Thank you Flux and Netgalley for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars

Trigger warnings: death, gore, manipulation, emotional abuse, body horror.

I have no words for how spectacular this book was, or how it made me feel while reading it. I was hooked. It’s been a long time since I truly enjoyed a YA novel, let alone sat down and ignored everyone for the sole purpose of finishing. It’s unputdownable and action-packed. It's full of chaos and heists. It has a found family! a queer found family! <3 It was utterly fantastic and everything I was hoping for.

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Riven and her crew want nothing more than to have enough money to get by in Requiem's sprawling city. On the other hand, Asa is heiress to Alameda Industries, a techie corporation in Cortellion: an elite planet, quite the contrary to Requiem, which is brimming with crime syndicates and ruthless matriarchs. As heiress, Asa must decide whether the Industry and the progress it claims to be doing is worth it, or if she should give it up and run away.

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Asa is such an amazing character. However, even though Asa was the most relatable (to me) I gotta applaud the author's development of Riven: she is ruthless and unapologetically ambitious. She considers paths other characters probably wouldn't take and is not afraid to use her guns. She is the very definition of hard on the outside and soft on the inside.

That being said, I did relate to Asa much more than Riven: her struggle to stand up to her father, the desire of being validated, her talent being acknowledged. She has a tremendous development throughout the course of the book. She misses the privileges she had:a warm bed, knowing her only preoccupation was failing her exams, etc. and yet, she is willing to do everything for her sister. She is looked down upon, but she is one of the most intelligent characters out there.

I loved the crew. I think that, whilst being a bit underdeveloped, they were written well. Ty is pretty much an antithesis to Riven: he refuses to use a gun, kill or hurt other people and trained to become a medic. (Can we also just take a moment to appreciate the fact that he is afraid of germs, Whilst being a medic?) I loved Samir and Diego (and their little puppy). But most importantly: I loved the crew's banter. It was immaculate. I can't say much about it, but Riven and Samir's interactions were gold.

The world-building is clear and precise. Requiem: a city full of violent syndicates, run by ruthless matriarchs and Duchesses. Cortellion an elite planet full of technological advances (and evil AIs) and Earth. It's a rich book, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go to Requiem's nightclubs and hangars with the sole purpose of creating my own little gang and annoying some matriarchs. I'd be killed in less than a day, but I think it would be worth it.

Besides its incredible world building and wonderful, witty and ambitious characters, the book is full of
excitement. As I said before, I really did ignore everyone. There was not a singular moment in which I was bored, no unnecessary moments. Towards the end, I was gripping my Kindle with such force that I'm surprised it didn't break. It truly was remarkable.

After all that was stated, my only complaint is its predictability. I cannot say much without spoiling, but I can say I knew what would go down from the start. However, it did not take the fun or the excitement away.

Overall, I truly recommend City of Shattered Light: its action packed, it has incredible banter, interactions, romance and rep. I cannot wait for the reactions and most importantly, I'm dying to know what happens next!

This book was amazing. I’m not good at reviewing books, so i’m not going to try to sound professional here, but oh my god. this book was so good??? it was definitely a lot better than what i had expected. this can be one book i will definitely be buying and will be reading again once it’s published.

Date finished: 18/09/2021
Publish date: October 19, 2021

4.5⭐
📱

Thank you to Netgalley for approving this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I didn't even finish reading the description for this one. Got as far down as 'rogue A.I.' and immediately requested it.

I was hooked from the get-go. A high stakes, action packed book with kickass characters.

I was expecting more from the rogue A.I. Maybe more interaction from it, witty banter, typical rogue A.I. things I've come to love from the trope. What interaction was there, I found to be a little underwhelming. I'd have to say that this is probably my only negative about this book.

I absolutely loved the characters and was rooting for them the whole time. They were just so damn badass. Also having one of my absolute favourite tropes, found family, how could I not fall in love with these characters.

The suspense and action in this one was so good. I found I was holding my breath for a large part of this book and couldn't stop from turning the pages, I just needed to know what happened next.

This one definitely sets up for a sequel, of which, damn it I need it right now. Omg it just can't end like that.

I would sum up the book with this short list:
> Found family
> Chaotic space heist
> “It was just supposed to be another job”

What an amazing novel, especially from a first-time-novel-writer! This book was everything it promised and more. To be honest with you I didn’t even read the whole description. I saw fantasy/sci-fi in combination with LGBT+ and I ran with it, and I’m so glad I did. This book is going to be the next big thing, mark my words. I just know it’s going to be all over social media and bookstores won’t be able to keep these in stock for very long.

The story is written from two badass women’s POV. The stories are perfectly intertwined and the POV switches seamlessly. The LGBT+ representation was actually just that: representation. It wasn’t mainly used for the plot, traumatic experiences being the main “entertainment”. It was just LGBT+ people existing. Like it should be.

