thank you to netgalley and flux books for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

if you liked warcross by marie lu, this book's for you. from the start to the end, i really enjoyed reading this book. the overall vibes this book gave me was really catchy and fun. from the plot to the characters, i really enjoyed it alot! the author really knows how to diversify the book, from the relations to the blend of modern and gaming vibes.
riven, ty, samir, asa, diego my people, loved their relationships and their character development. even though i loved riven and asa, they were the reason i picked up the book, i loved ty and asa too TY MY FAVOURITE BOY DJSHDHSIDHK

I REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE EPILOGUE WHAT ON EARTH TY I'LL PROTECT YOU

anyway read this book for riven hawthorne my girl.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours, Claire Winn, Netgalley, and Flux for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Give me all the sapphic feels, am I right? It feels like the more well-written sapphic novels there are out there, the happier the lot of us are. I can attest to this, and I was happy to have the chance to read this one.

Could you imagine having to save your sister’s mind from being reprogrammed because of the actions of your father? I really love stories where siblings do whatever it takes to save one another. In this case, Asa needs to make sure that her sister’s mind doesn’t get reprogrammed because their father somehow uploads her sister’s mind into an experimental brain. Talk about one of the scariest things to think about in the not-so distant future. I adore sci-fi novels like this.

Now, comparing what Asa has to go through with what Riven has to go through, it’s interesting that they were able to work with one another throughout the novel. Sure, they may seem like a match not made in heaven, and Riven may having some ulterior motives since she’s trying to make a name for herself in Requiem’s underworld as a smuggler, but stranger things have happened before.

As always, the interactions and dynamics between our main characters is super important to me, and can really make or break a story for me. Luckily for me, it made the story quite enjoyable.

In the neon cyberpunk city of Requiem based on one of Alpha-Centauri’s moons, Riven Hawthorne wants to make a name for herself in the criminal underworld. When a job goes wrong, a bounty stolen from beneath her crew’s nose, she needs to make money quick. In desperation, they decide to steal from the infamous bounty hunter that took their job, but the cargo was more than they expected. Asa Almeida is the runaway daughter of the CEO of a massive tech organisation. She’d managed to cement her place as heir under her manipulative father’s thumb until he uploaded her sister’s mind into experimental technology. She’d do anything to restore her. The two women get caught up in a mysterious operation known as Project Winterdark while a powerful AI threatens the city to capture Asa’s technology in this high-stakes young adult sci-fi. City of Shattered Light never drops its momentum, so it makes for a fast-paced, entertaining read that’s difficult to put down. Cyberpunk is a genre that doesn’t get enough love, so this neon-drenched, gritty setting was delightful. The characters were fun and easily distinguishable – fans of rogue-like groups of found family will have a blast. It would have been nice to have more tender, personal moments mixed in with the action. Occasionally the pace felt rushed, and emotional beats missed their mark. This is especially true of the romantic relationships in which the sapphic angle in the love triangle felt sorely underdeveloped. Although I enjoyed the premise of this book, it didn’t pull me in as much as I would have wanted. Regardless, a strong debut novel that I’d recommend to fans of fast-paced stories and groups of tight-knit characters.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It wasn't poorly written by any means, but I just struggled to connect with the story in any sort of meaningful way. The concept really excited me and I thought the world was pretty well fleshed out to the point where I felt like I understood the universe pretty well. The characters, on the other hand, were all very one-dimensional and honestly a little boring to read about. I liked Asa as a protagonist more than Riven, but neither of them truly grabbed me. The minor characters were more interesting in my opinion (especially Ty) but their stories never really seemed to get traction. The book was exciting and I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't really stick with me after I was done.

Thank you so much to the author and Flux books for an eARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

City of Shattered Light is a cyberpunk space heist. Asa Almeida has been trying to prove to her father that she's worthy to take over the company. But when she finds out he's used her sister to program a new form of AI, Asa knows she has to rescue her. As Asa runs away with her sister's brain in tow, she's pursued by a rogue bounty hunter and crashes into the outlaw drenched paradise, Requiem.

