Like, I love the characters and the romance but couldn't give two shits about the space politics? That's my vibe.

But then again, that is what this book is. A space opera romance, with a convoluted plot and uninteresting political drama. The world building was lacking, the sci-fi aspects (like gadgets and entities) were confusing--I still don't know exactly what a Remnant is-- but if you push that all aside there is a shining romance in between the pages.

What Winter's Orbit has in abundance is inclusion. In the Iskat Empire anybody can feel free to be their authentic self, if you wish for others to know what gender you identify with you need only illustrate it by using the right kind of accessories. Seems superficial, but it works in a pinch. There are high ranking officers who identify as "they" as well.

The characters really breathed life into the book. I loved Prince Kiem, his self deprecation, his genuine drive to do the right thing even if he goes against his family, his willingness to really listen to his partners needs and even learn his culture... Kiem is a national treasure. At the beginning of the novel he was a little sheltered, by his own choice. Politics was not his thing and he seldom paid attention. Instead he volunteered in charities and tried to rehabilitate his image from troublemaker #1. By the end he grows up so much, taking charge and using his charisma for the greater good.

Jainan! T_T oh my goodness. I knew from the first interactions between him and Kiem that something wasn't right. He seemed too guarded, always trying to anticipate Kiem's needs in a very fight or flight way, always holding his tongue... He broke my heart. There is a lot of miscommunication between Jainan and Kiem, mainly because Kiem lives in a world where Domestic Violence isn't a thing (he has no experience with it) and Jainan assumes all royalty will expect the same kind of treatment. Again, it is heartbreaking, and the moment these two finally get close enough to trust in each other what they are really thinking/feeling I shouted HALLELUYAH! It does drag along in some scenes, the same misunderstanding, but it builds in a realistic way.

While I don't think Winter's Orbit does a great job in the sci-fi aspect, I do think it shines when it comes to the romance and the respectful way it treats domestic abuse within a queer relationship. I felt close to the characters, both the main ones and the side characters, and wish we could maybe have another novel with Bel (Kiem/Jainan's aide) as the MC.

I just finished this book 5 minutes ago and now I'm so soft!

Damn, this was good. Equal parts exciting, funny, and romantic. The plot was a head-scratcher, and although there were times when the pacing was slow, it was still exciting. The writing style and prose were great, sharp yet can also be mellow sometimes and I loved that. Oh, and the main characters are two sweet, dumb boys who deserve all the world! *cries* Also, can I just say that the slowburn romance in this book made me want to tear my hair out. So good!

Full review on my blog soon!

CW: Toxic relationship, domestic abuse, physical abuse, violence, torture (mild), sexual content (mild)

Winter’s Orbit is a new favorite! It was such a strong and solid debut novel with layered and complex characters, a very well developed plot, and a really sweet romance story. Maxwell’s writing was wonderful and so easy to get into–the way they wrote Kiem and Jainan’s perspectives captured my attention right away and I fell in love with their story.

The world-building was also rather intriguing. I really enjoyed the mechanics involved in the Resolution and the process behind the treaty. The arranged marriage premise did make me a bit hesitant at the start, but the way Maxwell approached and, through Jainan and Kiem’s POVs, developed that aspect was fantastic!

I very much loved the slow progression of Kiem and Jainan’s relationship. There were so many misunderstandings and things left unsaid between them, but not in a way that generated useless drama and conflict. They were so careful with each other, though each had different reasons, and the way in which they came to rely on and support each other was my absolute favorite part in the novel. The confession at the end was icing on the romance cake to me 😀

There was also quite a bit of action! The plot got really tense and intense towards the second half and it was super fun to read about Kiem and Jainan trying to solve the mystery behind Taam’s possible murder. Some of the twists regarding that were a bit predictable, but in no way did they negatively impact my reading experience.

Honestly, if you enjoy Sci-Fi stories with a well executed plot, complex characters, and queer romance, please pick up Winter’s Orbit. It was really that good.

I quite enjoyed the characters, despite the fact that they had a lack of communication issue for 50% of the book.
The lack of communication mostly made sense. It did feel a little tedious toward the end of the communication issue portion.. but there were reasons for it.

