I received an e-arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to them, the publisher, and the author for the chance to review the book.

This is the first sci-fi I have read in a while so it took me a little while to get used to the mechanics of the world. I thought that this was a good story, but it fell a little flat for me. I felt that there was very little character growth and there was definitely room for it within the plot. The main premise is that this band of mercenaries is hired to protect an indigenous species on Persephone Station from being taken over by an evil corporation. It is an interesting premise and there is so much room within it to discuss real world issues, but the focus seemed to be primarily on the action and fighting, and gloss over any moral or emotional conflict.

Even with the lack of growth, I did like the diversity and the inclusion of lesbian, bisexual, and non-binary characters. I liked that the cast of characters was almost all female, which is rare in a sci-fi book.

The writing was repetitive as well. It seemed as though whenever a character spoke, the author used the word said, even after a very short bit of dialogue. It was very noticeable and continuously drew me out of the story.

Thank you to Saga Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review! Persephone Station was released on January 5, 2021.

I’ve been meaning to read Stina Leicht’s work for ages and when I got approved for an ARC for Persephone Station it seemed like fate. This book has kinda gotten lost in the chaos of everything that happened in January 2021. Which is a shame because it’s a really fun read.

Persephone Station has a good blend of action and emotion through the course of the book. Fans of Becky Chamber’s Wayfarers, Martha Wells’ Murderbot, and Alex White’s Salvager series will enjoy the excellent group dynamic between Angel and her crew, as well as the other characters. This is a found family story of sorts, where a number of small groups of friends and acquaintances come together due to circumstance.

There’s also a really good amount of action in the story. Competent characters against overwhelming odds are my jam and Leicht delivers. It’s also rather unusual to have a space opera follow older characters. Angel and her crew would probably really prefer to retire (their knees are starting to go). I really liked how Leicht showcased the dynamics of an older cast and a crew that knew each other for quite a while, as well as balancing other characters who weren’t as close to Angel.

Overall, Persephone Station is a fun, fast-paced space adventure with a good mix of hard hitting moments, gun fights, and compelling characters. The book is standalone, which is great if you don’t want to dive into a new series right now. This is a really fun book with a satisfying ending, although I would happily read more books set in this world.

A fantastic book that I found hard to put down! An amazing cast of characters - each one a delight so much so that it is hard to pick a favorite! The book was well paced throughout the story and a true joy to read. And the last quarter was breakneck pace hurtling to a fantastic climax. Though the book came to a satisfying finish and Leicht has claimed it to be a stand along, I would love for a sequel or another story set in this wonderfully rich world that they have constructed! Overall a brilliant five star read!

Overall: The pacing may throw you off, but the characters will bring you back in.

Pros:
Cast of characters. I loved our cast of characters that we follow and that they were all female or nonbinary.
Setting. Okay, I know this is a space opera style story, but setting is everything and I enjoyed the setting here.
Standalone. This could also be a con, but I felt this story wrapped up nicely at the end to not require further exploration.

Cons:
Pacing. Unfortunately, the pacing in this one was really off for me.

Peresphone Station by Stina Leicht is reviewed in the March 2021 issue of SFRevu. The review is exclusive to them until April 1st, 2021. You may read the review at this link:
<http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=19194>

Interesting and twisting SciFi novel with a great cast and cool politics.

Content warnings include: violence, death, discrimination and violence against and displacement of indigenous people.

Persephone Station is one of those books that doesn't fuck around with introductions: the reader is thrown into the thick of the plot right away. With the big cast and complex relations, political situation and SciFi worldbuilding that left me scrambling a bit to catch up and put the pieces together, but it never got too confusing.

The cast was great, very queer and diverse. All the POV characters were interesting and had their own stuff going on, and I loved seeing how their stories intersected.

The plot around a crew on the edge of legality, all with their own goals and motives, with the addition of the indigenous aliens the cast ends up protecting, was great.

