Great book. Loved the writing style of the author and how the story played out. Never has there been a book like this that captivates you from the very first chapter. A+++++++ job

Fast read, science-fiction/mystery/thriller. This was a good one if you enjoy adventure. I am a fan of Destefano and was happy to read this arc. Good action but would have liked a little more romance. Will be the kind of book my students who enjoy a science fiction read will enjoy. Than you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to netgalley and entangled teen for the option for review this!

First, let just look at this beautiful cover! I loved it. When I seen the cover, I wanted the book so I did base this book of the cover when I first seen it.

This is a futuristic novel. We are also battling aliens on earth. it is a Science Fiction novel which surprised me that I have been leaning toward these lately.

Valiant is a pretty fast pace and action packed book. I give it a strong 4 stars. I loved the world building.

I highly recommend this to strong science fiction lovers.

The Valiant was supposed to save us. Instead, it triggered the end of the world.

Here, we immerse ourselves into a YA Sci-Fi Fantasy Novel, set on Earth - yes, our earth - where everyone has immersed their funds into the Valiant (a space-mining ship), only to have it depart and Aliens invade. This novel is fast-paced, so try keep up!

In the very, very near future (I could still be alive, and that scares me), the second, great-depression has occurred, and with it we are experiencing a drought and energy crisis - all doom and gloom around here. However, Americans have experienced hope in the (aforementioned) Valiant. 

Yet as the ship is taking-flight, Earth is invaded by a race called the Xua - with the ability to possess humans, and turn them on each other, that hope, was fleeting. 

Enter Sara.

17-year-old Sara, finds out her brother, Gabe, is the target of the invasion, and strives to keep him alive, and with the help of TIME TRAVEL - hello plot-twist - Sara has the chance to save the world (a few times really). 

With the intense speed the novel progressed, the plot, world building and characterisation was seemingly weak, yet it had moments of intensity which contrasted to this - where the aliens characterisation was strong enough to make them creepy, and the way their hunt for Sara/Gabe inherently effects other people (perhaps a moral conundrum, is the life of her brother worth the lives of the ENTIRE WORLD, who is dying while they search). 

In all, Merrie has created an intense and intricate novel with thought-provoking connotations.

#Valiant #NetGalley

publisher synopsis: The Valiant was supposed to save us. Instead, it triggered the end of the world.
Earth is in shambles. Everyone, even the poorest among us, invested in the Valiant’s space mining mission in the hopes we’d be saved from ourselves. But the second the ship leaves Earth’s atmosphere, our fate is sealed. The alien invasion begins. They pour into cities around the world through time portals, possessing humans, forcing us to kill one another.

And for whatever reason, my brother is their number one target.

Now the fate of the world lies in the hands of me, a seventeen-year-old girl, but with the help of my best friend, Justin—who’s suddenly starting to feel like more—maybe if we save my brother, we can save us all…

Webs upon webs of mystery and lives upon lives interwoven within them. This novel is so complex, that it has taken me awhile to write a review, and honestly I am still trying to figure out some of the angles and still trying to make since of some of the things that happen. I need the next novel!!!

Great book, one that leaves you continually trying to figure out all the angles.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

This book is fast paced so it won't bore you dragging you thru unnecessary scenes. It's also action packed and will keep you reading at the edge of your seat.

I am intrigued. This arc is not complete, but I am interested in reading a complete copy. I typically don't favor sci-fi, yet the author wrote a compelling story.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

It is 2037 and the world has changed a bit. We have a second depression going on, we have had government programs in which so called genetics were bred for war and we are launching a space ship called Valiant on a space mining mission to a planet called Titan. As soon as Valiant is launched we are in trouble; Earth is invaded by an alien race called the Xua and they are here to kill and destroy. Our main character Sara is the one person who can save the world, all she has to do is to keep her brother alive until sunrise. Seems easy enough right?

There are a lot of things I like about this book, but there are also a couple big things I didn’t really like as much. Let’s get into it.

The beginning of the book got my attention immediately. A lot happens in the first few pages (space travel, alien invasion, time travel or as I read it yes, yaaaaaas, YAAAAAS). As a result of this, the beginning of this book also felt very rushed. Everything happens insanely fast and there seems to be hardly any context to the story.

After this the story never slows down. If you want action packed, this is it. The invasion is relentless and Sara never gives up. As a main character she is great. I liked that she tries her best and actually thinks about everything she does. There are no stupid, unnecessary decisions, which made relating to Sara and the story a whole lot easier. Her group of friends is also everything you could possibly wish for.

