Review: Zenith

Zenith
by Sasha Alsberg & Lindsay Cummings

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: January 16, 2018

Androma Racella, also known as the Bloody Baroness, is one of the most feared mercenaries in the Mirabel Galaxy. But when a routine mission goes awry, she and her ship’s all-girl crew are put to the test. Paired with a ruthless bounty hunter from Andi's past, they must complete a dangerous mission or face being locked up for good. Yet as they embark on this journey, across the galaxy toils the queen of Xen Ptera who will stop at nothing to exact revenge to those who have destroyed her people.

This book can easily be one of my favorites of 2018, and the year has barely begun. So many aspects of this story influenced my decision, so I would first like to begin with the characters. While you begin the book feeling like several characters are just straightforward and one dimensional, there is so much growth and character development all through the book. Andi is not your typical statistical badass, Dex is not your typical bounty hunter, the queen seeking revenge does not do so without an understandable cause, and the loyal pilot Lira doesn’t just follow orders. I loved that the authors took these characters and made them into something new. Not only did this enhance the story, but it made reading it so much more fun because you never knew when someone will do something or something will happen!

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the plot. Starting out like SIX OF CROWS, but in space, it changed from what I thought would be a copy of another tale into something much better. The authors purposely hid origin stories and dispersed them throughout the book, giving them to us bit by bit as we learn more about our characters. And during several parts of this book, I constantly found my mind wandering towards where I though the plot would go or towards what I thought would happen. Yet almost every time this happened, I was proven wrong. I loved this aspect of ZENITH, because the authors were always giving you the unexpected plot twists.

Lastly, the universe that ZENITH was set in was also amazing. Filled with galaxies and  alien worlds and beautiful technology: the authors succeeded so well in their world building. I loved how everything felt so complete as the authors made sure that every fact was backed up with more content as they created religions and other characteristics for each of the peoples discussed. They stayed away from our regular images of beauty as each race has different skin tones, attributes, and quirks, creating a truly diverse world. For example, Andi is riddled with barely-hidden metal implants across her body, something that so many would find ugly; yet in ZENITH she is called beautiful.

Overall, I would recommend this book to sci-fi and fantasy lovers alike as this book includes everything from magic to high-speed space travel. Fans of books like SIX OF CROWS and NEVERNIGHT will enjoy this book.