- CITY OF SHATTERED LIGHT is chock full of action, adventure, romance, and queerness: what more could you want from your sci-fi novels?!
- Truly though, this one is a great ride. I loved the world of this book and Asa and Riven are both excellent hardheaded protagonists with hearts of gold.
- You know I'm a sucker for queer found family crews doing heists, and this is all that and then some. Love triangle! Chronic illness! Cybernetically enhanced bounty hunters! Rogue AI! A variety of queer identities and no homophobia! Evil technology conglomerate! Oh wow, this turned into a QUEER SCREAMING review, huh?!

I had a really good time reading this! I foolishly left it until the last possible moment to start reading if I wanted to have finished it in time to make my stop on the tour, and I was worried that I was going to struggle to make it, but I needn’t have worried. This book is action packed with a lightning fast pace that made it a breeze to get through. There were no dull moments, reading it never felt like a chore, and I had fun the whole time! There were a few moments where I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but I’m very sure that’s more my own fault than the book’s, and sometimes it’s okay to just read and trust that things will click into place when it’s important, which they always did.

Asa was my favourite by far! Her sheltered upbringing and desire to impress her father, and her resulting horror upon discovering what her father was doing and the naivety with which she approaches things all made complete sense and were believable to me. Even when she made bad decisions, her reasoning behind them made sense and I never got annoyed at her for it. Her development and growth through the book was great too, the Asa from the end of the book has come a long way from the Asa at the start! I also loved her sister Kaya, and what we see of their relationship. We get to meet Kaya before the brain upload mentioned in the synopsis, and in just a few short chapters Winn was able to fully convince me of how important Kaya and Asa are to each other and so I was completely invested in how this aspect of the plot played out.

Other people are seeming to adore Riven, and I understand why. She’s basically a gunslinging space cowgirl and she’s unapologetic about both her lofty aspirations and her bisexuality. She’s effortlessly cool! I get why people like her! I don’t quite feel the same. I don’t dislike her, I just like her less. A big part of this is that while Asa’s development was handled well, Riven’s wasn’t so much. She couldn’t seem to make up her mind on how she felt about Asa, and not in a she’s conflicted way but in a she thinks one thing and then says the exact opposite five minutes later and the reader has to scramble to catch up to the fact that she changed her mind at some point while the pov shifted away from her way. It got a little frustrating because this happened more than once. Riven’s best moments often had nothing to do with Asa and everything to do with her relationships with other characters and with her feelings about her own terminal illness. These areas were where she really shone.

I loved the other members of Riven’s crew! Ty, Riven’s adoptive younger brother and the team medic, is a total sweetheart. His and Riven’s relationship was lovely, their importance to each other was really clear and their reactions whenever the other was in danger were very good. We don’t get to see as much of the other two members, Samir and Diego, which I think is a shame because there’s a lot of implied backstory there that looks super interesting and that I’d love to learn more about. I did like that Samir exclusively calls Diego ‘Dee’ even though they’re Totally Not Together, that was a fun detail.

I didn’t know going into this that there was going to be a love triangle, and while I always prefer there not to be love triangles I did appreciate that this one didn’t cause any melodrama or conflict. As love triangles go it was very chill which made it a lot more bearable. Unfortunately, the side of the triangle doomed not to win out got way more focus and screen time than the side of the triangle that as the ‘winning’ relationship we’re supposed to be rooting for. Asa and Riven’s relationship not having that same level of development, plus Riven’s attitude towards Asa in general being so hot and cold, meant that this might be the first time I read a f/f book and ended up not really wanting the f/f couple to get together. However, Winn has said that she has a sequel written and ready to go, which if it does get released (fingers crossed it does) means there’s plenty more time for me to be convinced. It’s happened before that I’ve read something and been very unimpressed with the main couple at first only for my opinion to do a complete 180 later on in the series. As this book stands, I’m not feeling it, but I’m open to having my mind changed. I definitely want to read the sequel.

Also can we take a moment to appreciate the cover? That cover is beautiful, I can’t stop staring at it.

