This was one of those stories where there were a TON of great concepts but the execution was messy. I started off reading this book excited but as it got further past half-way I felt my enthusiasm dimming due to some plot choices. That's not to say I disliked this book, I enjoyed it immensely there were just aspects I felt could have been written better.

The world created in this story was INCREDIBLY fascinating, I was immediately drawn in because who doesn't love a good space opera? Lewis starts off the story in all the right ways, there are vague references to world events to pique the reader's curiosity, the characters have compelling motives, and the politics are intriguing. However, the way these elements interact throughout the story felt very haphazard and under-developed.

The major world events stay vague and we rarely get much elaboration to help them make sense. Also, the politics are constantly changing and you can never tell what type of statement the author is trying to make while reading. I was constantly trying to understand how certain decisions would affect other races & planets but no examples or information were provided so I had no idea what types of consequences certain plot developments would have.

One thing I did enjoy was all the characters and side characters throughout the story. I'm hoping any sequels will elaborate more on some of the awesome side characters that disappeared after saying a few lines. Also one of the final plot twists provides a very interesting future for the story, so I'm interested to see if Lewis can straighten out more of the world-building and pull together a more coherent plot for this intriguing world they created.

I love being able to find hidden gems on Netgalley. I was deeply impressed by the scope of this novel. It felt like it took place in space with various locations. I will say that the editor letter describes it as being Red Rising, The Handmaids Tale and The Expanse series; I didn't believe it could truly live up to these expectations but it did!! I was taken hostage by this book, it held me at it's mercy and refused to let me go.

4/5 stars

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis is an epic science fiction space opera full of vivid world building of a futuristic universe in which man kind expands into our solar system, but takes their problems with them. It's ripe with political intrigue and scandal which further propels this story into the type of adult read I prefer these days.

The characters are beautiful examples of diverse representation which makes me appreciate the story even more. There are definite adult elements throughout this book, such as child abuse, religious abuse, sexual assault and even war time violence but it is all tastefully written and explored in a way that isn't gratuitous or purely put in for shock value.

Without giving away the plot, let me just say that if you are looking for a new science fiction series to engross yourself in, and are aching for the kind of representation sorely lacking in today's literature, then this book is for you.

I was given a free eARC in exchange for a honest review.

Maybe it’s my fault for going into this book with high expectations but I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. I think the best parts of The First Sister are the main characters. I also enjoyed the overall world the author created.

Honestly I wish this book was just a little longer. I felt that some parts needed to be fleshed out more, particularly the Sisterhood. Also the relationship between Fist Sister and Ren felt rushed because we were told they spent time together and didn’t see it. Which made First Sisters attraction seem sudden.

To be honest I felt like a lot of this book was a set up for the second one. But I am interested in finding out what happens next.

The First Sister is an exciting and compelling sci-fi adventure! Fans of Red Rising and the Handmaid’s Tale will particularly enjoy this, but I would honestly recommend it to anyone. The First Sister follows the perspectives of First Sister, Lito, and Hiro. First Sister is a nameless comfort woman, tasked with secretly spying on the new captain Saito Ren. First Sister is mute and sign language is her main form of communication. Writing is viewed as sacrilegious. When the captain asks her to exchange notes, she is tempted to go against everything she has been taught. Lito is desperately looking for his partner Hiro, a non-binary soldier who has gone dark on a mission. When Lito receives secret audio recordings from Hiro, Lito starts to unravel what happened to them and begins to retrace their steps.

From the opening chapter, I was hooked. I actually picked this up and read the first half in one sitting! The pacing was excellent, there was never a dull moment. Lewis does a fantastic job of addressing sexual abuse and rape culture, without relying on graphic sexual abuse scenes. The world-building is inclusive and crafted with intense care. I particularly enjoyed the romance between First Sister and Saito Ren. Initially, I thought it would be tricky to pull off the romance with the power dynamics, but it worked really well! Lewis expertly wove in several plot twists that truly surprised me and subverted my expectations. I also loved that while these characters are fighting to stay alive, they’re never fighting to be addressed by their correct pronouns. The inclusive writing and LGBTQ characters were a joy to read, especially since this is too rarely the case in science fiction. The First Sister is a particularly impressive debut and I can’t wait to read the next installment in the series! The First Sister releases on August 4, 2020. Thank you to Linden A. Lewis, Gallery Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's a brilliant story that kept me hooked till the last page. Great world building and characters, an excellent plot.
The author is a talented storyteller and I loved this book.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
It's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

Oh wow. This book literally blew me away. I went in with little expectations. To be honest, I saw Goldsboro feature a stenciled edge version for their fantasy/sci-fi sub, so I thought I’d try it before committing. I am so glad I did. I loved “The First Sister”. The characters were well written. I’m usually not a fan of back and forth POVs, but I couldn’t wait to read about every character. They were all well written. The pacing was very smooth and flowed well. I was a little confused at times on who was on which side, but it just made me want to figure it more. The twist literally shocked me. I had no idea and saw nothing coming. I didn’t know what was happening. My jaw dropped, and I loved it. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good sci-fi read.