Jainan is precious and Kiem is charismatic and compassionate heck.

Honestly maybe not the best world-building in my opinion, but I didn't mind, since heavy sci-fi world-building can often leave my lil non-scientific brain going ""whet?!"

I don't have much to say one way or the other about the writing style. It was fine for me, but not remarkable.

One of the characters in this book is a victim of domestic abuse - both emotional and physical. We do see a couple of scenes where the abuse is described on the page, but more frequently/strongly we see the after-effects. As someone who has been in an emotionally/mentally/slightly physically abusive relationship, I really appreciated that representation and caught it immediately because I could relate.

It was generally a good time! Not mind-blowing for me as far as the plot, or the characters, but I did enjoy the reading experience - the characters especially

Disclaimer: I'm not a sci-fi person, but I can usually find something to like in these kinds of books and push through them which is what happened with this one. I loved both of the main characters as they were witty, determined, and hoplesslessly in love with each other without realizing it. Honeslty, their relationship and their slow-burn romance were the best parts of this book.

On the other hand, my biggest problem with this was that the pacing was just so slow and towards the end I was counting down the pages until I was done because I was tired of it dragging on. I just don't think having a slow-burn romance AND slow pacing is a good combination for a book.

Overall, I'm happy that I read this and while I wish it would have been faster paced, it was an interesting read and the romance made it worth it.

Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse, Mind Control

Playboy Prince Kiem is doing just fine thankyouverymuch. That is, until he's forced into an arranged marriage with recently widowed Count Jainan, who was previously married to Kiem's cousin, Taam. But the empire of Iskat is held together by marriage treaties, and they're going to have to make it work in order to help certify their empire to the larger galactic federation. Things aren't going to be that easy though. Because it turns out Taam was murdered, and it could be due to a cover-up for a greater scheme...
"What about sprawls of despair?" he asked. "Do we have special furniture for that? Put that on the list: source despair furniture for living room. Did I tell you I'm getting married?"

Well this went a bit differently than I was expecting, and I um, am kinda hoping it's going to be a series??

The Red, White and Royal Blue comp title is perfectly accurate, but there was not enough tea drinking for Ancillary Justice to fit. But you know what does fit? Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series.

Definitely got shades of the Vorkosiverse reading this one, and I loved it. Was it because of the blinding charisma of Kiem, the deep levels of reserve within Jainan (the signs are there immediately), the blisteringly competent Bel, and the other secondary characters? Along with the descriptions of the space, the way the military was integrated, how Internal Security popped up, the Emperor, and a whole bunch of other things (including gender and cultural considerations), and I loved it so much!

Also, it has the following tropes, used delightfully:

-One bed
-Arranged political marriage between two kinda enemy peoples
-disaster bisexual and uptight gay
-Someone fell into a river while camping and they must now huddle together naked for warmth

Also, Kiem repeatedly puts his foot in his mouth around Jainan, and it's so painful to watch the two constantly miscommunicate.

Anywho, lots of conversations on healthy relationships, communication and more, all wrapped into a really fun military-political-and-thoroughly-queer space opera!

"I think," Jainan said slowly, "that it's very possible to spend all your energy doing the right thing but still miss something obvious. I think that doesn't make your effort meaningless."

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

4.5ish stars.

To categorize this as a romance novel would, I think, be doing it a disservice. It is, above all, a tightly plotted, imaginative space opera, although the central relationship does play an enjoyably significant role.

I was looking forward to reading based on pre-release advertising and hype, but I was not expecting something so exciting, fun, and polished from an unknown debut author. Maxwell has done an equally good job of building a nuanced world of intergalactic intrigue as she has of making her characters lovable and believable.

Both aspects, the politics and the relationships, are tense and page-turning. The marriage of the two main characters in particular is challenging as a reader because the POV switches from one to the other and they can never manage to get on the same page. Maxwell does a good job playing on those frustrations.

Overall, really glad I read this, and I'm excited for everyone else to have the chance when it gets officially released in a couple weeks!