This was a vivid cyberpunk heist novel and it was so much fun! The city/moon of Requiem was a vibrant world of neon and glitter, exhaust and cybernetics, and a constant thrumming bass line. The characters were scrappy and lovable as they fell into one scrape after another just trying to get ahead. Banshee was creepy and malicious as it stalked them through the city's ever-present tech.

I wasn't crazy about the love triangle as they're really not my favorite things, but I'll take a bisexual triangle if I must have one. I also loved how delightfully queer it all was. The ending left me wanting the next one asap, which was a bit of a surprise as I didn't realize it was going to be a series. It wasn't too bad of a cliffhanger though.

*Thanks to NetGalley and North Star Editions, Flux for providing an e-arc for review.

MY TOP FIVE REASONS TO READ City of Shattered Light:
Asa and Kaya are the new golden standard for sibling relationships. Move over Ramona and Beezus - the new kids are in town and they are out of this world!
The queer love triangle is peak bisexual confusion. There are two romantic subplots - one M/F and one F/F, and are connected by Asa, who is bisexual/pansexual.
The plot twists may have given me a heart attack, but they were worth it. If I had to live through City of Shattered Light happening to me, I would not be doing good during/afterwards - this story makes you jump as the sound of tech powering up in your home, unplug your A.I.s (sorry Siri), and camp out with non-electronic entertainment.
The side characters are just as important as the main characters. I have found that some authors struggle with making the reader care for the side characters as much as the MCs. In City of Shattered Light, you grow to care for each member of the Boomslang crew and to fear each villain, no matter how minor they are compared to the BBEG or MCs.
It is such a unique worldbuilding experience. I loved how Winn made so many little details about her world of Requiem that we never would have thought to ask for, but make everything that much more realistic.

Starting off, the opening for this book was really well done. We have a heist gone wrong where one of our main characters, Riven, encounters a rival thief, causing them to lose the item they were sent to obtain, and leaving them in a world of trouble. Meanwhile, Asa is set to inherit her father's empire until his experiment leads to uploading her sister's brain into a new one and preparing to download it for his use. In an attempt to save her sister, Asa must leave her sheltered home and make her way to Earth, before it's too late.

I have to say, Asa's home life is horrible. This is a clear example of parental abuse: Asa's locked in her room for days at a time, communication is cut off from her own sister, she fears failure because failure equals punishment. She's never left her home except to work in her father's lab or for demonstrating new tech they've developed. And of course to Asa, this is her father's way of protecting her and her sister. It made me so mad to see these girls treated like this and forced to live a life in isolation.

Once Asa makes it out of her home though, we're met with a futuristic world set off Earth. Asa finds herself on Requiem, a colonized moon somewhere in the Milky Way. Once Asa finds herself in Requiem, it's so clear she has no idea what she's doing and where she's going. Being pushed around and stolen from one person to another for the high bounty on her head, I was chuckling at how she was being passed around like a hot potato. 

This book had a lot of humor and sass in it, which I loved. Sci-fi books that are too serious just leave me wondering why everyone lacks a sense of humor or a personality. But we gets lots of comedic relief and funny moments between these characters! Which definitely made me fly through this book. 

Personally, I loved the plot and the plot progression of this book. Asa's motivation being to save her sister and only friend. Riven's to save herself and her team from certain death and the loss of several organs. Teaming up together to take down Asa's father and the evil scientist, Gabriel Almeida, while evading others who mean to take Asa down.

One thing that I wasn't a fan of though was how Asa and Riven's relationship develops. For the majority of the book, Asa is with Ty and is falling for him, while glancing at Riven and noting how attractive she was. I'm not a fan of the instant love trope, and I felt like Asa and Riven fit in that. Even though Asa and Riven don't end up together until the end, this book is marketed as having a sapphic relationship, and I definitely wanted to see more of their relationship development over Asa and Ty. They go through the whole book pining for each other while Asa is with Ty, only to finally snap into place together at the last minute. I would much rather keep the pining and enemies to lovers aspect of the book, but get rid of Asa's relationship with Ty. Or at least shorten it.