There were also a couple of elements that I really liked. The genetics, the skin sites and the Xua were all great additions to the story. I do wish we got a bit more information on all of these things. They were all mentioned A LOT, but to me, stayed rather confusing.

This book is action-packed and incredibly fast-paced which meant that sometimes I had a bit of trouble keeping up. I absolutely love the story and I kinda hope this will be a series or a trilogy, but I do wish it was told a bit differently. A bit more explaining here and there would have been great, because I’m still not sure I completely ‘get it’.

Who doesn't love a good scifi? Especially one that involves aliens and time travel....in the same story! This was a fun read, I enjoyed watching the character development and was intrigued by the choices that had to be made. I loved that it was a fast paced story and had a lot action. I recommend this to my fellow sci-fi fans. I also hope that there is another story in the works...

I really enjoyed this book. It was almost a YA Terminator meets Groundhog’s Day. As the Valiant rocket is ready to launch all of Earth is hopeful that this will help fix the massive depression that the world finds itself in, but all is not what it seems. Instead of a better tomorrow it bring an invasion. Sara watches as all those she loves are killed by aliens. But then one of the aliens offers to save her and help get back her loved ones. Sara learns that the key to saving Earth is to save her brother. So that’s what she goes back in time to try to do…over and over again, but it never seems to work. Now she’s down to her final chance and she realizes she needs her friend’s help, but convincing them there is an alien invasion coming and that she’s traveled through time to warn them is not going to be easy. The story was faced paced and action packed and was even able to fit in some romance.

A sci-fi romance that’s full of pace from start to finish.
Watching those you love die, over and over again, has to be tough. On the day a spaceship is launched that a drought-ridden America hopes will save them, it marks the onset of an attack by an alien race. The Xua want to wipe out humankind, but Sara - a rather ordinary teenager - has been tasked with helping to save the world. She is tasked with trying to train others, and to protect her younger brother.
The actual story gave plenty of rather graphic attacks, and the character of Sara was one you find easy to empathise with.
This was the kind of story that left me with lots of questions, and I’d have liked a little more background, but it was certainly a pacy read.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

"Valiant" is a fast-paced, YA sci-fi/thriller. Set in the future, during the second great depression, Earth has just launched a shuttle called Valiant to go to Titan and mine for resources. Immediately after the shuttle launches, the Earth is attacked by aliens known as Xua. The Xua can turn into smoke and inhabit human bodies, controlling them in a zombie-like state before killing the host. They inhabit and take over humans across the planet in one night, killing so many people.

Sara is a teenager who is hanging out with her friends and brother when the aliens arrive. After they and her brother die, Sara is approached by the alien resistance who can take her back in time. All she knows is that she must keep her brother, Gabe, alive until morning or the human race will be lost forever. After multiple tries and watching her brother and friends die in a number of gruesome ways, Sara is down to her last chance and determined to do everything differently.

The book primarily follows Sara on this final chance. This book was impossible to put down and gave me so many chills. The aliens are intensely creepy and frightening, and I completely got the thriller feel from the way they hunted Sara/Gabe plus the way the killed so many people. As for the characters, I really got into Sara and Justin, her long-time crush and friend who is a "Jenny" (a Genetic or genetically modified IVF person who was created by the military and then never used). The rest of the friends were more secondary. Natalie and Carla seemed pretty interesting, but I didn't get a good feel for Billy or even Gabe. I would have liked to get into the characters more, but with the pulse-pounding action and danger at every turn, I could see why there just wasn't time to do so.

The future presented here also seems pretty interesting, but we only get tidbits due to the more pressing alien invasion. I am definitely hoping to learn more in future books. The ending has some closure but the overall story definitely needs at least one more book- there's a bit of a cliffhanger. I would most certainly like to continue reading, and I absolutely enjoyed/devoured this new book. It was so intense and good- which is why I finished it in less than a day. I highly recommend!

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

“The earth, the moon, the stars, they all stay the same. But we don’t. We change.”

Valiant is a fast-paced novel with non-stop action scenes and horrifying creatures. The readers follow Sara and her friends on their death-defying journey to keep Sara’s younger brother, Gabe, safe from the Xua. The Xua want him for an unknown reason, so Sara and her friends kick some alien butt to keep him safe. The bond between Sara and Gabe was one of my favorite things about this book. I have an older brother and, though Sara’s brother is younger, I would do the same thing if something like this were to happen. I’d protect him and my family at all costs, and I know he would do the same. So, I really liked their relationship and, of course, the exhilarating action scenes.