TW: domestic abuse, violence, anxiety disorders, manipulation of reality /

Everina Maxwell's writing got me from the start. The characters were magnificent and besides being attached to them, I felt like each one of them got a good development throughout the story, which is something I rarely see. It is frustratingly common for me to enjoy a character, then finishing the book thinking, "ah. That could've been handled better."
I knew from the start that I was going to love this book: fake dating and arranged marriage tropes are some of my favorites and they're present in the core of the story; then SPACE GAYS! It's been years I've waited for this, as a Star Wars fan and someone whose hopes and dreams were crushed by Dreamworks' "Voltron: Legendary Defender" circa 2018. Then, there was this whole complex political scenario that's very well tangled to the plot, something that caught my attention. I love it when books, shows, etc. explore the political situations of the fictional world created. In addition to those, the romance is slow-burn and a bit of a 'stupid gays' situation, with both of them assuming the other's feelings and being 'ah, it's a shame he doesn't like me', which drives me insane every single time.
Something I have to include though, on a serious note, is this book's portrayal of abuse. The emotions, experiences, and traumas are well crafted and multifaceted, complex, dealing with the situation afterward and giving him a happy, healthy relationship. This kind of narrative isn't usual, especially when it involves queer characters, so it was refreshing to see (though I still want my boy to get a therapist).
I highly recommend this book to basically everyone, because the experience of reading it was fantastic. I was mostly caught up at the 60% progress because I just couldn't let go of it! I'm one to sleep early, about 9 pm, but yesterday I only went to bed by 1 am, because there was no way in hell I'd let go of this book before it was over.

Winter's Orbit attracted me right away with its beautiful cover art and billing as a space Opera meets RW&RB, the premise and the character descriptions were a big draw for me. The first 25% of this book is amazing. I was sucked right in and really excited to watch things unfold.

Things I liked about this book:

The characters of Kiem and Jainan were well written and developed.

Clever and empowered female side characters.

Really unique sci-fi elements such as shards of crazy space metal that make people hallucinate and space ships that can blackout all light and color.

Things that didn't work as well for me:

I am not a fan of romances that are mostly miscommunication followed by quick resolution and fast "love".

The world building is very light. Other than mentioning the names of places in the galaxy, I didn't really understand where we were.

The middle 50% of this book lay down a fairly complicated (in description) set of political rules and networks that ultimately stay quite shallow and unexplained.

All mechanics of romance are sanitized and behind closed doors. Awkward.

In the end, I read an amazing Space Opera featuring political intrigue and excellent LGBTQIA characters that also released this month called Persephone Station. I loved that book and maybe it was the comparison that made me not enjoy this book as much.

Thank you so much to Tor and NetGalley for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I expected to love this and I did but I didn’t expect to have so much fun with all of the political intrigue and mysteries to be solved. Oh, and I do want to give one CW for domestic violence.

First off let me say how much I loved these characters. Prince Kiem is kind of a reformed rake in that he’s trying to be taken a bit more seriously but is having trouble escaping his past as a rebellious youth. At heart he’s a bit of a softy and maybe a bit naïve about how politics work but he’s also savvy enough to know how to work a room and is full of personality and swagger. He’s like a lively little cinnamon roll–I love him. To contrast, Count Jainan is subdued and would probably blend into the background if you let him. Kiem isn’t quite sure what to make of Jainan and vice versa. Of course, as the story goes on you start to get a sense that there’s a lot that Jainan isn’t saying about his past with his previous partner, Taam. His actions speak louder than words and to me it was obvious that something was very, very wrong. Overall, I loved the way that Kiem and Jainan’s relationship progressed. Kiem always tried to be thoughtful and considerate of Jainan’s feelings. Of course because there’s a huge misunderstanding between them his actions are often lost on Jainan or misinterpreted. If there’s one thing that did annoy me a bit was just how long the misunderstanding was drawn out between them. For one, as savvy Kiem is about some things he’s completely dense about others. For two, although I totally understand why Jainan wouldn’t want to talk about his past and why he assumed certain things regarding Kiem, I feel like it would have been better for Jainan’s character growth if this had all come to light earlier in the story. As it is, his courage at the end feels like it has come on rather suddenly.