Overall, I loved the plot and the idea behind this story! And while I'm not a fan of the relationship progression timeline, I did love the pining between Asa and Riven. I read this book so quickly I couldn't put it down. Definitely a new favorite sci-fi for me!

Thanks NetGalley and Flux for a copy of this ARC to review. It has been a while since I picked up science fiction because it always feels so intimidating to me. But with City of Shattered Light I didn’t have any of that fear or confusion. It was a fascinating world with both of the main planets we focus on as well as the Queer found family being pretty solid. We love a good heist and this book was chock full of them! Every event has some twists and turns that truly kept me invested in the story as well as the crews relationship as a whole. I did knock some points because Riven’s characterization and decision making felt very rash and drastic at times, jumping between hating Asa’s guts and developing feelings. It felt like I was getting whiplash at times while reading Riven’s POV and It was hard to understand her natural mindset. Funny enough I didn’t experience any of these issues with Asa’s POV. The romance as a whole felt a bit shoe horned in and rushed especially towards the end. With the love triangle spreading the intrigue it felt like the romance was forced rather than coming off naturally in the story’s progression. Don’t get me wrong, I love bi sapphic romance, but I hope if this book has a sequel like it teases, we can get this further developed if given the proper time. A lot of things happen in this book in 400 pages with so much A plot the B plot(s) can usually suffer due to this. Despite these criticisms I still really had fun with this book and I recons do it to people like me who get nervous with sci fi and want a fun chaotic queer adventure story through space.

I really wish I had the right mindset to read this books until the end, because I really loved the concept and the idea and the characters. But the book, somehow, was not getting to me.

I think it's more of a "me" problem than with the book, because I tried reading another sci-fy right after I DNFd this one, and it didn't work out either. I think I'm just not in a sci-fy-mood lately.

But I wanted to give feedback nevertheless. I think I read about 2/3rds of the book, I was interested in knowing how it ended, wanted to know what happened... but everytime I thought of picking it up, I just never felt like it. I just grabbed some other book and read it instead.

Definitinely a "me" problem. And I am deeply sorry for that. Still, I am also very grateful for the opportunity, and to both NetGalley and North Star Editions for trusting me with it. I hope I will get back to the book once it's published and I will apreciate it more.

Sidenote: I am sorry for my weird english.

This YA cyberpunk sci-fi with two very different MCs has it all: an inclusive world, fast paced action, amazing characters in a found family that would do anything for each other. Please please please let there be a sequel!!!

An heir to an enormous tech empire runs away to save her sister, and has to rely on a crew of teen underworld criminals to get her where she needs to go and save their city from a killer online virus. What could go wrong?
Wow, I loved this book. I really loved the found family that we had, and there were some characters in this book that you can really feel yourself getting attached to and wishing the best for. I don’t usually read a ton of sci-fi, specifically in comparison to how much fantasy I read, often because I just find it overall harder to understand when I’m having to deal with lots of tech and odd planets, but this book was so accessible and easy to read! Trust me, once Asanna decides to defy her father and save her sister, you will be absolutely hooked and not want to put this down! I highly, highly recommend you either preorder this (I have) or buy it as soon as it comes out!

REPRESENTATION
-two bisexual female main characters, sapphic relationship
-gay side character
-unlabeled male side character, in a relationship with another male
-hispanic side character

TWS
-parental abuse
-domestic abuse (mentioned)
-unhealthy parent
-violence
-gvn violence (in sense of battles and protection)
-general gore
-body manipulation

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours, Netgalley, and Flux for this free copy.

FIRST IMPRESSION:

City of Shattered Light made it onto my radar because of its sapphic protagonists. I mean, there is a runaway tech heiress and a gun-wielding thief who honestly look hot AF on that cover and it’s sapphic? This story ticks all the boxes! I haven’t read interplanetary sci-fi in a long while, so I had almost forgotten what it felt like till I picked up this book. And oh boy, I feel like I underestimated what this book would do to me!

