i enjoyed it, but i felt that at times there was nothing really happening, or that the things happening were rather predictable (oh, look! another monster!) or even not making much sense, such as when rook thought he was a monster for stomping that bat to death - i mean yeah you might have overdone it a bit mate, but at the end of the day it was a herculean beast-thing that tried to eat you.

but it was still a pretty interesting premise - prisoners banished to planet filled with deadly creatures and most don't last three weeks, and rook and stevie's battle to live as long as they could.

overall it was nice, but not good enough for me to recommend.

4.5 stars

Synopsis: Rook is sent to a planet to die as punishment for killing his husband. The prisoners who get sent to the planet act as guards for the miners who are harvesting an important substance. Since all the creatures on the planet, including the dragons, are deadly to humans. Rook is relieved, as he just wants to join his husband.
Rook is partnered with Stevie, who has actually survived for several months planet-side. Stevie teaches Rook how to survive, and although Rook doesn't want to live, he also doesn't want to actively run toward death. In spite of himself, Rook finds himself having feelings for Stevie, but before he can deal with them, the situation on the planet changes, and all Stevie and Rook are trying to do is survive.

What I liked: the world building. Rook was an interesting character, and his grief was delayed since he thought that he would be killed on the planet. Stevie was a fighter and a survivor. The story was well told, and the characters were very memorable.

What I didn't like: the ending felt a little abrupt.

Overall impressions: well written with the right amount of story and background information. Told in 3rd person POV from Rook's perspective.

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

2.5
This book has an interesting blurb. Man gets sent to a prison planet, is partnered with a slightly more experienced prisoner, and feels drawn to him. That’s the basics of the blurb. It’s also the basics of the book. There is almost nothing more to the book than is in the blurb, which is fine, except that the book is 218 pages long. That is nowhere near enough plot to fill 218 pages. Nowhere. Near. Enough. The book is just FAR TOO LONG for the plot points it contains and the last 1/4 or so of it is just almost completely tell about what happens after….well, after the book should have ended.

The copy editing is pretty good, but there are a few consistency problems. (Hopefully those get cleaned up in the final edit. I read an ARC.) But there are some frankly ridiculous occurrences that I can’t really discuss without spoilers—finding things they need conveniently abandoned or knowing things immediately from little available information—that sort of stuff.

OK, this is a spoiler (be warned), but I have to say it, the occurrences and decision that get them off the planet and home was just more than I could believe. The government does not just suddenly decide to let prisoners they’ve convicted to death go free! I don’t care what favor you did or what new information was miraculously discovered.

I do appreciate that Strange death with depression, PTSD and readjustment after the characters went through something traumatic. And I didn’t hate the book. But I think it needed to be pared down quite a bit.

received this book for a review from NetGalley as I already have some of the Zombie series yet to read.
I’ve been drawn to this story and the character Rook. A quiet large man, intelligent and given to quietness, he’s being sent to B226 for the murder of his husband Carlo.
On this planet are a broad range of dangerous creatures that he and a partner are tasked with destroying while miners in caves they protect can work in safety. His partner is a man called Stevie who is small, agile and friendly considering the danger they face daily.
Rook is still grieving quite hard for his husband and at first ignores his attraction to Stevie as he’s not ready.
It’s a slow build but well worth it while Rook deals with his own grief and issues. They have a strong relationship on the planet but it struggles once they are retrieved and back on Earth.
A wonderful book from a great author.

This story had the potential to be something thrilling & exciting(especially based on the blurb) but unfortunately it wasn’t. I doubt this was a romance book(despite the physical intimacy) or even a proper sci-fi book(aside the space travel) as it didn't read like either genres.

It had a great premise: Imagine two prisoners on a far away dangerous, monster-infested , mineral-rich alien planet where the life expectancy of the prison population is 3 weeks or less. What would happen to our MCs and how do they survive? Will they even survive enough to fall in love?

Interesting right? However, there was a disconnect with how the blurb read and how the story actually panned out.

The alien planet in question: B-226, was fascinating at first but the continuous, narration of the day to day lives of the two MCs did more harm than good. It turned the initial fascination into plain boredom for me. I would have been more satisfied with a one-time explanation of what they faced daily, then any exceptions thereafter.

For more than 75% of the book, this routine of the MCs was more or less the same and after the “big event” when I expected a smidge of adrenaline-inducing excitement, nothing happened.

Another opportunity to salvage the story came and went by in the last 3 or so chapters but once again it was squandered.