Thank you Netgalley and Gallery books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Every so often you come across a story that draws you in and keeps taking you for a ride. Now, finding one that can do that, and yet still offer surprises and twists, that's the hard part in my opinion.

Yet, here that book is for me.

When I requested this ARC, I went in expecting a great romp through another science fiction tale. Instead though, I got that and so much more. I didn't expect to find such a diverse cast when it came to representation of race, gender identity, and sexuality. Yet we got exactly that., Throughout the story we get a small f/f romance, a non-binary character and storied POV, and various races of different descent. I became enamored with each of the characters and their stories really brought me to tears and also elation over certain plot points.

The world's lore is interesting, completely fraught with war and espionage. The tech involved included the ideas of neural implants to enhance prowess in battle and suppress reactions that might hinder one's state, such as panic. Even the factions seemed so intriguing to me, though I wish we got even more lore about each of them.

The thing that stood out the most though, was the impact of body autonomy . The Sisterhood are basically the comfort women for one faction known as the Gaens. The Sisters are literally there to receive confessions to the Goddess, yet also be available for 'comfort' in the form of sexual needs. The story speaks of it, but there is only mentions and one attempted moment of it. Then, there is another facet with the other faction. The government for the Icarii is what you expect of most military governments who care not for their people, or the Asters (those who live among the belt). This comes to a head via experiments and going as far to undergo severe surgeries on their own people for sake of missions.

My only complaint was with the fact it had to be a non-binary character to suffer through both surgical trauma and have to deal with the mental repercussions the rest of their life. As a non binary reader, this actually broke my heart to the point I had to take a small break at that point in time.

Overall this was such a solid debut novel, and I'm so anxious to see how the story continues for these wonderful characters.

First off, can we just take a second to talk about that cover? It is absolutely gorgeous and so true to what the book contains.

I absolutely adored this book. I was a little worried going into this book because many times space dramas tend to get lost in the endless possibilities that can occur in worlds unknown to us that the story becomes lost. However, this was not the case at all. The plot was riveting and extremely fun to follow.

The characters were all so beautifully crafted and their friendships and struggles were so genuine. Each one was so unique and distinct from the other. Many times authors introduce a myriad of characters with their own POVs thinking it will make the story more enjoyable. However, when all those characters are similar, it becomes mundane and unnecessary. The First Sister does not fall into that category of books. Because of the setting, we get to see the characters thrive in their diversity. While I love reading a story of a character in a different world struggling to fit in because of their culture, sexuality, etc. I also loved seeing these characters getting to thrive in a setting where diversity is already accepted and not an issue. This also provides for unique character arcs and dilemmas. All of the struggles of the characters were so genuine and sad, it made my heart hurt anytime they discussed their past.

My only quips are that I wish the POVs were more distinct and the time this story took place was a little bit more defined. Going from POV to POV was pretty confusing and various references to countries and cultures in today's day and age made it a little confusing for me to understand when this was taking place.

Overall fun read.

- 4 stars -

The first thing that I noticed about "The First Sister" was the eye-catching cover. Between that and the description of the book, I was a bit worried that it was going to be a more difficult and heavy read than it was. I am not always a fan of space operas (I find space too terrifying to really think about), but I felt that "The First Sister" did a great job focusing on character development while building a realistic world. I felt that this book could be enjoyed by people who love space, as well as people who are looking for more general sci-fi/fantasy.

Being relatively inexperienced in the space opera genre, this may be an untrue statement--- but it seems that EVERY one that I have read or watched focuses on fighting between planets/different races. In that sense, "The First Sister" is no different. The focus of this book however is on three characters: "The First Sister," who is a religious prostitute (that is a weird phrase to write), a non-binary soldier that has disappeared on a mission, and a soldier that desperately wants to know what happened to them (the soldier). Each character had a distinguishable voice, and the way that there stories intersect in the giant war made the second half of the book amazing.

