I haven’t stopped thinking about this book all summer!! I’m so ready for book 2. I love Levi (maybe I shouldn’t but COME ON).

Vera kicks ass and deserves the world.

GIVE ME BOOK 2 SHENANIGANS NOW.

Levi is a sociopath in the most literal sense of the term. He cares about his ship and his parents and that's it. So when his ship is impounded, there is nothing he will not do and nobody he won't manipulate and betray to get it back.

Vera wants to get off her dump of a (planet? Station? I'm not entirely sure), but she's stuck until she pays off her late parent's debts. So when a good looking dude offers to pay her to translate some data that a lot of criminal elements want, she agrees.

I went into this hoping for a Guardians of the Galaxy type adventure. Sadly, Levi is no Peter Quill. In fact, Levi has the charm of a Weasel, that is, none. The description also promised humor but if there was humor, it was so dry I didn't recognize it. Vera was more likable but also pretty blank.

My biggest issue was the very surface level writing style. While we're told how people feel, I never felt it from them. As a result, I never connected with them as characters. At one point, it looks like Levi and Vera might be goners. I wasn't worried because I didn't care about them; even at the end of the book they were pretty blank to me.

The worldbuilding was also pretty thin. I don't mind light wordbuilding as I care more about character development and relationships, but at one point we're told there's an alien race who might be plotting against Humanity and I had no frame of reference as to who they were. Had we seen them before? Did they run part of the galaxy or what? I had no clue.

While there was some action, a lot of the book was loosely connected events. Whole chapters happened where I skimmed through because it didn't really move the plot along. A few of the character connections did turn up again later as important, but for me the book was a bit of a slog and I considered DNFing more than once. The very end did pick up and the last few chapters were enjoyable, but for me it wasn't enough to want to pick up the next book.

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy.

Galaxy Grifter is a fast paced space opera full of a bunch of fun shenanigans as our protagonists Levi and Vera find themselves moving from one bad situation to a worse one as they make their way across the galaxy. They face pirates, back water gangsters, and military agents but given that it's their own actions that put them in constant danger it's hard to feel bad for the duo. Instead I just buckled up and went along for the ride.

I enjoyed Vera, a bartender who grew up in the cesspool colony of Blackjack, who is trying to rise above her station and build more for herself. Even if she doubts her ability to do so. She is smart, resilient and spunky. Levi on the other hand has zero redeeming qualities, to the point where it's hard to care about him. Given that he is an undeniable sociopath. Every time he's in danger you wonder if his numbers finally up, and wouldn't really mourn the loss of him. This also made the romantic subplot frustrating given that they have no chemistry and Vera is way too good for him.

Overall if you're looking good for a fun romp through the galaxy I think till have a good time with this book.

The book is about a sociopath who tries to make it in the universe. It was hard to feel any empathy for this person. I was not a great fan of the story.

DNF at 25%. While I was mildly intrigued by the sci fi heisting antics, unfortunately the writing was tough to get through for me. There were a lot of descriptors and everything felt a bit forced. I think the main character could have grown on me, but I just didn't have the patience to wait for it to happen.

Thanks to Orbit for a chance to read this, sorry I didn't like it more!

I received this as an ARC from the publisher. All views expressed are my own.

Recommend - For SF-lovers looking for their next heist story

Blurb is at the end of the review, for those who aren’t into that sort of thing.

Sci fi - no romance, off-screen sex between multiple characters.

This was a good surprise for me! For better or worse, when I see a sci fi story described as a space opera, I come to the table with some assumptions of what it might look like. In that way, it certainly well exceeded expectations.

At its core, it has the components of a heist story. As a sworn grifter, Levi has lots of plans, manipulations, plots in plots, and associated relationship complications as a result. Surrounding it, however, we have the story of Vera who is trying to find her way to living her own life, in a way she wants to rather than what she’s forced to.

We cross to a variety of planets and meet lots of different people along the way. And as we go, we begin to get hints of the political and corporate landscape that surrounds this intriguing take on the future.

Lots of fun with characters that give as good as they get.

Synopsis:
In a universe where humans are just another of a crowd of sentient species, all Levi’s looking for is the next con. He’s in it for love of the game. Well, that and his ship. But he’s bitten off more than he can chew this time, and with his beloved ship on the line, he’s forced into an alliance with expert programmer, Vera, who trusts him about as far as she can throw him.

Galaxy Grifter by A. Zaykova

What i love about sci fi is the tech and the way life could be with the advancement of it. And there were a bunch of cool little tech things in this book that I wish we already had.
As far as the story goes, I thought it was okay. I had a good enough time, but I just didn't care about the characters, mostly Vera. Levi was entertaining because he was selfish, but there was no connection between the two and I really wanted that.

