Friday, September 25, 2015

Lauren Reviews Sound by Alexandra Duncan + Giveaway

A special thank you to Jamie at Rockstar Book Tours for including me on this book tour! I enjoyed this book so much and I'm so grateful that I get to share the love!

Before I get to my review and the giveaway I know you are all dying to enter... here's a little author info to brush up on. :)



About Alexandra Duncan

Alexandra Duncan is a writer and librarian. Her first novel, Salvage, was published April 1, 2014, by Greenwillow Books. Her short fiction has appeared in several Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy anthologies and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. She loves anything that gets her hands dirty – pie-baking, leather-working, gardening, drawing, and rolling sushi. She lives with her husband and two monstrous, furry cats in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

You can stalk her online via these links...





Sound (Salvage #2) by Alexandra Duncan
Published: 9/22/15 by Greenwillow Books
Source: Finished Copy from Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars

Sound is the stand-alone companion to Alexandra Duncan’s acclaimed novel Salvage, a debut that internationally bestselling author Stephanie Perkins called “kick-ass, brilliant, feminist science fiction.” For fans of Beth Revis, Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica.

As a child, Ava’s adopted sister Miyole watched her mother take to the stars, piloting her own ship from Earth to space making deliveries. Now a teen herself, Miyole is finally living her dream as a research assistant on her very first space voyage. If she plays her cards right, she could even be given permission to conduct her own research and experiments in her own habitat lab on the flight home. But when her ship saves a rover that has been viciously attacked by looters and kidnappers, Miyole - along with a rescued rover girl named Cassia - embarks on a mission to rescue Cassia’s abducted brother, and that changes the course of Miyole’s life forever.

Back to the world of crumbling planets, deep space ships, and most importantly... back to Ava and Miyole. First off, I loved the first book in this series. And... I definitely love the fact that each of the books in this series can be read as a stand-alone book. Sometimes series books get tiring for me.

While the first book has everything to do with Ava, this book focuses completely on Miyole. She's all grown up. At least as grown up as a young adult can be. She's extremely smart and determined... flying through school and university like jet plane. She landed her first job on the Ranganathan, a deep space research ship as a scientist assisting in a lab to cultivate and oversee the lives of bees and butterflies. The goal is for them to eventually be able to thrive on a newly terraformed planet. While Miyole enjoys her work, it is easy to sense something is missing in her life. 

Suddenly a small space ship crashes into the Ranganathan, bringing with it a handful of survivors as well as a cat. Dakaits, whom I imagine to be like space pirates, attacked the small space ship, kidnapped a few of the people, and left the everything else to burn. One man that was kidnapped happened to have a sweet young daughter and a courageous/fiery sister: Cassia. Cassie enters Miyole's life and reminds her of the past. Miyole has done everything to forget her Manman, her biological mother who was killed, and to forget her life before finding Soraya, Miyole's adopted mother. Now Cassia's distress over her lost brother starts the bring Miyole's past back to life. Cassia is stubborn and will not take no for an answer when she asks the Ranganathan's commander for help rescuing her brother. Miyole cannot accept it either. Miyole and Cassia steal a short range space shuttle and make plans to rescue Cassia's brother. Miyole has decided to risk all just as her Manman and Ava had for her.

The courage Cassie and Miyole display is awe-inspiring. Against all odds, against so many variables, against all of the evil lurking deep in space... they decide to venture into the unknown to save a loved one. Rules be damned. I was extremely happy to see how the author also incorporated Miyole's Haitian ethnicity and Mumbai upbringing into this book. I loved reading about the cultural aspects involving the beautiful saris and practices. Cassia and Miyole also have a little romance going on at times... which is a huge high-five in my book for more authors including homosexuality in their writing. I throughly enjoyed this book and I can only hope the author writes another.



And finally... the giveaway! Enjoy!
Enter below to win signed hardback of Sound, a signed paperback of Salvage, and this electronic butterfly in a jar. Open to U.S. residents only.



2 comments:

  1. Great review! I'm happy to hear we don't need to read Slavage in order to understand Sound. Thanks for the opportunity!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This actually sounds like a great read! And even though I don't need to read the books in order, I still totally want to pick up a copy of Salvage as well :)

    ReplyDelete

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