember where we'd last left off with that character and figure out what was going on. And once that hurdle was overcome, there was still the matter of remembering the relationship between different combinations of the six protagonists. I needed a mental Venn diagram to try and keep track of who meant what to whom!

FYI, this was my way of making sense of the cast - at the center, we have Rumor and his ex-girlfriend Dahlia, whose best friend and love interest is Nyx. Their friend Braeden trades sassy banter with Trick, whose brother is Jude, who is Rumor's love interest. Ta-da! 

The other major issue for me was that there was a central conspiracy winding throughout the story which was never resolved. The title of 27 Hours is a literal countdown with a couple of chapters showing what our heroes are doing from one hour to the next, meaning they don't have a lot of time to puzzle things out, but I don't understand why they don't ask more questions and demand answers when they encounter important figures who influence the chain of events. They throw around some snide accusations and air petty grievances, but don't cut to the heart of the matter, which doesn't seem realistic to me. 

There is something deeper and more sinister at play leading up to the devastating attack on Rumor's home, and we find out about key players in this attack later in the novel, but the logistics and motivations for it don't make sense to me and it isn't really explored. I won't go into spoilers, but if you take note of Eric's father saying 'It wasn't supposed to happen like this' in the first chapter like I did, just know that it never gets explained, so you may as well put it out of your head! (but seriously WTF?!)

Onto the positives - SO MANY QUEER PROTAGONISTS! Sick of the straight white default heroes? You won't find any here! Role call - bisexual Rumor, gay Jude, bisexual Dahlia, pansexual Nyx and asexual Braeden! The latter has two moms, who play a minor but recurring role in the story as well. CUE THE FLAILING OF JOY.

I'm at the point where I get giddy when a mere side character is hinted or *gasp* confirmed to be LGBT+ because I expect the least from literature and the media, so to have a book where all the main cast are queer is pure heaven to me. My heart exploded and I raced through this in two long binge-reading sessions over two consecutive nights because I couldn't stop myself. I wasn't going to linger and savor the experience, I was going to GORGE ON THIS FEAST.  

I adored all the characters, which is so rare to me! Often I find teenagers annoying (which makes my penchant for reading YA hilarious and self-defeating) and I sometimes end up struggling to finish a book because I can't stand the main character. But all these kids were endearing and lovable!

I enjoy the intersection between YA and speculative fiction because that removes the tendency for the focus to be all about the romance and provides an interesting backdrop that allows for action and suspense, and 27 Hours delivers on all fronts. Growing up on Sahara with the long-standing conflict between the chimera and humans meant they didn't have the luxury of a pampered childhood and gave them all a maturity and clarity of focus that made them easy to root for. There was the right amount of romance, but the kids weren't ruled by their hormones and were mature enough to focus on survival and saving the day first and foremost! 

I also loved that the author's focus wasn't solely on the romantic interactions between the main cast, but also delved into the friendship between the teens, whether long-established or newly developed. Braeden was an outstanding character in that respect - being ace, it would've been easy for him to fade into the background and for the author to center the attention on Nyx and Dahlia's friends-to-lovers arc or Jude and Rumor's complicated dynamic as star-crossed lovers divided by ideology. But no, Braeden got ample time to shine and frequently stole the show with his witty quips and easy banter with everyone he met.  We had some touching moments, like Braeden seeking out Trick to give him support or Dahlia offering a hug and comfort to Jude, which was lovely.

I also appreciated that Nyx was shown to be alternately jealous of Colt and Rumor as these boys had romantic connections to Dahlia, because that's all too human, of course a girl caught in the throes of a secret crush would resent her 'competition' - but she wasn't petty enough to act on it and acknowledged that Dahlia was free to date as she wished since Nyx was too timid to admit her feelings. All too often we're encouraged to dislike and root against the 'threat' to the book's OTP, but even a minor character like Colt was developed far more than the typical throwaway ex-boyfriend role. 

Potential Issues

There was a very in-depth and detailed analysis of the racial representation by Aimal on goodreads. Speaking purely for myself, when I was reading this story, I didn't identify the problematic nature of the racial politics and implications thereof - after taking a look at Goodreads, I can see that the author inadvertently incorporated some dynamics that could be offensive or inflammatory, for eg. the white characters being the ones to advocate for the indigenous species and arguing against colonialism. Bad optics, to say the least. 