As a romance reader I was really happy with the romance tropes utilized in this book as they’re some of my favorites. Arranged marriage, only one bed (or tent in this case), having to huddle together for warmth, etc. One thing romance readers look for (because we read so much of it) is not only that sense of comfort from the familiar but also new takes on those tropes. Somehow Winter’s Orbit made these tropes feel fresh. I don’t know if it was the setting or the way the characters navigated the relationship between each other, but something about this really worked for me. For instance, early on the ‘only one bed’ trope is avoided but then later it comes up again and by that point in the story you’re rooting for it.

And now for my favorite least expected part of the book–political intrigue! I was fairly impressed with the world building here (although I would LOVE to learn more because I still have a lot of questions about the greater universe) and especially enjoyed the set up of an empire ruling over a set of planets and the friction that causes when one of the planets takes exception to the empire utilizing their resources. First of all, love a ‘death to the empire’ story. LOVE. THEM. I am happy to see these type of systems criticized. I also love that there’s some criticism here of an act of rebellion because I think that was warranted, however I also think it’s a bit naïve to think that massive issues can be solved by talking them out. Of course, it also helps when you have a huge bargaining chip. I thought all the political intrigue in this was fascinating. I also love how there were so many red herrings, so many times the evidence led them down the wrong path. I was really kept guessing who was on whose side for a lot of the story. I never knew who was going to wind up being the one that had betrayed them. Of course, it also helped that there were enough components to lead the investigation in different directions. Anyway, this aspect of the story was really fun for me. Love a good mystery.

Overall, I had a really good time reading this one. I think if you’re looking for a romance in space or some fun planetary politics, this would be a good one to check out. 4/5 stars.

NOTE: Review link will be live on 1/19/21

Thank you to Tor Books and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Winter’s Orbit is a queer Sci-fi/Space Opera (or soft Sci-fi). What initially drew me to this book is the arranged marriage trope, which is one of my personal favourites.

Winter’s Orbit is a very character-driven story. It was mentioned in other Goodreads reviews that the novel used to be up on Archiveofourown (AO3) as a piece of fanfiction. I used to be a massive fan of fanfiction for that very reason – it gave me all the juicy character moments that I craved, with a simpler plotline that was easy to follow as the story was uploaded over time (often weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly). To me, Winter’s Orbit did resemble fanfiction in many ways, but I don’t think someone unfamiliar with the genre would notice.

“He didn’t know where his duty lay, and that was the most terrifying thing of all.”

I really enjoyed the cast of characters. Kiem is a prince – but he is very much so the Emperor’s biggest disappointment. He has a very easy-going nature, loves to socialize (and does it very well!) and cares about people, but his reputation as a party-goer, skirt-chaser and royal fuckup overshadows his political assets. Then there’s Count Jainan, who’s a quiet and serious academic, perhaps even stoic, and everything Kiem is not. This unlikely match suddenly finds themselves married, which is what sets the grounds for this novel’s plot.

However, the main plot is the revelation that the death of Jainan’s last partner – Kiem’s cousin – Taam, might not have been an accident. This spins the story into a race against time, as the couple has to solve the murder case to stop the break-out of an interplanetary war. For me, this is where the “fanfiction” aspect came in: there was so much focus on Kiem and Jainan’s relationship that the real plot didn’t get a chance to fully come into action until the book was halfway done.

Their romance is, of course, a big aspect of the plot too, but it is very slow-burning. The first half of the book is more so reserved for world-building, politics and character introductions. I’m not very familiar with science fiction, so I have to admit that I occasionally struggled with the worldbuilding and the technological aspects of the plot, and I think that comes down to me being an inexperienced sci-fi reader. There’s also many different planets, clans, military groups and politics which ties into the story, and I struggled to keep up with it all. I did sometimes find myself having to read paragraphs twice, or deciding to move along even though I didn’t fully understand a concept or something that occurred.

“People were many things, but by and large they weren’t masterminds. They always wanted something. They always had a reason for what they did.”

What truly kept me intrigued was the characters and the romance. Everina did an excellent job with her cast of characters. There’s a lot of different faces and names that appear throughout the story, and many of them have a big enough presence to label them as side characters. Bel was one of my favourites, and she truly elevated the story for me at times both due to her being an interesting addition to the story, but also because she added some much-needed humour. She works as Kiem’s aide, which is a kind of personal assistant. It is her task to keep track of Kiem’s life, and their relationship is a very nice balance of mother/son, employee/boss and unexpected friends. What impressed me the most about the cast is that Everina managed to separate them well. They are different enough to make sure the reader remembers them as their own, valuable personalities.

