First, many thanks to The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour and Harlequin Teen for sending me a finished copy of the book for review.
Guys. This is a great continuation story. Nexus was a perfect ending to this saga and I really hope that Alsberg and Cummings (and the publisher) decide to give us more of these characters and this universe.
Nexus picks right up where Zenith ended. Andi has been wounded, she’s lost her crew, her ship is half destroyed, and one of her only allies is her ex. Nor Solis has taken over the universe and is using her brother’s compulsion abilities to make everyone think that she is her queen. Valen, wanting to please his sister, is slowly destroying himself. Dex just wants the girl he loves safe, but she keeps throwing herself in harm's way. Slowly, all of their stories mesh together and each one has an interesting tie to an enemy/ally named Arachnid. What happens in this story is some of the most creative storytelling that I’ve ever read. Alsberg and Cummings left me wanting more at the end of every chapter and I couldn’t believe that it was over when I finished.
I loved this continuation of Andi’s story. Truly, she’s the centerpiece. Unfortunately, that’s horrible for her, but great reading for us. Andi really has no clue what has happened and Dex is left to fill in the pieces, but he just wants to keep her safe. I really enjoyed their story arc in this book. It was interesting to see what would happen due to some events of the first book. They really have a great friendship and partnership. I loved the ending that they got.
I also think that Lira, Andi’s second really got some spotlight in this book. But Lira’s view also gave us some understanding of what was happening while under the compulsion. It really was great to be able to look back at the first book and see the differences of thought between normal Lira and under-compulsion Lira. I think it brought a depth into these books that we might not have gotten otherwise. It really brought the danger of Valen’s power into focus.
Again, I was blown away by the world building that Alsberg and Cummings created. We get to see a whole Underground civilization, more of the worlds mentioned in the first book, and also see the destruction of worlds that we had already seen. They really did a great job of keeping the continuity within both books and expanding what they had already written.
Nexus was honestly such a great read. I can’t wait to read it again!! Alsberg and Cummings have created such a fun space saga where the events within the books are unpredictable. I couldn’t believe the twists in this story when I read them. Nexus will definitely keep you reading and I didn’t want it to end. Nexus releases May 7th (this coming Tuesday). I really hope this is one you’ll add to your reading list. I’m adding it again on to mine!

First of all, stare at this cover with me for a moment. 🤩 It’s so gorgeous, isn’t it?! Like I said before, I really enjoyed Zenith so I went into Nexus with some expectations on how it would be. I think I marked a TW/CW or two in Goodreads but, naturally, I’m not able to access them from the app.

I was pretty excited to get back to my favourite space pirate girl gang! The characters didn’t get much development in this one, but I have to think that’s because this is the second book in a duology and definitely not a standalone. Gilly is still my fave with her red hair and fiery soul. Keep destroying things, girl!

Since most of the world was built up so well in Zenith, I wasn’t sure what to expect world building wise from Nexus. There are three world locations that are built up a bit more in this one and they’re all done in a way that’s incredibly immersive. I found myself having trouble pulling my mind out of them, which was both awesome and a little scary sometimes. Either way, the world building is definitely A++!

Nexus started a bit slowly and it was a little tough for me to get into at first. It did pick up around 1/4 of the way in, but I had to really make myself keep going until I got there. After that quarter, however, the story flowed relatively nicely straight through to the end, which wrapped up all the loose bits of story beautifully. There was one thing I was super disappointed about though: how little time on the page Androma, Lira, Breck, and Gilly got to spend together. The thing I liked most about Zenith was the amazing dynamic between Androma and her crew and that just wasn’t there for like 98% of this book.

I did really enjoy Nexus and I’m happy with where it left off, I just wish there was more page time for my space girl gang to be together in all their glory. I do enjoy Sasha Alsburg’s and Lindsay Cummings’s writing styles so I’ll definitely be on the lookout for their other work!

Overall, I rate Nexus 3.5 out of 5 bookworms.

Nexus by Sasha Alsberg & Lindsay Cummings is the second book in The Androma Saga. The story kicks off with the aftermath of the events that happened in Zenith. The reader is back on Marauder. Andi is healing from her injuries. Zenith had so much world building that I was hoping we could move on in book two. I feel like all we did was get even more detailed world building. There is so much that the reader knows more about the world than about the characters.

The characters don't really grow in this book at all. They stay pretty stagnant. I would really like to see more from Androma and her crew. We don't get to see enough of them interacting together. That is the biggest thing that is really lacking in this book. Here we have a gang of girl pirates but I feel like I know very little about them. My biggest hope is that this will continue to improve and get better.