A few, small things that I couldn't help but nitpick about. I get that the story is "sometime in the far future," but various references to Japan made the story seem not as far in the future as it would need to be in order to have the culture development that drove the plot. Also, maybe I missed something and Japan was not supposed to be on Earth at all ("Earth" has a different name and it has two moons). I hope there is a bit more history added in the following books. There was random Japanese hiragana and katakana-- which as someone who has studied Japanese meant that I had to read it--- and I found that it was a complete useless addition since the translation of the sentence was always in the following sentence. Maybe it was to make it more hip or interesting, but I felt that it was distracting and unnecessary.

4.5 stars, rated up to a 5. "The First Sister" is a unique and fun experience of a read and I look forward to seeing its follow-up.
Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved The First Sister. It's an epic space opera that follows 2 story lines. First Sister, who works as a priestess/ "comfort woman" for soldiers on the spaceship Juno. And Lito, a soldier from Venus on a mission to track down and kill his ex-partner. The story lines are separate for most of the novel but come crashing together at the finale. It reminds me of The Expanse series with a focus on social issues, and for lack of a better word, more "woke". I adored it and can't wait to see where the story goes in the next installment.

If you like books that entertain you, make you think, have non-stop action, and have kick-ass characters who light up the page, then look no further! The First Sister has it all! I'm a sucker for space operas, so there was no hesitation in requesting this title from Netgalley. I was expecting an entertaining read but what I got was so much more. All the characters stood out on the page, even First Sister with her lack of voice. I enjoyed her chapters the most because she was so strong despite the life that she was thrust into. She didn't let it stop her, however, and by the end she came into her own, knew what she wanted and was willing to fight for what she believed in. Once I started this, I could not stop. The story flew by and I was disappointed when I was finished. I cannot wait for the next book because I HAVE to know what happens to these magnificent characters! I would definitely recommend to anyone who is a fan of science fiction, enjoys seeing strong LGBTQ representation, strong characters, and awesome twists and turns!

The First Sister is the first book of The First Sister trilogy series.

I like to call this a “sink into” story. It’s the type of book you enjoy on a stormy day, wrapped up in a blanket, sipping a hot cup of coffee, where you can block out the world and really sink into the plot. The story world is intricately developed and instantly draws you into a world where Earth isn’t the only inhabited planet. In this new Universe, a group of forced sex workers, known as the Sisterhood, exist to serve the physical, as well as emotional and spiritual, needs of soldiers on a warship. Alongside this story is that of Lito, a soldier with a mission to kill his former partner who has turned rogue. These two stories serve as the pillars of the plot, but don’t interweave until the end. It’s important to remember this is the first of a trilogy, so the character arcs only being established, but won’t be completed. Yet.

My attention was drawn mostly to The First Sister. I found myself looking forward to her plot line more so than Lito’s because her world is so foreign yet with a subtext of familiarity. She was plucked as a young child to start living with the Sisterhood. On the surface, this ground holds prestige as the main religious entity in the Universe. The Mother serves as God. The Sisters serve as pious deities who serve the Mother at all costs. Part of this is receiving confession from soldiers. In order to keep the Sisters from spilling confessional secrets, the Sisterhood takes away their voice.

The First Sister must endure abuse and suffering as a voiceless puppet for a group she never wanted to be a part of. The symbolism of a voiceless woman rising to power isn’t lost as the story progresses and First Sister grows braver. There’s a strong feminist aspect in what is not on the page just as well as what was included. I enjoyed getting to know this character, and I look forward to seeing where the Universe takes her in the next two books.

The structure of the plot moves between First Sisters’s POV, Lito’s POV and recordings left behind by Lito’s partner Hiro, spoken in her own POV. Hiro’s voice holds a lot of the backstory, and I found these sections a little slow in pace compared to the other narratives. The rest of the novel moves quickly with action and tension moving the story toward an unforeseen ending.

I would have liked for the stories to intersect earlier, but again, this is a trilogy so some patience is required. I’m happy to wait. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy, and if you’re a fan of sci-fi rebels with strong female protagonists, this is a must read!

A wonderfully written world that you can "see" when you close your eyes. Linden Lewis has built an entirely fantastical world, his descriptive writing skills are excellent, while using enough practical landmarks so we recognize the slow disenegration of today's issues into consequences we'd never imagine. Populated by so any distinctive characters, we are pulled into the battles that bear too many references to today's battles for comfort.
THE FIRST SISTER may be sci-fi, but it resonates with the relationships, both good and disastrous, that an epic story needs to capture the reader and keep them enthralled. This is the first book of a planned trilogy. This one sets the gold example for following chapters.