THE STORY:

The story of City of Shattered Light revolves around two protagonists: Asanna Almeida, the tech heiress living with her cold father and her sister Kaya on the luxury planet Cortellion; and Riven Hawthorne, the gun-wielding thief who leads a crew made up of Samir, sniper with a pet dog, and Ty, handsome crew medic who refuses to use a gun. Riven and her crew live on Requiem, AKA the City of Shattered Light, which is on a moon that orbits Cortellion and also happens to be a hot spot for every bad guy in the star system probably.

Asanna, or Asa, is preparing to take over Luca Almeida's company as his daughter and heiress, but complications arise at a tech show when a rogue virus named Banshee attempts to sabotage it. Luca is very hush-hush about this new threat and carries on with his experiments like nothing's going on, using Kaya as his test subject. When one of these experiments ends up with Kaya's mind separated from her body, Asa works with another scientist to smuggle her sister's mind and body separately to Earth.

On Requiem, Riven and her crew are trying to get on the good graces of a Matriarch, one of the leaders who runs the place under the control of the all-powerful Duchess. But a mission gone wrong ends up with Riven and her crew having to pay up all the money they lost on the job or serving themselves up for the lucrative organ donor business.

When Asa, carrying her sister's mind in a biocapsule, literally crashes into Requiem, Riven is determined to cash in on the bounty on Asa's head for their survival. But Banshee is sweeping across Requiem, shutting down the city and the only way to save it might be for Riven and her crew to team up with Asa to keep Requiem, and each other, alive.

THE CHARACTERS:

This book had some of the best characters I have read about in a while. They were all so distinct with their own personalities and character traits. I loved the protagonists and literally everyone on Team Good Guys, but I couldn't help loving all the morally grey and evil characters too. They were all so fascinating!

I was worried that Asa might get overshadowed by louder characters like Riven, but wow, this girl started to really blossom into her own person down the story. The meek, people-pleasing heiress really impressed me with her character growth but I see a lot more space for her to grow, so I can't wait for any future books to show more of that.

I had no doubt that I would love Riven before I even started reading the book. There were moments that had me frustrated and annoyed with her, much like her crew was, but she really pulls through. What's not to like about a girl who wields good ol' guns in a world of cybernetics?

And The Crew! Oh gosh! I fell in love with literally everyone in it, which is why it broke my heart to read about some of the things these rebellious, brave, absolutely amazing people go through for each other! In my honest opinion, The Crew is the highlight of the whole story. That found family dynamic just hits the spot and left me reeling when the story ended.

THE WRITING:

I was worried I might end up confused in this futuristic world of cybernetics and body mods, but I wasn't. The author does a fantastic job of using language that even someone who is new to sci-fi would not have a huge difficulty getting used to.

On top of that, I found the writing very well done when it came to the action scenes. I always love it when action-packed scenes aren't vaguely mentioned but followed through with the reader, and that was perfectly orchestrated here!

City of Shattered Light was told in dual POVs: through Asa and Riven. I love dual POVs because it helps the reader get into the character's head a lot easier but I struggled to notice a distinctive shift between the POVs here sometimes. Like, it would take me a few lines to understand that now I am on who's POV.

THE PLOT:

For a story full of mass chaos and multiple stand-offs, the plot was surprisingly as the blurb promised. But I still loved it because with all the running, heisting, and breaking and out, it felt a lot happened!

However, I am not the biggest fan of the romance. I actually liked Riven and Asa together as a couple because of how their opposing personalities played together and the way they were trying so hard to fight their feelings. But I was not really happy with how Asa handled her feelings for a side character.

I loved that most of the story took place in Requiem because that place is amazing! I would be terrified to step foot on it if it existed in real life, but as a fictional setting, it is pretty badass! Even the people in this place were all badass!

And I am guessing that there might be a continuation of this story since the epilogue ends on a huge cliffhanger, so I am so ready for more! I will probably preorder whatever Claire Winn announces next!