The romance was very PG. A big part of Kiem and Jainan’s relationship revolves around Jainan’s struggles to open up, as well as misunderstandings provoked by their vast differences. I still found it very satisfying though, as I was constantly involved in their progression and yelling at them whenever they misunderstood each other. There were so many cases of “one step forward and three steps back” where I sat there with my fists in the air like whYyyYyYYY !! just kiss already !!!!

“‘I think,’ Jainan said slowly, ‘that it’s very possible to spend all your energy doing the right thing but still miss something obvious. I think that doesn’t make your effort meaningless. Does that make sense?'”

Because a big part of the plot revolves around a murder mystery, I think it’s worth talking a little bit about that. I thoroughly enjoyed how the story kept me guessing – both in regards to Jainan’s involvement with Taam, as well as the other suspects. At one point or another, I felt like nearly every character could have killed Taam, which gave me that classic murder mystery feeling where you’re constantly on edge wondering who you can or cannot trust. Even though I didn’t find the plot predictable, I was only fully taken aback a couple of times during the latter part (revelation of the mystery).

Finally, I want to mention that Everina Maxwell nailed the queer representation in this novel. In her world, everyone is a “they” unless they clearly state their gender using specific materials in their attire – featured on a headband, wristband, a pin or on their collar etc. We meet characters with a wide range of representation that I think a lot of readers will appreciate and be able to relate to. I am not queer myself, so I only hope that those who are finds this novel accurate in its representations.

After a lot of back and forth, I finally managed to decide on my rating for Winter’s Orbit:

4 stars!

Although it took me a while to get into the story, I really enjoyed it. The last 50% of the book truly made up for the slow beginning. It has an exciting plot that keeps you guessing, but it’s the characters that elevated the experience and made this into a 4-star read. If it weren’t for the characters, I would probably have rated the book 3 stars, but after some back and forth, I realized that I’d love to read this again sometime to revisit Kiem, Jainan and Bel. Because it’s so character-driven, I think I’d enjoy Winter’s Orbit even more the second time around, when I’m already invested in their lives and know more of their backstory.

I’ll definitely be recommending this book to people looking for sci-fi, romance or queer representation, and I can’t wait to see what others will think about Winter’s Orbit when it releases on February 2nd!

While I would still recommend this book to the right teen reader it is a disappointment if you have ever read Becky Chambers or A Memory Called Empire or another really great sci-fi book. There are some things I did love but they did not out weight all of the problems. Also, the characters are varying shades of pretty boring humans. Just go read Becky Chambers.

What a brilliant combination of political intrigue, arranged marriage, SciFi, and queer romance!

Content warnings include: depictions of past intimate partner violence and abuse (not between main couple), vehicle crash, character gets arrested, war crimes, death of spouse, mind altering tech, arranged marriage, alcohol consumption, sex off-page, getting stuck in wilderness and animal attack, mentions of murder and blackmail.

If there’s one trope I absolutely love in all its shapes and forms it’s arranged marriage. Now make it queer and combine it with political intrigue and set it in space and you’ll have the perfect combination to make me want it DESPERATELY. (Really, the only thing that could have possibly made this better was if one (or both) of the protagonists had been alien.)

The execution of the arranged marriage and subsequent romance was great. The setup of charming party prince and stiff scholarly diplomat was already promising, and it didn’t disappoint. There was definitely a slow burn element, completely with unexpected circumstances leading to forced proximity, and lots of building of trust and breaking expectations, and it was just wonderful.

But the book wasn’t all romance, and those other parts were great too. The political intrigue kept me on my toes constantly, as did the mystery element. There were so many suspects and different players, and it wasn’t always easy to keep a view over everyone’s goals and motivations – but I found that only added to the atmosphere, as both Jainan and Kiem are thrown into it very unexpectedly and are scrambling to keep track themselves.

The worldbuilding wasn't extensive, but just enough to paint a believeable picture of this SciFi setting. I loved the little touches like the dangerous avian wildlife, the extensive reach of the universe, and the casual queerness in particular.