There's also a lot of discussion about how the multiracial representation is tokenism at its finest because a couple centuries after migrating from Earth, people of all ethnicities have become separated from their heritage and no longer speak their native language or observe their cultural traditions, and everyone has instead adopted a Westernized lifestyle. I can understand why other readers find this hard to believe and scoff at how the characters trot out a brief bio about their background with no connection to it, for eg.

“My mom was Indian. Like India. My dad was… He was Portugese and Nigerian. I only know because we had a school project to see what, if anything, we’d kept from our Earth ancestors.”

However, personally, I relate all too well - people ask me all the time about my heritage as I'm obviously not white. My rote response is, 'I'm half-Fiji-Indian, 7/16ths Samoan and 1/16th German.' I don't speak any of those languages anymore - I grew up bilingual, fluent in Hindi and Samoan, but once I learned English and spoke it more frequently, I forgot the other two. I moved to Australia when I was 10 and have no ties to my cultural heritage. So it's all too easy for me to see how humans would become more homogenous once they migrate into space and are born and raised away from the countries and cultures that would define them here. I'm a walking testament to how that works, so it never crossed my mind when I was reading 27 Hours to question why the characters would disclose that they're Nigerian, Cuban, Afro-Latinx, etc. and not display any characteristics in the context of those cultures.

Obviously we need better representation for people of all ethnicities and this is taking the easy way out, but I don't think the author is wrong for it. You do have second or third generation Australians, Americans, Brits, etc. who are from diverse backgrounds but have thoroughly assimilated into Western society, and my view is that our protagonists are the equivalent here. I'm not going to argue that Tristina Wright couldn't have done better, because after reading the issues others have raised, I can definitely see that, but from my corner, I don't have a problem with what she's put on the page. 

In Summary

Things I didn’t like:  too many main characters when it may have been better to trim the fat so we could get to know a few protagonists a lot better, as well as unresolved plotlines with questions raised that were never answered, leaving the political landscape very hazy and confusing.

Things I liked: ALL THE QUEER TEENS <3 A variety of relationships both romantic and platonic, plus imaginative world-building with a very original setting and conflict.

To be honest, it took me longer than normal to read this book. That's not a bad thing. I think it's somewhat normal for me with sci fi and fantasy, but I also think I was in a bit of a reading slump. The first 40% went slower than I liked, but the last 60% was fast paced which really helped me out.

I loved all the people, but also the chimera in ths book. Rumor was probably the hardest to like, but I understood his anger. Rumor watched his mom die from "monsters" when he was young and then watched as gargoyles, hellhounds, and dragons destroyed his home and everyone on it. He was raised by his father to kill and not trust.

My absolute favorites in the book were Jude and Braeden. Jude was just sweet. He's that kind of guy you can't help but love. Braeden has that sarcastic personality that I like so much. But he was also loyal with a good heart.

There was plenty of diversity in this book. I don't know that anyone was really straight and that was nice. The sign language was also a pleasant surprise that really added to the story. I really liked how Nyx could feel the vibrations from the moon.

The chimera and the history were the best parts of the book. Human arrived from earth and took over their land. Obviously some similarities there to real life. There was a lot of action in 27 Hours. Plenty of blood and a little romance here and there. But I found that the focus was more on friendship of the group. They were a family and each one would protect the others with their lives. I panicked a few times and even cried during one scene.

I'm glad there will be another book. I can't wait to find out what happened. There were a lot of betrayals in this one and I want to know who we can really trust.

I gave this book 4 stars. Thank you to Entangled Teen and Netgalley for the chance to read this one early.

Well.

Hmm.

This review is going to be really hard to write, and I almost regret having accepted the ARC because then I wouldn't really be obligated to write this review. I do want to say that I know this book will be important to people. I know that it is important to people. But, it also has to be known that, while Tristina was looking to be inclusive, she may have overlooked some rep she wrote, and the nuances that go into writing them.

I want to start with the positive, though, so I'll get to the rep further into the review.