Also, I didn’t believe any connection the MCs felt went beyond mutual gratitude from watching each other’s backs and seeing each other as avenues for sating their body’s urges.

It seemed that at every point in the story, one MC was tip toeing around the other and would rather be quiet and suffer in silence than communicate, which irked me. They also didn't bother finding out about each other and as such, I as a reader also didn't know much about them.

That above all, was my biggest let down about this book.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5



For killing his husband, Rook is sent to B-226—an alien planet populated by deadly creatures, where the average life expectancy for a prisoner is three weeks. Rook is relieved by the sentence—all he wants is to die and rejoin his husband.

Upon arrival on B-226, Rook is partnered with Stevie, who has beaten the odds and survived for several months. Rook is drawn to Stevie in a way he didn't expect in the aftermath of losing his husband. Before Rook can untangle the mess of his emotions, the already deadly situation on B-226 worsens, plunging Rook and Stevie into an even more desperate struggle to survive.

I'm really of two minds here when it comes to Rook by R. Strange, especially when rating the story, which I really liked.

It really falls into dividing my review and rating into two categories.  The  first being the characters and their relationship  which was excellent.  The second?  The world building and the creatures on planet B-226, none of which actually made any sense.  So lets get the problematic out of the way first and  end with what I loved about Rook.

If you are going to build an alien world, especially one with as important concept as a prison/mining planet whose environment is a death sentence, killing those within days of landfall, the majority lasting only 3 weeks.   With such a featured narrative aspect such as this one, then you need to make it and everything on it solid, well thought out, from the atmosphere, land masses, water features, flora, and yes, fauna.  If you are going to give us superstar killer fauna, explain why the environment produced them and supports them.  Have them make sense physically for the planet and in relation to each other. And once you do that, don't contradict yourself.  As in, yes this creature only comes out in the rain, until oh look, the creature does come out when sunny because you need it to do so for narrative purposes.  And really, with regards to the dragons, which breathed fire, the latter made much more sense to begin with.  Why would fire breathing dragons (why dragons on this world to begin with) only come out when its raining?  Never got that one.  Plus there are cannibalistic flying kite/umbrella bats with three mouths, large reptiles I'm assuming that roll like wheels and much more.  It sounds more like a child's book of wacky creatures than a well thought out naturali history for B-226.  Yes, Strange managed to make those bats scary but in the back of this naturalist's mind was  much on that planet  just wasn't supported from a animal standpoint or in the author's worldbuilding. Why not just one mouth with serrated teeth?  Three is honestly overboard. Does it go to three stomachs?  And for what purpose?  From there my mind wanders to things like poisonous plants, (where are they, its an obvious rainforest...) because it can't be just the fauna that's trying to do you in.

Plus there was the whole thing about the humans smelling so bad that the animals attacked them but wouldn't eat them.  Ok, surely that idea could have been explored more or exploited by scientists employed by the mining corporation or government or whoever.  Develop a scent, etc.  Also all the native animals showed the ability to adapt/outthink the invader/human technology to keep them out.  Yet there is no mention of sentient beings? Smh. Sigh.

And if my mind is trying to fill in the blanks and worrying over the huge holes in the  world building (this is the rarest, coveted,and important mineral in the galaxy and they haven't done any planetary surveys, just sent in the miners?).  More questions than are answered.  Don't give the reader reason for their mind to wander like that.  Supply a well reason, beautifully built universe to begin with and the reader's mind will stay put where it belongs...on the story and the characters.

Well, enough of that.  You get my drift.

What I did like  was T. Strange's character's.  Rook and Stevie, a murderer and thief sentenced to die on B-226.  Again, the author didn't do a great job with their backhistory.  It's muddy for both men.  You never really get the full story   on what happened  in their pasts, just vague hints for Rook enough to piece it together and nothing really for Stevie for them to be sentenced to death.

What makes the story is the day by day building of their relationship, through the stress, fear, isolation, and anxiety of their situation.  They could die at any moment and often are fighting for their lives.  It's those scenes and their dynamics that  the author does well and makes Rook work.  At least until the dragons show up again.  Then its back to questions all over again, one species in one location for the entire planet...etc.  Uh no. Again I'll stop.

So I like the people, not the world.  Sounds about right.  For those that like scify fiction, I think  that Rook by T. Strange is a quick read you might want to check out.  I was given an unedited version so I hope the editor might suggest a few changes.  Check it out and let me know.

Cover by Aisha Akeju is colorful, wonderful and matches the story.