Still I'm thankful to netgalley, the author, and Orbit for the e-arc to review!

A fun, light-hearted romp of a book! Ultimately, not quite what I was looking for (the characters felt a little too sketched in), but I think it will be a joyful read for those who are looking for an easy, fun ride!

I love space operas because they have fun, quirky casts, they're thrilling, and there's a lot of space. This book sort of has everything, but the writing did not work for me. It was very "visual" in the sense that the writing accompanied the scene and the characters just enough to know how everything looked and sounded, as well as what things were called, but we got very little beyond that. Character motivations or psyche weren’t too explored since it was fast-paced and heavy on dialogue, not character-focused narration, which in turn made the characters feel very flat and stereotypical. We mostly learned about them when they shared stuff with each other, which is fine but it mostly happened at the end of the book when I was already checked out. They felt very bland and forgettable.

World-building was, again, more of an exposition. We’d follow characters and get that some "cultures" have different factions and different-sounding names, but nothing about who they are. Like, Levi would walk by a group named "The Elders," and that’s all we got, baby. The issue with this is that I couldn’t really get anything or be wowed by any twist. Most of the twists were like, "Oh, I had a contact lens and I was recording you. I’ve stolen your identity, muahahaha," but we didn’t know contact lenses did that, so how are we as readers supposed to feel any thrill if we don’t understand the risks of a scene? Idk. I just felt every chapter ended in a weird way, and the twists were sudden and always relying on info that had never been provided, so it got boring very quickly. I just failed to understand the stakes of anything because it was just new information raining down on me with every twist and turn.

Another pet peeve is that I feel this needed more editing. So many of the scenes and chapters felt irrelevant. If your characters go to a bar, I don’t need to follow them while they are directed to a table, handed a menu, peruse the menu, talk about which drink to get, order, and then suddenly end the chapter with something vague like, "Oh, you don’t know who that man over there is? I’ve got so much to tell you." This isn’t setting the scene or finishing with a cliffhanger. This is just uninteresting.

Anyways, not for me.

I’m sorry to be so negative. I was excited for this! Sad to say it wasn’t my thing at all. If you're into fast-paced books that focus on dialogue and action and like to go with the flow, this may be for you!

In Galaxy Grifter, we follow the con artist grifter Levi whose only love appears to be his spaceship Caerus which has been put up as collateral to the most dangerous gang in the quadrant. He is working every angle to find a way to get his ship back. Levi is able to swindle what appears to be a valuable blueprint that he can sell to the highest bidder. However, he hires Vera, a programmer whose debt keeps her stuck on a backwater asteroid, to help decode the blueprint. Vera doesn't trust Levi and plans to steal the blueprint for herself. Of course, things quickly go sideways.

This was a fast paced book with characters that I found pretty flat until almost the end of the book. I just didn't find Levi believable or likeable--think of Levi as a less charming Han Solo who is more likely to leave you stranded than finish the job. Vera seemed to always just go along with whatever was happening. The relationship between the two of them was so strange. Towards the end of the book, there was some explanation given for some of the choices made but I still found it to be a stretch. If you can find more to like with the two main characters, there is a pretty good story here.

Galaxy Grifter is a high-stakes space opera novel, written by A. Zaykova, published by Orbit Books. A wild and fun ride, which never stops, full of adventure with a fair share of shenanigans, completed with a dash of romance, and two really different main characters that, however, share how snarky they are.

Levi is an interestellar conman, all charming and with little scruples; his real love is his ship, the Caerus, that he has given as a collateral for a loan. As he's desperate to pay and get it back, he gets a valuable antimatter blueprint; but it's worthless without being decoded. Here's where Vera enters: a programmer whose debts keep her trapped on an asteroid; knowing that Levi is using her, she plans to steal the blueprint and use the money to pay for her own freedom. A match made in hell, which marks only the start of a big adventure, especially after gangs, alien governments and other elements enter in the equation, all trying to get the blueprint for their own goals.

Not going to lie, I wanted to strangle Levi's neck a thousand times; it is true that he's charming, and he knows it, we can see him trying to play with that for his advantage, but he's also super quick to betray those that trust a minimum on him. There's a small chance of redemption for him, but he's much more focused on recovering the Caelus than being a good person to those that help him.
Vera, on the other hand, is a character I can get behind; struggling with unfair debts, brilliant, but also without a clear exit from the asteroid. Levi's blueprint is a hot nail, but in her situation, it's better than nothing; risking everything for that chance is the correct option, even if means dealing with such a shady character as the Weasel. She might be reckless starting this, but we can also see her trying to do the right thing when the opportunity arises.
The rest of the cast falls a bit on the stereotypes that you can expect in this kind of story, with a few surprises here and there adding to the plot.

