An incredibly fun space opera featuring a found family crew that gets tangled up in some dangerous criminal activity when Captain Eva Innocente's family and deadly past are leveraged against her. Despite the premise, I loved how cheery and fun and uplifting this book is in comparison to so much sci-fi out there. Especially this year, I feel like hopeful, happy science fiction was exactly what I needed, and this book completely delivered on that front. I mean any book that starts things off with psychic cats has gotta be pretty great, right? Eva's voice is also incredibly compelling and the storyline involving all the tangles she and her crew get into is so fun.

The story did feel a bit ambling at times, but that didn't bother me too much until we experienced a time jump that was a little jarring. That said, my only real complaint is that any book that begins with psychic cats really ought to utilize them more. I mean, come on-- those little guys could've helped solve so many problems! That said, this was a thoroughly enjoyable sci-fi romp that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a really enjoyable and uplifting science fiction read.

If there's a definition for the subgenre of "Kick-butt Heroine Space Opera Adventure," it's got to be the delightfully exciting and suspenseful CHILLING EFFECT by Valerie Valdes, with it's highly delineated flawed female protagonist, strongly imagined future world settings, characters that resonate, space cats (!), robots, a pilot who merges with her ship, cross-species romance, hugely evil villains, and a throat-grabbing plot that won't let go. So thankful there's a Sequel!


Captain Eva is a profane, bilingual, impulsive, human female with a constantly challenged ethical core. Whether it's a matter of challenging circumstances, of others bent on evil, or just her own mistakes, Eva suffers it: suffers, survives, and perseveres. What a heroine!

This is a manic space opera with a haphazard plot and a fairly twisted narrative thread. It's more along the lines of one of those books that says - "Here's our outrageous, selfish, attitudey heroine. If you like her you'll like the book. If you find her tedious, you won't." I sort of liked her sometimes and sort of didn't sometimes. The book is episodic enough that that made sense in an odd way. The good scenes outweighed the less engaging scenes, so it was a net win.

this book was a lot of fun, the characters were great and the plot was super entertaining. I really felt for Eva and enjoyed going through the book with her. I hope there's more in the future as I really enjoyed this one.

ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley

A charming and humorous sci-fi opera. I mean, you really start out strong when you have psychic kittens running around a space ship, right? I'm always excited for the expansion of latinx characters in Fantasy and Sci-Fi, so I really enjoyed getting that chance with Chilling Effect. It's one of those books you might call romp-y, for the most part. I suspect the tone changes and shifts will improve with this author over time too, so I'm looking forwards to that. Valdes employs many a cultural reference and genre touchstone all while infusing it with something a little new.

Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to read this ARC prior to the book's publication, but we did end up buying it for our library collection.

This such fun sci-fi adventure romp! If you are a fan of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers or the TV show Firefly, but perhaps ever wished the captain was a foul-mouthed Cuban woman, Chilling Effect is for you! Plenty of the found-family feels, lots of bilingual swearing and psychic cats for an added bonus! I can't wait for the sequel.

This was so damn good!! Space + Found Family + horrible decision making and what I think might've been a few Mass Effect references makes for an absolutely excellent read. And who could forget the psychic cats. Love those babies. I can't wait for the second book!

Captain Eva Innocente is the type of heroine that is wonderful to read about! She's exciting and gets herself in and out of trouble with no problems (mostly). It's when over people interfere with her that things seem to turn to crap. When they blame her for the crap after they've caused the problem in the first place, it's only her love and loyalty that saves the day.

The review is on SFRevu.com and is restricted to them until February 1st, 2020. Use the link to access the review.

When I requested Chilling Effect, it was just after reading a couple of space books I loved (Nightchaser / Aurora Rising). I was looking for another book in this genre but unfortunately Chilling Effect wasn't the one for me. Being late, I chose to listen to the audiobook. Now, I'm not sure if it was the format or just the book itself but it never managed to keep my attention. At the beginning I thought it would be those psychic cats would be interesting but I feel like the author missed an opportunity there. Unfortunately, I didn't care for this story or the characters.


(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

Chilling Effect has everything you could want out of a space opera. A complex protagonist on a dangerous mission. A ragtag crew with intriguing back stories. Endless adventures stretching across a fascinating galaxy. All of that, combined with a rollercoaster of humor and drama, makes this a compelling read.

