This book was provided as a digital galley by NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads Summary:
A young pilot risks everything to save his best friend–the man he trusts most and might even love–only to learn that he’s secretly the heir to a brutal galactic empire.
Ettian Nassun’s life was shattered when the merciless Umber Empire invaded. He’s spent seven years putting himself back together under its rule, joining an Umber military academy and becoming the best pilot in his class. Even better, he’s met Gal Veres–his exasperating and infuriatingly enticing roommate who’s made the Academy feel like a new home.
But when dozens of classmates spring an assassination plot on Gal, a devastating secret comes to light: Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire. Ettian barely manages to save his best friend and flee the compromised Academy unscathed, rattled both that Gal stands to inherit the empire that broke him and that there are still people willing to fight back against Umber rule. As they piece together a way to deliver Gal safely to his throne, Ettian finds himself torn in half by an impossible choice. Does he save the man who’s won his heart and trust that Gal’s goodness could transform the empire? Or does he throw his lot in with the brewing rebellion and fight to take back what’s rightfully theirs?
My Review:
A blogger that I follow on Goodreads said this book was great and I have to agree. I normally hate science fiction/dystopian novels, but I couldn’t get enough of this one. If anything, it was more than a little cliched. A Star Wars-type world that unapologetically used every trope in the book would be a good way to describe this. However, there’s a reason why all of these tropes are so popular and I have to say that I loved the execution. This book is definitely one of my favorite science fiction novels now. I loved the character development with the incomplete backstories that helped make the cliffhanger even more interesting and in general I love how the plot developed.
I would mainly recommend this book to people who enjoy sci-fi, but also anybody who likes Star Wars, friends-to-lovers romances, and more. This book could really please a lot of people and I commend Emily Skrutskie on a job well done.
Overall, I would give this book…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
The Fiction Feature 