THE WORLD-BUILDING:

Requiem and Cortellion are such amazing worlds, especially Requiem. Cortellion seemed pretty sterile and luxurious, not really somewhere I would wanna live in. I am really surprised Kaya and Asa grew up on that planet and grew into such normal people.

Requiem, on the other hand, was so awesome! I loved the grittiness and the rawness of that city, and, like Riven and her crew, I really wanted to see that place come out of the clutches of Banshee. The politics, the social order, and the pure chaos of that city reminded me of old sci-fi movies that I have watched, like Blade Runner, but cooler somehow.

I also loved how the author paid attention to things like the hours in a day and such based on the planets because duh, of course, that makes sense! But, as I said before, I haven't read space sci-fi in a while, so I was utterly mesmerised by all the details here!

THE REPRESENTATION:

There was a lot of great representation in this book. Of the two MCs, one is a chronically ill bisexual female while the other is a BIPOC (Asian coded, most likely Filipina) bisexual female. There are also Achillean BIPOC male side characters, a side character with cybernetic implants, and the story is set in a more-or-less queer normative world.

FINAL VERDICT:

City of Shattered Light is an action-packed sci-fi with a whole host of characters that I fell in love with within mere minutes! With such great LGBTQ+ representation and even a chronically ill MC, this debut is bound to stun you with its strange new worlds, absolutely terrifying villains, and lengths that this group of misfits will go for each other. I really hope this book gets a sequel though because after that cliffhanger ending my fingers are itching to preorder the next book!

A huge thanks are owed to Northstar Editions and NetGalley!

I have to say there is a huge void where there should be lots of YA cyberpunk novels, yet there is not. I want futuristic planets and weird monsters and high-tech and cities that never sleep. I got all of that in this book.

I loved the writing; it's descriptive without being flowery and brings you right into the world. Both characters (and all B characters) were not interchangeable and had personalities of their own. Both Riven and Asa are introduced as polar opposites, but soon find out they're more alike than they thought. I love that about well-written characters. Their intentions mirror each other, but despite being on two different paths in their lives, they both manage to find common ground.

In terms of pacing, the book hit all the beats. There wasn't a moment where I began to skim or felt like I wanted to put the book down and pick up another. Every chapter had a purpose. The plot is typical YA, but it's done in a way that you don't know you're reading something that's probably been done a thousand times before.

Overall, I loved the book and I hope to see more great things from Claire Winn in the future.

City of Shattered Light is a story of two girls growing up in a different situation.
Asa, the heiress of an advance technology has been trying her best to please her father in any way without knowing her father is not as good as she think he is. When Asa's father upload her sister's mind to an unknown experimental brain, Asa have to flee from her home with her sister's digitalized mind to a safe place, away from her father's grasp.
Riven Hawthorne, a gun smuggler who tries to make a reputation of herself in Requiem. Seeing Asa with a bounty on her head is a perfect job for her to claw her way up in this harsh society...until an unknown virus spreads to the entire city and threaten the safety of everyone.
Now, Asa and Riven have to work together in order to save Requiem and Asa's sister, Kaya from the ruthless AI hunting them down.

First of all, let's appreciate that gorgeous cover! Just makes you want to read it right ? Well, the good news is the story is as good as the cover!

The plot is well written and crafted. The advance technology and the futuristic world building is quite detailed which is a great touch to the plot. The writing style is also easy to read and understand. It will make readers easily enjoy reading the whole story with a fast pacing, lots of action scenes and well develop main characters.

I really like Asa's character development, from being a weak girl who wanted to please her father to a girl who stand up for herself.
Honestly, I didn't really like Asa at first but she eventually warm up to me at the end of the story.
Riven is one of my favorite character. She's a badass girl who don't give a thing for anyone which sometimes portray her as ruthless. However, she did have a soft spot for her crew which is a nice side to show to the readers.