“And then, I hear the call of death as this planet pulls me onward, toward ashes and fire and a roaring wind that will never stop blowing. I part my lips, and centuries of death pour out. An entire civilization is dying in this moment.”

Anyone that knows me knows that I love a good action scene. Valiant had a ton of phenomenal action scenes; it was action scene after action scene. The action scenes are what really kept my interest. They are so well described and intricate, that I was looking forward to all the chaos the friend group would get into. I especially enjoyed the scenes with the Xua, the alien species. The Xua are interesting and utterly creepy, considering they have the ability to possess human bodies through the mouth. Once a human is taken over by a Xua, that’s it. You’re done for, and there’s no coming back. That, in itself, is scary, so it definitely makes for some good action scenes, as people try to prevent the Xua from possessing them.

“At this moment, I am anything but valiant. I am weak and pitiful and ashamed and broken and defeated.”

Thought I did like the aspect of this book and the action-packed scenes, I had a hard time connecting with the characters, more so Sara and her friends and not Sara’s relationship with her brother. By the end of the book, I had no care for the characters. The story, yes. But the characters did not leave a lasting effect on me. By the middle of the story, I couldn’t care less if a character died or if something bad happened. And that’s not what I wanted to feel. I wanted to connect with these characters; I wanted to feel their pain and their sorrows. But I couldn’t, and I hate saying that. This may not be the case for everyone that reads Valiant, but it was for me. And even though there were some amazing descriptions, I still could not connect. I would love to see more character development in the second book, which I do plan on reading.

But overall, this was not a bad book. I did enjoy the unique storyline, some of the witty banter, and the fascinating history surrounding the Xua. Even though the characters were not really for me, I do want to continue the story, especially with THAT ending.

Do I recommend? Yes, especially for those readers that love plot-driven and action-packed stories.

Valiant lands in bookstores December 4, 2018.

Thank you to the publishing company for sending an advanced e-copy for me to read and write an honest review! All quotes are from the advanced e-copy and may not appear in the final novel.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Valiant was a pretty interesting book to dive into. It could've had more world building but since it gave me so much action and it was pretty fast paced - I overlooked it. In this book, you will see aliens (Xua) invading earth countless times. Now if this sort of sounds like something you've read or watched before.. it probably does. For example, Heroes or The Host. However, it also adds some time travel into it.

Besides all of that, you meet Sara and Gabe. They are brother and sister and of course this whole alien invasion happens because of them. Mostly Gabe.. but after 16-ish times of trying to save the world, her friends, and Gabe.. he finally gets away. Alive, but taken away. Shit basically hits the fans because the aliens are attacking the parents and not the kids. They are also trying to catch Gabe and it was one thing that I still don't understand why. Once they realize they can't get him, they go after Sara - which again, very puzzling.

The entire time I wanted to know what was so god damn important about Gabe or Sarah. I also wanted to know why these aliens were invading these people anyways. What's so special about earth? These things can time travel.. they can go anywhere - like to visit the dinosaurs or something.

Overall, the Xua were pretty interesting. I really want to know more about them so I hope there's going to be another book. Then there's the whole backstabbing shit from Billy and Justin (who I know I didn't acknowledge earlier in this review because if I did - I would rant!). I still want to know why the heck Gabe is so important to everything and I hope to get my answers sooner rather than later.

The beginning of this book felt very rushed so much happened because of that its really felt that something was missing from the book. I wanted to like but found its hard. I felt that some the characters needed more development. But I did like the idea of the book has I do enjoy a good time travel book.

Yes folks, I have returned to the science fiction once again. This time we are staying on Earth and battling the invading aliens, woohoo! Valiant by Merrie Destefano is a young adult romantic science fiction fantasy read that is extremely fast paced and action packed.

In the very near future in America (2037) we have a second great depression era going on along with a drought and energy crisis. However, Americans have obtained a bit of hope in the form of a space ship called Valiant which is set to launch on a space mining mission.

Just as Valiant takes flight though Earth is invaded by the Xua. With the ability to possess humans to turn them on each other there didn’t seem to be much hope in that initial invasion. Seventeen year old Sara however finds that her younger brother Gabe is a target and she must keep him alive at all costs and with the help of time travel Sara has more than one chance to save the world.