Captain Eva Innocente, who is just trying to make a living as a trader without resorting to the illegal tactics of her family and peers, finds herself hunted across the universe by an ultra-wealthy warlord (because she refused his offer to join his harem). To make matters worse, her sister has been kidnapped by a major criminal syndicate, and they demand Eva's servitude to set her sister free. In Chilling Effect, Valerie Valdes tells Eva's story with a sense of humor, action, and attitude.



Chilling Effect is a book for readers who are not too concerned with the "science" part of science fiction, but who love a rollicking adventure story. I love the way that, in stories like this, a trip to another planet takes less time than it takes me to commute to work. It certainly helps the story move along. . . . Valdes relies on mysterious technology from a mysterious, extinct race for the quick travel times. A relic from that race factors into the plot in a big way later, giving other applications of the same technology to strategic and comedic effect.



A fun attitude, well-written action, lovable characters, and twisty plotting make Chilling Effect an entertaining page turner.





Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

A good story where the capable female protagonist shows her capabilities rather than have it be handed to her. She is nuanced she struggles to pay her crew and finances. One job is trainspotting psychic kitten. This job will not lead to money due to unfortunate circumstance. Would recommend.

Chilling Effect has a great premise - Eva is the captain of a space ship that is barely making ends meet since she decided to only do legal jobs. Then her sister is kidnapped by a criminal organization, and that organization blackmails Eva into doing jobs for them in order to free her sister. There are tons of different planets and alien beings, and overall it's really fun. That being said, however, I struggled with the writing style and found myself frustrated. I don't mind being thrown into a story, but I felt lost a lot of the time. The book is very episodic and I needed some world building before Eva started all of her adventures. I lost track of who was who on her crew (except for the engineer, who Eva has a crush on), and wanted a little more character development. Part of the issue is that this reminded me of Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series, but it lacked Chambers's careful guidance to all the new worlds we'd be encountering. I also felt that Eva was blasting through adventures so quickly I couldn't keep up. So I'd recommend that people give this one a try - again, it's a great premise and Eva was a great character - but I wish that there was a lot more upfront world-building so I could get my bearings.

Captain Eva Innocente is my new captain, ST:Deep Space Nine's Sisqo has been dethroned.

She's a hard talking, hard drinking, hard hitting, hard loving captain and while she frequently ends up in compromising situations, she's has the brains and gusto to get out of them - mostly. The Fridge (the big bad) doesn't know who they were messing with. I can't wait for the next installment.

This book is a blast! Take aliens, pop culture, soap operas, alternate universes, psychic cats, and throw it all in a blender. Lots of twists and turns, with hilarious characters and fantastic world building. A must read for anyone who loves humorous sci-fi!

What can I say? This book is surprisingly fun! The pop culture, the crazy aliens, the beloved whacked out cats. Valerie Valdes has written a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants symphony of weird and wacky. This book is Guardian of the Galaxy meets television Soap Opera meets mystery.

It’s lighthearted sci-fi. Enjoy.

I loved the world building of this story. It's a slow build so you're thrown into this alternate universe and left to follow helplessly along as you meet Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Neg They are in the process of dropping off a load of kittens. Psychic kittens. Kittens that are currently running amok on the ship. When they're finally contained, Eva learns that she's not actually going to get paid for this trip. Which is not great since she's balancing on the edge of not being able to pay her crew anyway. So it's not a great day when The Fridge calls. It's a fringe group that kidnaps family members, in this case Eva's sister, and keeps them in cryo-stasis until someone provides them with what they want. In this case, Eva is to run some transport for them. Her life doesn't get better when she takes just a moment to step out of her life and get stinking drunk. When a totally gross guy propositions her, she beats him down only then to discover that he is a prince of the Galaxy or something equally impressive. Anyway, a guy who is able to make her life a living hell. Er, hell-ier.
Great book. Can't wait to read the next.

Four stars
This book came out September 17th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC!

Sometimes you get the pleasure of beginning a book that makes you think: I’m totally buying this for all of my friends!

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes has it all. Captain Eva Innocente could be the daughter of Captain Kirk and Uhura. She’s strong, sassy, a savvy fighter, and delightfully profane. She’s also fiercely protective of her crew and plagued by telepathic cats.

This novel creates worlds so real and believable that they feel inevitable; it has all the qualities of truly great science fiction. Beyond that, it’s inclusive in a way genre fiction rarely is. Eva and crew lapse into Spanish for example- and it’s left untranslated, making it a normalized part of the story instead of just a stab at representation. Let’s hope it’s a trend - and that Valdes keeps writing!