Riven Hawthorne has been climbing her way up Requiem's underworld hierarchy. When a critical job of hers goes wrong, Riven knows she needs something to prove her worth: catching a runaway rich girl could do the trick. But as Asa flees she unleashes a hybrid AI/computer virus into Requiem. The two will have to team up if they have any hope of surviving and saving Asa's sister.

This book was absolutely incredible! The first couple chapters are a great build up, we see some of the atrocities Almeida industries has committed. But then the plot takes off and skyrockets the action. I swear once things get going they do not stop in this book. There was so much going on, it was such an adventure.

I will forever be pining over Asa joining Riven's crew. I love found family so much and this book delivers on that aspect! The action never stops in this book. There was always constant movement whether it was a plot twist, sneaky reveal or character development. Riven is 100% a feral queer and a chaos bisexual. Asa is also a chaos bisexual but she's also a computer genius. I love seeing female computer geniuses! The dynamic between these two was so fun, I loved seeing them get closer and learn to trust each other.

Loved this so much!! There better be a sequel! *Cries*

Rep: Chronically ill bisexual female MC, BIPOC (Asian coded, most likely Filipina) bisexual female MC, achillean BIPOC male side characters, side character with cybernetic implants, queer normative world.

CWs: Alcohol consumption, blood, body horror (forced cybernetic implants), chronic illness, cursing, death, gaslighting, grief, gun violence, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, terminal illness, violence. Moderate: suicidal thoughts, gore, kidnapping.

The first thing that sold this book to me was gays in space. Need I say more? However, those high expectations led to a kind of big letdown.

Asa is the heir of her family’s legacy, Almeida Industries, but finds out that the project she’s supposed to inherit has much darker roots. She flees and somehow finds help with a ragtag group of bounty hunters on a neighboring planet, hoping to take her father down.

The world-building of this story I think was pretty well done. It didn’t focus as much on why exactly humans had to move planets, but more on the tech and the structure of society and hierarchy on Cortellion and Requiem. I especially liked Requiem’s matriarchy system. It was unique and not something I’ve really seen before.

Now let’s talk plot and pacing. The pacing was a little weird. There were several points where I thought that it would make for a good closure to the story, but it kept going, so that threw me off. Also the reveal of Asa’s identity happened WAY earlier than I thought it would, and I wasn’t really a huge fan of how it was done. Plot was kind of cliche but I thought it worked.

The execution fell a little flat for me. I only ever really felt attached to Asa and her own ambitions and goals. Riven was too headstrong and willing to die for my tastes. Also she has a terminal illness and I felt it was sloppy in how it’s demonstrated. Basically her illness strengthens under extreme stress, which happens maybe twice in the story? It’s only really used as a plot device and just explains why she is okay with dying so much. But I felt it could have been explored more and given her more depth as a character instead of it being just tacked on to her like a last minute decision. The last chapter was meant to be a cliffhanger, but was more of a “this didn’t really need to be here but here it is anyway,” and I wasn’t a huge fan of the buildup to it either, which I won’t say cause spoilers.

Some characters, like Samir, could have been excluded from the story because they didn’t contribute much if not nothing to the story. On top of that, I was EXTREMELY confused about the love story situation in this book. Asa starts off falling for Ty, even though it’s advertised as a queer story. I think Asa and Riven are both at least bisexual, which is nice. But when that relationship becomes rushed in the last 25% of the story, it doesn’t really help. And the WAY it comes about was horrible in terms of where it happens in the story in relation to other events. Just… why? Yes there was some buildup for Asa and Riven getting together, which is fine, but why then have the whole romance subplot with Asa and Ty? It didn’t really make sense to me. And to be honest, I actually preferred Asa with Ty.

City of Shattered Light is a breakthrough science fiction story with great world-building, but lackluster everything else.

DRC provided by North Star Editions via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: bisexual protagonist, bisexual protagonist of colour, gay secondary character of colour, queer tertiary character of Latine descent.

Content Warning: violence, death, gore, mentions of organ harvesting, mentions of toxic relationship, mentions of abuse, corpse desecration, human experimentation, organised crime.