It was fast-moving and engaging, but overall also a bit aimless, leaving me with sort of bland feeling after finishing the book.
I still recommend this read if you enjoy complex characters and twist-y plots.

You can watch my full review in my February wrap up on my YouTube channel.
I gave Persephone Station a 3 out of 5 stars. It was a fun, fast paced sci-fi adventure. Overall, I found the characters lacking unique characteristics from one another and thought there was missed potential in the themes discussed. It was still a light-hearted, fun read!

This was a fast-paced, fun, and gritty space opera full of diverse, queer female and nonbinary characters. It felt like this was the fun, queer Stars Wars story I always wanted, complete with lovable rogues, strong friendships, and compelling AI. This story is very much action focused, wherein lies part of its appeal. However, I felt that the world-building and the characters could have been more fleshed out, too. Also, the first quarter of the story is a bit slow and which made it difficult at first to delve into the story.

So this was sort of a hard book to get through. The beginning had promise, introducing some intriguing world building and a fascinating alien race. I was also excited for a diverse and queer sci-fi with nonbinary rep. First, this was a multiple POV story, that didn't have very distinct voices. I was confused at the start of each chapter for a large chunk of the book which character we were following. I also just did not care about any of the main cast, they felt quite flat and their relationships were not compelling. It took me about 30% of the way in to finally get a feel for where the story was going, needless to say it felt like a lot of set up. But then, set up for what exactly? There didn't seem to be anything driving these characters so the plot felt sloppy. I ended up purchasing an audiobook to aid me as I read because it was hard to follow and stay interested.

On another note, this book claimed to have queer and nonbinary rep, but then made non-binary out to be a third gender. As a non-binary individual myself, I did not really like this "rep". When a protagonist was describing a group of people, it was easily discernible who was "male", "female", and non-binary. It would be one thing, if this was some alien race that has a different set of sexes then humans, but these were humans. One would think that an advanced human civilization would not have such a binary sense of gender if non-binary was going to be included.

Once I finished the book, I felt myself thinking, "what was the point?". Not once did I connect to any of the characters or feel enticed by the plot, it was just a really odd read.

"Loved loved loved it!" were my thoughts when I finished this book as I ran around my living room excitedly, happy that I got the chance to read this excellent book before it was officially published (thanks for the ARC, Netgalley.)

This is one of those rare books that managers to portray strong female characters without making them bitchy, slutty, or catty, and without having them hate on any other females around them and lust over anything with a dick that walks into their line of sight. Unfortunately, I have read a lot of authors who think that this is what a "strong female character" is supposed to be.

I have also read, or tried to read and failed horribly, a lot of feminist and "break the patriarchy" novels that assume that to be a strong woman, you need to hate on anything that has a Y chromosome. I'm very glad that it is not the case with Persephone Station. Men are mentioned in this world, but their presence is not important to the story. And I am very glad that the main villain in this is also a woman. Too often we see this trope when a strong female protagonist has to go against a grotesque caricature of a male villain that is painted as such a horrible human being that you have to wonder how his mother didn't smother him in his crib.

Here we have a smothering of female, male, non-binary, and genderfluid characters that all have flaws and motivations and are all portrayed as believable human (and alien) beings. And I love the fact that they fit perfectly in this world the author created. That human, alien, or artificial, they are all perfectly three-dimensional.

I also loved the strong friendships portrayed in this book. The crew of Kurosawa is a group of broken misfits that love each other and support each other like family. I admit that I cried when Kurosawa crashed, because this ship had the Firefly vibes with the same warmth of a found home and family.

So after all this gushing praise, why didn't I give it a full 5 stars? I have a couple minor gripes about the story.

Firstly, I think the Emissaries could have been developed slightly better. I mean, at one point Vicinia says that their colony isn't sustainable without imports from the human settlement... And I wondered why? They are native to Persephone. They lived on that planet way before it was colonized... so this statement makes absolutely no sense. So yes, I would have loved to see a little more of the planet and native Emissary settlements other than the one we saw and that was specifically adapted for humans.

