Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy!! I really enjoyed this. It felt quick and really dragged me into the world, but at the same time felt so full of world building, characterization, and more. If you have been missing a sci-fi book with a deadly threat on the horizon, but the characters being the main focus, I suggest this. Also, absolutely adored all the twists and turns this took.

An Unbreakable World by Ren Hutchings

3.75 rounded up to 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From multiple points of view, Ren Hutchings, the author of the previous title World of Unfortunate Stars, commands the reader's attention in her latest work. Our novel commences behind the eyes of three individuals: Page Found, a known thief and stasis survivor. Dalya of House Edamaun, a young girl being groomed by her uncle for the betterment of her homeland of Teyr. Lastly, Maelle Bereda, a space pirate with a score to settle.

This space opera lies snuggly beneath the impending doom arc of mankind’s obliteration at the claws of the Felen, more simply known as aliens. It is prophesied that inhabitants of Teyr, the supposed Unbreakable World, will be the only survivors of the onslaught. Having since broken away from the umbrella of the Union, Gepcot (Great, Everlasting Planetary Council of Teyr) soon makes the decisions regarding Teyr’s well-being. What is Gepcot’s true agenda?

On Kuuj Outpost, Page Found resides. As a thief, she makes enough to scratch by in this godforsaken place. An opportunity for a rare score presents itself, and like a rat tempted with cheese, she bites. Abductors Zhak and Maelle have a scheme that requires Page’s assistance to complete. As readers soon learn, the plans have a backstory. One with ulterior motives, and it could lead to an impromptu friendship.

Say it isn’t so. Religion is being used for manipulation. Pushing covert agendas behind the scenes, Gepcot operates silently. Those who look to expose the truth are routinely silenced, or rather, killed, to be more precise. The novel adheres to an often-told tale of modern-day society. Those making the rules only to break the same laws they enforce for personal gain, masquerading as “it’s for society’s own good,” feel.

While I found the political intrigue in this book fascinating, I was equally engrossed in Page Found’s character. Page has undergone stasis; she awakens to find herself on Kuuj Outpost, remiss of who she truly is or how she got there. Her main mission is attempting to piece together memories in the hope of uncovering her real identity.

Threats exist around every corner in Hutching’s world. Yet the relationships throughout brought a feeling of togetherness in a place of chaos. I was invested. There was an ease of writing style that made the pages turn at maximum velocity.

To summarize, likeable characters… check. Imminent apocalyptic threat…check. Aliens…check. What more could you ask for?

Recommended!

Many thanks to Rebellion/Solaris for the ARC through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was thoroughly entertained for all of this story. Having read the first story set in this universe some years ago (Under Forunate Stars), I was fully satisfied by this story as well. Although slightly different in style and format, the signature voice and tension-filled storytelling of Hutchings is very much still here. In fact, I particularly enjoyed the blending of formats in this story (e.g., transcribed recordings, encyclopedic articles etc.) and how they were all weaved artfully together alongside the heartfelt past-and-present timelines. I found that to be exceptionally well done.

This was so, so fun! I see others call it a space opera so let's go with that. I loved the multiple POV and the bits of lore interspersed throughout. I don't know how this ended up on my TBR but I'm really glad it did because it was an absolute delight!

Thanks to you NetGalley and Solaris for the EARC!

Quick very high level summary.
This novel is a space opera where we follow MC Page who is a petty thief with amnesia. She kidnapped by a duo who plan to use her to steal a treasure-filled ship because she seems to understand an ancient language called Teyr. The duo believe that Page is a long lost monk from that world. As the story goes on we find out that this planned heist deeply entwined with a political plot that could change everything in the galaxy.

