Atlas Fallen by Jessica Pierce | Review

Atlas Fallen (Cyber Crown #1) by Jessica Pierce
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: April 24, 2018
Genre: YA, Science Fiction
Pages: 368
Source: eARC from Author + Purchased
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Goodreads Description

One space station.
One throne.
And the girl who holds the key.

Tesla Petrov, daughter of an infamous traitor, no longer lives a life of promise in the Atlas space station's elite flight training program. Stripped of her military rank and banished to the slums, she now scrapes out a brutal existence competing in illegal robot fights for Minko, ruthless leader of the Red Ashes crime syndicate. But when a wrong move costs her a fight--and a fortune--for the crime lord, Tesla knows her days aboard the Atlas are numbered.

Daxton Larose isn't just visiting the station to celebrate the Centennial of the Crown--he's hunting a terrorist threatening to end a century of peace on Earth. To do so, he'll need someone who knows the station. Someone willing to strike a deal at any cost.

Someone like Tesla. 

But as the hunt for the terrorist uncovers secrets from both their pasts, Tesla and Daxton realize that nothing, and no one, is what it seems.

My Thoughts

I was not at all prepared for Atlas Fallen when I first started reading. This was one of the last books I picked up in May and after having reading quite a bit the rest of the month I wasn't really in the mood to read. It took me a little bit to get invested in the story and characters but once I did I was hooked.

This story opens following Tesla going to meet with one of the gang leaders on the lower levels of the Atlas, the space station that she's living on. From the synopsis we know Tesla is struggling after her father was branded a traitor. In the midst of everyday life and participating illegal bot fights Tesla is trying to find proof that her father wasn't a traitor. When she receives an opportunity to go to the upper levels of the Atlas she can't pass it up.

On the other hand Daxton has his own goals when he came aboard the Atlas Fallen. After meeting, Daxton gets Tesla to help him in exchange for something she wants.

Atlas Fallen is different from what I typically think of when it comes to science fiction. However I still found it easy to understand and believable, which is always a good thing. This book was really action packed and had me on the edge of my seat several times while trying to figure out how the characters would get out of the current situation.

One thing that can always take the story to the next level for me is the characters. Without realizing it I fell in love with the main characters and the people close to them. Tesla is one of my favorite types of characters. At the start of the story she has a realistic outlook on her life but I felt like she was still naive to some things. Throughout Atlas Fallen she went on a journey of self discovery while learning a lot more about what's going with everything and everyone around her. By the end she's in a completely different space than she was at the begging but she still has a long way to go. I can't wait to see the rest of Tesla's journey throughout this series.

There were parts of this story I found predictable but there were so many parts I didn't see coming. If you are looking for an action packed science fiction novel pick up Atlas Fallen! This book was exciting and had my emotions all over the place in the best way. I can't wait to see the direction the author takes in the next part of the series.

Thank you to the author for gifting me an early copy.

Whisper by Lynette Noni | Review

Whisper by Lynette Noni
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, SciFi, Paranormal
Pages: 317
Source: eARC from Edelweiss + Purchased
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Goodreads Description

“Lengard is a secret government facility for extraordinary people,” they told me.

I believed them. That was my mistake.

There isn’t anyone else in the world like me.

I’m different. I’m an anomaly. I’m a monster. 

For two years, six months, fourteen days, eleven hours and sixteen minutes, Subject Six-Eight-Four — ‘Jane Doe’ — has been locked away and experimented on, without uttering a single word.

As Jane’s resolve begins to crack under the influence of her new — and unexpectedly kind — evaluator, she uncovers the truth about Lengard’s mysterious ‘program’, discovering that her own secret is at the heart of a sinister plot … and one wrong move, one wrong word, could change the world.

My Thoughts

I have been wanting to read something from Lynette Noni for years so when I received the opportunity to review this book I knew I couldn't pass it up. Whisper follows Jane Doe, also known as Subject 684. For the last two and a half years she has been held in a secret government facility where she has been tested on. Through it all Jane has refused to talk. Things start to change for her when she is assigned a new evaluator and given a month to prove her worth.

It's a little mysterious by from the beginning it's hinted at that Jane has some type of power. As the story progresses we learn that her powers express through speech and because of something in herr past she has basically vowed to never speak again. Whisper wasn't my favorite read but I still thought it was enjoyable.

The story mainly takes place inside Jane's head which had both positive and negative effects on my enjoyment while reading. It was strange being inside Jane's thoughts because most of the time it felt like she was talking directly to me. I'm not sure how many people think as if they're having a conversation with someone and that brought me out of the story sometimes. On a slightly different note I though Jane was too accenting. For the past 2.5 years she has been held hostage and tortured at times and she automatically accepted what was told to her by the people in charge. It might have worked if she had grown up in this situation and didn't know anything different but since this has only been her life for such a short amount of time I didn't find it believable.

I felt like the author relied heavily on tropes that have typically been used in this genre of books. With all that being said, I did still enjoy the story. Whisper reminded me a lot of one of the later books in the Lux series by Jennifer L. Arrmentrout. If you've read it then I'm sure you will recognize the similarities. I was hooked into the story by the end. I have so many questions that I need answered and I can't wait to see what direction Lynette Noni takes the next part of this story.