My second gripe is with the ending. I don't want to put any spoilers, but the solution to all their problems seemed very deus ex machina to me, and it literally was. It felt a little bit too simple and anticlimactic to me after the very tense and nerve-wracking events that lead to it.

These two points non-withstanding, I loved this book. I would definitely read the sequel if one is in the works, because I think this world has potential to become a series. There are still many stories to explore. Who is Zhang? What will Kennedy do now? What will happen with Persephone now that the existence of the Emissaries is known? How are Rosie doing?

This was a fun and enjoyable read for me. It's been a while since I've read a sci-fi novel, but it was fast-paced and full of exciting action. I loved all of the background lore and worldbuilding that occurred on the planet Persephone. The characters were relatable and had distinct perspectives, which is a big accomplishment with such a large cast.

DNF at 20%.

Ugh, I was looking forward to this book so much. You've got a diverse cast of characters and some space adventures, which sounds totally up my alley. Right away though, I was completely lost as to what was actually happening in the story. This is a large cast of characters with multiple POVs, and I just wasn't able to focus and hone in what was going on. I definitely want to try this one again at some point, but it's a DNF for now.

I really enjoyed this! It was thrilling and had a diverse cast of characters, both in representation and personality and point of view. I enjoyed getting to know all of them and seeing their world and society from their experience. The world building was well-thought out and had just the right amount of detail for me. I felt like I learned the politics, but didn't feel bogged down in it.

PLUS this world was built so well. I loved the culture of all the various parts of the universe and how magic/technology was handled by each. The magic system and use of tethers between people were so cool! I just want to know everything about the world.

The plot was awesome! I thought in the beginning it was slow, but really pieces were being moved so that the last half everything snapped into place and my mind melted.

I was excited to discover this LGBTQ+-friendly and mostly female-led story set in space. The blurb grabbed my attention, so I requested a copy of Persephone Station from NetGalley and jumped in.

The usual establishment of characters, their personalities, and quirks turned into a stumble through Mississippi mud as I trudged through Act I, and the slow start had me putting the book down for weeks at a time. It felt very uneven, and the characters all seemed to bleed together. Without dialogue tags, I couldn’t distinguish one from the next. They seemed interchangeable. I never connected with any of them, and I didn’t care enough about them to be affected by their trials and tribulations. Even their banter fell short, despite the author’s many attempts at quick, edgy dialogue. My favorite character was Kurosawa, the ship. It had more personality than most of the people.

The pacing was a huge issue for me as well. There were so many missed opportunities when conflicts exploded but were quickly resolved with little or no effort—sometimes by forces that weren’t even the main characters. The lack of character agency in some parts was a real stumbling block as conflicts were launched off the table like crumbs with a quick swipe of a hand. Long setting descriptions and inexplicably detailed rambles about things like coffee also slowed things down for me in several spots. I would have preferred more detailed action than commentary about what people are wearing, eating, drinking, or looking at.

The story itself was a bit convoluted and didn’t hold my attention. I can abide a simple/minimal story if the characters have amazing voices that keep me entertained for the duration. Alas, that wasn’t the case here, and the lack of strong, compelling voices really hampered my enjoyment.

The pacing was a huge issue for me as well. There were so many missed opportunities when conflicts exploded but were quickly resolved with little or no effort—sometimes by forces that weren’t even the main characters. The lack of character agency in some parts was a real stumbling block as conflicts were launched off the table like crumbs with a quick swipe of a hand. Long setting descriptions and inexplicably detailed rambles about things like coffee also slowed things down for me in several spots. I realize the version I received wasn’t final, and many of these mistakes might have been fixed in final edits. I hope they were.

