Of course I had to read the newest space book by Amie. Been loving her books for years now. And this new one looked pretty epic, as always. It was such a quick read. Which was both good and bad. I loved how easy it was to enjoy this book. I did not like how fast it was over. Rude. I would have loved for it to be longer.
I'm ending up giving this one four stars. I liked it so very much. But I did not fully love it. There were parts that I loved, but there were some parts that I did not like all that much. But it was still such a great story. The writing was so wonderful. It was easy to get lost in this world. And I liked both main characters right away.
My small issues with this book came from the beginning, with the writing. I did love it most of the time. But it was a bit weird for me at first, with how Cleo was talking to the reader, in some way. Did not care for it much. There was some humor that just was not for me. But it got much better. And I just adored these characters. I very much liked that this book took place on Mars, in the future. But yes. I wish the book had been so much longer. It is less than three hundred pages, and short ones. And it truly took place in just eight hours. There was so much more I wanted to know. So I was a little disappointed that this book was not longer. Hmph. But it was such a fun read, even so. But the backstories could have been a bit more as the small memories we got felt rushed.
Space books are very much for me. Movies as well. And so this story was definitely something for me. And I loved all the space parts. I loved that it takes place at a station on Mars. I loved that small walk they did outside of it, though I wish there were more moments like it. I did feel like there was a too little space in this book, though. Possibly because it was so short. Still. I loved it very much. We learn a whole lot of this world too, despite the book being short. Not going to share, but it felt very real and was so well done.
This book tells the story of Cleo and Hunter. We get both point of views, which I liked. They were very much the same, in a way. Yet they came from completely different lives. Cleo grew up poor and did not have the best childhood because of this, when her dad got sick. Hunter grew up rich, living his very best life. Except that his mother was the worst and his twin sister ended up leaving him when they were small. And so his life was not perfect either. I loved getting to know them both, but again, it did feel a bit rushed.
Cleo has spent the past three months on this small space station on Mars, hoping to get a better life away from Earth and her mother's debts. But it is not easy, being a hitcher. She is unable to leave this place to go to somewhere better. Then Hunter arrives, wanting to surprise his mother and sister on Mars, trying to earn back his birthright in the company. As his family were the ones who settled Mars, years past. But the moment he arrives at this station, an alarm goes off, and everyone has to evacuate. Hunter is left behind.
Since he was not officially supposed to be there, so no one waited for him. And Cleo was left behind too, as she was very much not supposed to be there either. Which is what this book is about. They are both left behind on a station that is about to get rid of all the air. Hunter is full of panic. Cleo is prepared. Hunter tries to call for help, and shares who he is. Cleo decides her chances at a better life goes up if she saves him. She does her best. That is, until the criminals arrives and sets the station to explode in eight hours.
Okay, now I have shared way too much about this book. And that was just the beginning of it. It was also so short, which I am still sad about, ha. I wanted more time. This story was such a rush. But we get to see a lot of Cleo and Hunter together. They were both all kinds of stubborn. Yet they both very much liked the other right away, despite how different they were. Of course, there were secrets between them, which I did not like all that much. I felt like Hunter got the worst of it, and I wanted Cleo to apologize too. Hmph.
There is romance in this story. Despite it taking place over just eight hours. Yet I could not help but ship them so very much. As they were adorable together. I guess it is called shared trauma, maybe. They got to know each other pretty well in those hours, spending a lot of time together. And I thought they were so cute. Of course, they also did a whole lot of wrong during those hours, trying to stop the criminals. It was fun to read about the different traps they set for many of them. It was a bit dangerous but mostly just fun.
I was supposed to write a smaller review, since the book was short. I failed. Oh, well. Red Star Rebels was very much an excellent space story. Short but good. Full of excitement and danger. With a lovely romance as well, despite being a little rushed. It was cute. I just wish it had been longer. I did not fully love it, but I loved it well enough. I will always read books by Amie. I adore both covers for this book. So pretty. You should definitely give this book a try too. It was so easy to read and I enjoyed it so very much.
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