My Take.
We have themes of family, faith, identity, trust/betrayal, and political conflicts that have been going on for a long time. The world building is what I enjoyed the most about this book. The author gives us the history, myths, religion and politics of the world, making for a vivid back history that had me completely immersed in the world. I have recently discovered that though I do love a good action packed battle in my fantasy, I seem to enjoy detailed political intrigue so much more. While some may find parts of this novel slow and overly detailed, I found that is everything I enjoyed about the authors approach to story telling. In my opinion providing customs, traditions, and religious beliefs of the people are just as important as knowing the social hierarchy and it’s impact. In this novel the author ticks off all of those boxes for me. Hutchings builds a vividly immersive world that goes far beyond listing facts and details, evoking curiosity from the reader, who in turn, cannot stop turning the pages.

Fans of character driven science fiction need to put this on their TBRs IMMEDIATELY. While billed as a stand alone space opera, it is actually set in the same universe as Ren's debut novel and I was so excited to re-enter the world that Ren Hutchings opened for us with Under Fortunate Stars, and let me tell you.... An Unbreakable World did not disappoint.

An Unbreakable World centers around 4 characters whose lives and stories intertwine across time and space. From Page, a young woman resurrected from cryo sleep with no memory but an uncanny ability to speak a practically dead language, to young Dalya growing up in an isolated planet under a religious regime that she is the heir to, and even an unnamed, unseen story teller providing context and breaking the fourth wall, this story leads you on twists and turns. While the universe of UW is set in the center of an intergalactic society on the brink of war with the Fellen, the characters grapple with belonging, expression, and idenity. While their stakes are unlike our own personal experiences, their emotions and experiences all feel so deeply real and human in ways that left me feeling nostalgic, bereft, comforted, and challenged in equal turn.

I particularly resonated with the youngest iteration of Dalya. A young girl intrenched in a deeply structured religious community with intense expectations and deep longing to find certainty in that faith and community even as her world starts to crack open and face new, differing viewpoints and realities.

Best of all, you can read these books in either order or as stand alones (though I firmly believe that you should pick up both. Ren Hutchings is 100% an auto-buy author for me and I cannot wait to see what she does next

To start, for those of you who are expecting a heist book: it's not that. There's planning a heist. There's build up to a heist. But the actual heist part starts around the 80-85% mark somewhere, and it's not really the main thing of the book.

Overall, I'd say this is a character driven book, with the main mystery surrounding Page's lost memories and identity. It's about how to move forward when you lost your past, and trying to uncover who you were vs moving towards who you want to become. I really liked Page's character development in this aspect.

Page Found (yes that's her name, but it's a name she chose after waking up without her memories) lives on a far off space station, trying to recover who she is after she lost her memory during a stasis research trial and was dumped there. She survives by stealing, but then she gets kidnapped by someone she tried to rob, and they offer her a job in their heist plan. Here she meets Zhak, the main guy behind it and kind of an asshole, and Maelle, a more sympathetic character who is nicer to Page. Maelle also has a POV and she is an interesting character with motivations of her own, who is using Page for her own goals but grows to care for her too.

The book is divided into 3 POVs, along with some interludes. Page and Maelle both have their POV and follow the main storyline which is largely them building up to this heist. Meanwhile, Dalya has a story that is completely seperate from the rest but does tie in to the rest of the book at the end. Dalya's story takes place over a much longer span of time (she's 9 at the start, 18 at the end), and it is kind of unclear when it takes place compared to Page and Maelle's story, but that's part of the intrigue. Dalya is the niece of a very important political figure on an isolated planet with a strong religious doctrine who believe themselves the origin of humanity, and that after a rapture event only they will be saved. Dalya believes all this, but does have to question it all, and her story was quite interesting, and offers some speculation about Page's lost identity too.

There are lots of interesting world building aspects, and not all of it is truly explained, some is really more of a backdrop for Page's story surrounding her lost identity and the heist. For example, there's this war with aliens going on, and no one really knows what they want, and this is never explained, nor do we meet any aliens. I do think it adds to the atmosphere, but I would have liked to see this fleshed out more.

There's also the occasional interlude, some of which focus on additional world building aspects, especially in regards to this world's religions, but others are interview transcripts that set up more hints for the plot and I liked those especially.

The ending gets more fast paced and twisty, with some things I managed to put together and others I hadn't worked out at all, and I really like how Page's lost identity works out in the end.