It may seem that I didn’t like the book at all. It was okay overall, but not something I would reread or recommend to friends. The epilogue was the best part, in my opinion. It’s the only bit of the entire story where I actually felt for any of the characters.

Good concept, mediocre execution. I hoped for more from a group of strong heroines, but unfortunately, the story came up short for me.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from NetGalley.

Persephone, a planet known for being a target of a large corporation since there are no known sentient life forms, is the center for Stina Leicht's new space opera adventure. Centered around an all female mercenary troop, the story takes the reader into bar backrooms, space stations, and unknown cities. When Angel, the leader of the merc troop, is hired by Rosie, the crime boss bar owner, for a mission across the planet, things will never be the same for anyone.

Immediately after starting, I was pulled in to the Blade Runner/Altered Carbon world of Persephone. I enjoyed meeting the characters and the overall vibe of the start of story. The book completely changes once the group starts on the mission. I do feel like some of the detail we got in the beginning was lost after that point. Overall it was entertaining but I felt like the story was slightly rushed in the second half and it still felt too long for me.

Did not finish at 50%. I was really looking forward to this one and it started strong. The story had an Oceans 8 in space vibe with every lead either a woman or non-binary. I really wanted to love this, but ultimately the characters did not feel fleshed out. This story hinges on character dynamics but does not deliver by making the characters pop.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Persephone Station was definitely interesting. It reminded me a lot of other space operas that I've read, but that is definitely not a bad thing! It never let up on the action, and I definitely appreciated the diverse characters represented in this novel. The action, dialogue, and characterizations were all done extremely well. I truly had a blast reading this and would recommend it to lovers of space operas, science fiction, and anyone looking for a compelling story.

I had a really hard time getting into this one. I had to DNF this one. I'm not sure if I was in a weird mood or what but I don't find myself wanting to pick it back up.

This book is for Serenity fans as this book focuses on a group of outcasts taking on an impossible job.

There is a secret on the Persephone planet; this secret starts to affect Rosie, the Monk's Bar owner that caters to the powerful criminals. Along the way, Rosie pulls together a team, with the mysterious Kennedy Liu's help, lead by ex-marine Angel to help protect her secret from the Serrao-Orlov Corporation.

Persephone Station is a book that has all of the elements of a great sci-fi story. However, I did not enjoy the book. The McGuffin of the book, the secret that Angel is hired to protect, is way more interesting than this "reveal" at the end. This secret is hidden from the Serrao-Orlov Corporation was so entertaining, and I hoped for a deeper dive into Ogenth. Unfortunately, the entire storyline of Ogenth ends up abandoned as Rosie's team prepares for their battle against Serrao-Orlov.

If the book focused on Angel and her crew, the book would have read like fun but serious space adventure. The main highlight of this book is Angel's interactions with her crew of misfits. Angel's crew, Sukyi, Lou, and Enid are all interesting characters, and their interactions with Angel are hilarious.

Overall, it's a decent read but a very familiar story for sci-fi fans.

Even today in 2021, space operas tend to be male-heavy. Think of early Star Wars and how Leia was often the only female character, and they had to make her a princess to boot! Lots of women like me who love sci-fi but hate the sausage fest are looking for a book like "Persophone Station." It has all the usual space opera fare, such as robots trying to be sentient, action, a conspiracy of sorts involving an evil corporation, and more. What sets this apart is that the main characters are all women. Many of them are also nonbinary or part of the LGBTQIA+ community. The 'they' pronoun was used quite a bit, and not ironically or with malice. It is very refreshing to see a well-written sci-fi with strong women at the forefront. Also, the cover is amazing and really helped set the tone for the book. Normally I do not give a cover that much credit, but it is true here. This book is great for teens and adults alike who love sci-fi with a western, action-packed tinge to it. The battle scenes are good, and that is not always easy to do on the page. My one real gripe is that the world-building is very good, but the character development is not always so great. You still want to root for these women, but I finished the book wishing I knew them a little better.