I absolutely loved this. It is a well rounded story with an amazing plot. Cannot wait to see more from Elaine :)

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

If you enjoyed Ocean's Godori, you will also enjoy Theo's Durumi. I just love the crew, the story is somewhat secondary for me and not all of it made sense. The slow burn romance bits were tragic and hilarious at the same time, I especially love Haven. I'm glad the story has been somewhat concluded though I would love to read more stories set in this universe and with the dramatic personnel from this series.

4 stars because the story is a bit much & I got confused by some of the characters

What a fun series! I immensely enjoyed this, from the characters to the action to the world. (But especially the characters.)

This takes a lot of things from the first book and just amplifies them - the action scenes! The yearning! There's a lot of both of those things, and they're excellent, especially the action scenes. The entire last quarter of the book, essentially? So good! Writing action scenes that are engaging and move the plot and character development forward is truly a gift.

The relationships between the characters were a highlight in both books in this series, and seeing them continue to flourish, as well as get context and background for some of the characters, was easily the highlight of the book for me.

Honestly, this was just such a delight to read and while I don't want to make it sound like it's all light-hearted fun, because it's not - there were emotional beats, specifically around grief and expectations, and there were certainly stakes - but I just really had such a fantastic time reading this.

Thank you to the publisher, Hillman Grad Books, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Does it stick the landing? Yes. Does it stumble on the way there? Also yes.

Those coming into this straight from Ocean's Godori know that there was a LOT of momentum going from that book into this one. That momentum stutters to pretty much a complete stop at the beginning of this book, and the characters spend about the first 50-60% mostly hanging out in a mansion on the moon. Occasionally one or the other of them will emerge from the mansion to be shot at, kidnapped, stabbed, etc. and then they will go back to the mansion and hang out some more. One would think that Cho was using this time to further develop the relationships the characters started in the first book, and there is a BIT of that, but not enough for this to be most of the first 50% of the book.

The non-hanging-out-in-the-mansion chapters of the first half are Corvus-centered. These are pretty much a transparent attempt to make him more sympathetic as a villain, but they don't really work because he keeps doing worse and worse things, and the background we're given on him doesn't outweigh that because Cho has already given us the character of Garrett/Phoenix, who has a background almost identical to Corvus' and DIDN'T turn into a supervillain.

Once we hit 80%, the rest of the book is pretty much one long action sequence. There is good emotional payoff in the end, but overall the pacing and balance of this felt so off in comparison to the first book. The side characters weren't developed as much as I wanted to them to be for a found family narrative and we basically had no Teo-and-Ocean-besties-forever moments, which was sad. I did still like the book as a whole, but the first one was AWESOME and I don't think this one held up to its predecessor.

Thank you so much to Zando and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book!

SPOILERS FOR <i>Ocean’s Godori</i>

This book picks up exactly where <i>Ocean’s Godori</i> left off. The joint crew of the <i>Pandia</i> and <i>Ohnuel</i> have landed on the Moon. Narrowly avoiding an attack by the group that framed Teo for the murder of his family, they now have to figure out their next steps. Both towards clearing Teo’s name and fixing where his family went wrong all those years ago.

This book was brilliant. It was super action packed while also taking time to focus on the characters personal lives and the more severe issues regarding interplanetary trade.

This book is definitely more focused on the plot rather than the characters. By this point, a few relationships are already established and the others still have that push and pull dynamic. It was interesting to see the latter evolve as the plot forced them closer together.

I was honestly kind of worried as we encroached the halfway point that this book wouldn’t wrap up and cleanly as it needed to. I was very wrong. Despite so much of the final confrontation being packed into the last 30% of the book, it didn’t feel rushed at all. The final scenes pulled on the characters strengths and weaknesses and formed a satisfying conclusion for both the character relationships and the overarching conflict.

I will admit I was a bit hesitant going into this because book 1 fell a bit flat for me but I am glad I gave it a try.

We start off right where book 1 ends. So running. I think what I enjoyed about this book are the members of the crew themselves. Yes there is more plot and elements of world building that make up the bulk of the book but the established relationships and addition of new characters help pull it together for me. There is a lot going on in this book plot wise and it did come together in the end. Overall it is was a solid read.

This book y’all! I was absolutely blown away! I could fill an entire paragraph with my thoughts on the first six pages alone. It was one of the best openings to a sequel I have ever read, reintroducing the characters and summarizing the major plot points of the last book in such a clever way. And from then on the book was full speed ahead, with a fast pace and lots of action. I was one the edge of my seat the whole time, even in seemingly quiet moments that were secretly politically maneuvering and scheming. But no matter the plot I would have read every word, as I love the characters that much. They are such an amazing found family with so much love. Ocean and Teo are truly platonic soulmates, and they both grew so much over the course of this book. Teo in particular really came into his own and showed his true genius and heart. Ocean was able to process so much of her lingering grief and come out stronger and ready to build a happier future for herself. Sasani had similar development as he wrestled with his place in the world. The last character that had truly phenomenal development was the villain, Corvus. He had an incredibly well written descent into madness that culminated in a dramatic finale for everyone. The ending was absolutely action packed and a thrilling conclusion to the events of the duology. The epilogue was a sweet add on that wrapped up the characters and gave them all beautiful, hopeful futures. All this is to say that I love this book and duology with all my heart and cannot recommend it enough!

