First of all, I would like to say this review is probably 2 years late so apologies to Orbit UK and Netgalley but I'm still so thankful and grateful that I was given this ARC in the first place because this was.... so good.

I read Winter's Orbit the same year that I requested this, and I enjoyed it so much I had to try reading this one. Winter's Orbit definitely contains more romance for me but what I love about Ocean's Echo was the slowburn of the romance. I don't think I've read anything these past few years that have slowburn slowburning like Tennal and Surit. Plotwise, I also enjoyed this one so much! I'm honestly still crying over the romance though I'm not going to lie.

Ocean's Echo is a brilliant sci-fi novel set in the same world as Winters Orbit, it focuses mostly on control and how that can be used for political gain. It is described as a romance but I would say that while that is a part of the story it is not the main point, if you are looking for a romance this is not really it. I really enjoyed the story, the politics and the brilliant characters.

This story takes place on a planet where neuromodifications have been carried out giving people either the power to control minds or read them. Weirdly reading minds is more taboo than controlling which makes little sense to start with until we see more of the politics. It was interesting to see how these powers were used and how it affects society, particularly in a military sense. There is a lot of political unrest and different factions on this world its not a suprise when someone wants to grab all the power by using these powers in bad ways to get what they want.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between the main characters Surit and Tennal, they were forced together in very unpleasant circumstances. Surit was tasked with basically controlling Tennal but he has a very strong moral compass and decides to help Tennal instead. The characters couldn't be more different; Tennal is a rich, flirty, sarcastic reader who often does unadvised things and embarrasses his aunt who happens to be in charge, Surit is a straightlaced soldier who follows all the rules but will break them if they are wrong. They bounce off each other really well and each of them change for the better as they spend more time together. The romance is very slow burn as there is a lot of other things going on at the moment!

This story is a fun military sci-fi that really explores the mind and how it could be used for control. It has a really great cast of characters that were well written and even the side characters had their own unique personalities. It is interesting how this manages to be a pretty light sci-fi but that also delves into heavier topics.

4 Stars - Solid Sci-Fi Romance, heavy on the Sci-Fi

After having enjoyed Winter's Orbit I was thrilled at the opportunity to receive an e-ARC of Ocean's Echo, Everina Maxwell's second Science Fiction Romance set in the same world as the first book. However, the universe that serves as setting is huge with mostly isolated worlds, so the premise for this part contains some completely new aspects to the world that did not exist in the first book whatsoever.

The shaping premise of Ocean's Echo is as follows: the discovery of an alien artifact has enabled the people of this star system to bestow some special abilities to people one generation ago. They could become either architects (with the ability to write minds) or readers (with the ability to read minds). For some not terrible plausible reason, one generation later architects are pretty common and usually work for the military while readers are widely feared and loathed and often stay underground although some also do work for the military.

Our two protagonists are Tennal, a reader from a wealthy background, who is also living his best self-destructive life and drowning in self-pity.
And then there is Surit, a very strong architect, who is coming from a bad family background and working very hard to make a career in the military despite of it. He is of the uber-responsible, conscientious, quiet personality type and a real sweetheart.

Tennal is a bit of a troublemaker for his family, and so it is arranged that he shall be "synced" to an architect as a means to forever control him as such a bond once formed cannot be destroyed again without killing the two persons synced to each other. Surit is the architect assigned to Tennal and from there the plot slowly unfolds.

They both feel like there is more to this whole arrangement than they are being told and the ship they are on also gets sent to an assignment that raises quite a couple of questions. And while they try to come to terms with being forced to form a very close bond that will grant the other person access into the depths of one's mind they also try to understand what exactly is going on around them - of course there is plenty of power politics involved and they are just mere pawns...

I really liked that the plot advanced at a very natural pace which made for smooth, easy reading. There was also a great sense of humour to the writing (the scene in which Surit is introduced to the story is AMAZING) which I much enjoyed.
Surit was also a great personality and the one I definitely rooted for most. Tennal on the other side was such a spoiled brat drowning in self-pity for having problems he basically created himself and from the dynamics of the relationship it was clear that Tennal would be the one saved by Surit. Ugh - I'm not a fan of the destructive bad boy discovering his good side due to the actual good guy believing in him.
Also, the world building did feel a bit arbitrary.