While the main character are well develop, I couldn't say the same with the secondary characters. Diego, Samir and Ty are a part of Riven's crew but somehow their characters weren't being explored enough. I would have love to know more about them especially Ty!

Another thing is the switch of POV between Asa and Riven in one chapter. The first part of the chapter is Asa's POV but then it could abruptly change to Riven's. It could get confusing sometimes to differ their POV if they are together in the same chapter.

I didn't know if this is going to be a series or not. But, seeing that epilogue with a cliffhanger makes me sure that there will be a sequel for this story. I really really hope so!

Overall, for a debut novel this is an enjoyable read with great writing style as well as interesting world building that will get you hooked into the story.
Highly recommended for those looking to read a quick engaging sci-fi novels.
I'm looking forward for other books from this author!

A huge thank you to Netgalley, Claire Winn and North Star Editions' Flux books for giving me this eARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

I think if you go into City of Shattered Light expecting to read a lesbian Sci-Fi adventure, you’re going to be severely disappointed. I know I was.

City of Shattered Light was action packed and fast paced, but it didn’t deliver what it promised. The premise made it seem like we’d be reading a story about Asa and Riven, unlikely allies, going on a dangerous journey together while facing a common enemy and falling in love along the way. That was not what happened.

There were a lot of action scenes and the plot did focus a lot on the dangerous situations Asa and Riven–and all the secondary characters–found themselves in. Those were probably the most exciting parts of the book, but the quick jump from one situation to the next made it so, at a certain point, things didn’t seem like they mattered much anymore. There wasn’t a lot of build up to some of them so the emotional pay off didn’t land as it should have.

Regarding the romance, I’m going to come right out and say this isn’t, yet, a lesbian-focused Sci-Fi novel like the premise made it seem. Asa and Riven didn’t get together until after the 95% mark. Before that, there was no development of their relationship because Asa was romantically involved with a male character. After that, there was no development of their relationship because the book was over. I do believe that relationship is going to grow and be explored more in future books, since this one ended in a big cliffhanger, but it still made me feel a little cheated.

I was seriously confused and pretty upset about how this was addressed and the circumstances surrounding Asa and Riven’s getting together. It left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth and definitely negatively impacted my reading experience since I came in with expectations that this book was going to heavily focus on a romantic relationship between two woman and that didn’t happen in this installment.

Sadly, a disappointing read.

This was such a fantastic read 🚀🌌🌎🌕

If you liked the Illuminae books, aurora rising, the TV show Firefly or basically just any found family or heist books this one is for you.

We have the brainy heiress Asana who will do anything to save her sister from her corrupt father. Through a series of mishaps she ends up on a ship captained by Riven who has her sights set on power. Can they put their differences aside to escape a maniacal artificial intelligence which is spreading like a virus throughout the tech-heavy city of Requiem.

The world building is amazing, I really loved the descriptions of Requiem and it's people. The science aspect wasn't too heavy or over done which was nice as it meant I could just read and enjoy. The dialogue was absolutely fantastic. Funny, quick witted and believable all round. The representation! When I say you'll find it all I'm serious, both of our leading ladies are bisexual, we have a gay couple we have non-binary side characters.

That ending though 🙊🙈 definitely need book 2 ASAP 🙏🏻 What an astounding debut @clairewinnauthor thank you so much @netgalley for allowing me to read an early copy ❤️

Riven and Asa are still taking up space in my mind long after reading this story. I'm completely on board with all the YA Sci-Fi I can find and this story did not let me down. The only thing I'd change is the cliffhanger ending.

Queers in space + a rogue A.I. + spine chilling matriarchs - what could possibly go wrong?

First of all, look at this gorgeous cover!!! I'd be lying if I said this beauty had nothing to do with me requesting this book.

I am a big fan of sci-fi books and the sapphic touch of the blurb did me in. This book was filled with beautiful futuristic descriptions and I loved how easily it flowed with the plot. Glass bridges, neon lights, skyways - i truly loved the setting of this book.