There's no romance in this book, but there's some romantic tension between Page and Maelle which I enjoyed reading, the situation likely wasn't right for a full romance but I still enjoyed the way their relationship built from distrust towards being quite fond of each other.

Would recommend to fans of character driven sci-fi

I really enjoyed this story and this world, my only complaint is that I wished there was more of it! I will definitely be checking out this author’s other book that is set in the same universe.

Page Found is a petty thief on the backwaters Kuuj Outpost with no memories from before she got there. She's just scraping by when her life takes an unexpected turn as she is kidnapped by her mark. Now, she'll have to decide whether she wants to help Zhak and Maelle with their plan to steal a valuable relic. But Page might unexpectedly find answers about her past that she wasn't expecting.

The book follows two different timelines, told in differing tenses, which I found a little weird initially (mostly because it's not made super clear that the two storylines are not happening at the same time). It does help, however, that there are other bits of information in the form of articles and interview transcripts that add a bit of extra interest and break up the narration of the different timelines.

The main thing I struggled with in this book was pacing. It starts off strong with Page being kidnapped and pulled into a plot to infiltrate a Teyrian spacecraft to steal an extremely valuable relic. And then we spend hundreds of pages with pretty much nothing happening. The book picks back up again around the 70% mark, but by that point, I felt like I'd lost interest in this that Maelle and Page are supposed to be working on.

There were a couple of redeeming elements for me - mostly the development of the relationship between Page and Maelle throughout the book, and the final reveal that intersects the separate storylines.

Read if you like:
Space heist
Lost memories
Self-discovery
Multi-POV
30s FMC
Multiple timelines

I DNF'ed at 10%.

I just did not vibe with the writing. The average of the word "she" per sentence may be higher than 1. Nearly every second sentence was "She did that" "She felt X" etc. and it made me irrationally angry.

An Unbreakable World is told primarily from 3 POVs (2 in present tense and 1 in past tense) and is interspersed with recorded thoughts from a "narrator" as well as excerpts from various sources. The primary storyline follows Page, who makes her living as a petty thief on the Kuuj outpost and is searching for answers about her past after waking up from stasis with no memory. We also read from Maelle's perspective, who plays a part in Page's kidnapping. A secondary storyline follows Dalya as she grows up in a highly religious society on planet Teyr.

Based on the description of this book, I was expecting more of a high-stakes story following Page's kidnapping and her reluctant involvement in a space heist. While the kidnapping and heist elements do drive the plot forward, the story primarily focuses on world-building and the unraveling of the mystery of Page's past. Thus, this book gave me more "cozy" vibes, which is not something I usually gravitate towards in books.

Overall, I enjoyed the world-building, the mystery aspect of the story, and the commentary on the use of religion as a tool for power and control.


3.5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris Books for providing me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Solaris and NetGalley for the ARC!

An Unbreakable World follows several characters. Page Found, a struggling petty thief, has no memories of her past. After being kidnapped in the hopes she can be passed off as a monk in order to infiltrate a ship, Maelle decides to befriend her so they can pull of the heist. Meanwhile Dalya Edamaun, a young child on the planet Teyr, befriends someone that makes her question everything she knows about her planet and religion.

I enjoyed the different characters throughout but I really felt myself drawn to Dalya's chapters. Due to her isolated upbringing she is very naive and it works well, we are able to spot things as a reader that she doesn't.

Some moments with Page also resonated with me, I could feel her struggle as she hoped to remember anything about her past and who she was, as well as the realisation that she would never have genuine experiences because she didn't know what she had ever experienced.

I liked the unique chapters throughout the book, there are a mix of recordings, extracts, academic papers that are useful in giving the reader more information. It also made me feel much closer to Page, as if I had my own datapad of information as I was trying to nagivate the story.

Personally, I enjoyed the ending very much. I know some people appreciate all plot points and loose ends to be tied up but I like things to be left open to interpretation, or left as a mystery. Some things aren't meant to be answred and I think it's important that the reader experiences that as it's very similar to some of the character's journeys in the book.