This one is also very light on the romance which suited me well.

All in all this comes with a recommendation for anyone who liked the first book by Everina Maxwell or fancies Sci-Fi-Romance with just a little romance.

I have received an advance review copy via NetGalley from the publisher and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much!

This just didn't work for me, which is such a shame because I really enjoyed the first book set in this world. Here however, I found the plot a bit meandering and honestly, a bit boring and I just didn't think that the two main characters had any chemistry, which made a lot of their decision making questionable. Overall, not a winner unfortunately.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc of this book. I have read Winter's Orbit and loved it! For someone that complains about romance in books that one melted my heart. So, I wanted more books with the same vibes, I need them in my life. I feel like this did not disappoint at all.

I was so happy to see another great science-fiction book with an interesting political plot (with some civil war spice in there as well). And a nice romantic on the background. I just loved every single page and I am going to read anything else this author will ever publish!

I loved book one of this and after I got over the disappointment that this didnt follow the same characters as book one I settled in and enjoyed the story, Taking place in the same universe this one also covered some of the same tropes. I didnt enjoy it as much as book one but in itself its a lovely read. Its thrilling and cute at the same time

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. Unfortunately it wasn't my vibe, but the potential is there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

I loved Winter's Orbit, so I was very excited to see more of what Maxwell had to write in this world. Frankly, the world building in this series is kind of a mess (the constant references to earth things there is no reason to know about in this world always throws me), but Maxwell's characters are so endearing that it's hard not to come along for the ride regardless. I really enjoyed the way the character dynamics between Tennal and Sunit played out, and while mind control is far from my favourite trope, I thought it was well handled here and appreciated that the characters still retained significant agency.

I will definitely keep an eye out for more works from Maxwell going forward.

I honestly didn't think any book in this series could top Winter’s Orbit - however Everina Maxwell did it again.

The tension in this book is phenomenal and the slow burn delicious. I am once again blow away by the character building and am left wanting to know more about the world.

I will have my eyes peeled for more forever.

This was such an interesting, entertaining book! I loved the world, loved the politics, and loved all the other aspects of it that made it unique. I also really enjoyed the main characters, Tennal and Surit. While their romance wasn't the focal point of the story, I still devoured every bit of it. Everina Maxwell has such beautiful writing and it makes me excited to read her other works!

Absolutely excellent! Another great book set in a world I adored. I was grabbed from the first page, originally I got the same but was lucky enough to go on to get the full book.

It is charming, fast-paced, and heart warming to read. If you haven't already I urge you to pick up the first book in the series and settle in!

This was good. It didn't grab me as much as the authors first book but it was highly enjoyable. The world they've built is interesting but I think I wanted more. If this was a sci-fi series with a background of romance, rather than a sci-fi romance, the author could've really gone into the powers of the people and how they got them. Moments felt random and incomplete but in terms of this being a romance it wouldn't make sense to delve to far into it. However, as in the previous novel, the characters were fantastic. They are funny, engaging and real and really enjoy how Maxwell writes about their anxieties and growth. Character work is really where they shine.

I absolutely adored Everina Maxwell's debut novel Winter's Orbit and requested this one as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately this one didn't hit quite as good but I still enjoyed it overall.

I think my main problem with this one was that it was just a different vibe to the first. Winter's Orbit was, first and foremost, a romance with aspects of sci-fi thrown in. Ocean's Echo was instead sci-fi with a scattering of romance. The issues the characters faced were therefore different. Ocean's Echo was bigger in scope, and it had a different threat. There was the new inclusion of psychic powers as well which threw me. The two main characters in Winter's Orbit were normal people (albeit one was a Prince), but in Ocean's Echo the main characters have psychic powers and they find themselves fighting battles and such. The powers themselves confused me as well, I had a lot of questions about them that never really got answered.

Also I never really connected to the characters, and one in particularly really annoyed me from the start. That in turn made it difficult for me to root for them and their romance.