If you’re looking for a book where there’s a clear Dark Side and no question who the heroes are, this is not the book for you. If you want an adventure, a heist, capers and shenanigans, this is not the book for you. If you’re looking for a comfort read, a quick read, a fun read, then this is not the book for you.

But if, instead, what you want is a book that will challenge you, captivate you, and make you think, then – here. This is it. This is what you’ve been waiting for.

I’m not going to lie, the world of The First Sister is pretty damn bleak. Humanity is torn in two and at war with itself; there’s the Gaens, with their repulsive religion that makes voiceless, nameless sex-slaves of its priestesses, and the Icarri, whose technology is wondrous but comes at a horrifying cost. We also have the Asters, an off-shoot of humanity who altered themselves to better adapt to the harsh environment of planetary surfaces. The dynamics between the three are far more complicated than they seem at first, something which gradually unfolds over the course of the book.

But it’s also a very diverse universe. Queerness of all kinds is completely normalised, the primary languages of the galaxy are English, Spanish and Chinese, and although the First Sister herself is white, Lito is the descendant of Spanish and Italian spacefarers, and Hiro and Saito Ren are of Japanese ancestry. This, too, is all normalised. Space is not white-washed here!

So what is The First Sister actually about? Well, you’ve got the blurb up above, so I’m not going to reiterate that. What I’ll say instead is that it’s about little people – people who feel small, who think they’re powerless, who are trapped in societies designed to control them – discovering that even the smallest game piece can overturn the board. It’s about being a tiny cog in an enormous machine – and how even the tiniest cog, if it refuses to turn, can bring the whole thing down.

And that makes it very much a book for our times, honestly. That makes it very much a book for all of us who feel overwhelmed and hopeless about the state of the world, because Lewis has crafted a story where imperfect people – cogs in their respective machines – can still dream about peace in the midst of a never-ending war. Can still reach for hope and better things even while crushed in the jaws of their unforgiving cultures. Where even those who are not fighters can fight – through their fear, through the weight of expectation and command and history.

The First Sister is a book about agency and compassion, about voices among the voiceless, about doing the right thing even when there is no right thing – about making the right thing, when there is none. It’s about looking your society right in the eye and saying no.

No more.

This stops here.

This is a powerful, gut-punching read that hooks you and doesn’t let you go. It’s not grimdark, but it’s not a plasma-beams-firing action story either. There is love, but this is not a romance. It’s a story with deft worldbuilding, subverted tropes, and characters so real and human you can hear them breathe. It’s social commentary and a call to arms; an instruction manual for resisting oppression and corrupted systems; a prayer that this is not our future.

It’s a book you need to read.

Wow. Just wow. After letting it sit for a while, I finally decided to write my review. I can't find a better way to start than this. I started this book knowing near nothing about it.
I was terrified when I saw it was a space opera. I have read very little Science Fiction, the only one I liked being Skyward, and even then It wasn't a 5 star read. But all my doubts disappeared after reading the first two chapters.
This story, these characters, intrigued me so much. I was utterly surprised. I read it slowly so I could understand and enjoy as much as possible. And, while reading, I kept getting this pull that urged me to continue. It didn't take long for me to realise that this book was going to be one of my new favourites. And I was right. I'm honestly relieved it's the first in a trilogy because there's so much going on, and I expect answers.
We follow two main perspectives. Each narrator is part of a different human nation, the Geans and the Icarii. Years ago they were one, but now they are at war. First Sister is what we would call a nun of the Geans. Their society is ruled over by their religion, the Sisterhood. She was my favourite character by far. Her journey was incredibly inspiring to follow.
All the characters we meet are different and equally important to the story. They were each clearly defined, with diverse personalities and beliefs, as well as flawed in a way that humanises them.
The world-building was extensive, distinct and brilliant, not overly explained. I'll look forward to learning more about these cultures and their history in future books. The writing was descriptive without overexplaining. Fast-paced and easy to follow.
It was a story about struggling people living in an oppressed society in a broken world, figuring how to fix it, and themselves. And I loved it. I can't wait for more.