The book was extremely readable. It wasn’t fast paced, but it was such a joy to read that I was always looking forward to picking it up again. I loved seeing the events unfold, learning all the secrets that were sprinkled and hinted at throughout the plot, and I wasn’t disappointed by a single development.

Overall, Winter’s Orbit delighted me on all fronts. I love this particular mash of genres that isn’t all romance, but isn’t all SciFi mystery either. It was the perfect balance of twisted political intrigue, high stakes and overall wholesomeness and managed to hit just the right spot for me.

I definitely recommend this one, and I’ll be on the lookout for more from this author.

Quick note: I received a free copy of this book from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. That did not influence the content of this review. Thanks, Tor and Netgalley!

Warning: I'm just going to go ahead and straight-up spoil all of the “plot twists” in this review, because I wish I'd known about them before I started reading it. If you're a “no-spoilers” person, I recommend skipping this review.

This book was extremely not for me. I do not like how the narrative handles the trauma recovery aspects of its plotline, which are both spoilers and absolutely integral to the book. That said, I think the book is technically well done; I'll still be recommending it to a lot of readers.

Winter's Orbit stars Jainan and Kiem, a planetary ambassador and a reformed fuck-up prince who are forced into a diplomatic marriage after the suspicious death of Jainan's husband. It's part awkward, miscommunicated romance and part murder investigation, as the husbands discover that Jainan's dead ex, Taam, was murdered because of his involvement in some shady military plot.

It becomes obvious early on that Taam abused Jainan. Jainan accepts massive violations of personhood as normal. Kiem is in turns oblivious, appalled, and confused that Jainan would expect Kiem to treat him so poorly.

It's a perfectly functional book. Good — even great. The character work is spotless, and incredibly fun to boot; the politics and worldbuilding are interesting enough to support an intrigue plot but simple enough to avoid boring, convoluted storytelling. It approaches silly romantic tropes (arranged marriage, stranded in the wilderness, only one bed!) with humor and sincerity. It's a space opera with a central gay romance, a queernormative world, and a cast of mostly queer characters.

But it's also, above all other things, a trauma recovery narrative. The climax of the book hinges on kidnappers using a military torture technology to force one character to relive emotional, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of his ex-husband. His new husband has to dive into his mind, witness memories of the abuse, and convince him that he's loved and valuable and worth saving.

If someone had told me any of that before I picked up the book, I would've gone, “Haha, wow, OK, not for me!” and simply. not read the book.

Hopefully this review will equip others with the knowledge necessary to go “whoa there, no thanks!” And I think a lot of people are going to, rightfully, love this book. Hopefully people who read this review and think, “That sounds really interesting, actually!” will also find it.

An arranged romance between two royals? Check. A gay relationship? Check. Another planet as the major setting? Check. Winter's Orbit seems to have everything my geeky heart would want in a sci-fi romance book. But unfortunately, I was disappointed in this one. I think I was simply expecting something different.

Winter's Orbit has been compared to Red, White, and Royal Blue, one of the best new adult romance books to release in the past couple of years, which meant I had the (possibly unfair) expectation that Winter's Orbit would be a light-hearted romance with a small dosing of political backdrop. Alas, this book was more of a political sci-fi thriller with a bit of a romance. I typically expect more kissing-feelings-angstiness from my arranged marriage stories, especially ones that are advertised with a one-bed trope and cinnamon roll protagonists.

The book's arranged marriage took place between our two main characters, Kiem, the Iskat Emperor's grandson, and Jainan, the representative from Thean who was married to Kiem's late cousin. Kiem definitely fit the cinnamon roll description. He was cute and funny and kind of a mess at times. I easily fell for his charm. Sadly, Jainan was a little bland. His chapter POVs often read like articles discussing the political state of the planets. He barely had any emotions for the first half of the book. I understand Jainan's history contributed to this, but some sort of emotional connection between the reader and his character just seemed to be missing for far too much of the story. Romantic tension was missing somewhere as well, perhaps in the lack of physical cues between the leads. That last main-character nitpick brings me to the additional characters. The diversity in Winter's Orbit is fantastic. However, it's easy to forget who is who because of the name-dropping, so some of that diversity may be lost in the first read-through.