This book came across a bit better than Zenith but I still don't think it hit the mark for me. The characters were written a lot better in this book but I still felt like it was a bit forced. With this being book tow, I was hoping that the book would be a bit more polished but I didn't' see that. I felt like it took awhile for Nexus to pick up and become just the slightest bit interesting. If you liked Zenith, you should obviously pick this one up and check it out. As always don't take my word for it, you should check out the book for yourself.

Because it was a sequel for Zenith - a book I've absolutely loved - I had some high expectations for NEXUS. I'm glad to say it exceeded them.

This YA space opera checks all the boxes: strong female characters, galaxy-wide mind control, family drama, a falling apart space ship, mass invasion by alien races, a ferocious cat-beast named Havoc, and a super villain in the style of Senator Palpatine. It is everything I didn't know I needed to read. The characters are amazingly original. The emotions and descriptions are so well-written. It really felt like I was there! It's a must-read for fans of YA or science fiction.

For a more thorough review, please see my blog post at BifrostBookReviews.tumblr.com

My Review: OMG I am so happy that I got the chance to read this book. I fell in love with Zenith and you can see how much stronger these two are writing together in Nexus. The one issue I had with book one was that in parts it was confusing. And it seems that in this one the authors hashed things out a little better and I didn't feel so overwhelmed with the story. It was wonderful and I still need more!! Which made all of the POVs so much better. The story flowed so much better than book one.

The characters in this one were again wonderful and fantastic. I loved that we got some back story of one certain character and I hope that in upcoming titles (is we get them) that we get more backstory on all the characters going forward.

The plot although I did love it there were a few things that I won't post here but if you read this one. There are a few things that to me were a little far fetched. But I just love this world that these two amazing authors have created so it wasn't to much for me not to overlook but it was there. I like my fantasy and science fiction to be out there but I still think that rules should apply.

So I guess that this is going to be the last book (I am still hoping for more. I mean it is called a SAGA!!). But it did a pretty good job with tying up loose ends from book one and the ending was very good and satisfying. It had a good amount of surprises in this one and if you think you know how its going to end your wrong!

Yikes, this was pretty uncomfortable. I figured I would give the series another chance and this one was just as bad as the first. I think the problem is the editing and conflicting goals from the writers. There were too many things going on and the perspectives were much too short. There needed to be more character development and focus on word choice.

Absolutely amazing and enthralling. I loved Zenith when I read it and couldn't believe I would be able to get my hands on an advanced copy of Nexus.

I fangirled as soon as I got the confirmation email about the e-arc and started it that day. This book is brilliant and extremely action packed and fast paced. I didn't have a single dry moment with this book. It kept me entertained and entranced the whole way through.

The ending was definitely not what I had expected and blew my mind away. I really want Sasha and Lindsay to continue writing together as I know their books will just keep getting better and better.

Received and ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review. This is a solid follow-up to the first book in this series. The story picks up right at the end of book 1 and takes off with a bang. Dex and Andi face many obstacles and new alliances are made to be in order to succeed against Nor and Valen.

Thank you to netgalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book. As usual I rate based on writing, characters, story line and my overall enjoyment.
So let's dive in. I thought writing was much stronger and better in Nexus compared to Zenith. Dialogue flowed more naturally and there weren't any weird similes that didn't make any sense. Both authors writing styles blend well together and it was easy to read and understand.
Characters were amazing. I feel like creating characters is Sasha's and Lindsay's strong suit. There were well developed and very different from each other. We have multiple POVs but they all have different tone and didn't mix in my head, I always knew who's POV I'm reading. I still wish we got more backstory on two characters Breck and Gilly. We got to see more of Lira which was amazing but not the other two which was sad because they were supposed to be important to the story but I didn't feel connected to them because we knew so little of their background.
Ok, now, onto the plot. I didn't see some of the plot twists coming and thought it was really cool idea. It was even better than Zenith, it all made sense.
Overall, I think it was still a bit too long, and the story could use more brainstorming and developing. More on this in the spoiler section below.