The First Sister of the Juno is a comfort woman for the Gean military whose only hope of a semi-bearable life is convincing her new captain Saito Ren that she should keep her on for personal use and not return her to the common pool. Lito sol Lucius is an Icarii soldier blamed for a calamitous defeat who must kill his beloved partner Hiro to be redeemed. He cannot believe they turned traitor, but is forced to accept the assignment. Slowly, each comes to realize the rot at the core of their respective sides of the endless war. Three-dimensional characters in a compelling (albeit often horrifying) universe.

The First Sister is a complex intergalactic SciFi novel with psychologically impacting elements. This one is so hard for me to review. All I can say is this novel takes sensitive topics such as race, gender, divinity and common sense to another level. Bravo for the imagination. I haven’t read the Red Rising, but some parts definitely felt similar to The Handmaid’d Tale. Loved the cyberpunk references and looking forward for Book 2. Glad that this is a trilogy!

4.25/5

Thank you Netgalley, Gallery Books and Linden.A.Lewis for the ARC. This review is my own and is not influenced in anyway!

To start off: this book deals with the dangers of rape-culture & sexual assault, but there are NO graphic sexual abuse scenes, glorifying of sexual assault, or ‘torture porn’. There is mention of gore, blood, torture, and dismemberment, disfiguration, and mutilation, prostitution, experimentation, denial of bodily autonomy, mentions of child abuse, as well as 2-4 instances of transphobia & lesbophobia by one-off characters (these instances are mentioned in a negative light).

This book was a RIDE. It explores the power of technology, the good and the bad that comes with that; race; gender; colonization. All the main characters are queer and in queer relationships; the characters felt organic in their queerness & their relationships felt very organic as well! You could tell from their feelings alone that they were in love-- which means so much more than just stating so in word or through physical actions.

The religion of the Sisterhood is original, if somewhat terrifying and creepy. The Ironskin fighters feel a little reminiscent of Ironman but more interesting! The concept of the duelists— their pairing, their partnership, their fluid swords, and that winning is dependent entirely on the wielder's skill— stands apart from other fantasy/sci-fi books where anyone-can-wield-them plasma guns and/or laser-swords are often the go-to weapon. The characters all had their own individual journeys that just happened to intertwine. There were twists all around and a few red herrings, almost all of which went off without a hitch!

I preferred First Sister and Hiro’s POV, to be honest. I somewhat disliked Lito’s character for the first half or so, and I didn’t find the things happening in his POV as interesting as I would’ve liked them to be. His POV in general felt less...intriguing. I don’t usually enjoy books written in first-person, but it was the best POV to have written this book in. It made more of an impact than third person would have. The characters all have diverse and individual personalities, individual tics, their own goals and they each go about those goals in differing ways, even if some have similar goals. I liked that there were three points of view with one from both sides of the war, and the third that’s working against the other two.

The character development for First Sister (the character) happens at what felt like the right pace. Throughout the book, despite the fact that she has no voice, First Sister is not at all passive: she’s defiant and strong-willed, unwilling to break but willing to bend just enough to get by. Her inability to speak is not the focus of her character arc or her personal plot— rather, it focuses on her wants and desires, hopes and dreams, and what she’s willing to do to make them reality. She’s given the chance to articulate these, and while doing so would mean traitorous to the Sisterhood religion, she is given the choice to do so. First Sister had a certain view of the world, her beliefs, her view the people on her “side” of the war, all of it was challenged, and it helped her grow. The reveal of what’s happening with her was confusing. There didn’t seem to be a lot of noticeable build-up to that moment, so I was thrown way off. Her relationship

Lito’s character development happens more incrementally, but it felt more realistic for his character than it would have if he’d changed at a faster pace. His character development is most visible in his use of his neural implant to neutralize any and all feelings he has. At the start, I found Lito to be a somewhat unsympathetic character, and further into the book, I realized it was because he didn’t feel fully human. As he began to go through his character development, I came to like him a lot more and rooted for him! In terms of his POV, considering the reveal in the second half of the book, there was a lot of places in his chapters where little bits of information on the neural implant could have helped lead up to the twist in the second half. The neural implant isn’t entirely explained, or at least decently explained aside from a very, very basic ‘this is what it does’. Going into it a bit more— even just talking about what’s not known about it— would’ve added to the world and made myself as the reader feel more immersed in the story. I’m hoping it’s talked about more in the sequel!

Hiro’s character development, done through audio transcript-like flashbacks narrated to Lito, was brilliant and very effective! It gave better insight into their past, their character development, and one of the antagonists for the next book (I think/hope). Their POV was extremely helpful in revealing the groundwork for the book in general. If Hiro had had their own chapters from start-to-finish of the book, I don’t think it would have gone quite as well as it did with the limited audio recording flashbacks.

