Let me start by saying this book is like strapping into a starfighter with no safety harness—thrilling, unpredictable, and over too soon. The way the author paints battle scenes makes you smell the plasma burns and hear the alarm klaxons. I read most of it in one sitting (RIP my sleep schedule) because the pacing never lets up.

The protagonist’s moral dilemmas hit harder than I expected. There’s a scene where they have to choose between saving refugees or completing their mission that actually made me pause my reading to stare at the ceiling. That said, I agree with some reviewers—we definitely need more backstory crumbs about how our hero became this battle-scarred idealist.

Minor gripe: The ‘previously on…’ exposition is light enough that new readers won’t drown, but series veterans might miss deeper callbacks. That cliffhanger ending? Brutal. I immediately checked when Book 2 drops—that’s how you know an author nailed the hook.

Perfect for: Military SF fans who want more emotional depth than ‘pew pew boom’, audiobook listeners (the narration samples sound fantastic), and anyone who likes their space rebels with a side of philosophical angst.