A.G. Rodriguez tells the tale of a custodian, Johnny Gomez, who had been one of the Space Brooms!(paper from Angry Robot) on Kilgore Station, the largest station in the solar System filled with aliens from all over the settled galaxy. One day, cleaning a gravity free bathroom he finds a chip with very valuable information. Suddenly various gangs are after him. Luckily he finds smuggler partners with their own ship. Some one on Luna, where Johnny was born and raised, is willing to pay millions for the chip, and the race is on. This is a fun romp about a middle-aged man who had given up on his dreams. There may be sequels.

Quirky read. A good in between read if you need a break between other series.

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded down)

Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I loved how the story started. Johnny Gomez is living in the far future on a Kilgore Station, struggling to stay afloat, dreaming of working on space haulers. It felt almost cyberpunk-esque. And part of me wishes that it leaned more into that vibe. But instead it was trying to be funny, lighthearted, and gritty at the same time.
Let's start with what I liked.
1. The world building. The book doesn't explain much, it just throws you into this futuristic world full of aliens and alien technology. I loved every moment of it.
2. Imaginative setting. It's great to get more sci-fi books that are actually set in the future and outside of Earth.
3. Social commentary was not on the nose.
4. The writing was easy to read.

Now, to what I didn't like:
1. The story would have some comedic moments, only to be followed by a brutal torture scene. It was giving me a whiplash.
2. In the first 7-10% of the book, Johnny was the only character that we knew, and he felt like a protagonist, with somewhat day-to-day problems, but he was sorting them out.
And then he found the data-chit, and he met some fancy space smugglers with swords and martial arts, and then his cyborg neighbor got involved (loved him btw), and Johnny, instead of being the main character, turned into a helpless bystander. In 36% that I read, he was saved so many times that I got tired.
3. The characters felt flat. It felt like it was supposed to be the found family story, but I didn't care about any of them and if was so odd that they cared about Johnny instead of dumping his useless ass and stealing the chit. He for sure wasn't contributing to the adventure. Maybe later he would be useful by cleaning the ship, I dunno, I just didn't care enough to continue reading. I'm not a fan of useless protagonists.
4. The romance was cringe.

I think it's a decent story, and I might come back to it sometime in the future. An audiobook feels like a good way to consume it.
Give it a go if you like space romps, but check the trigger warning first; this is not a light book at times.

A somewhat reluctant hero? For someone who daydreams so vividly about all the adventures he wanted to go on, he sure did quite of bit of kicking and screaming. But I suppose when one is given limited information, it is very frustrating.

This was fun, and the pacing was good. It wasn't as quirky as some other Angry Robot offerings, but it was quirky enough that it kept me in it. Also the title of the book had me yelling Space Brooms! whenever I talk about it.

Thank you to Angry Robot and Netgally for an e-copy.

3.5
This is a fun sci-fi romp about a janitor who got roped into a space adventure along with space smugglers, while space gangsters are trying to kill them. The main character Johnny is an interesting one, he originally left Luna to do something bigger, but instead, he ended up becoming a "space broom" on a random space station. The rest of the crew that Johnny finds himself with are okay as characters, they're not all that interesting on their own, but they work better as a group, and there are hints that these characters will be explored deeper in the sequel(s?). Similarly, the worldbuilding isn't anything extraordinary, but it works just fine to serve the story, and there are hints to more interesting things that could be explored further in the next books. Overall, even though it's nothing too special, it's still a really fun and easy sci-fi/space opera read that will break your reading slump.

This is one of those books that should give encouragement to anyone who ever feels too intimidated ever to write a novel of their own. Not becaues it's bad, but because it's simultaneously amateurish, and also . .. perfectly fine. The plot is predictable, the dialogue is pedestrian, the world-building is entirely forgettable, and a great many of the plot points feel like they're designed to be the thing where someone cleverly plays off an earlier observation, but in fact they seem fall out from convenience and luck. This is even more irritating because the whole conceit -- a janitor goes to have adventures -- doesn't even rely on the janitor being a janitor, but instead falling in with much more competent people who have the adventures for him. Also, I wish we could retire the trope that the ONE BIG SCORE is always doomed to fail in the end because the real treasure is the friends we made along the way. Come one.