"Courage is not always a bright flower in full bloom, sometimes it is a bud awaiting the moment to open."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: An Unbreakable World by Ren Hutchings
Advance copy read – and what a ride it was.

“If something seems too good to be real, you’ve got to get out of there.” That’s the mantra Page Found lives by—and it sets the tone for this twisty, high-stakes space adventure that’s as much about identity and trust as it is about heists and hyperspace.

Page is a petty thief with no memory of who she really is, scraping by on a dusty outpost until she’s snatched by two very different criminals: the ruthless Zhak and the sharp-edged, magnetic Maelle. Their plan? Pass Page off as a monk from a mysterious planet to infiltrate a treasure-laden ship. What could go wrong?

Turns out—everything. Secrets pile up, loyalties blur, and the chemistry between Page and Maelle crackles with tension and vulnerability. Hutchings balances action and emotional depth with finesse, crafting a world that feels lived-in and characters who are messy, guarded, and deeply human.

What I loved:

• The slow-burn trust between Page and Maelle—equal parts suspicion and spark.
• The layered worldbuilding: ancient orders, forgotten tech, and a galaxy that feels just a little broken.
• The way memory and identity are explored without ever slowing the pace.


Why not five stars?
There were moments where the plot’s momentum dipped slightly, especially in the middle third, and I wanted just a bit more clarity around Page’s backstory payoff. But honestly? That’s a minor quibble in an otherwise stellar read.

If you like your sci-fi with grit, heart, and a touch of found-family chaos, An Unbreakable World delivers.

Happy Reading 🚀📚

I really bought into the heist from the blurb but (without spoiling) it's not really about the heist as much as it is about unravelling a mystery. That said, it's worth a read for the compelling characters, interesting plot and great writing.

I especially enjoyed the examination of an isolationist religion. The wikipedia-style entries added not just to the world-building but were well-placed to complement the plot. I'm not normally a huge fan of multiple POV/shifting tense but it worked really well throughout this book and didn't pull me out of the narrative even once.

4* for a few reasons: the ending wrapped up too quickly for my liking, and the transcripts later on in the book (again, no spoilers) felt unnecessary after the first few and slowed down the pace quite a bit for me. Overall I enjoyed the book though and recommend it if you're looking for something cosy in a sci-fi setting that still feels like a space opera, with a lot of charm and great characters. Similar vibes to The Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis and a lot of fun!

Thank you to Solaris Books and Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Such an interesting take on an isolated religion. This plot line was by far my favorite of the three. It was so interesting and the world itself felt full.
The “main” plot line follows a woman with no memories of her former life. It started out very strong with her being roped into a heist scheme. However, I felt like the plot stagnated about halfway through the book. It turns away from moving the plot along and become much more character focused. It’s done well but compared to the other plot line it felt slow.
I did enjoy the third plot line, though it is significantly shorter. It was able to tie together the plot together well.
The ending is my main issue with the book. I don’t think enough clues or hints were dropped in to justify the way everything culminates. BUT, I am notoriously bad at picking up clues so take it with a grain of salt.
I really enjoyed reading this book, I think the experience makes up for any gripes I have.

Received through NetGalley for an honest review!

I remembered reading Under Fortunate Stars and generally liking it as a whole (even though it's been a bit so I only remember a small amount), so I was excited to find another book by the author and another space book too! It takes place in the same universe as Under Fortunate Stars, but this book does a really good job of building the world in such a way, you can 100% read this without having read Under Fortunate Stars.

When I got into this, I had no idea what to expect. Amnesiac Page Found gets kidnapped very early on and has to figure out whether she can trust Maelle who clearly has her own plans and if Page wants to help Zhak's plan of having her pretend to be a monk from a closed off planet to get a certain treasure. As we go through the story, however, there are excerpts from books, interviews, and whatnot to help us flesh out the world and the religion the monks subscribe to (although sometimes I wondered if we needed all of them). And, among all that, is another story we see unfold: that of Dalya from Teyr, the closed-off planet the monks are from. We see her grow up entrenched in her religion and how she becomes close to a certain girl, Anda, and how her story intersects with Page's story (although it's a very shaky intersection at best until the very end).