I’m one that absolutely loves an extremely fast paced read with new happenings practically on every page and Valiant was just that sort of book. From the opening prologue readers are shot out of a cannon and hit the ground running in the story with a lot of creative and unique twists to an alien attack.

However, my one complaint with this one is there were a few things I really wasn’t ever quite clear on with the world building being at the break neck speed that it was. The character building is also a bit thin but we are given a background briefly that these were all friends/family beforehand so the love connection isn’t exactly insta-love but the years of friendship are told and not shown. Even without those little details I still enjoyed this one and wonder after the end if this is the beginning to a series and if so I’ll definitely be there for book two.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I really enjoyed the sci-fi of this one. Romance was very slight. Lots of action. Open ended for next book. Sara was a great main character. Not too perfect and not whiny. Some twists in this one. Can't wait for next book.

I was sort of lost at the beginning of the book, and I still think that the start was kind of weird, but I ended up liking it. How could I not like a book featuring aliens, though?

The cast of characters was really good and the writing was enjoyable, but Valiant didn't actually blow me away. Don't get me wrong, it was good, just not amazing. And that ending, oh my God that ending. It certainly threw me off guard and I'm really looking forward to seeing if there will be a next book.

3.5 - 4 Stars

Sci-fi, aliens, time travel, and futuristic things. Yes, YES, and YEsss. All things I love. But this, I liked it just enough, that it fell short of great.

Valiant is different and unique in its own way. A very quick, action packed, fast paced read. It definitely will grip you from the start. I'm excited for when it actually does come out.

Although the beginning of this book felt VERY rushed. A LOT happens in the first few pages that I felt like it could have been a whole book in itself. You just hit the ground running., and as a result, there is very little context given for the characters and the state of the world. But as the story progresses we do get a bit more of this.

Some times it was difficult to keep up with, there's just so much going on. I love the story, just wish it was told a little differently, I don't know why but it feels like the story is being told in such a way that everything is scattered, and you have to pick up the pieces and just make sense of it on your own terms. I mean between the alien invasion, time travel, portals, military conspiracies, romance, etc. I feel like the story could have been richer if there had been fewer of these elements.

Honestly, I just wish there was more explanations, descriptions, development, and maybe a bit more world building. But it's literally, Action, Action, Action. Hardly any character development.

Also, in a way, it reminded me of Venom, with the whole 'aliens on earth' or 'aliens trying to invade earth' thing, also this quote from the beginning of the book is a pretty good description of what I mean.

'A Xua can leave a host’s body and possess another person if it wants, but humans weren't built to withstand it. Our insides
get ripped to shreds.  Sometimes you can even see the claw marks on the body, torn apart from the inside out. Sometimes
it’s a full-body explosion.'

Mhmm, similar in ways but, different.

The bit of 'romance', I wouldn't even call it that, it was literally Justin & Sara having known each other in school for however long. There was no real build up, just Sara saying 'I love you' to him, when she thought he was dead/dying or whatever.

“You have to stay alive, Justin,” I whisper. “No matter what. I love you.”

AND THEN THE NEXT DAY.

He cups my face in his huge hands. “I heard what you said last night,” he whispers, so softly no one else can hear him. “I love
you, too.”

Their relationship did develop a bit but in an unnaturally fast way, imo.

“I was worried I would lose you, too,” he confesses as he lifts his head. He cups my face in his right hand. “The Xua took your
brother, but he might not be dead, Sara. You said those doorways go to different timelines, right? Maybe he’s with Aerithin.
Or maybe Aerithin will still come back—”

Also, the 'skin site' thing was a bit confusing. It seems like it's some kind of identification thing/something phone-like where you can call people? listen to music? listen/watch the news? -some kind of 'new' fascinating technology that everyone is crazy about; like when a new version of the IPhone comes out. Or something like that, not 100% sure, unless I'm missing something?  - so I went back to my kindle and literally searched 'Skin Site' and it's mentioned A LOT, I'm realizing now, it was described a bit, but still really confusingly interesting. I'm not going to give too much more away, though.

I feel like I'm just rambling on now....

I'm really hoping there will be a sequel, because I like where this story is going. I feel like if the story and universe was expanded on, it could be the next big sc-fi series/book. BUT only if universe was expanded on, like back story on the aliens, Justin, or any the other characters. If you enjoy action-packed YA science fiction, then I highly recommend it!

NOTE: All quotes taken from this uncorrected copy are subjected to change in the final edition.

I had a tough time staying engaged in this book. There just seemed to be a lot going on, but the story was all over the place. I would not read this again.