Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsey Cummings

     Hello everyone! Today I will be reviewing Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings. A fabulous pairing between seasoned author Lindsay Cummings and debut author Sasha Alsberg, I would not hesitate to call this one of my favorite books of the year (even if it has hardly begun). I hope you enjoy this review!
Release date: January 16, 2018
Hardcover page count: 512
My rating: 5/5 stars 
My review:
      Androma Racella, also known as the Bloody Baroness, is one of the most feared mercenaries in the Mirabel Galaxy. But when a routine mission goes awry, her and her ship’s all-girl crew are put to the test. Paired with a ruthless bounty hunter from her past, they must complete a dangerous mission or face being locked up for good. Yet as they embark on this journey, across the galaxy toils the queen of Xen Ptera who will stop at nothing to exact revenge to those who have destroyed her people.
            This book can easily be one of my favorite of 2018, and the year has barely begun. So many aspects of this story influenced my decision of this so I would first like to begin with the characters. While you begin the book feeling like several characters are just straight and one dimensional, there is so much growth and character development all through the book. Andi is not your typical statistical badass, Dex is not your typical bounty hunter, the queen seeking revenge does not do so without an understandable cause, and the loyal piolet Lira doesn’t just follow orders. I loved that the authors took these characters and made them into something new. Not only did this enhance the story, but it made reading it so much more fun because you never knew when someone will do something or something will happen.
            Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the plot. Starting out as Six of Crows but in space, it changed from what I thought would be a copy of another tale into something much better. Plot twists paired with the revelation of information added to this as the authors purposely hid origin stories and dispersed them throughout the book, giving them to us bit by bit as we learn more about our characters. During several parts of this book, I constantly found my mind wandering towards where I though the plot would go or towards what I thought would happen. Yet almost every time this happened, I was proven wrong. I loved this aspect of Zenith, because the authors were always giving you the unexpected.
            Lastly, the universe that it was set in was also amazing. Filled with galaxies and planets filled with alien worlds and beautiful technology, the authors succeeded so well in their world building. I loved how everything felt so complete as the authors made sure that every fact was backed up with more as they created religious and characteristics for each of the people’s discussed. They stuck away from our regular images of beauty as each race has different skin tones, attributes, and quirks, creating a truly diverse world. For example, Andi is riddled with metal implants across her body and barely hidden, something that so many would find ugly; yet in Zenith she is called beautiful.
            The only thing that I did not like about this book was the romance. At times annoying and making me want to skip over, it felt a bit overdone. Then again, that might just be because I am not the biggest fan of romance in books unless it is really well done. But, if you don’t mind a little romance, this book is perfect for you.
       Overall, I would recommended this book to sci-fi and fantasy lovers alike as this book includes everything from magic to high-speed space travel. Fans of books like Six of Crows and Nevernight will enjoy this book. I would not recommend this to younger readers because of violence and light references to sex. Still, this is a book that many could enjoy and I highly recommend it.  

       I hope that you enjoyed this review! I had such a great time reading this book and I hope that you all do too. Let me know in the comments if there are any other books that you would like me to review! 
Until next time!
-Camille
Original Review posted on: ​http://teenreaderscouncil.blogspot.com/2018/01/review-zenith.html