I found Dalya's side of the story much more engaging than Page's, even though I feel the end of Dalya's side went too quick and we were missing some compelling pieces. In the middle of the novel as a whole, I got really bored with Page and started skimming, but near the end, Page's story began ramping up again and I focused back in. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I wish the middle had been a little tighter.

Some spoiler thoughts: what I thought was really clever was the bait'n'switch at the very end. For the entire book, you are sort of led to believe by the fact Dalya is a POV character and so is Page that they are one in the same. However, at the end, you learn it's not Dalya, but rather Anda that eventually becomes Page. I thought the flip was interesting, but on the same coin, it would have been nice to learn more about Anda and what happened to her after she and Dalya split. Dalya's story was nice, but it was very abrupt at the end with a reveal. I kinda wish Dalya's story had been its own novel instead of the pieces we got sprinkled throughout Page's. All they do is sort of tell you where Page came from and what very thin connection Zhak had to that as a whole.

Anyway, I liked the book and my time reading it. It was an intriguing adventure even with the slumps I had near the middle. It was an easy read and I didn't get lost in the world building. The characters, while a little one-note for some of them, were pleasant to get to know. Page and Maelle were very cute once their friendship (and more) got going. If we ever return to this world or even its characters, I'd love to be here for it.

A space opera with excellent world building and interesting characters that interact well. There is a lot of politics and mythology which you feel will be key eventually- not all of it is but helps set the tone. The ending feels a little rushed and convenient to be honest after all the build up but still remained entertaining. Overall a good read

AN UNBREAKABLE WORLD is a story of missing memories and interweaving tales that collide toward the end.

The book has three main perspectives (plus one in the mixed-media elements between chapters). Two of them are Page and one of the people she's working with. It was nice to see someone with a bit more of a clue about the plan - and schemes of her own. It helped round out the story a bit. I also liked that there wasn't a romantic relationship, just a platonic one that is resisted.

The third perspective is unrelated to the other two, taking place on the world that gets spoken about a lot by the others but not seen. It's not until the final pages you discover how they are linked. For once, I didn't mind this because I assumed it was somehow related to Page's missing memories (and thus it felt somehow linked to me).

As well as the chapters, there are extracts from "sources" scattered throughout the book. Fake space-wiki pages (the formatting is so good there) and academic papers and exerpts from someone recording their story. It was an effective way to world build the "unbreakable planet" - a central point of the story if only seen through one perspective.

I thought it as very interesting what information the reader - and the characters - discovered in the end. It is not the "everything is revealed to all" that I might of expected to get. The reader knows more than any one person, which meant there was at least answers to some of the major questions to book posed. I think it would have been deeply unsatisfying if that hadn't happened, and the fact that the characters know far less than the reader certainly made me think more about the ending then I might have otherwise.

Action packed, fantastic worldbuilding, heartfelt, and full of twist and turns. Was drawn in straight away by the intrigue and storytelling style, following Page, Maelle, and Dalya's stories through
such a richly imagined universe. I loved the snippets of history of the system, the folklore and how they all wove together so neatly by the end. Really brilliant and immediately added to my top space opera reads!

3.5 stars

This had all the makings of a great sci-fi novel, and I overall enjoyed the reading experience. The worldbuilding is solid, and I was particularly invested in the politics of Teyr's isolationism and the mythology that informed it.

Unfortunately, the ending completely dropped the ball for me. All the plotlines that had been set up were suddenly resolved - in my opinion - far too easily or entirely off page. I love a queer space heist but this didn't quite give me that. I almost felt like the author couldn't decide whether to prioritise the macro or the micro, so we get a lot of Teyr politics only to have that not matter greatly to the plot, and we have a lot of build up to the heist only to end up with not very much heist.

Despite the flaws, I'm giving this 3.5 stars, because I really did enjoy reading it until about the last 20%. A stronger ending would have made all the difference for me.