But, for all that, the book is perfectly fine. The characters are good hearted, and the actual macguffin that incites everything is ridiculous in a rather pleasing way. This is not a good book, and it is not written by a skilled author. But the love of the genre and the basic writing skill is adequate to tell a story; and I think anyone who has ever held back on writing their own novel can probably create something this good if they give it a go. The world needs more of this.

Space Brooms was fun! It is an entertaining and enjoyable space adventure featuring found family and discovering oneself. It is certainly in the cozier realm of sci-fi, and I was pleased to learn it is meant to be a series, because I'd gladly take another jaunt into the world. It is quirky and charming, and I enjoyed it! It is a quick read, and it likely won't stick with me quite as long as some of the more poignant fare I've read, it served as a great palate cleanser for me and I look forward to more of Johnny's space adventures!

My stop on the tour for A. G. Rodriguez's "Space Brooms!" for Angry Robot. You want a scifi romp that leans into the ridiculous with some heart, look no further.

Johnny Gomez is not thriving. Left Luna to see the galaxy...but then he got stuck in the last space station in Sol system. As a Space Broom (space janitor) for a real creep of a boss. But when cleaning a slurry of alien defecation out of a bathroom he finds a data-chit, and suddenly there is a target painted on Johnny. Now he is getting to live the action movie of his day dreams when his life is bombarded with charming smugglers, space pirates, gangsters, and assassins. Clean up on aisle Johnny's guts.

Reasons to read:
-New teeth based horror
-Actually talking about alien bathrooms and stuff you don't normally see in scifi
-The best roommate
-I didn't except the message of the ending but it is one we all probably need to hear
-It's a fistful of assholes fleeing from bigger assholes, it's a good time

Cons:
-Oddly less time spent with aliens than expected

“Space brooms, get out there and show Kilgore why we’re the best custodial service on station!”

As soon as I saw the title for this book, I knew it was going on my tbr list. Thank you AngryRobotBooks and NetGalley for the early copy!

This book follows Johnny Gomez, who is a space broom, or custodian, for the furthest space station in our solar system. This world has augmented humans and aliens of all kinds, and the world building was so much fun to read. The story takes off when Johnny finds a highly valued data-chit that leads to him going on an adventure and eventually finding a place among a ragtag crew of smugglers. Along the way, there is trouble at every turn and Johnny ends up finding out if this adventure was all he dreamed it would be.

The set up to the novel is very amusing and light-hearted, but it does not veer from having deeper character moments, especially towards the end of the story. I am also weak for found family dynamics in media, and I love the emphasis that this book places on family and friendships over romance. My biggest complaint is that I wish we had more development from the other characters present, but I still enjoyed reading about them. I would classify this as a cozy sci-fi read, and it is perfect for fans of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy, or The Martian. Both the humor and world-building were highlights for me, and I hope that we see more from these characters in the future!

Space Brooms! is a fun romp through space. I found it to be funny and fast-paced. Worth the read if you have a chance!

3.5 stars rounded up!

This is a classic sci-fi adventure novel with all the hallmarks of a good time - plenty of high stakes and action, goofy alien species and worldbuilding, and a sprinkle of pop culture references to boot. Plus, it has an excellent character development arc that I didn’t expect from such a funny action novel! I don’t think the book as a whole package was wholly original, but I had a good time reading it nonetheless.

Space Brooms! has a strong character arc for Johnny, who gets a chance to escape the drudgery of his day job for the excitement and adventure he always dreamed of. I’d say the progression of Johnny’s character, and his relationships with the other lead characters is this novel’s real strength; an accolade of which many sci-fi adventure novels can’t boast! A couple of the other main characters felt a little one-dimensional by comparison, but the book is very much Johnny’s show, so I didn’t really mind so much.

I think I’d have rated Space Brooms! higher but for a couple of quibbles with the plot progression and worldbuilding. I wasn’t overly gripped with the main plot, which to me had an air of inevitability; I could see where the characters were heading from early on in the story, which personally took the sting out of any tension the story tried to build. There were a couple of unusual little twists in the plot that I didn’t expect though, that gave it a different flavour to the usual. My main gripe was with the worldbuilding and introduction of other alien species, which was written in a way almost to undermine itself. It felt like the Rick & Morty approach of “here is a clearly made up alien species name - don’t worry about remembering it, it’s not important”. It’s a good method in the context of a satirical TV show, but in a novel such as this it had the effect of making me glaze over all the alien species and factions names! Thank you to Angry Robot and to NetGalley for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review!

