O.W.L’s Examinations | Zenith, Astronomy Finals Review

Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of The CW Torch, today I’ll be talking about all my thoughts on the book, Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings. I read Zenith for the Magical O.W.L’s ReadAThon, if you are interested in learning more about that ReadAThon, then check out my O.W.L’s TBR. I chose Zenith for my Astronomy O.W.L’s, which was to read a Science Fiction novel. I have a lot of thoughts, so without further ado, let’s get into the review! Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings Dates Read: April 2nd-8th, 2018 Final Rating: 3/5 Stars

Plot: Zenith follows an all-female pirate space crew, lead by Androma Racella, known as the Bloody Baroness. When a mission goes awry Andi is reunited with a bounty hunter from her past. Meanwhile, a ruthless leader waits in the shadows of Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two. Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous mission, that could restore order to their shipour, just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. So, Zenith was marketed as Guardians of the Galaxy with female pirates, now I have never watched Guardians of the Galaxy. So, I don’t know whether or not if that connection was met. With that being said, I thought the plot was mediocre, at least until half-way through the book. I was a bit annoyed in the beginning, because most of the book was centered around Androma and her bounty hunter from the past, Dex. I was really annoyed with this, because I thought the major plot-line was going to be centered around the all-female space crew. But, most of it was Andi dealing with her past, and Dex feeling terrible about what he did in the past, wanting to make up for it. I really didn’t care for Andi or Dex, even though they were our two main characters. I just wish the major plot-line was focused on what it was marketed as, which it wasn't. One aspect of the plot I really did enjoy and what got me through the book, was the major arch of Valen and Nor, our two villains. I really enjoyed seeing these two develop, from being stuck in the shadows to raising hell in Mirabel. However, it wasn’t enough for me to give this book a higher rating. I felt like there were many major plot-holes, and the author’s just kept adding events that made no sense to the major plot-line whatsoever. I felt that, how the book was marketed made it a really promising plot-line, but it lacked in a major way. Writing: Along with the plot, I thought the writing was just mediocre as well. The main thing that really bothered me and really took me away from the story, was how the two co-authors described things. They described certain things in typical YA fashion, that really didn’t make sense to what they were describing. For instance, they would describe something as beautiful, in a way you would find in a YA contemporary or fantasy. But, this was a science-fiction novel, which could open so many doors as to how they could describe something as beautiful. There could be different things that as humans we don't normally think of as beautiful, but the habitants of Mirabel might think of as such. I also felt that the authors didn’t take time to explain what they were writing. For instance, they would describe the Marauder and how fast it was, to a creature only specific to the Mirabel galaxy. But, they didn't take the time to explain what that creature actually was, so we were left wondering what they had just compared the speed of the Marauder to. Another thing that bothered me, was the fact that Andy had these metal cheeks, but they didn’t take the time to explain why she had them or what made them special. All in all, I felt like the writing lacked in research, and the authors added things to the story to make it seem like it was a science-fiction novel. But, they didn’t take time to back their explanations up, which I feel is something imperative and that needs to be done. Whenever writing a science-fiction or fantasy novel. World-Building: Another major aspect to this novel that I felt was lacking, was the world-building. Much to research and explaining, world-building is imperative to any science-fiction and fantasy novel. Since these are worlds that the authors created from their mind, their needs to be some sort of world-building. Whether Young Adult or Adult science fiction, world-building needs to be done to help visualize the world. I felt like the galaxy they created wasn’t developed enough, and the story was too focused on Andi and the major plot-line of the story. It was definitely a plot-centered book, but the plot wasn’t anything special or new. I thought the story could’ve been way better, if they took some time to develop the world. Because there were certain aspects of the world that I felt lacked in description and explanation, and it was really difficult to create a picture in my head as to what Mirabel looked like. I also thought they could've explained their weaponry and ship more, because the authors would mention a weapon particular to this galaxy. But would give no explanation whatsoever of what it looked like or what it did. In general, the world-building aspect of this novel was a complete miss to me, much like everything else in this novel. Characters: This story was written in multiple-perspectives, so there were a lot of character arcs to follow. But, unfortunately, I didn’t care for too many of them, which I think is another reason as to why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did. As I have mentioned countless times before, I am a character-driven reader, so if this aspect lacks in a book, I most likely won’t like it that much. Androma was known as the Bloody Baroness, but to her crew she is just known as Andi. However, we didn't actually get to know why she was called the Bloody Baroness, until about half-way through the story. Because so much of the first-half was focused on her and Dex, which was quite annoying. When I think of a Bloody Baroness, I think of a bad-ass female warrior, who kills without thinking. Someone like Mia Corvere in Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, an assassin type of warrior. Yet, we don't get aspects of the bloody baroness, until close to the end of the book. So, I would've liked more development and back-story as to why she was called the Bloody Baroness. Dex was nothing special either, a bounty hunter from Andi’s past, as he was described in the synopsis. We really don’t get any backstory of him as a bounty hunter, until they finally reveal his past of when he worked side-by-side with Andi. Instead, the author’s mainly focused on Dex trying to make up to Andi, and wanting to get everything off his chest. He was still over-the-moon in love with Andi, and everything he did was for Andi. I am so over this trope, and really didn’t care for Dex at all. The only two characters who I really enjoyed reading from their perspectives, were our two main villains. Nor and Valen, I felt they had the most character development, which was interesting because they weren’t our main characters. It was interesting to learn why Nor wanted to destroy Mirabel galaxy into two, which was one of the major plot-lines to the story. I thought they had the most background development, and found that these two characters were the most interesting aspects of the novel. Lira was somewhat interesting as well, and more likable than Andi. I liked learning about her past as well, and the family-aspects of this character. I really wished the authors took more time with the Marauder’s, because they really seemed to just focus on Lira and Androma. Since, this story was targeted an all-female space pirate crew, I would’ve liked to have seen more of Gilly and Breck. Gilly and Breck were completely non-existent in my eyes. Then there was Alfie, the artificial intelligence, here to help the Marauders in returning Valen back to his planet. Let’s not talk about Alfie… Conclusion: As you can tell from my review, I thought this book was pretty average. It was nothing special to me, in all aspects, which was why I decided to rate it a 3/5 stars. I was pretty disappointed throughout the entire novel, because it did receive so much hype. It did get better towards the end, and I did like our main villains. But, other than that, I really thought this story lacked important aspects of science-fiction novels. I don't know if I will continue on with the series, or if I’ll read the co-author’s solo projects. However, with that being said, I just want to reiterate that an author is not their novel. While I didn’t enjoy this story, doesn’t mean that I dislike the authors. In fact, I met Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings at a book signing for Zenith, and they were both very kind and extremely easy to talk to. I follow both of their booktube channels, and really enjoy their content. But, the book just wasn’t for me, because I felt like it lacked in a lot of aspects that would make it a true science-fiction novel. Thank you all so much for reading my review, and hoped you enjoy it! TTFN and Happy Reading, Chynna Williams @TheCWTorch Social Media Platforms: Twitter- @chynnaw16 Instagram- @bigleaguephoto Youtube Channel- The CW Reads