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Olivia and her twin brother, Aidan, are heading alone back to Earth following the virus that completely wiped out the rest of their crew, and their family.
Nathan is part of a community heading in the opposite direction. But on their journey Nathan’s ship is attacked and most of the community killed. Only a few survive.
Their lives unexpectedly collide. Nathan and Vee are instantly attracted to each other, deeply, head over heels – like nothing they have ever experienced.
But not everyone is pleased. And surrounded by rumours, deception – even murder – is it possible to live out a happy ever after . . . ?

Thank you to Penguin UK for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Welp. I wondered if I would struggle reading this story because it’s about a virus. As it turns out, I did struggle reading this story. And it was nothing to do with it being about a virus. This book has been on my TBR for around 3 years and I was hesitant to pick it up. At least I’m somewhat glad I picked this out of my TBR jar so I finally forced myself to read it.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. And at points I was really enjoying it. But the further I got into the story, the lower it went down in my ratings. This is a love story set in space, with lashings of mystery that didn’t seem to be explained at all. There was massive plot holes (that I’m only just realising now), that left me unsure of who actually committed the crimes and whether we even had a big reveal, or if it was just brushed off in favour of the romance.

Ahh, the romance. Let me tell you, it was awful. It was all a big, overdramatic and unrealistic insta-love story, with absolutely no logic behind it. These characters were young and desperate and fell in love as soon as they laid eyes on one other. I understand Vee had been alone with her brother for 3 years, but girl, you knew you’d be trapped on a ship with this new guy for god knows how long, at least take it slow. The pacing of this romance was so ridiculous, it was quite obvious what would come next. Even when the romance took a downturn, I couldn’t revel in it because it made me so angry. Nathan was possessive anyway, but asserts his dominance in a way that made me uncomfortable, and that’s putting it mildly. His behavior made me physically cringe, and makes me worry for the audience. Although it is explained that this behavior is not okay, it is not discussed as much as I would have liked at all.

As another review I read mentions, this book switches between being too explicit, to being cringey and cliched, and misses the mark altogether. I’m really not sure who the audience is at this point, because the topics are too dark for younger readers, but the writing is definitely not suited to older readers. The main character, Vee, was probably the best of the lot. She wasn’t without her own annoyances, but for the most part she remained brave and calm in the face of danger and whatever life threw at her didn’t break her.

The main reason I read on was due to the plot being super fast and the mystery element being somewhat compelling. Even though I guessed who the killer was very early on, I wasn’t sure of their exact motivations. Even though this was readable, and even enjoyable in places, I couldn’t help my desire to roll my eyes every few pages at the idiocy of the whole thing. Overall, it was just kind of an unfortunate mess.

★★
2 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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