The only thing that slightly put me off was the world building where a lot of specific sci-fi terms were used. After a couple of pages I got used to it, though. So definitely nothing too bad!

In conclusion: absolutely amazing. I’m very excited to see what masterpieces might follow!! (And I will never forget the three most iconic words ever uttered: “Gutter cowgirl bitch”.)

Thank you to to NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really fun setting and characters plus a very original concept. Winn's prose is sharp and well structured, and her characters are well fleshed out.

Thank you, NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

First off, the book cover is gorgeous. It represented the book and the main characters so well. I enjoyed this book so much because of its world building. This was action packed and got me hooked from start to finish. The author's writing style was good for me. I really liked the main characters, but I felt like the secondary characters needed more improvement. Really fast paced, and I love the diversity and creativity on this book.

First of all: the book is as good as the beautiful cover. This is a great sapphic book! Heist, found family and six-fi, what more do you need? The writing style is fast and the chapters are short which makes you want to keep reading this book!

I am someone who has only ever enjoyed one sci fi book up to this point…I can now add a second book to that list.

I loved this book!! The characters were so much fun and I was invested from the very beginning. I was sucked into this unexpected amazing book.

The only reason I removed a star is because I wish the author had made this a series to allow for more development of the characters. It felt like we don’t get to know the characters stories as much. Only snippets that are important to the plot but honestly get a little confusing and feel a little rushed. Like “this little piece of backstory is important to understand this little section of the plot but you will only get a brief description because the plot is more important and we need to get back to it” kind of way.
So I wish each characters story was developed more and a series would have allowed the author to do exactly that.

I still really enjoyed the story though! So much that it has become the second sci fi story for me to ever have actually liked. And I am very interested to see what else this author comes out with!

This felt slow to start but it picked up pretty quickly. It was very intense and i love how tech filled it was being futuristic. I loved the slight love triangle and the twists throughout. I loved the Bi rep in this and it was an overall good read.

Thank you, NetGalley, Books Forward, and Stars Edition/Flux for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I first heard about this book, I was super excited to read it, after all it has all the things I love: It's cyberpunk themed, action-packed, has a gorgeous cover, strong female leads, incredible storyline, found family, sapphic, diversity, and the cliffhangers.

It took me longer than I wanted to actually start reading it (because of college and life in general) but once I started, I was immediately HOOKED!! Everything about this book is so incredible that I already want a sequel!

*4.5 stars*

I have to say it: I think this could be the next big Six of Crows. This contained a heist and I actually enjoyed the journey! This series also has so much potential!!

This is a sci-fi, cyberpunk story about a spoiled, tech-savvy heiress on a mission (Ara), and the outlaw (Riven) who intends to stop her and turn her in for ransom. It blossoms from there into a bit of a heist mission with Riven and her gang of misfits.

Things I Loved:
-The worldbuilding was UH-may-zing. I could picture everything, and we were on three different moons/planets . The worldbuilding was vibrant and engaging. I am so enthralled by these solar systems and worlds we get to explore. I would love to see this adapted to the silver screen, but I hope it can do this world justice.
-The representation is so well done. FINALLY, some accurate bisexual representation!! Not to mention, we have a nonbinary character referred to as they/them, and we also have an offscreen M/M romance. Plus, the main characters are in a sort of love triangle, so we have a F/F romance and both had/have a romance that’s M/F. We also have some POC in the novel as well.
-The pacing was excellent. This was always moving forward, and there were no scenes that were superfluous. It’s rare to find a book so perfectly paced that there was no lull in the middle. I was engaged the whole time.
-The character development. This was especially noticed in Asa who really grew throughout the novel, but overall a few of the characters had good arcs and had to learn to trust and make a found family.
-The plot twists! The plot points/twists were interesting and some quite unexpected in a good way.

Things I Didn’t Love:
-The romance. I didn’t really feel the love between Riven and Ara, unfortunately. Even though their relationship builds naturally, I feel like they are better friends than lovers. I just don’t feel their chemistry. (But I did feel the romance between Ty and Ara)
-The characters could have used more depth. Even the main characters could have used a little more depth, but especially the side characters. They felt a bit flat.
-The action scenes could be confusing. There were too many characters in the action scenes and it could be a bit confusing at times, especially trying to piece together where everyone was to make the action happen.
-The found family aspect. I could feel the vibes at times, and at other times it didn’t seem like they were family/friends - they almost seemed paid to be on their heist instead of in it for each other.

Regardless, I cannot wait for the sequel!! Sign me up.

TW: Blood, Body Horror (Cybernetics), Death, Emotional Abuse, Illness, Violence (Gun)

**Thanks to NetGalley and North Star Editions/Flux books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review**

City of Shattered Light review~
4/5 rating
Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Huge thank you to NetGalley and Flux/North Stars Editions!