Now, as for the actual plot of the book, it was an interesting story. The first half was a lot of political discussion, while the second half had a bit more action. Not a crazy amount, but there was some action. There was quite a bit of info-dumping at first, however. It was really difficult to get the names and places straight in my head. I'm still not 100% sure what a remnant is or what it does or what exactly everyone's jobs are. Perhaps a re-read would help and provide me with more enjoyment now that I know the world better. Despite this initial confusion, the final half did get more entertaining. The two characters are put into situations where they're forced to be alone and not talk politics 24/7, though it's still not enough to satisfy me, someone who was anticipating angst and pining.

All in all, if you are looking for a romance book that simply takes place in space, Winter's Orbit might not be for you. On the other hand, if you're looking for a political sci-fi with a smidge of romance and a cast of diverse characters, you'll probably like this one. And who knows, I may have liked it more had my expectations not been set on reading what I anticipated to be more of a romance book.

3.5 stars

*Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher to review via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

It's too complimentary to compare this book to a gem like Ancillary Justice, but I think the comp to Red, White, and Royal Blue is right on the money. This book has the advantage of being set in a fictional society, which automatically makes it far less cringey than RWRB, a book I admittedly absolutely hated. The worst part of that one, for me, was the fact that Casey McQuiston used the 2016 election as a cutesy backdrop for her otherwise unremarkable romance plot. In Winter's Orbit, a convoluted mystery serves as a sort of thin pretense for the romance between Kiem and Jainan, which emerges out of the "fake marriage" trope. The main problem for me is not so much the fact that Winter's Orbit originated as a fanfic-adjacent web serial and shamelessly relies on the usual tropes therein. It's that the plot exists to prop up a romance that barely even happens. The protagonists kiss rarely and have one single fade-to-black sex scene. Even RWRB had more than that, and I criticized that book for tiptoeing around the mechanics of gay sex. I have a real problem with women writing m/m romance novels who have absolutely no interest in developing their characters as, um, men who like to have sex with men. That wouldn't fly in mainstream m/f romance. It's one thing if you establish your characters as people who aren't interested in sexual relationships, but that's absolutely not the case here. If this were more hardline sci-fi story with a romance component, that would be one thing. But the world is barely developed beyond the plot points that are important to progress the romantic storyline along, and the political elements are subject to the same thing. It's a bizarre departure from convention that's all too popular among women who think boys kissing is cute but are squicky about the rest of it. And I'm completely 100% over it.
there were sections that engrossed me--I was invested in the romance and I think plenty aspects of the narrative were done well. Maxwell isn't a bad writer. And I gave RWRB two stars, and this is definitely better than that. But between the sort of complimentary colonialism stuff and the dragged-out pacing and the rest of it, I find myself feeling ultimately disappointed.

Definitely more of a 4.5.

CW: past domestic violence

I still remember how excited I was when I first saw the cover and premise of this book and couldn’t wait to get to it. Now that I’m done, I can just say that I have a wide smile due to how much I enjoyed it.

When someone says that a book reads like fanfiction, I find that to be a compliment because fanfics have been the ones that have gotten me through the year from hell. The writing in this book does resemble that, being very easy to read and accessible. It’s a space opera but the world building isn’t too complicated, the author giving us just enough information to understand the political intrigue. There are unexpected twists and betrayals and lots of political maneuvering that makes it a very interesting read that’ll keep you engaged. We have some very beloved fanfic tropes like arranged marriage, only a single bed, the unlikely couple getting stranded and bonding over it and also lots of miscommunication and yearning because of it. And one of the most fascinating parts of this world is how normalizingly queer it is - gender is chosen by every individual and they can present themselves as whatever they want using symbols on their person, and relationships between any genders are just part of life. It’s just so lovely to read more stories like this where homophobia and gender binaries don’t exist.