Overall this was a well written book, and it did have an interesting premise. I just couldn't help comparing it to Winter's Orbit in my mind and this one just wasn't as good to me. I hope I'll love her next novel better because Winter's Orbit is one of my favourite sci-fi books.

Many thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for the ARC.

Oh wow. I was worried that my memory of really enjoying Winter's Orbit wouldn't hold up to this, or that I'd need to remember more of WO to enjoy OE. Luckily I was safe on all counts!

This book just HIT me, and I can't even explain why that well. It's just SO good. The sci-fi and politics really worked for me, and are everything I could have wished for. I loved the ethics of mind reading. I also found it fascinating that it was readers that were suspect, not the people who could use their powers to control others. Obviously, there are a lot of warnings for mind control, controlling behaviour, and manipulative behaviour inherent in this

Tennal and Surit are amazing. I love their relationship so very much. This has less of a focus on romance than Winter's Orbit, but it's no less romantic because of it. The nuances of the relationship here, and the way it unfolds is genuinely one of the best things I've read. Possibly because I do love a slow-burn romance haha! And power imbalance - though this was so perfectly handled, I can't even explain it.

Just read this, you will adore it. 4.5 stars.

I really loved Winters Orbit but this was even better and I didnt even know that was possible!!! It was so fast paced, high stakes, I loved the characters and the setting so much I cannot wait to recommend this for the rest of my life

This was notably different in vibe to Winter's Orbit, but with all the same notes. I loved the world-building and the politics and I'm going to be able to handsell it to more people now I know its appeal is slightly different. It's also really original and both the sci-fi and romance elements were handled so well.

This book felt different to her debut Winters Orbit. I described that as arranged marriage in space and recommended it as a good entry level Sci-fi, this one though wow!
The science fiction in this was on a whole other level. I will be pushing this book into the hands of many customers.

I absolutely love Everina Maxwell's writing. It's so easy to lose yourself in their prose, and they set the atmosphere beautifully. Generally, I found the world-building really easy to follow in both Winter's Orbit and Ocean's Echo, and both feel like really accessible sci-fi.

Unfortunately, I did struggle with Ocean's Echo overall, which was disappointing given how much I loved Winter's Orbit. I found it really slow to start and, ultimately, didn't find it very easy to connect to the characters. Tennal, especially, I just didn't vibe with and that made it difficult to really immerse myself in the story.

I would definitely still recommend giving Ocean's Echo a shot if you loved Winter's Orbit like I did, and I'm excited to see what Everina Maxwell writes next.

It took me a while to finish this book, mainly because I think I wasn't quite in the right mood for being thrown into the deep end a bit with regards to the world building. In contrast to Winters Orbit by the same author which I really loved and was a romance space opera blend, this one is less space opera and a bit more straight up sci-fi, while still carrying the strong romantic element. I found myself wishing we had a bit more time with the world to fully flesh it out, with some concepts being very quickly rushed through without enough explanation for my tastes. I would love to see a sequel! But I did really enjoy what we got in this story, it was a real blend of military sci-fi elements mixed with romance, and once it got past the 30 percent mark I couldn't put it down.

I really enjoyed the contrast of Tennel and Surit's characters and how they fit together. Comp wise I found it similar in tone to some of the Vorkosigan books, particularly when it comes to Surit as a character, and I would love to read more books of this ilk. Would recommend to those looking for an enjoyable sci-fi and will read whatever Maxwell comes out with next.

I really enjoyed Everina Maxwell's first book, Winter's Orbit, so I was excited to get an arc of this one. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much, but it was still a good read. I found the world-building a little confusing and hard to follow (which could definitely be a 'me' problem), and found it hard to see much chemistry between the two main characters. However I did enjoy the characters as a whole (much the same as Winter's Orbit - I think Maxwell writes really fleshed out characters), and liked the group dynamic in the story. It definitely wasn't a bad book by any means, it just didn't click with me, which is fine.
I would still recommend this book if you liked Maxwell's first book, or if you are into Sci-Fi more than I am, and I am still interested in future works by the author.