Claire Winn’s debut novel is a cyberpunk action packed adventure!
Thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end, Winn's writing is immersive and filled to the brim with captivating imagery. The highlight of this book for me definitely had to be the beautiful worldbuilding. The setting felt electric and filled with vibrant colors making it a very fun read!

That being said, I do have a few small issues with this book. My main critique would be that while our main characters were very well written and felt fleshed out, the side characters unfortunately fell flat for me. But I am still holding out hope that we get more character development in the sequel. The other issue I had was the love triangle. I’ve never been a fan of this trope and sadly this book did not change my mind. Like other stories that include this trope, I felt a bigger connection with one of the love interests and felt bored whenever we had scenes with the other. But what Claire does better than others who have used this trope, is that she doesn’t make it a huge part of the plot so it didn’t take much out of the overall enjoyment of the book.

Altogether this was a very fun and fast paced read and I’m excited to read more of Claire’s books in the future!

I read to for enjoyement, and sadly I did not enjoy this book one iota. The writing just did not work for me, it was confusing and the characters didn't just lacked depth, they were confusing and their introduction left me feel... confused (again).I feel the characters were created with the idea to be unique, but not because there's depth there, but more to be.... different. The romantic relationship wasn't even romantic as it lacked chemistry.
Sadly, this book left me just generally confused and not know what's going on whilst reading it..

This was such a fun read! I loved the characters so much and the found family bond between them was so cute. The setting was really cool especially the planets and the different futuristic tech. The plot instantly intrigued me and i was already so invested in the story only a couple chapters in. I loved all the twists and after the ending I can't wait for a sequel. And as a bi person representation means a lot to me so i loved reading a book that centers around an lgbtq+ cast.

Firstly, I wanted to thank Netgalley & North Star Editions/Flux books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Can I begin with admiring the beautiful cover that this book has? I can’t wait to have this book become a part of my physical library.

To start, let me preface this by saying that I am not a huge fan of sci-fi books, in most cases I actually tend to avoid them altogether. However, when I saw this cover I really hoped this book would break some rules for me, and it absolutely did!

This review will contain as minimal spoilers as possible so that everyone can enjoy this book as much as I did. If you’re a fan of strong female leads, queer found family trope and a well-constructed futuristic sci-fi world, this book is for you.

Writing style: I really enjoyed Winn’s writing style, it was overall captivating and fast-paced, I never felt any boredom while reading. However, there’s a scene at the very end which I felt was super cliché and mediocre.

Setting and world building: While reading we visit 3 different planets; Requiem, Cortellion and finally Earth. Each of them has different laws of nature (and of people) which was unique and interesting to discover.

Characters: This book, in my opinion, was more action-based than character-based so I really wished we had delved more into the characters and their backgrounds (especially Samir & Diego and how their relationship started, but hopefully we see more of them in following instalments). It was certainly very interesting to see how Riven (the bandit, gangster) and Asa (the heiress, mechanic) interacted, and how their relationship went from calling Asa cargo to both of them swearing to protect each other no matter what. They always stuck by each other and even though their relationship was very bumpy and had a lot of pushing and pulling.

What struck me as odd though is the love triangle situation between Asa, Ty and Riven.

Plot: As I said, the book is very action-based so the plot was a 10/10. From Asa trying to save her sister, Riven and her crew trying to save Requiem, to the antagonists they face like Morphett and Banshee.

I give this book 4 stars and I can’t wait for more books by this author!!!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I will admit I really struggled getting into this story the story was kind of predictable and very action heavy. This made it a bit hard for me to get into. I did enjoy the characters though, they were decently fleshed out and I was able to connect with them for the most part.

*Thank you to Flux (North Star Editions) for providing this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.*

This story is set in Sci-Fi fantasy and I do feel like it played primarily in the steam punk world. The descriptions to me felt like a very unique mix of old and new. This was a slow-paced adventure that gave an amusing love triangle. Even though the love triangle was amusing, I did not find it authentic at all. The romantic parts of this book felt forced.

I would recommend this to people who have a special interest in sci-fi books.

This is the kind of book I have been looking for ever since reading the holy duo of heist books (namely Six of Crows and The Gilded Wolves on my part) - but make it sci-fi! City of Shattered Light is an amazing, action-filled book with a cast of most lovable characters that get under your skin in the first chapter! I don't even know how to properly express the amount of love I am currently feeling for this book or the pain that comes from knowing that I'll have to wait AT LEAST a year for a sequel.