I just love this series and the characters within! The pacing remains as fast-paced as the first book, with action and character moments perfectly balanced. I also loved getting a closer look at Teo and other characters we didn’t get to see as much in book one. We also get a healthy dose of yearning, which is something I personally LOVE to see in all the books I read. This was absolutely a character based book and I’m here for it!! I’d highly recommend this series for any sci-fi fan!

I was so enrapt by the time we got to the ending of Ocean's Godori, and then I was enraged when it ended right after the action sequence ended (what! I want more!) Now I'm so excited that I finally have my hands on the ARC of book 2, Teo's Durumi to find out how the conflict of being framed for several murders of the Anand Tech family plays out. Finishing the book, I can say I was thoroughly entertained the whole way with our original Ohneul crew teaming up with Phoenix's space raiders to illuminate and unravel Corvus's plot to take down the tech giant and those of the solar who he feels had been exploited and wronged on Mercurians.

While book 1 felt more like the setup of being put into a trap (murder! deepfake suits! spaceship battles!), book 2 felt more like the story of unmasking the evil mastermind behind the conspiracy and fighting back. The gang has to try to navigate executing a plan while trying to figure out who they could actually trust, considering that Teo's wrongfully wanted by the whole solar system. It explores themes of grief and metamorphosing identity in the face of finding out maybe your family wasn't exactly who the presented themselves as.

Also, I loved Haven Sasani, I wish we had more of him in this book. His interactions with Ocean were so tense this whole time, I wanted to scream.


"You should stay hydrated. You're not used to how hot it gets in the summer here [on Artemis]. It's just like Korea."
This does bring Ocean's attention back to Joonho [the diplomat]; he's studying her. She shakes her head. "I don't share a drink with just anyone."


👀🙊

Lychee Soda

That being said, I think what detracted from my enjoyment of this book is essentially the type of villain that Cho constructed as our big baddie. Yes, he had a backstory and motive to hate the Anands, but his personality and sci-fi device that he used felt so cartoonish to me. It felt like it could be summarized as, "And now with this powerful soul-sucking device, I will take over the world solar! Bwahaha!"

Cartoonish villain asides, I really enjoyed this series so far. It's ended in a way where you could see this being the final conclusion for the team, but also it's open-ended enough to continue on with a new plot line, should Cho decide to--I for one am rooting for more.

I may have squealed wildly when I received this ebook ARC from Netgalley. Ocean's Godori was one of my favorite sci-fi reads in recent times, a rare reread even before I knew the sequel was imminent. This picks up almost immediately after where the last book left off -- shortly after the crew crash landed into the swimming pool of a Korean scholar commune on the Moon. A lot more of this story is intrigue and action than the last one, and at times seems to suffer from an overabundance of POVs, but ultimately it all serves well to make for an exceedingly vivid narrative. Even though the title indicates a Teo-centric plot, this is still a continuation of the utterly heartwarming and pure bond between Ocean and Teo, and the extremely lovable and quirky crew of misfits and rebels that coalesces around them. Their individual romance plots progress in very distinct and believable ways, with Teo and Phoenix being Shakespearean, while Haven and Ocean's KDrama levels of impossible yearning. Literally every single crew member gets to have their own little arc that intersects with everyone else's emotional arc. It is such a brilliant way to simultaneously do effective worldbuilding and also ground the narrative in the absolutely crackling chemistry in a large crew of characters. This more than covers up for the occasional clunkiness of the pacing and the villain trajectory and the improbability of certain convenient resolutions to complicated political and societal knots that the crew is stuck in. But I'm more than willing to chalk it up to a debut author quirk. While I'm glad there isn't more sequel bait, I will miss this crew and think of them for a long time. Definitely will be checking out the audiobook when it releases. Now someone PLEASE adapt this for the screen!

A deep and introspective take on the usual space adventure highjinks. Following on the heals of Ocean's Gidori, Ocean, her crew, Teo, and the pirates have safely landed on the moon, but their troubles aren't over. The shapeshifter is still impersonating Teo's brother, the terrorists are still hunting our heroes, and the Korean representatives are still assholes. Teo is also developing feelings for Pheonix that go far beyond his comfort zone. I adore this book and its predecessor, but I know that such a introspective take isn't for everyone. The quick recap at the start is a strikingly different tone, one which really brought home the ways this book is more about the journey and not as much about the plot. People who itched for more action in the Wayfarers series won't be placated by the gunfights and space battles in this novel - the focus is much more on the quiet moments between the crew and their feelings and hopes. A brilliant work, but sadly unlikely to be a popular one.

