Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Review: Redemption by Mike Schlossberg

About the Book

Published on June 5, 2018 by Ellysian Press

Find it on Amazon!

I received an eARC of this title from the author in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

GoodReads Description


Twenty young people wake aboard the spaceship Redemption with no memory how they got there.

Asher Maddox went to sleep a college dropout with clinical depression and anxiety. He wakes one hundred sixty years in the future to assume the role as captain aboard a spaceship he knows nothing about, with a crew as in the dark as he is.

Yanked from their everyday lives, the crew learns that Earth has been ravaged by the Spades virus – a deadly disease planted by aliens. They are tasked with obtaining the vaccine that will save humanity, while forced to hide from an unidentified, but highly advanced enemy.

Half a galaxy away from Earth, the crew sets out to complete the quest against impossible odds. As the enemy draws closer, they learn to run the ship despite their own flaws and rivalries. But they have another enemy . . . time. And it’s running out.

My Thoughts

I want to begin by stating that although Firefly is one of my absolute favorite shows (if you haven't seen it, go watch it NOW.  You can read this review later...), I don't usually read science fiction that is written as Schlossberg chose to write Redemption.  There may be a few things in my review that don't apply to reviewers who more typically choose this genre.

Things I Loved


I loved the characters.  They were the perfect mishmash of teenage insanity, rage, and romance.  Wonderfully done!  Asher was definitely my favorite character.  He felt absolutely real.  I have my own arguments with anxiety and could see and feel each moment that Asher argued with his.  My favorite thing about him was definitely how stupid he could be.  After all, he is a teenage boy!  He shouldn't be written as a perfectly logical individual in total control of his emotions.  I loved that he was so realistic!  And, he was able to grow as an individual.  Did he start out by getting in his own way and hiding from his problems?  Yup.  But, by the end of the novel he was taking charge and dealing with his anxiety after the crisis was over.  What a wonderful way to demonstrate anxiety and growth!  

The romance between Alexis and Ash was very well done.  I didn't feel like it was forced at all.  Better yet, I loved that Alexis wasn't going to let Ash sit and wallow in his own problems.  We all need that person who will pull our heads out of our butts from time to time.  Alexis was perfectly matched for Ash.  They worked as a wonderful team.

Things I Didn't Love


I felt like this piece was very hard to follow.  There were terms that I didn't understand and no glossary to help me out.  There were times when previous events were alluded to and I had no memory of them ever happening.  I felt like these parts needed to be cleaned up a bit so that the audience could focus on the massive story that Schlossberg works to unfold.

When I wasn't getting lost in the story line, I was predicting it.  I don't want to go into my predictions because I do want to save you from the spoilers.  However, I will tell you that EVERY PREDICTION WAS TRUE.  C'mon, surprise me a bit!

Overall, I think that this could be a really well-written piece if it was cleaned up just a bit and the reader had more help understanding it.  Schlossberg is definitely onto a wonderful story here, so I am excited to see what the next book holds.

My Rating


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