City of Shattered Light is a YA sci fi debut novel and it reached all the markers of a great book for me: unexpected (and downright PAINFUL) plot twists, characters to die for, crackling character dynamics (with ships you can't help but root for from the get go), and an ending that will leave you speechless.
To break down our main cast a bit: Asa, a runaway heiress and genius mechanic with a lot on the line if this little plan of hers goes awry, joins forces with a criminal mastermind in the making, Riven, who is also the leader of a little group of underdogs in the dangerous city Requiem. Then we also have Ty, the sweet medic with a heart of gold, a soldier-boy, Samir, and his maybe-maybe not boyfriend Diego, who is in charge of the more technical side of things.
The allyship between Asa and Riven's crew starts tentatively but they grow closer slowly as their whole world faces danger of epic proportions. And while they're trying to save it (and help Asa get that what she treasures most back), they also have time for a little bit of falling in love, some funny shenanigans, and heartbreaking secrets that burst to life.

This story was full of heart and the author's colourful writing style made you feel like you were fighting the evils of this world right along with Riven's crew. The diversity in this book was everything - from two queer female leads (and a sapphic main relationships), to an array of queer side characters, multiple PoC main characters plus there was also chronic illness rep and more!
I am absolutely in love with this book and cannot wait to hold a physical copy in my hand!

City of Shattered Light gets all the stars from me. I want MORE. ASAP!

This was the first NetGalley book I requested and I was sucked in by the cover and the blurb, it sounded cool and fun and NEW which are all things that draw me to a book.

Ho boy did this live up to my expectations and then some. It’s essentially a heist with a high tech baddie, a frankly terrifying evil overlord and a glorious found family. The whole thing reminded me of Six of Crows and I can safely say that this belongs on the high pedestal those books sit on. If you love Leigh Bardugo’s books and sci-fi then this is a 100% the book for you.

The characters are all fighting to be able to live the lives they want against a nightmarish environment and the interplay between them all is excellent. I loved Riven from the start but Diego stole the show for me, he was just brilliant.

The sci-fi is far future of our own universe so the old world Earth references were cool and didn’t feel forced which I liked, the dystopian world feel of Requiem was ace and added in a little of that genre (another huge plus point for me!), and the Matriarchal underworld was just awesome.

Will absolutely be buying this when it comes out on the 19th October as well as keeping an eye out for more books by Claire Winn. Would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and North Star Editions/Flux books for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review
2.5/5
I’m sorry, but I did not enjoy this at all. It was a real chore to get through and I was annoyed every time I had to get back to it.
It was just…
Look, the overall story is fine. Nothing special but just a solid YA Sci-Fi adventure. But there are so many smaller things that are just so confusing and sometimes badly written that it ruins the book for me.
Here are just a few examples:
The characters are introduced really badly. Someone will just show up suddenly and we only learn what their deal is several chapters later. And they are also really inconsistent and full of contradictions. Asa, one of our main characters is a mechanist but also somehow capable of programming an immersive VR-RPG? Oh and she also logs into that game while she is on the run from a very powerful tech-mogul, not concerned about that getting traced then?
I think Samir is supposed to be the pilot of the crew but he never flies. He also apparently has cat pupils? Which is mentioned once like 5 pages into the book and then not again for hundreds of pages which makes their reoccurrence really jarring and confusing.
Riven, the other MC isn’t any better. As an example, there`s this bounty hunter that stole something which leads to Riven and her crew getting into a lot of trouble that could end deadly. But when they meet that bounty hunter again Riven seems more interested into besting her because it would be cool to beat a famous bounty-hunter instead of being mad about getting them in trouble.
Next problem: The romantic relationships. Riven and Asa are endgame but they have absolutely no Chemistry. They barely even talk. Asa has another love interest, Ty, and she has much better chemistry with him and , more importantly, she actually likes him. But instead of resolving this conflict he is killed of in the end. And Riven kisses Asa immediately afterwards no hard feelings there I guess. Or grieving. Oh and in the end Asa decides Riven is the better ‘choice’ because she would not get approval from her dad (who is one of the bad guys). I’m sorry but that whole thing just utterly failed to engage me.
The book also fails to build up mystery. There’s an attempt to make a conspiracy around somewhere called Sanctum’s Edge and a project called Winterdark interesting but they end up just being words tossed into the story without ever really connecting to the audience. The story as a whole never really comes together.
There are multiple violations of show not tell. One example is when Asa just SAYS she got a message from on of their contacts that makes them completely change the plan they had the entire book. We don’t get to see her get that message or react to it, she just says she got it.
Another problem: Way to many locations. They change constantly and are never properly set up, the crew goes on way to many smaller missions. So many in fact that I still have no idea what they were supposed to do in that nightclub. The locations aren’t well described either which makes the action sequences so incredibly confusing. All of them.
I’ll stop now, this is long enough already. Just know that I have a thousand more small things to complain about (The scene with the Grav-Spheres in particular, like what was the point of that one? Other than ‘Oh this is going to be cool’).
So no I did not like this at all which is why it took me over two weeks to get through it.