City of Shattered Lights by Claire Winn is an action-packed science-fiction novel with a dual point of view.
Riven Hawthorne is a pilot and a very efficient gunslinger who uses old guns to avoid hacking in a world where almost everyone uses advanced technology tools and weapons and who is trying to leave a mark on Requiem, a moon on Alpha Centauri under the control of the Duchess and her Matriarchs.

Asa Almeida is the heiress to Almeida Industries, a behemoth in the technology field which basically control the whole terraformed planet of Cortellion. She and her sister, Kaya, both work for their father, although in different roles. Kaya is being used by their father as a test subject for Project Winterdark. When they discover some secrets about the sisters hatch a plan to leave their home, but to no avail as their father discover it and begins his ultimate plan for Kaya.

Once Asa and Riven meet, chaos ensues and follows them wherever they go.

I do not really have much to say about City of Shattered Light. I was really excited to read it, but I am sad to say I actually find it a totally okay reading experience, nothing spectacular about it. It absolutely is not a bad book, but I am not really interested in knowing how the story continues or what happens to the characters. The numerous adventures and action scenes did not allow me to really get to know the characters and create an emotional connection with them, which in turn made me totally indifferent about their future. I, though, found interesting the world Winn created and I think I would give her work another chance.

City of Shattered Light is an all-action novel, which unfortunately did not find the right reader in me, but this review should not prevent anyone from giving it a chance.

3.50 A solid debut. This book was one of my most anticipated books of 2021, so I was very excited to get my hands on it. While I did like the read, it might be a case of my expectations being too high as I didn’t enjoy this like I was hoping to. It is an above average debut, and definitely an entertaining read, but I just didn’t connect to it like I had hoped for.

This is a YA, cyberpunk, sci-fi read staring LGBTQ characters. I was really excited about the ‘heiress and the outlaw’ storyline and what adventures were to come with that pairing. On the good side, this is well written for a debut. There were issues for me, which I will explain later, but this futuristic world was very interesting and had a ton of potential. This is a reasonably long book but I flew though it since it is very high action. The pace is super quick and I was absolutely entertained for the entire read.

The big problem for me was that besides all the action and entertainment, I didn’t really care for anything else. My first issue was calling this a YA book. The characters are said to be 17 and 18, which does not fit into the level of skill, and life experiences that they were supposed to have lived already. One character has lost her great love who she dated for maybe a year? These characters really should have been at least mid-20’s, for any of their backgrounds to really make sense. Trying to force this book into the YA box made no sense at all to me.

My biggest issue was the characters. Like the world that Winn created, these characters had so much potential but instead they felt very wooden to me. Riven, is the kind of badass character I would normally love but it was really hard to connect with her. Almost every peak into her inner thoughts was constant contradictions and it just got old very fast. It wasn’t just Riven I could not connect to, it was all the other characters too. When you are reading a book and you don’t care if all the characters make it out alive or not, then you know there is an issue. I think the one character I cared about the most was in this cryo-medical sleep pod almost the whole book so not sure what that really says.

While I would not call this a romance, there is a bisexual love triangle that I was not a fan of. If you are going to do a love triangle at least make it good and angsty, this triangle didn’t seem to have a point. It is clear that character A and character B are starting to catch feels. Character C has a crush on character B and starts kissing them. Character B kisses character C back but during the kissing is actually thinking about how they like character A instead. Kissing one person while thinking of the other just made it icky and it seemed like character B just kissed character C back because it was convenient. Not only that but there was no chemistry at all between character B and C and instead it felt like a sibling relationship. A and B have a little love/hate chemistry going on, it wasn’t much chemistry, but at least they had something together.

TLDR: A well written debut that had its share of bumps. The action and sci-fi scenes are well done and very entertaining. However, the characters and relationships need some work. This is YA, but characters don’t seem to fit these younger ages and should have been 25 instead. There is a small bisexual love triangle, but this book doesn’t really have a ‘romance’. There is also a slight cliffhanger, but the main story is complete and I am happy with the ending so as of now I would not read a sequel. I believe that Winn’s writing will only get better so I might change my mind in the future.

4.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Flux Books for an arc of this book!

