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Thursday, August 23, 2018

Adrift

Adrift

Adrift is a book I wanted to like more than I did. The premise had me interested- a group of tourists on a ship witness an attack on a space station, and have to survive- but this book started out slow and took forever to get going. I think I was halfway through it before the action really picked up, and if I wasn't so taken with the concept I may have considered DNF'ing it. As it is I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did- it has a lot to offer in the second half, but this was strictly an average read for me, at best.

The primary protagonist is Hannah, who comes across as a fairly typical YA heroine. She has traveled to Sigma Station to take a job as a tour guide- tourists flock here for the amazing views of the Horsehead Nebula. She's on her first assignment- she's literally just arrived- when everything goes wrong. Her tour ship, which is little more than a piece of junk, is outside the station when it's attacked, in devastating fashion. Cut off from any help, Hannah and the crew must find a way to survive. There's not much of a crew either- it's basically Hannah and the pilot, a hard-drinking Russian ex- Navy pilot down on her luck. Everyone else aboard are tourists.

The tourists themselves are a mixed bag- there's a family with kids, a diplomat, a troublemaker, some others- and we get some of their perspectives as well. Corey in particular is a standout. He's the son of the diplomat and something of a child prodigy when it comes to ships- not flying them, but he knows their specs, their markings, inside and out. We also get the POV of Jack, the aforementioned troublemaker, who is lamenting the loss of his lover and is basically drowning his sorrows. These different POV's work okay, but I wasn't enamored of the switching around- I found myself most invested in Hannah's story, and just when I was getting into it I would then get a dose of Corey or Jack (and a few others appear as well).

Some of the characters are pretty unlikable, and the situation itself gets pretty harsh. I think the author did a great job painting a bleak picture of their chances- I mean their odds of rescue are pretty slim- and seeing how different personalities reacted to bad news and unpleasant developments was interesting. Again, however, the first half of the book has a lot of this, and after a while I wanted something to happen. This is not an action packed story, and while that's fine it was also a little too sedate for me.

It gets faster paced in the back half, and there's a bit of tension as things happen and the stakes get high. It just takes too long to get there. There's a lot of science fiction around these days and a lot of choices, and if the premise appeals to you I would say go for it, but if you're on the fence on this one I'd say give it a pass, or at least realize that it's a bit slow. It's not a bad book by any means, but it didn't wow me either. 

35 comments:

  1. One of my pet hates is when a book takes forever to get into the story. Pity, as parts of it sound interesting!

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    1. Parts of it are! It's just a shame it was a little too slow for me.

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  2. Thanks for the heads up about the pacing, Greg. It's the one thing that drives me nuts if a book is too slow, so I might give this one a miss.

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  3. I'm not a space kind of girl but it's great that it was better after the first part of the book there

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  4. Well the title says it all, right? 😉

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  5. Taking this off my wishlist. A slow first half and a YA-type heroine are dealbreakers. :/ Thanks for the review!

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  6. I hate when the it takes forever for the story to get going. I have a few that I have read like that and sometimes I wonder why I stick with it. Great Review!

    Mary

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    1. I do too, and I was excited for this one also!

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  7. That cover is so gorgeous! The premise does sound really interesting but also I do not like books that take forever to get to the action....

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    1. It does have a gorgeous cover! And some reviews on Goodreads say it was action packed, so maybe it was me? I just wasn't feeling it though. Sadly.

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  8. Sorry to hear this didn't work as well as you had hoped, it still sounds interesting though good to know it lags for the first half (better to know ahead of time if I give it a shot)

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    1. Yeah, kind of a bummer. I would say read it though if it appeals to you, it's not a bad book.

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  9. I thought maybe this was related to the recent movie by the same name. Too bad it fell flat.

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    1. Yeah I wanted to like it more, but it's not a bad book- it just took too long to get going for me.

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  10. That cover is gorgeous! It's too bad that you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd hoped. I'm not great at sticking with super slow books. I'm glad it got better in the second half!

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  11. It sounds exciting, but if you say it is middle of the road, I think I will pass. I am in a bit of a reading slump right now.

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  12. I don't enjoy books that take a long time to get going. I like a book that grabs me right away.

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  13. I agree, the premise sounds awesome, but I probably would have DNFed if it was taking way too long for the story to get going!

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  14. Hmm. I love science fiction and don't mind if it's on the slower side as long as it's interesting and the payoff is good. This does sound like I could like it, but maybe not read it in the immediate future.

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  15. Ugh, so sad. I feel like I have read similar books with better execution? And while it's good that it got better, it sucks that you had to wade through all the nonsense just to get there. I think you are right that there are SO many sci-fi books to choose from, why bother with a "meh" one. Great review, sorry this was just okay!

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  16. Too bad because that's a unique premise for sure. If I ever see it dirt cheap as an ebook, or on Hoopla I might grab it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 📚

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  17. It is always so disappointing when a book you are looking forward to just doesn't live up to your expectations. I love the cover and science fiction usually works for me but this one sounds like one that I will pass on for now.

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  18. Hmm, now I'm torn. I guess you could say I was kind of on the fence on this one, but I still really wanted to check it out because I've enjoyed the author's work in the past. Like you said though, there's so much choice in sci-fi these days. Well, if I can find some time to fit it in, I'll give it a shot!

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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  19. It's really too bad that it didn't start off as fast as it finished. I don't always have the patience these days to plow through slow beginnings.

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  20. It is always good to know when a book has a slow start. It makes it too easy to give up on, which is a shame if the book does get better. It makes the decision to DNF a hard one, doesn't it? I am glad this one got better for you.

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  21. Sorry to hear this wasn't a better read for you. Unlikable characters always make it hard for me to get into a book. It's a shame too because the premise sounds so good.

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  22. Don't you hate it when you find a book that sounds amazing, and you think you're gonna love it, and you want to love, but it ends up disappointing you? And that's one of the problems with multiple POVs, sometimes you really prefer one, and so you just want to get back to it every time it switches. I'm glad to hear this picked up some in the end, even if it was average overall.

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  23. It's a shame this one fell a bit flat, Greg. I, too, loved the premise - but it sounds as if the pacing was too uneven and suffered from too many character viewpoints. It doesn't help when those characters are charmless, either... Thank you for a really helpful, informative review.

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  24. Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy this as much as you hoped. I agree, it sounds like a really cool concept so it sucks such slow pacing ended up ruining a little. I get things developing slowly but this one obviously needed a kick up the butt because for the action to kick off near enough halfway through is not right, I'd have gotten bored before then.

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  25. I like fast paced action but that cover would suck me in. lol
    sherry @ fundinmental

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  26. I had a similar reading situation when I read Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller. The world building was good but it took until over halfway before the action kicked in and things started happening. Such slow starts always drag and are a bit disappointing. Hope you like the next read better!

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