Emily Skrutskie's Hullmetal Girls is what I've been wanting to see from YA science fiction for what feels like forever! A lot of the "science fiction" YA books I've read in the last several years have been more science fantasy, or they've been shelved in the adult science fiction/fantasy section, which can keep titles out of view of their targeted audiences. And I'm happy to say that I absolutely LOVED Hullmetal Girls.

Emily calls it her "standalone sci-fi Battlestar/Pacific Rim/Sens8/Snowpiercer frolic affectionately known as Cyborg Space Jam" and in addition to loving the premise of it before, seeing her own blurb of it made me want to read it even more. It definitely lives up to that tagline, and I also can't tell you how much I love that it's a standalone. I sometimes feel a little burnt out on series, so knowing that this is it for these characters made me get that much more invested in the story.

Hullmetal Girls will make you think about bodies, about the role of bodies and physical forms in society versus what's going on in your mind or someone else's (or, daresay, a collective), and about challenges and consequences do to the spirit before, during, and after action or inaction. I loved that the cyborg aspect had a little bit of alien/artificial intelligence thrown in and that the body modifications ended up being more of a symbiosis kind of meld rather than the body merely being a host for the implants and modifications.

If you liked Kameron Hurley's The Stars Are Legion (which, SPOILER ALERT, that's one of my favorite science fiction books ever), Hullmetal Girls is something you need to add to your TBRs immediately because the styles and themes are very much riding on the same wavelengths. RIGHT NOW! Go preorder it! I'm buying myself a physical copy too!

"Hullmetal Girls" eBook was published in 2018 (July) and was written by Emily Skrutskie (http://skrutskie.com). Ms. Skrutskie has published three books.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story is set in the far future. All that is left of the Human race is aboard a fleet of ships that have been looking for a new home for centuries. The primary characters are young Aisha Un-Haad and Key Tanaka. un-Haad is willing to do anything to save her family. Tanaka doesn't remember how or why she is a Scela.

Un-Haad is willing to do anything to save her family. Tanaka doesn't remember how or why she is a Scela. Un-Haad, on the other hand, volunteered to become a Scela. The Scela are the fleet's enhanced and mechanized soldiers, no longer merely human. Un-Haad sacrificed herself to try and save her little sister and brother. Being new Scela means that they must work hard to get a good assignment. That is the only way that Un-Haad will be able to help her family survive in the rigidly structured fleet society.

She and Tanaka soon find that there is much that has been hidden from them. Much that is hidden from the general population. Their loyalties to the Fleet government begin to waver. Will those in charge ever let a new homeworld be found?

I thought that this was an interesting read of 8.5 hours for this 320 page science fiction novel. All of the primary characters are young women in this story. I would say that it would be something appropriate for Young Adults. The author put together an unusual universe for the story to play out in. I liked the cover art. I give this novel a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

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<blockquote><i>”Humanity will die in the stars.”</i></blockquote> Hoooo boy. So I have this thing that I do where I hype up a book so much in my mind before reading, and then when I read it and it’s not <b>exactly what I pictured</b> I end up hating it and giving it two stars. This book was nothing like what I expected – and yet I still loved it. I loved it so much. And that is a feat in and of itself. <i>Hullmetal Girls</i> is a unique, chilling narrative with so many subliminal messages that, together, conduct a deep and gritty examination of <b>consent</b>, tyranny, and <b>what it means to be human.</b>

First things first – <b>nothing is black and white in this story</b>. The organizations, the dueling sides of this story, and the people who are a part of them are full of some messed-up people who will do what they need to do to get what they want, and that makes it so awesome to read. The characters at the forefront of this novel – Aisha, Key, Praava, and Woojin – are all flawed and human, despite not being entirely human physically.

What really stood out in this novel was <b>character strengths</b>, especially in Aisha and Key. Though I don’t think the dual narratives were handled in the best way, I was intrigued by Key’s background and felt for Aisha and the struggles life has put her through. The two are two sides of the same coin, one coming from nothing and the other coming from everything, and their friendship??? BINCH I CRY EVERYTIME. I LIVE FOR THIS. HATE TO FRIENDSHIP IS MY LIFE.

Though Praava, Woojin, and the other main characters weren’t as developed as Aisha and Key, I still enjoyed reading about them. Another fave of mine was Marshal Jesuit, who is just a full-grade badass. I respect her and I love her.