Tristina's writing was lyrical with interspersed metaphors and similes that added to the atmosphere of the moon, known as Sahara. Her descriptions and imagery were top notch, and I often found myself entranced with the setting solely from the writing. The action scenes were intense and heart-pounding, although there was a few times when I was confused with what limb was doing what. Despite that, I was engaged with the action and story, and wanted more.

27 Hours starts out with a heart-stopping fight scene, and it barely slows down from there. There are a few spots where you're heart can go back to beating at a normal speed, but they are fairly brief. As much as I loved the fast-pace, there were times when I was confused on the world-building because Tristina hadn't taken the time to slow down and develop her setting. The descriptions were there, and were beautiful, but I didn't know what the descriptions were relating to or why what she was describing mattered.

Probably the best part of this book was the characters. I adored every last one of the characters, even the bad guy. Just as before, the descriptions left nothing to be imaged for most if not all of the characters. Reaper's description was really fitting. Rumor and Jude were just *clenches fist* perfect. Dahlia and Nyx were beautiful. Braeden and Trick were lovely. Yi-Min, Kai, George, Angel, Vala, Bailey, and Sara were all amazing characters, and they were all amazingly developed. I can't remember reading this many developed and well-rounded characters in one novel, and it's really impressive that Tristina took the time to develop all of them.

But. The rep. There's a lot of it, and not all of it is perfect. The rep I can come up with just as I'm writing this review is: Deaf, pansexual, asexual, bisexual, Indian, Nigerian, Latinx, non-binary, and transgender. Since I'm not every single one of these sexualities, genders, or ethnicities, I won't be commenting on all of them. I will be linking other reviews though.

My biggest, biggest problem is with the gender rep. I originally heard of this book because of the trans and non-binary rep, and the way people were putting it--they were saying that one of the main characters was non-binary. That is wrong. One of the main characters is trans, but not non-binary. Now, the non-binary rep that is there, though, isn't exactly non-binary rep. Is a character really non-binary if they just use neutral pronouns? They were never confirmed non-binary, unlike every other ID in the novel. Is this really the non-binary rep that was promised? There was another non-binary character, and by that I mean another character that used neutral pronouns (but who wasn't "human".)

Now, minor spoilers, but I think it's kind of important. Take note: there's two characters who use neutral pronouns, and one trans character. One of them dies, and the other two were mortally wounded. Only one other character got an injury of that scale. Another thing that really bothers me is that every character is described in detail . . . except the character with neutral pronouns.

Then there was the ace rep. The rep was really stereotypical, and rubbed me the wrong way. While I loved Braeden as a character, his aceness focused on him not wanting sex/never having sex, rather than sexual attraction. Ann Elise Monte has a much more thorough review on this, which can be found here.  As someone on the ace-spectrum, I was a little . . . confused with Braeden's rep.

Last thing. Which, basically most reviews of this book will be linking considering the content. 27 Hours centers colonialist points of view, and basically ignores the indigenous race that lived on Sahara. Yes, the story is to stop the war, but the fact that all four points of views were from humans was a little meh. Aimal's review here talks about it more in-depth, and it's very eye-opening. 

I wanted to love this book. I wanted to fall in with the hype, and have a new favorite book, but it just didn't happen. I love Tristina for all the work she does in the YA community, but she still has some learning to do.

Final Rating: ★★★☆☆

Overall?

I'm being generous with my rating, considering everything I mentioned in this review. But just as I said before, I know that this book is going to be important to people, and that it already is. The story and the characters were phenomenal, but Tristina still has work to do with her representation attempts. Hopefully later on, when she's learning from her mistakes, then we'll see.

Would I Recommend?

Yes, because it's a good book. Just be aware that some of the representation can be harmful, and that the plot itself might be insensitive to indigenous peoples.

27 Hours is one of those books I kept seeing on NetGalley and GR and just scrolled past it for whatever reason until I finally read the blurb and nearly punched myself because I ALMOST MISSED THIS WTF IS WRONG WITH ME. This book is equal parts epic and flawed though.

Okay so clearly this has to be the most diverse book to ever be published and correct me if I’m wrong on this, all the kudos and all the YASES for writing a book that is so inclusive and just a huge rainbow in space, oh my book feels how much I loved these characters.