Zaykova's setting is quite interesting: a big universe with more than the humans and many factions fighting for getting hold of the power; mafias but also governments trying to recover the blueprint, adding a layer of danger to the whole adventure. There's a romantic element attached to the story, which complements well the rest of the plot.
The pacing is frenetic, making you fly through the pages, plenty of fun and also well-written action scenes.

Galaxy Grifter is a great debut novel, perfect if you are looking for a high-stakes space opera story, full of action with a dash of romance; if you don't mind hating the male main character, much better!

Thank you #netgalley for the review copy.

I really was primed to like this book, I had hoped it would have similar vibes to the Finder series by Palmer but unfortunately it did not. Whereas Fergus in the Finder books is so likable and kind our “Grifter” in these books is a jerk and insufferable. The other protagonist/ love interest feels a bit flat and also doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense. The book does seem to improve in the last few chapters (if it didn’t this would have been a one or two star review) so perhaps the next in the series gets better?

If you come to this book hoping based on the cover art and comparisons made by others that it will be very like Finder you will be disappointed. If however you like reading about very unlikable people one of which has a ton of privilege and is a selfish asshole that mistreats others, especially women, and thinks he is so clever (this here is a lot of tell and not show) and is set in space then you will likely enjoy this book much more than I did.

Galaxy Grifter by A. Zaykova follows the adventures of Levi, a smarmy grifter who will do anything to get his spaceship, the Caerus, back, and Vera, a talented programmer who gets caught up in the storm centered around Levi’s shenanigans.

Levi has put his ship up as loan collateral and needs a big payout to get it back. Through his scheming, he manages to obtain what he believes are plans for specialized engine technology. With the possible payout of selling this information to the highest bidder, he may be able to get his ship back, but he has no way of decoding it. Enter Vera, located on the run-down asteroid Blackjack, who possesses a decoder to translate the data. But Vera wants in on the payout because she and her brother are indebted to the local gang, trying to keep their bar up and running after the loss of their parents. Without giving too much away, what follows are multiple double-crosses, on both sides, that lead to gang trouble, government trouble, and traipsing all over the known galaxy trying to find the truth.

The characters are the strong points of this book. I appreciated that he never got a forced redemption arc for Levi. He is a scoundrel all through the book, from beginning to end, and you learn to love hating him. Vera is portrayed as intelligent, as well as having a basic good nature and a sense of family. Even though the side characters may be over-the-top caricatures in their villainy, I didn’t find it too much.
However, while the setup and character dynamics are strong, the plot didn't land quite as well for me. Despite a series of high-stakes situations and double-crosses, I never really felt the emotional pull or romantic tension that seemed to be hinted at. The chemistry between Levi and Vera felt a bit flat, more functional than compelling. And the ending, which hinted at massive consequences, fizzled out instead of going out with a bang. After all that build-up, I was left saying, “Is that it?” which is never the reaction you want at the finale.

Still, Galaxy Grifter has its moments and would likely appeal to fans of space capers who enjoy colorful characters more than high-stakes payoffs. It’s a fun ride, even if it doesn't quite stick the landing.

Thank you to the publisher Orbit, the author A. Zaykova, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Galaxy Grifter by A. Zaykova

3.5 rounding up to 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

There is always that one kid, that Eddie Haskell type. We all know him. Constantly mischievous, a troublemaker, yet somehow likeable. As I befriended Levi, I knew in the back of my mind that adventures, or rather danger, were soon to follow. A. Zaykova, crafter of a tumultuous ride of a novel, has seen to it that I will always be looking over my shoulder to prevent an onslaught of incoming violence from various interplanetary factions.

Levi reminds me so much of Han Solo—the bravado and charm that dissolve our barriers and make us succumb to the charm of the pungi, like Levi’s brothers, the vipers. Not to say Levi is all snake, but let’s just say he has reptilian qualities. He asks me if I have any experience in cracking code; of course, I say no. However, there is a particular redhead, a bartender, who may delve into this sort of thing.

Vera, who currently resides on Blackjack, might be of some assistance. Having lost her parents, she and her brother run a bar amongst the seedy underbelly known as Blackjack. Levi has picked a perfect time to invade Vera’s space; she is becoming impatient with barely surviving on Blackjack and wants the adventure and excitement a new home might present. Yet, she has been warned about Levi; he is the well-known “Weasel.”