Also, catch me assigning Hogwarts houses to all the main characters in my head (Praava, the Marshal and Aisha are Slytherins. Woojin is a Hufflepuff. Key is a Gryffindor. I will fight anyone on this).

Also can we talk about the rep in this book???? bc we so should??? In this novel we have:
<blockquote> - an aroace mc
- a pan mc
- a trans girl mc
- literally no one is white
- three of the four main crew are women, and most of the secondary characters are women as well</blockquote>
<b>HELL yeah.</b> Also God is established as using she/her pronouns. <i>God</i>.

I super enjoyed the world-building in this one as well – I never tire of shit in space. Literally give me a book in space and I’ll cry and definitely read it. And this concept was so cool!! Humanity destroyed Earth and has been roaming the galaxy for centuries looking for a new planet…. AND THERE’S CYBORG SUPER SOLDIERS…. And an informal caste system…. If you’re not interested yet why not??

The writing was stunning, and I had a plethora of quotes to choose from. However, the plot was still easy to follow. The plot itself was okay. The concept behind it, as said before, was amazing, but I feel like it could have been better executed.

Every time there was a void jump – I immediately lost interest. It took me, like, three days to get through the first void jump scene and I think it’s because the rest of the book was easy to picture in my mind, but jumping through outer space? I just couldn’t see it. And that made me not want to keep reading.

I also thought the climax of the story was a bit cheap – if it was supposed to be the climax?? <spoiler> For those who’ve read it – I’m referencing the part where the Chancellor orders the scela to kill the rebels and the bracelet doesn’t work.</spoiler> I thought it was so bland and so boring. The middle of the book was so intense and then the last time the tension went up was just, like, so much less intense than the middle of the story, and that soured the ending a bit for me.

However, though the plot itself had its faults, the writing and the characters in this novel <b>fully make up for it</b>. The overarching themes of consent, the tyranny-liberty cycle, and the inevitable corruptness of those in charge are done beautifully. I would recommend this novel to any scifi fans, as well as those who love reading about corrupt governments and interesting, diverse characters.

<b><u>Book trigger warnings: body horror. So much body horror</u></b>

<i>I was provided an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review.</i>

I really enjoyed this book. Emily Skrutskie is now a favorite author of mine and I loved how original this story was. I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, Hullmetal Girls just didn’t live up to my hopes.

I loved the mecha aspect of everything. The author put such thought into her cyborgs – the way the mecha merged with the human, and some of the ways in which it really didn’t.

But our Girls were kind of…bland. They were so…so…angsty/introspective most of the time. (And, BTW, I hated our Hullmetal Boy.)

The worldbuilding was a little slow for my taste. It took forever for me to really even understand the main point of the plot. And, unfortunately, we kind of get into trite YA territory rage against get evil government oh thank god our girl(s) is the ONE (or in this case the TWO).

I just wanted a little more.

So, the mecha kicks butt. But it needed a little more of everything else.

Hullmetal Girls is a bit hard to read especially at the beginning, but it is totally worth it to push through and keep reading. There are not a lot of sff books out there with aromantic asexual characters, and that this science-fiction book has one and she uses the words on the page is great. There was a lot of on the page sexuality, and I loved that. This book was great, and I really liked all the diversity among the main four.

Emily Skrutskie’s Hullmetal Girls is an excellent science fiction novel about two young women, Aisha and Key, who have been made into technology-enhanced soldiers (Scela). Their mission as Scela is to protect the interests of the General Body, the leaders of a group of ships that have been looking for a hospitable planet since the destruction of Earth 300 years ago. Factions in opposition of the General Body believe there may be better ways to find a new homeland. A rebellion is brewing, which may or may not be linked to the Scela in Key and Aisha’s four-person team. Class conflicts, family history, and secrets, many secrets, pit all factions against each other and make friends out of enemies.

I will go on record to say that Hullmetal Girls contains the best descriptions of cyborg integration I have ever read. From the initial surgery to the conflict of wills between the General Body’s orders and the interests of the individual characters, the descriptions are written with great clarity and humanity. The first several chapters are near perfect in setting the tone and establishing the tenor of the novel. In addition to tech enhancements, Skrutskie has written two main characters who are complex, driven, and great role models.

Overall, Hullmetal Girls is excellent YA fiction. Skrutskie expertly combines three science fictions premises: the military sign-up, the fleet looking for a new home, and the making of a cyborg. The author adds complex characters, twisted conspiracies, and fun action sequences. I wish there was writing like this when I was young.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children’s, and Emily Skrutskie for an advanced copy for review.