Rumor Mora is a bisexual, multiracial boy with a Nigerian/Portuguese dad and an Indian mom.
Dahlia is a afrolatinx bisexual trans girl.
Jude is a gay boy with a gay brother.
Nyx is a Deaf pansexual Cuban.
Braeden is an asexual boy with lesbian moms.
I mean, YAS BOOK YAS. But the most amazing part was that these characters were not there just to check a diverse box or to simply add diversity, these characters are all equally important to the story and they each drive the plot forward. Plus I love how they interacted with each other, I couldn’t get enough of their funny dialogue and snark, they really became a huge group of friends in the end, I love the friendships here! And there’s a lot of romance going on that was just so epic and adorable.

The story starts with an attack to a HUB2 which I still don’t know what that is, Rumor is the only survivor and after the attack he is being taken care of. The attack is the first of many to follow and our characters team up to try to stop it before daybreak. Don’t want to spoil much but from the moment I opened the book till the last page I never once took my eye off the pages. 27 hours to daybreak and the story takes the readers on a thrilling ride of explosions, diplomacy, love and new friendships.

Two of the biggest issues I had with the story was

the language: the language the characters are using is very 2017. It’s really hard to believe that 400 years from now people from all over the world, living in a colonized Moon will use words like y’all and speak perfect English because that’s supposed to be the default language? I don’t think so.
And the fact that it’s a story about a colonized Moon and the main characters are fighting with the gargoyle chimera that occupied the planet. PEOPLE. COLONIZED. A. MOON. AND. ARE. FIGHTING. WITH. THE. INDIGENOUS. PEOPLE. OF. THE. AREA. WHICH. JUST. HAPPENED. TO. BE. GARGOYLE-LIKE. CREATURES.

I mean, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT ABOUT? Some of the reactions and the hatred towards the chimera come from the main character, Rumor, who is of Nigerian decent and it made this part mind-blowing.

The world building is very hard to put into words and I have big gaps which need more info since it was hardly analyzed, for a Sci-Fi book there wasn’t a lot of Sci-Fi going on here and I’m looking forward to more of that on the second one since I have tons of questions and I need some damn answers.

Overall, the characters are what makes this book so amazing to read, they each have their own unique personalities that shine in the middle of a very under-developed and confusing sci-fi story.

"27 Hours" is an intriguing YA sci-fi/action/adventure about several teens living on a colony in space called Sahara. Sahara is actually a moon which was inhabited by different species before humans came to colonize it. Most humans live in cities around a central "Hub" (colonists) although some have left the cities to live in the wilderness at peace with the indigenous species. There is a long (27 hours) nightside which is followed by dayside. The intelligent life lives in tunnels underground during dayside and is only able to surface during nightside. The book follows several teens during a nightside cycle when war is heating up between the indigenous species and humans.

Immediately, the book begins with an attack on Hub2, where Rumor lives with his father. The gargoyles (as colonists call them- they prefer to be called Chimera) are attacking and we are thrust into the action of a brutal battle. As the book continues, we slowly gather the pieces of this new world and what is going on. It is somewhat reminiscent of themes of human history with colonists and conquerors across Earth viewing indigenous people as lesser (and even giving them names that they do not like/would not choose for themselves). The Chimera are clearly intelligent, although viewed as savage animals that humans must wipe out. The teens slowly begin to learn more about them as the book continues. However, battle after battle/action scene after action scene leads us to slowly get world-building/information about the new world and species that inhabit it. The Chimera seemed like an afterthought, and while we learn a little about them, we don't learn much.

I think it's pretty rare that a book seems way too fast-paced, but I felt this book was too much like an action movie and not enough like a sci-fi book. We run from battle to battle without much pause for breath or knowledge (and it's a really fascinating world that the author has created with new species and new context for humanity). There are a huge cast of characters, many of which I wish we got to know better, as we are bounced between many characters and don't quite settle on one or two as main. There are two major romances, one of which has (unobserved) context and the other which was insta-love. We observe both romances escalate at the same times/same places in the book during a brief pause in battles/action; to the point where it almost felt like it just seemed like time for all the romance to happen. I think I would have preferred one main couple to root for and follow on this journey with more background information. I also would have loved to learn more directly from the Chimera, perhaps with sections directly from their perspectives, as I felt they were a little glossed over for such a complex species and for being the "enemy" with a side that is perhaps even more valuable to hear in this war (it was their world first and humans began by killing a lot of them upon arrival).

