REVIEW
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from NetGalley and Zando in return for an honest review.
This book had some great strengths, but I also had some issues with the way the plot was executed. I like to break up my SFF reviews into parts, so I'll start with worldbuilding.
I thought that the setting was the strongest part of this book. This space opera is set in a future where Korea is the dominating force in space. Korea is a fairly small country when looking at where we are currently, especially in terms of space exploration. When I think of space exploration and who is dominating currently I always think of the US's NASA and Russia's RSA. I looked into South Korea, and they do have an agency called Korea Aerospace Research Institute. So this future world that Cho created was very cool to read about. Not only was space travel operated by Korea, but the culture itself had a very heavy Korean influence, from food to music to clothing.
The characters were where I struggled. There were a few main characters that had a lot of time yet I felt like the side characters were extremely one-dimensional like cardboard. I could not distinguish between them other than the job that they served, and other that they blended together. I really tend to dislike when side characters don't feel real, because it's like they were an after thought. It causes the character interactions to feel less genuine and leads me to be confused about who is who. I really enjoyed Ocean as a character, although I did start reading certain chapters and got confused when she was being called a different nickname. I thought they were two different characters for a short bit and had to go back and reread. I did appreciate that the romance subplot was not a major focus in any way. It was slow build, felt very natural, and didn't cause me to cringe at all.
Now for the plot. Nothing happened for a vast majority of this book. Then came the end and finally something happened, and I didn't even realize there was so little left to read. I do understand that this is a setup for a sequel, but I was quite disappointed in the way this book ended. From the description, I was expecting more of a found family and fun space adventure with a murder mystery thrown in, but with this being marketed as Becky Chambers meets Firefly, I feel like this was a very bad way to describe this. Firefly is one of my favorite shows ever, and while Ocean did have a curmudgeonly way about her like Mal, there was no comparison between the two plots, vibes, and story. I do see how it is similar to Becky Chambers' Wayfarer's series, but that is probably why I was expecting really strong character work.
The writing itself I have no issues with. I feel like Cho is very talented and the prose was easy and quick to read. I really liked the way she described settings as I am a very visual reader and was easily able to place myself within the book. I would have loved some heavier sci-fi elements, but overall, this book will definitely find its audience.
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