Chilling Effect
Books | Fiction / Science Fiction / Space Opera
3.7
Valerie Valdes
“Jam-packed with weird aliens, mysterious artifacts, and lovable characters... a tremendous good time and an impressive debut.” -- Kirkus Reviews (starred)A hilarious, offbeat debut space opera that skewers everything from pop culture to video games and features an irresistible foul-mouthed captain and her motley crew, strange life forms, exciting twists, and a galaxy full of fun and adventure.Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra cruise the galaxy delivering small cargo for even smaller profits. When her sister Mari is kidnapped by The Fridge, a shadowy syndicate that holds people hostage in cryostasis, Eva must undergo a series of unpleasant, dangerous missions to pay the ransom.But Eva may lose her mind before she can raise the money. The ship’s hold is full of psychic cats, an amorous fish-faced emperor wants her dead after she rejects his advances, and her sweet engineer is giving her a pesky case of feelings. The worse things get, the more she lies, raising suspicions and testing her loyalty to her found family.To free her sister, Eva will risk everything: her crew, her ship, and the life she’s built on the ashes of her past misdeeds. But when the dominoes start to fall and she finds the real threat is greater than she imagined, she must decide whether to play it cool or burn it all down.
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Author
Valerie Valdes
Pages
448
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published Date
2019-09-17
ISBN
0062877240 9780062877246
Community ReviewsSee all
"Cute story. Good pallet cleanse kinda book. I liked the characters and there's plenty of adventure. "
Elise Meyers
"I like the characters and world building more than the story. Its one of those "main character has secret and lies about it to the people closest to them" stories. <br/><br/>Eva is blackmailed by an intergalactic crime syndicate into secrecy. I get the crew has a right to be upset, but it's not like the Fridge's pension for kidnapping people and ruining lives is unknown. How about less "how could you lie to us asshole?" And more "oh my gosh your poor sister"<br/><br/>Don't get me wrong, all the characters are perfectly likeable (except for Mari). Eva does put them in danger and they don't stay mad for long. So their anger towards her wasn't so bad. <br/><br/>What was bad for me was the crying freeze part. It just got in the way. Eva tells her crew the truth and they decide to track down the Fridge and save Mari. Then Eva is frozen for a year and she has to find her crew to get back her ship. What was the point? All that was accomplished was losing Leroy and gaining Sue. <br/><br/>And also we learn that Mari is the biggest ass in the whole story. She sells Eva to the Fridge, essentially atom bombing her life, and spends the rest of the story complaining about Eva inconveniencing her mission. She has the gall to call Eva selfish. REALLY?!<br/> <br/>I love the different worlds and strange aliens they visit. I love Punk's sarcasm, Vakar and Eva's relationship, and the cats. I think the book shines brightest when its the crew working together and traveling to different planets, and I hope the sequels have more of that (and no more liar revealed arcs).<br/><br/>I liked this book, and I'm interested in the sequels. I love this galaxy and the characters who live in it, so I hope the story improves from here."
Patrick Henry Aldrich
"This is right in the sweet spot for me of a Space Opera that doesn't take itself too seriously. Some of the referential/parody parts of it didn't really work well for me, though"
Mark Calkins Charyk
"Quirky and fun! It's like a cross between Ender's Game and Guardians of the Galaxy. "
Catherine White