Asa has lived a cushy life--but everything changes for her when her father's experiments put her sister in danger. Meanwhile, Riven is scraping by--and needs a big bounty to save her and her crew. When Asa runs away to save her sister, she teams up with Riven's crew--and the stakes might be bigger than they expect.

I loved this book! After about 5 chapters the action starts going hard and doesn't stop for the rest of the book. So much happens with these disaster girls and their friends! I loved the plot and the world building with the space and the tech that are included. I couldn't believe how it ended! I need the sequel asap.

I loved watching the relationship between these characters build throughout the book. This romance is definitely a slow-burn, but it is worth it! Loved this!

Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, Gore, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts

City of Shattered Light is a entertaining YA science fiction novel that also mixes in some fun heists and an intriguing criminal underworld. And I seriously love this cover. This book was super fast-paced and had some great action sequences (love me a good sharpshooter!). Although I would have loved to have gotten a bit more insight into the characters, Winn still did a good job of introducing them + the world while setting the stage for a great sequel. Plus I always am a fan of rogue AIs.

If you’re for a fun YA sci-fi book, check this one out!

It's hard to make sci-fi feel both fresh and original, while at the same time not bogging it down with so much technobabble that readers get lost, but in "City of Shattered Light", Claire Winn manages to do exactly that.

Set on the cyberpunk, neon world of Requiem, the story follows Asa, a tech heiress with a big problem, and Riven, an outlaw of sorts, and Riven's gang, who are going to help her solve it.

Asa's father, a wealthy and heartless man of the kind we know only too well these days, has performed a modification on Asa's sister's brain, effectively granting him the ability to alter her personality to suit his purposes. Truly, the epitome of unethical science. Asa steals what remains of her sister and runs off to Requiem, looking for a way to get to Earth as that Is the only way to save her.

Both Asa and Riven are distinct personalities that feel right at home in the sci-fi environment. There is a not-so-distant feeling to them that I think readers will really enjoy. The almost-instant crush that Asa develops for Riven is also really sweet.

The setting really jumped out to me, since I feel like I don't see a lot of this kind of retro-futuristic, bright-light sci-fi environment anymore, which made Requiem feel really distinctive. I could easily picture this getting a graphic novel adaptation one day.

All this said, I wish we had gotten a bit more exposition, particularly on Riven and her gang off the top, as it took a while before I was as equally invested in them as I was in Asa.

My only content warning would be: despite the relatively YA sci-fi nature of it, some of the violence is fairly graphic, so if you're squeamish like me, you've been warned. It was still manageable, but I would have done better with a heads up.

thanks to Netgally for the advance copy for review purposes

i am proud to confirm that this book was as amazing as the cover. science fiction isn't my usual genre but i see sapphics and i add the book to my tbr - this one was no exception. and i'm so glad i did because it was stunning.

* full review to come *

The City of Shattered Light is hands-down on the list for favourite books of 2021 for me. It had morally grey characters, it had adventure, and it had mad scientist vibes. In my eyes, I'm already sold on that summary alone. The writing was absolutely crisp, and the pacing was absolutely perfect!
The characters and world were written so well, and it left me wanting more. I liked how there was a TON of action, but also there is a bit of romance (Oh! Did I mention that this book is LGBTQIA+?!). It was also really interesting to see the big bad thing in the book just keep evolving last my own expectations.

A solid 5/5 read from me!

Thank you Netgalley for an arc. Here is my honest review.

3 stars

This was an alright book, I didn’t hate it nor did I love it. I liked the characters and found them believable, but the romance was very weak.

The plot twist wasn’t that surprising as well, halfway through the book I figured it out and was rather disappointed by it.

People who enjoy sci-fi will like this more than than me, this isn’t the genre I typically read.

I really love City of Shattered Light, it’s a nice young adult.
What I liked the most was the world building, which I found genius and really interesting to read about.
Would a 100% recommend!