Against her better judgment, Vera relents and agrees to aid Levi in revealing documents that could be worth a considerable amount of money to the right buyer. "High risk, high reward," Levi reminds us. Vera and I know the truth. We are expendable. We are a necessary means for Levi to buy back his beloved ship, the Caerus, presumably the only “real” object of his affection. During our galaxy-wide endeavor, the near-death experiences outnumber our reasons to be involved, but the adventure…dear reader, the adventure will be memorable and exciting.

Pure entertainment. The novel swerves in and out of an asteroid belt, alarms blaring, and our necks hurt from them swiveling to lock onto oncoming targets. If we didn’t feel the breath of life before, we sure know it now. There are some stories, simplistic in their delivery, that have an indelible snark that resonates with me. I man the cockpit and let the AI fly the ship, as if in cruise control. I kick my feet up and chomp on a Slim Jim while the pages flip at an uncontrollable pace. This is that type of story. Is Levi the villain? Yes, well, sort of. He is the pot-stirrer that we never knew we wanted or needed. I adored how A. Zaykova has written Levi; he comes from an outstanding family who gave him all the necessary tools to become an upstanding individual, and yet he just likes being devious. Unabashed, even as a teenager.

As the lasers land near and around our bodies, we run. Running for safety has been a mainstay since meeting Levi. People can ask me, "Would you do it all again?" to which I happily answer, "Heck yeah, I would." A thrilling space escapade awaits!

Many thanks to Orbit Books for supplying the ARC through NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.

Relatively generic space opera story, with no attempt at plausible science or plausibility. Zaykova does spend time on characterization of the two leads; I simply don't find them particularly relatable. Not a bad book by any means but didn't suck me into the story. My acid test is, would I read a sequel and I don't think I would.

Fun and pulpy right down to a sentence level, this sets the scene immediately with tropey world-building that fans of classic scifi shows like Red Dwarf or Firefly will enjoy. Funny, fast-paced and with interesting characters.

Are you a fan of Beth Revis' Chaotic Orbits trilogy, Constance Fay's Uncharted Hearts trilogy, or Jesse Mihalik's Polaris Rising trilogy? If so, I think you will greatly enjoy Galaxy Grifter by A. Zaykova.

Galaxy Grifter follows a con artist named Levi who finds himself in some deep trouble. Levi's beloved ship is being held as collateral, and now he has to save the universe. Luckily, he meets Vera, who helps him decode a document he has "found". Vera has her own secrets, though.

I love a good intergalactic romp, and Galaxy Grifter is perfect for that. I can't wait to see where A. Zaykova will go next!

This book should be checking all my boxes. Adventure, space hijinx, some romance, but for some reason, this fell flat for me. Although I found Vera interesting, likable, and intelligent, Levi was hard to like, and in this type of novel, I want to like them somewhat. Now, this may be my issue, so I would say read the book. You may find it exciting and a fun read. But for me, it just wasn't that enjoyable.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit Books, for the eArc. These opinions are mine.

2025 is the year I promised myself that if a book was not for me or I found it excruciatingly painful to get through, I would DNF and not torture myself further. Galaxy Grifter promised a rollicking good time and sadly was anything but. I DNF'd at 20% because while it certainly tries to be rollicking, I was not having a good time.

My first and main issue with this book is that it is set in space, but the characters don't feel like they know they are in space. Sure, there are spaceships and space combat, and space alien technology stuff, but then the characters wear jeans and t-shirts, spend their time out drinking in bars, and eat cereal for breakfast. This feels like Bridget Jones's Diary if Bridget lived on an asteroid. But the setting is superficial and I never got a sense that Zaykova had any interest in world building this space. Pun intended. At 20% of the way through a not very long novel (Goodreads says this book is 406 pages). I should start to get a feel for the setting and how it needs to work for the story. And it's missing. I'm around page 80 and I feel like I'm sitting in someone's urban dive, not a bar set in space.

The initial plot is set up with a space combat and space pirates and a space escape, but while the scenes move fast around Levi, I don't get a feel for who he is or why the story is set up around him. Same thing for Vera and her space shakedown protection gangster. Why is this bar so important? The author may have said, but at this point Vera feels like such a non-entity that I confused her with her space girlfriends when they went out drinking at the space bar and tried to stop her from hooking up in the space bathroom.

At 20% in, I've seen enough. Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for the arc for review purposes.

Levi is a jackass. In all seriousness if you’re young and met a guy who’s half the scoundrel just say no. In real life the bad boy is just about universally a bad idea. But we’re in storybook land so let’s roll with it and see if he’s can be redeemed. Vera is likable though. Rough life, rough place and she’s doing her best to better her lot. I enjoyed the book, it’s a page turner. It ends well but I’d also read a second pretty happily to see if Levi has grown up at all.