Overall, I personally wish there had been more world development and less action, but fans of action/adventure may love this focus! One of the great things about this book was the inclusion of so many diverse characters (it would also have been interesting to include more background on the evolution of the human race to arrive at this future). Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Where do I even begin with this book? There were so many positives, I don't think I could even begin to mention them all. First off, I have to shout out for all the representation in this book. I'll discuss more what each character is but it's so incredibly awesome that an author would find a way to organically fit in all this representation. It wasn't forced. The characters' sexuality wasn't a plot twist. It felt legit and I can accept that.

This book takes place over the course of 27 hours, which is how long the night last on this planet. I don't think I could even sleep for 27 hours no matter how tired I was. I thought this was a cool aspect though. I also really liked the reimagination of gargoyles, dragons and chimeras.

The POVs are from Rumor, who is a gay teen and is very angry. Jude, a gay teen that can see colors (almost like auras) surrounding people. Nyx, a Deaf pansexual lesbian. Braeden, an asexual teen boy. Each brought something to the table and not just their sexuality. Each character had distinct personalities and they were all incredibly likeable.

Nyx was my favorite. I simply loved this little human. She is Deaf and is not afraid to let people know that they shouldn't be taking around her. She appreciated any and all attempts of communication, even if they didn't know how. She didn't freak out if they did something wrong. She loved the fact that they were trying. I think I loved that most about her. She didn't let her Deafness hinder her. You will be seeing her on my top 10 favorite females after Hermione.

I really appreciated all the work Tristiana Wright went into helping the reader understand pansexuiality and asexuality. I'm going to be honest and say that the terms did confuse me even though I tried my hardest to understand. I now understand a little bit better. If I could have one teeny tiny complaint, it's that I would have loved a Dahlia POV. She would have brought a little extra to the table and plus I just love her and Nyx. Overall, you really can't go wrong by reading this book!

The ensemble cast in this is really poorly served by the pacing, there are about twice as many characters as can be fit into and developed well in the amount of space this book contains. Also, I feel that by hand-waving away racism and homophobia and Cissexism the author has robbed herself of a chance for depth in the plot--a cast of black and brown queer kids interacting with colonized aliens SHOULD be very interesting, but because Wright has chosen to erase racial politics and individual cultures in favor of a monolithic western-assimilated "human" culture (which is a science fiction trope I REALLY dislike) and also has no mention of homophobia or transphobia, the interactions feel very shallow and the diversity of the cast feels more like a veneer than anything more than skin-deep coloring. I was actually deeply disappointed in this book despite a few very nice character moments. There's a really sweet introduction of a trans character, and a nice moment where a Deaf character reminds her friend that she can't read her lips if she turns away, but a lot of the identity introductions felt clumsy, and I didn't get a good sense of anyone's personality except that Rumor is angry and also kinda hypersexual, which, considering he's black, was maybe not better than no personality at all. I don't know, I really wanted to like this but it just doesn't come together for me at all.

Rumor loves his friend Jude. One loves monsters, one kills them.
Nyx loves her best friend Dahlia but can't tell her.
Braeden Tennant wants answers.
One night on their planet lasts 27 hours. In this time they need to stop a war. Battling sci fi's answer to gargoyles and dragons can these friends stop the threat of extinction.
Love, terror, and friends bonding in a unique read. Definitely worth a try.

The premise of this book is clever, but the relationships and overall plot are lacking.

Humans live on a new moon, and they are at constant war with chimmeras (or gargoyles as a human monster name for them). It showcases that humans are humans are humans and that we love to wage war and to win. We love to conquer, and indigenous people get the brunt of our might and cruelty. The entire cast of main characters is made up of underrepresented people with multiple references to sexuality and dark skin so that you cannot possibly slip into a reading habit of assuming what they look and act like. I think the point was to show that humans will be humans by pointing out the good and the strength in the colonies while never shying away from the oppressive way they attack the chimmeras. The action sequences were done well, but the relationships and the character building was flat at best, and thin at worst. Plus, it was incredibly obvious that the plot was less important than the cast of characters' identities which, honestly? Leads to a pretty bland science fiction read in the end.

