Thank you so much to NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book! This cover immediately was what drew me in first. The inside is definitely just a great! If the description sounds good to you then you should read it asap!

This book sounded very interesting and I thought I would enjoy it. Sadly that wasn’t the case. I read 96 pages of it and I just didn’t connect to either the story or the characters. I didn’t care about what was going on at all in this book. Seeing that this book is over 500 pages long I just couldn’t force myself through it. That’s why I decided to DNF it.

I need to say that I do have a problem with getting into science fiction stories. It’s a genre that I’m interested in but one that I struggle with, as I don’t tend to read it often. So this is more of a fault with me rather than with the book. I felt that the beginning part, the one I read, was too fast paced for me to connect with anything. I’m especially disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this one as it has many queer characters, from what I’ve heard, and I love that. Queer speculative fiction is my favourite.

This book just wasn’t for me, which is why I have decided to DNF it.

I liked this a lot — the worldbuilding, the characters — and am super excited to read more by the author.

An exceptionally diverse space opera with a fun and intriguing cast of characters. I love this genre usually but sometimes it can be hard to straddle that line of ambiguity/largess and just not giving enough detail. We got tons of detail don't get me wrong but not in the right areas, I think just the character's fell a little short in the WHY department they were fun but didn't give me the motivation or depth I needed to really keep my focus on this fast moving plot that also felt a little shallow. Fun read but not a deep favorite.

I dragged my feet on getting to this one, and I regret it immensely. It’s got heists, assassinations, artificial intelligence, and a healthy sprinkling of real heartfelt emotion. There’s another book by this author in the same setting, and I am really inhaling it right now.

This book had good ideas that sounded cool, but the execution of the story wasn’t all there. I loved how diverse the characters were in ethnicity and gender identity, but for example we didn’t get as much character depth or any real idea of why we’re following these particular people.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

An original science fiction adventure, but it felt like some of the story dragged and took unnecessary time to move the story along. Thank you to the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Did not finish. The writing style did not align with me, and early on I realized I did not feel drawn in enough to finish beyond the 20% mark. The concept and ideas are very interesting, and I think for those more interested in space operas (which I thought I was, but may be mistaken) would find this a great read.

(thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.)

as someone who has The Mandalorian as a comfort show and is an unapologetic nerd for mythology, the blurb for this book may have set my expectations a little too high. thankfully, i was not let down! i've never read anything as epic as this in a while.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This one just isn't for me, sadly. I think I'd enjoy it much more if it was a movie or series, but reading hard sci-fi just isn't my jam, no matter how queer and feminist it is. Having tried reading this twice now, over the span of a few years, I have yet to get past the first 4 chapters.

Women writing space opera … check.
LGBTQIA+ representation on any fronts and not just thrown in to throw it in… check.
Space western Firefly-esque fox… check.

Exactly what I wanted from the synopsis.

I apologize but I was not able to finish this book. I was in a different headspace at the time of requesting / recieving this book and the time I got it.

2.5 stars

Q: Have you ever come across a book where the protagonist’s backstory is WAY more interesting than the current plot?

Way, way back in the cursed year of the double twenty, I received an eARC of Persephone Station. I opened my copy, struggled through an awkward first chapter, and then rolled over and gave up.

Two days ago, I put on my brave face, and unrolled myself.

(Also, I read the book.)

Persephone Station is a book that could be really, really fun if executed well, but executed well it was not. It’s not bad… it’s just not good, either.

Mind you, PS has good qualities: I WANT to read about a lady-only squad comprised of washed up soldiers and criminals pulling off wild jobs, there were some interesting worldbuilding elements around the Emissary species, and the surprise at the end was neat, too. It’s just… reading through it was a real slog.

Both Leicht’s writing and storytelling were rough. Passive voice abounds, filler words, and jeez, the sheer repetition of certain phrases. It’s aggravating. She takes the long road in describing something simple, she focuses on unimportant and uninteresting elements, and she focuses on HOW things are happening rather than the things actually happening. Readers don’t care about how many steps someone takes, or what direction they turned down a hallway, or the full contents of the fridge.

What readers DO care about are characters: a good cast can carry a weak plot, etc. And I really loved the CONCEPT of PS’s characters. The core cast is a bunch of badass ladies (and one nonbinary indivudual) a number of whom live with health conditions. Angel is a former marine from a squad that took on suicide missions. (Literally.) During her time served, she was revived numerous times and suffers from chronic health conditions, such as migraines and seizures. But they’re little more than vehicles for banter and action sequences. There’s no development, no character arcs. And without them, the characters are shallow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!) (Annnd I’m sorry x)

I was excited by the description of Persephone Station by Stina Leicht, but in the end DNF'ed the book because it couldn't hold my interest. I kept picking it up and putting it down in favor of another book. Maybe I'll give it another try in the future...

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

This space-opera with a large cast of lgbt+ characters, I was highly anticipating this novel. In the end, it fell a little short of me. I anticipated a little romance, but that was a really a backburner. I struggled with the pacing of the book, in fact, I struggled to get into it at all. To the point, I put it down for a while before coming back. I was impressed with the strong female cast, I just wish I was more invested.

3 stars

Everything about this should've checked 5 stars for me but it just didn't. It took me forever to read it when I finally picked it up. And I honestly think it could use a second book or a companion. Just something more. I did really enjoy all the representations and AIs. Plus that cover is gorgeous.

Persephone Station is a really interesting concept that fell a little flat to me. It felt like this book should have been either half it's length as a standalone or spread out between more novels to be a series because it was simultaneously too long and too short. I like extensive worldbuilding and story setting, as well as heavy character studies, but this felt like I could have listened to half the book and still understood what was happening in great detail.

But I did love the characters, especially our crew that we followed around for the majority of the story and Angel was THE BEST. I liked looking at their internal conflicts and how this impacted external conflicts as well. I also really liked all the "auto-inclusion" in the world. It was never assumed that someone was a "default" of straight, cis, abled, and straight, which was refreshing and a trend I've been seeing more in Adult SciFi which makes me super happy!

I listened to the audio and while it was good, I was disappointed that it was only one narrator considering it switched perspectives a lot and it was a little difficult to tell who was who for a bit after the switch unless it started with the person's name. It didn't make it impossible but it did add a level of listening that I don't always enjoy with my audiobooks.

Overall, if you enjoy Space Opera, this will interest you!