As for characters, my favourite was badass and knock-your-breath-out Riven. She was the fire to put it nicely. Asa Almeida, the protagonist of our story, was the damsel in distress turned hidden saviour turned - well you'll have to read the book to find out :)

The found family trope was well written and I loved how all of them worked together. Everything was very well stitched within the plot and within the character traits. The only place where I found the book lacking was the romance. This could be biased as I am not a big fan of love triangles. There was chemistry, yes! But the execution of it felt rather absent in the first half of the book, later impeded by the love traingle, and eventually rushed towards the end.

However, the ending was great! And I have great hopes from the next book. I give this sapphic space opera four smiling (but not yet smitten) stars!

Thank you to Flux books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

City of Shattered Light was a pretty enjoyable story. I really liked Asa as a main character. I loved the way she tried to help and protect her sister. While there was a lot of action and adventure in the story, I still found it to be a little slow for me. The plot of the story was interesting enough. It was well thought out and well written. I'm happy with how things ended off and curious to see if there ends up being a second book. With the way this one ended off I'm really hoping there is.

If you are looking for a sci-fi with family ties, found family and lots of adventure then give this a shot.

~Thank you NetGalley and North Star Editions/Flux for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.~

4.5⭐️ (rounded up)

Okay I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book!! I saw the gorgeous cover and the words ‘sapphic’ and immediately requested it - I have zero regrets. This book is YA sci-fi with great lgbtq+ rep. It focuses on two main characters Asa and Riven, who are both bisexual. Oh and did I mention it’s enemies to lovers?

I really enjoyed the world building and found it easy to follow and the plot was super engaging, I was always trying to anticipate what would happen next.

THIS BOOK IS FOR ALL OF THE FOUND FAMILY TROPE LOVERS OUT THERE! I really liked how well the whole crew worked together. I quickly became really attached to the characters (especially Riven) and I can’t wait to read about them some more.

This book also has a love triangle. Now, I know you’re probably cringing already but there’s no need, this is one of the very few good love triangles. It was really well written and for once I don’t have a bias as to who the main character should end up with (although I’m a sucker for sapphic relationships). I do want to make it clear though that the romance is just a side plot.

I would have loved to see more of the side characters but I understand that this is only the first book in the series so I’m hoping their characters will be explored more in future books.

my final thoughts: THE EPILOGUE. GIVE ME THE SEQUEL RIGHT NOW.

CONTENT WARNINGS for the book: strong language, gun violence, death, blood, mild gore, emotional abuse/manipulation, mild body horror, terminal illness, suicide (referenced), drug and alcohol references

City of Shattered Light is a YA Science Fiction novel by debut author Claire Winn. When Asa’s father uploads her sister’s mind to an experimental brain to reprogram her personality, Asa runs away with her sister’s mind to a faraway planet, Requiem. While there she is kidnapped by bounty hunters and is kidnapped/saved by Riven’s crew. Riven is a thief who wants to increase her standing in Requiem’s underworld. A virus spreading through Requiem causes a blackout and quarantine and both girls must work together to get what they both want.
I really enjoyed the second half of this book. Not to say the first half was bad, but it does take me a while to immerse myself in a new world. I really liked all the characters, Asa being my favourite as she struggles to get the acceptance she deserves from her father and the loneliness she felt at home to forming a solid friendship with Riven’s crew and Riven herself. I often find love triangles to be annoying and overplayed however, I liked how this one has been handled between Ty, Asa and Riven.
Clearly, a sequel is planned and I am excited to see what happens next after the cliff-hanger ending. I would love to learn more about Luca, Asa’s father, and his motivations behind his controversial projects. I would also love to see more interaction between the main crew, such as Diego and Samir with Asa.
My one real criticism is that I didn’t really feel too much romantic tension between the F/F couple. It felt it was “told” to me, rather than “shown.” I imagine this will be more focused on in a sequel.
I would recommend this book to someone who enjoyed the Adaption series by Malinda Lo or The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie.

City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn was such a greatly paced story! I loved the characters and the setting was so unique.