The queer representation felt natural and was great to see! Even when some of the one-off characters were transphobic (as far as I can remember, it happened twice, maybe three times), they were always clearly acknowledged as being in the wrong and “an asshole or a bastard” (yes that’s a direct quote & it’s awesome).

I liked the representation of different cultures, though it would’ve been nice if there’d been more of it. Also, I’m a white person, so I can’t say whether Hiro was good representation for Japanese people, or how well Japanese culture was presented in the flashbacks.

In terms of world-building, there wasn’t a lot but what was explained was interesting; I just wish there had been more of it. I felt there was a lot lacking in the sense of insight into what aspects of cultures are broadly prevalent. The story felt so focused on the characters that the world didn’t expand much further than what directly impacted them, including how and why the war started and the explanation of how humanity came to populate other planets aside from Earth. I found there was also a lack of scene-setting description other than what was immediately important to the characters’ goals and what they interacted with.

In terms of the plot, there was a lot going on and there were a lot of twists. The numerous twists at the very end were great, though the final reveal felt somewhat lacking in build-up. It was somewhat jarring and I was a bit confused, though I think that might’ve been because I was missing some of the cues? I would’ve preferred a few more hints that something wasn’t adding up, to add to the sense of an underlying conspiracy. Regarding the caste-indicating use of ‘sol’ and ‘val’, aside from in the beginning, it didn’t feel like these branding names held as much weight as they’re said to hold. Lewis could have had more moments to showcase exactly how different these two societal rankings are, the difference in treatment between them.

When stepping back from looking at everything individually and considering the book as a whole, I really enjoyed it! I’m hoping the sequel is even better, because I’ll definitely be picking it up!

4/5 stars!

I knew. I kneeeeeew that when I read this book it would instantly become one of my favorite books. On one of those rare occasions where I dip my toes in the pool that is sci-fi, and enjoy myself because of this wonderful masterful harsh world that Lewis has created.

I love the entire world-building element of the First Sister. It was so vivid and real. The different races and cities and attitudes were all so well crafted I just felt like I was there.

The characters were memorable too. The First Sister, Lito, and Hiro were all quite amazing—though I will say Hiro Val Akira remains my favorite of the three protagonists with their sassiness.

The First Sister was a realistic girl who anyone could relate to in her situation. She was afraid, she was cautious, and entirely unable to trust with good reason. A beautiful girl who led a harsh life and made the best of her situation. I loved her journey of discovering who she was and how to survive despite being let down, manipulated, and backed into a very tight corner by those who were above her.

Lito sol Lucius was the gay man I always wanted in a sci-fi adventure. Very to-the-books and stiff but still super queer and entirely head over heels for Hiro. I didn’t know how I would initially react to him, because despite being gay he wasn’t exactly interesting to start with. I did enjoy seeing the world from his perspective, but it wasn’t until he left on his mission to destroy the Mother that I truly started to dread his chapters coming to an end.

I saved Hiro for last because my goodness. What a person they are.

Also...SPOILERS from here on out. So leave if you haven’t read it.

Hiro Val Akira is quite the person. You’re presented with someone who tells their life to Lito, and then of course you ship them because Lewis crafts such a wonderful feeling of longing between Hiro and Lito. Ugh. But also you grow to learn about Hiro and Lito before their current situation, and how they were together, and how Hiro felt the whole time and I just...couldn’t. I wanted them to reunite so badly. I feel like there were hints to Hiro being Saito, but I didn’t catch any of them 😂 because I was just zipping through his chapters much too fast. I loved his heavily Japanese background and I loved how Lewis even gives us some base level Japanese phrases, as someone who used to practice Japanese, I had a very fun time with that and it also contributed to the world-building in a very interesting way. Anyway, back to Hiro. I loved them. They were so uniquely crafted and then of COURSE Hiro is also SAITO REN. Like I mentioned that but I had to let that sink in. Holy shit. Besides that I really enjoyed their sassiness, and their resistance to all that was forced upon them. They literally middle-fingered every rule ever enforced upon them and I was so here for it.

Also another spoiler that’s INSANSE. Ringer not being real. What the FUCK I almost lost my mind. I can’t believe it was a result of The First Sister being broken. My goodness, what a twist.


Anyway, I’m ded (not a typo but completely on our prose) where is book 2?!!!