A really great sequel to Ocean’s Godori that completes each main characters arc in a satisfying way.
This book picks up right where the first one left off, after a very helpful recap on the characters from the last book. It continues the main conflict and introduces a few more characters. I really appreciated that the main antagonist of the story was fleshed out. It really helped pull things together. The main romance is also continued and I thought the way it wrapped up was nice, but the love triangle bit went on for just a bit too long. I really enjoyed how to the conflict wrapped up and how the stakes were raised more from the last book.
It was really great to dive back into this story and serves as a great conclusion.

It was wonderful to come back to the colorful world created by Elaine Cho - I have missed the cast, and it was great to spend more time with this queer gang in this queer world. It gets cheesy at times, for sure, but it's so earnest that it resonates with me, and I felt that the book and the series was fulfilling about everything it set out to do. It has a great entertainment value, and I envisage many rereads for the duology.

EArc provided by NetGalley
Von's little recap at the start is something which should be present in more books
Once this is published I will be acquiring a copy
I can't heap enough praise upon this series, it scratches the itch in my gay lil heart. The queer rep combined with said queer people not all being white, interracial relationships not being white/other. This is a book that makes me feel seen, despite the utter idiocy of some characters. I'm looking at you Ocean/Sasani angst.
The ending was A** and I felt fulfilled by it, if we are blessed by a sequel I'll be reading if not I'll be rereading.

Thank you to Zando and Net Galley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I tell you I’ve been checking NetGalley everyday for WEEKS, waiting to be able to request this one. I usually read my arcs in order of archive date, but I immediately gobbled this one up.

I want to start by saying that I did enjoy this book for the most part. It was fun like the first book was fun. And I do think it was a good ending. I liked all the romance (*through gritted teeth* even if Ocean and Haven didn’t kiss…).

Unfortunately for me, I felt like this book kind of stumbled over the finish line.

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. It really emphasized both its own flaws and the flaws of the first book. It was overly info dumpy at times and the end battle was so cheesy. Usually cheesy is fine (yes, the power of friendship works on me), but this entered the territory of ‘oh my god just reading this is embarrassing me.’

In my first review I talked about Dae and how I hoped she’d get an arc. And I guess she does? It wasn’t very interesting, though. Same with most characters. The most we get of most of Phoenix’s crew is an explanation of their backstory from another character (which contributes to how clunky and info dumpy everything feels). Other than Gemini and Phoenix, they just aren’t real to me.

Same problem with the Romaja (again why isn’t it Hangul so it immediately translates?) that I had with the first book. It’s just that fanfiction-y logic that adding a different language into the text is a good idea when all it does is make it harder to read. There also wasn’t a glossary in this book like there was in the first one, which they may be adding later, but meant I couldn’t see what things meant. The Korean I’m familiar with is admittedly very small, mostly limited to honorifics and familial terms, so everything else went over my head.

I enjoyed this book from an entertainment perspective, but not from a technical perspective. The plot itself flowed well, but it was full of awkward dialogue and worldbuilding. The characters mostly failed to have real arcs (they are who they started as for the most part). And overall, I felt that this book was kind of a weak conclusion to the story.

★★★☆☆ (3/5)

Thank you to NetGalley and to Zando for the ARC of Teo's Durumi by Elaine U. Cho.

For new readers: You definitely need to read Ocean's Godori before reading this one to understand any part of the story.

I absolutely loved the first book in this duology, Ocean's Godori, and after the whopper of a cliffhanger it ended on, it was great to dive right back in with Teo's Durumi, which picks up immediately where the first book left off. Teo is intent upon unmasking the man posing as his brother and revealing his family's killers, but first he, Ocean, Phoenix and the rest of the crew need to make a plan to set things right while Corvus continues his plan for universal chaos and revenge.

Cho's setting is so unique and Teo's Durumi sparkles with the same dazzling effects of her created space opera universe from Ocean's Godori. The way Cho writes the culture of the world is so accessible, and she gives enough context when writing about Korea or about religion or other aspects of her universe that readers can infer and learn from each sentence (and then want to find a Korean restaurant, ASAP).

I would pair this as a more inventive and mature colleague to L.M. Sagas's Ambit's Run duology, given how both have such a strong focus on relationship building within the story itself, while still being such entertaining space operas. I feel like it ends in a really solid place, and readers will be very pleased with how full circle the story comes.

I removed a star for two reasons, but I still have the highest enjoyment rating of the duology and the highest respect for Cho. The first reason was that the pacing is a lot slower in this book. It isn't until after the halfway mark that the team begins to make their moves, so a lot of the action feels packed into the final 25%. I wish the story were more balanced. I think the high, high focus on relationship building / romance in the first half, while very cute and fun for the characters, didn't lend itself to carrying the story's action forward in an even way. The second is because I wasn't quite sure how to understand Corvus's aims with the technology he has created. It seemed disjointed to connect his actions to how they would actually support his worldview - unless that worldview now is just mass death? It felt a bit out of order with what Teo, Ocean, and the rest of the crew believe they are fighting for - he seems to have completely switched gears.

Also, to whomever is designing the colors for this series --- these are so stunningly beautiful. I hope they drive so many readers to pick up the books because the story is even better.