But the strength of this book is definitely the characters. Kiem is kind of an insignificant Royal who is thrust into an arranged marriage in a very short notice while Jainan, who is from a vassal kingdom doesn’t have much choice either. While Kiem is kind, charming and capable of talking himself into and out of any situation despite being not at all political savvy, Jainan is more reserved, thoughtful, slightly anxious and thinks many times before even uttering a word. They are definitely opposites, which means the attraction is inevitable. While there was a lot of communication between them for a while which made me quite tense about what was gonna happen, it was also so lovely to see them slowly become reliant on each other and then able to talk about their feelings. I was literally sobbing with happiness seeing them get together and then work with each other to figure out all the mysteries. The ending was particularly very amusing and I was full of joy seeing the proceedings play out.

Even the side characters are quite interesting and each has their own arc. I especially loved Kiem’s assistant Bel who was a total badass with an interesting backstory and was such a supportive figure throughout the mystery solving. The Auditor and Agent Rakal also turned out to be fascinating despite me doubting their motivations. Gairad was a sweet addition while the Emperor was kinda subtly funny. But it was Taam, Jainan’s dead husband who felt like a constant presence despite not being alive and the author did such a great job creating and solving all the entanglements.

To conclude, I’m so happy that I got to read such a cute and lovely romance early on in the year. This is such an easy read in the space opera genre but the author balances the love story, the politics and the murder mystery perfectly - making this a very memorable book. It made me giddy and emotional and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I highly recommend this one, especially if you like queer worlds and sweet romances.

Thank you Tor for the ARC of this book!

I know it's been said in other reviews, but this book started as fanfiction on AO3. As a fanfic writer and consumer, I can guarantee you that you'll get the exact same type of <i>burn through this 100k fic in a few days</i> feeling of satisfaction.

Prince Kiem is a charmer. He's easy-going and a social charmer. He's genuinely kind and happy. Count Jainan is contained. He's more comfortable with numbers and research than he is with people, and he has a strict devotion to what he perceives as duty. When Jainan's partner and Kiem's cousin, Taam, is suddenly killed in an accident, they find themselves thrown together in an arranged marriage to try and salvage the treaty between their two planets. If they fail, war is at stake.

I liked Kiem immediately, which is what the author intended I'm sure. Janin was a harder sell, but Maxwell does a beautiful job of slowly unfurling layers of story to explain why that is. Though their physical attraction is immediate, we get to see them slowly learn to know each other through the storytelling. It's not a case of instalove and it makes sense, which I think sometimes is set aside in books in favor of getting to the climax of the story.

The setting is in space, of course, but it's not sci-fi heavy. There's not an overabundance of terms and technology that might throw some people off. It revolves more around politics and people than anything, and that's a major plus for me.

There is of course gay rep here (it's a mlm relationship, though Kiem mentions also being with women), but in this universe, gender is also explored in a unique way with people expressing their preferred pronouns via decoration that they wear so it's easily identifiable. It's part of the culture in this book, so it's never overly discussed or made note of because it's the natural thing to do here. It was a really great way to present this idea.

I'll add here a CW for abuse/spousal abuse. It's not too heavy-handed, but it's a major part of the story. I believe it was handled well, and added extra depth to the emotion embedded within.

I know this is a stand-alone, but I wouldn't mind reading a sequel to this! I can't wait to see what else we get from Maxwell!

Winter’s Orbit was one of my favorite books of 2020. But I decided to save this review because I wanted to start the year off on a good note. And I’m SO excited that the release date for Winter’s Orbit is finally coming up soon because I can’t wait for my preorder to get here.

I honestly had no idea what to expect when I started reading this one but oh my gosh, it was absolutely amazing. It’s a queer, space opera with an arranged marriage and ALL the political intrigue you could want. Plus two of the most precious cinnamon roll characters. The slow burn romance is done perfectly and, even though miscommunications usually drive me crazy, it actually worked really well here. (Content warning: there are some mentions of a previous abusive relationship)

The world-building was so interesting and I loved how developed the intergalactic politics were. I found it incredibly difficult to out this book down and am already looking forward to rereading it.

Overall, I would highly recommend Winter’s Orbit! Also, there was one completely amazing side character that I really hope gets her own book.

Space opera gay fake marriage political intrigue! With all the tropes! Fake marriage! There was only one bed! Oh no, we're stranded in the cold and must share a sleeping bag for warmth! But serious and well-written and I definitely enjoyed this and recommend it.