Space Brooms! Is a fun and exciting and silly sci-fi adventure that's not without its heartfelt moments. We follow Johnny, who accidentally gets himself caught up in a galaxy-wide cat-and-mouse game, where he's got the treasure everyone's after! This book is a quick read, and it's exactly what I expected in all the best ways. I enjoyed it, and I liked getting to know the quirky crew, and the society and history of the galaxy has a lot of potential to expand on. I liked the queernormative and non-human centric take that the setting has, and overall this book was solid! A huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for my thoughts.

Space Broom Johnny Gomez is dragged into a race across space filled with deadly hijinks after he stumbled across a data chit that everyone wants buried amongst a pile of alien excrement in this laugh-out-loud funny book reminiscent of Douglas Adam's and the early sci-fi works of Terry Pratchett.

I had such a good time reading this book as you really feel for Johnny stuck in a job that doesn't give himself fulfillment after dreaming of so much more. All of the characters are vibrant and leap off of the page with compelling backstories. I didn't want to put down this story as this band of misfits face trials and tribulations as they attempted to reach their goal.

I am excited to see where the story goes next as we are given a tantalising look into their next mission in the final pages of this book.

I admit I had different expectation on this book - I expected it to be satirical in nature but it turned out to be a rather grand adventure where the journey is more important than the destination and its a good fun journey. It has a bit of an Alchemist about it in some regards and the found family thing works rather well

I love me a good found family and ragtag crew in space. And this was exactly that. It felt like so many of my favorites mashed up into one very strange romp across the solar system. And what this book skipped over in large-scale world building, it made up for with interesting destinations and fantastic characters.

Our MC, Johnny Gomez, is a nobody janitor on Kilgore, a space station outside of the solar system. He is down on his luck and not very skilled. Yet he suddenly becomes the target of several intergalactic gangs that want the data chit that he accidentally found while cleaning the toilets. This is what first brings him to the crew of the Mentirosa: Hooper and Leilani, who together with their fence, Lisette, makeup Johnny’s new found family.

The whole plot is ridiculous and I love it. I cannot wait for the sequel.

The humor, found family, an MC that starts out pretty incompetent, and wild antics all remind me a bit of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, mixed with Firefly, Lord of the Rings, and Cascade Failure.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to @angryrobotbooks and @netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

This book reminded me of one of my all-time favourites, The Long Way To a Small Angry Planet. The main similarity is that it follows a rag-tag crew through a journey in space. Along their journey, they visit multiple stops, that all have their own short stories within an overarching plot. I liked seeing the author's view of the future through the different places the characters visited. A difference that I noticed between The Long Way To a Small Angry Planet is that the crew needed some time to get used to each other, which brought a bit more tension on board. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see the story continue and see the friendships develop further.

Thank you NetGalley and Angry Robot for giving me access to an e-arc for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

DNF at ~50 pages.

I was very much looking forward to a cozy sci-fi space adventure, but unfortunately this one just didn’t work for me.

The writing style wasn’t really my favorite, and a lot of the humor read as juvenile and made me cringe. The main character was “meh.” Honestly if you can’t make me either love or hate a main character in the first fifty pages, I’m not interested.

I thought the premise was great, but the overall execution of it just fell flat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was the silly rompy space adventure I was looking for! The plot was fast, it was exciting and I enjoyed my time reading it. Space Brooms! was definitely a great palate cleanser between some heavy, darker reads. I'm curious what A.G. Rodriguez writes next.

Outstanding! This was a fun romp and I can see this being a stellar favourite amongst like-minded community members.

This was a fun cozy sci ri romp through space! Johnny Gomez is a janitor on a space station, aka a “space broom”, that happens to be cleaning in the wrong place at the wrong time. Suddenly pursued by several nefarious groups, he joins a small band of smugglers on an adventure across the galaxy and gains a newfound family. Really hoping this turns into a series. Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for the opportunity to read and review this book!