It is important to note that I am a cis, straight, white person. So while I can appreciate the diversity, I cannot fathom the incredible importance of having it in a book for teenagers. But because the story itself floundered and got lost, the diversity is the only thing that stands out here. Thus, the book gets three stars for trying. It's a start.

Rumor is bisexual, and a Nigerian, Portuguese, Indian.
Nyx is my favorite because she is Deaf. (Captial D here, people. The author paid attention to Deaf culture and used ASL throughout the book.) She is also pansexual and Cuban.
Dahlia is of African and Latinx decent and a transgender young woman.
Braeden is asexual and was raised by two mothers.
Jude was adopted and raised by two brothers (who are both people of color and queer).

Please don't discount this book--it doesn't do everything right, but it does a pretty great job of showcasing differences while still making them normal teenagers. This is so important in YA.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tristina Wright, and Entangled Publishing for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me with advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review*

Rating: 4/5 stars

This book follows the stories of many teens, most importantly Rumor, Jude, Nyx and Braeden. It is set over a 27-hour period (hence the title) where they must prevent a war from happening between humans and gargoyles. It is set on an fantasy planet in space and the main characters are all part of the LGBT community.

I had begun hearing a lot about it on social media and I knew that I had to read it. I was drawn in by the queer representation and let me tell you: it did not disappoint! There were so many different representations, I was absolutely thrilled. To name a few there were bisexuality, pansexuality, and ace represented in the main characters. I find this to be so important both to the young adults this book is targeted towards and for anyone who wishes to see their sexuality represented in YA. They were represented well and accurately, which also made me super happy! I could sort of guess where the relationships would go once the characters were introduced, but it didn’t make the book any less enjoyable and the interactions between the characters were lighthearted but meaningful. I found the romances in this story not forced at all and I really loved Nyx and Delilah’s romance throughout the story. Nyx had to be my favorite character in this book: she was so innocent and sweet, afraid that Delilah wouldn’t feel the same way. At the same time, she was such a strong character and proved to be one of the few that ‘saved’ the day. I also liked Jude. A lot. I was confused as to his part in the plot at first but really grew to love him. His power had to be the coolest thing I’ve read lately, though: he is able to sense people’s auras, a little bit like an empath, I would describe it as. He sees them in colors, like synesthesia, and that was such a cool addition into the story. It also plays a part in his relationships with the other characters, such as Rumor. Finally, I would add that Braeden is fantastic comic relief. I laughed out loud a few times at some of his lines and his bravery is truly something courageous. The characters were extremely relatable and I thought that their romances were woven in nicely with the rest of the story and both elements were given equal attention, so one did not dominate the other.

All this being said, I feel that it was a little hyped up for me. I didn’t receive the 5-star read that I was expecting but I think that was due to my personal taste. I didn’t care for the gargoyles as the monsters/villains in the story: they just didn’t seem to fit in. The premise of the book is definitely interesting to me and I did enjoy how it was told. The story was set on a planet and I wished that it had incorporated more space elements, such as a new alien race. Gargoyles and humans at odds with each other in space didn’t really work for me. I also wanted to know more about the humans that lived in the forest! We got a glimpse with characters such as Jude, but I wanted to know more about their way of life and their history with the gargoyles. I expect that it will be expanded on in the next book but it was an element that tied the whole story together so it was important to me. I also think that the alternating POVs were a bit confusing to me. I would have preferred a third-person POV because there was a lot of jumping around between narrators that threw me off at some points and I had to go back to check whose chapter it was. But, that being said, I found the book to be gripping and I read it all in one sitting! I have to add that the cliffhanger in this book killed. me. Oh my gosh, I almost threw my iPad across the room! It was so good and left me sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering what’s going to happen in the next book. I love/hate (love) when books do this and this was no exception.

I would recommend this book to those who are looking for a diverse representation of the LGBT community as well as who love stories about a group of teenagers that triumph against all odds. Also, for those who are fans of Star Trek because I got a very Trekkie vibe from this.

Thank you netgalley for this fantastic arc for an honest review. It was something I usually like and don't usually like all in one, but I fell in love with this story and Tristina Wright's writing skills. It was magical.