3.5 stars

I enjoyed reading this book quite a bit. There is good representation- multiple ethnicities, both main characters are bi & a gay side character. Now to be honest it’s not really breaking any new ground. It’s a fairly typical ragtag underdog team trying to save the world. But it’s well written and a fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley & Flux for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley and North Star Editions/Flux for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved City of Shattered Light.
It takes place in the future. The human race has explored the universe and has settled down on different planets. Technology has evolved and it's now possible for humans to combine human and machines.. Asa is the heiress of a tech empire and a mech. But after her father uploads her sisters brain into an artificial brain she decides to run off in order to save her sister. Riven who's a gunslinger and her crew of misfits are in trouble. They need money. And so it happens that they steal the cargo from a rival criminal. This cargo appears to be Asa.
At the same time a mysterious cyber virus spreads in Requiem. To stop this (and get money) Asa and Riven have to work together. And maybe they also learn to trust eachother.
I loved the dynamic of the crew of the Boomslang. And the relationship between Asa and the others. And how they work together to stop this mysterious threat. It's a perfect read for everyone who loves science fiction books with robots, cyborgs and a queer cast.

A solid sci-fi read!

Asa is set to become the heiress of her father’s tech empire, a role she was raised for. But when Asa’s father risks her sister’s life to further his own experiments, she runs away to Requiem. Enter: Riven, head of one of the most ragtag yet deadly gangs in Requiem. When Asa crash lands on the planet, they team up on an impossible mission to save Asa’s sister and the entire city.

The best point of this book by far was Requiem. I got so lost in the Neon descriptions, and despite its reputation as a deadly and sinister city, I really wanted it to be real. Winn did an awesome job of bringing to life the deadly and seductive vibe of the world. That being said, I’ve found one of my sci-fi pet peeves is the overuse of new and tech names for things, ESPECIALLY when they’re hyphenated. I don’t think it’s necessary to give everything a cute little name. Like the atmo-dome could’ve just been the dome or the carbon-fiber hulls of ships could’ve just been the hulls or the holoscreens could’ve been the screens. It’s fine to have a little tech lingo, but I found it kinda overpowering here.

The characters were pretty okay. I think Kaya would have been my favorite, so it was unfortunate that she wasn’t present in most of the book. I honestly can’t pinpoint much in the way of positives or negatives about any of them. They were just kinda -there-. The relationships, however, I did have an issue with. I really don’t get why Asa was soooo into Riven, and especially not why she continuously treated Ty like a stand-in when he was by far the nicest of the crew. Usually I’m one hundred percent rooting for the wlw couple, but in this one I actually didn’t think the character’s made sense together, which was disappointing.

In terms of plot, it was, again, your average sci-fi. It was pretty easy to guess the initial and final twists, and how everything would resolve. Despite this, it was still an enjoyable read. I wouldn’t say it was anything too new or exciting in terms of the storyline, but the writing was very atmospheric and paced well.

Overall I’d recommend to people who want fall into a vivid, but pretty standard, sci-fi book!

Pacing: medium-fast
Intended audience: YA
Content warnings: parental abuse, mentions of relationship abuse, murder, blood

This is a story of family, friendship, betrayal and redemption. A fast paced Sci-fi romp with flawed heroes that you want to win. An entertaining read that holds your attention to the end.

What a pleasant surprise! I’m very pleased by this book and didn’t really know what to expect but I’m happy that I requested this book from Netgalley.

Asa Almeida is an heiress to a tech company but her father has experimented on his sister, Kaya, and uploaded her into an experimental brain. Asa flees with Kaya and finds her way to Requiem, a tech filled and brutal city. Riven Hawthorne is a gun slinging outlaw who wants to find her place at the top of Requiem. Two are unlikely allies but need to work together stop a deadly virus from destroying the city of shattered light.

I requested this book on Netgalley because the plot sounded so interesting. I didn’t expect to get so involved with the story and characters. All of a sudden I realized I cared about what happens to Asa and Kaya, Riven, Ty and the entire Bloomslang gang. The plot was a little predictable but still enjoyable. Action scenes were great. Nice flowing writing. Great ending. The romance wasn’t exactly what I expected. I assumed Asa and Riven would be together but, not going to lie, I actually liked Asa and Ty together more so. Still by the end Asa and Riven were more of an item but I expected and hoped for a bit more sparks between them throughout the book, just not the last part of the book.

I’m hoping for another book but if you like a sci-fi adventure with a great cast of misfits and outlaws, check this book out.

*Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*