Spoilers!!! Ok, so Valen has the mind controlling ability and he was able to compel the entire galaxy? Like the entire galaxy? Even with the help of that Zenith potion (which btw wasn't explained how it works) how can one person control an ENTIRE galaxy? Billions and billions of humans and aliens! And if he was that strong how did Darai (who was exiled from that parallel universe and stripped of his abilities) managed to mind control him?
Another thing about Exonians. They don't have bodies, but what are they exactly, what do they look like, how do they live, feed, procreate, was never mentioned. The only thing we now is that they can possess a body and control it (reminds me of the Host by Stephenie Meyer). And they want what to control the entire galaxy. But no details on how does possession work (do they just jump in a body?) or why are they so violent?
Another thing that didn't make sense was the satellite they were building. First of all they were building it on top of a mountain but when it's done it's supposed to be the size of a planet? How does that work exactly? And then the fact that one person, one general has the power of all the weapons in the galaxy and if he/she would die without choosing an heir noone can use the weapons? But what if that general dies in an accident before transferring the power. So it's things like that that kind of ruined the book for me. I just like for things to make sense and be a bit more realistic ( I mean as real as sci-fi can be). This story had a great potential but it's just a bit underdeveloped in all those details.

I think this was the way that this duology needed to come to an epic conclusion.

We saw different sides of the characters from ZENITH. I loved this in particular. We could see past Andi’s bravado as a wanted pirate, to a girl who just wanted to save the people she loved. Whether she live to see them or not. Andi definitely made the biggest strides through this. I think my one of my favorite moments was when she finally started to let Dex back into her heart.

Each point of view was distinguishable between each “voice”. I enjoyed getting to look further into the minds of Valen, Nor and Dex then we did in ZENITH. In addition to the increase delving into Andi’s.

I definitely would recommend this duology for anyone trying to get into sci-fi.

I mean all girl crew plus Dex of space pirates.

Wow! What a satisfying end to this duology. It was action-packed from the very first page. The conclusion was very satisfying and I believe Andi and her crew are already out there getting into trouble.

The only thing I longed for was more girl power! Don't get me wrong, Andi has plenty of girl power but I wish there could have been more scenes with her and the crew. We only got a few right at the end.

Overall a great conclusion and I can't wait to see what these authors have in store next!

"Dextro Arez had never truly believed that the godstars were tangible beings. They were soul felt comforting prescenes inside your heart ,an idea that filled your mind as if soldered on with iron and fire."I haven't read the first book .I was interested but not able to get a good grasp of the characters and what's going on

I like Zenith it had elements of other novels that I have enjoyed in the past, but Nexus was missing something for me. I am not a huge fan of MPOV and it does something to the flow of a novel to have to many. I think that might have been the problem. The story is solid it ties up all elements from the first book. If you are a fan of Zenith then I think you will be happy with the sequel.

NEXUS is the second and final book in the Androma Saga and it picks up right where Zenith left off. Andi wakes to find that her three crewmembers and best friends, along with most of the Mirabel Galaxy, were shot with a mind-control virus and now bow to Queen Nor. There are Unaffected, though, more than Nor ever could have imagined, and they have mobilized. Without anywhere else to go, Andi searches out Arachnid, the Unaffected’s leader who promises Nor’s defeat. Together, maybe they can get Andi’s crew back and save the galaxy.

When I started reading this galley, I’d been craving a fun and purely entertaining read, which is exactly what I got. Even though I generally don’t like stories set in space, the world building in this series is so expansive and imaginative that I actually love these completely unfamiliar and unusual worlds. Alsberg and Cummings are such visual storytellers that I wish I could see the Soleran landscape and the Underground in person! They sound like cool places to visit and I’m glad I got to go there briefly with this book.

With that being said, once Arachnid’s identity is revealed, I stop believing the plot. It’s a great twist, but I don’t understand why Arachnid wouldn’t go to Nor or Valen sooner. Even with the obstacles and uncertainties that Arachnid faced, the whole problem could have been solved with a simple meeting. The authors attempt to create compelling reasons why Arachnid couldn’t reach Nor, but Arachnid’s character is someone who has consistently done whatever it takes to reach end goals. This takeover would not be the one time that Arachnid gave up.

The multi-POV also kept me from being fully invested. In the first book, though we heard from many characters, Andi was our main protagonist and plotline. In this novel, Andi, Dex, Nor, and Valen are given equal air time, with an occasional word from Lira. Because they switch back and forth between all of them pretty consistently, I was constantly plucked in and out of stories as I was starting to care.

Overall, NEXUS does a good job at tying up all the loose threads and questions I had from the first book and concludes with a satisfying ending. I love that Dex and Andi are back in action together in this one and though NEXUS is the final book in this series, I would happily read about these characters going on more adventures together.

These books will appeal to fans of the apocalyptic genre.

I wish I could say that I loved this book, but that unfortunately would not be true. I thought the first book, Zenith, was okay but as my reading has evolved since then, so has my dislike for this series. I will still be reading future works by Sasha Alsberg, but this one just didn't work for me.