I really enjoyed this one. When I heard it was for fans of divergent I knew I had to read it and I was not disappointed! I was hooked the first 30% and found the world building and characters intriguing. I like that it mixes fantasy with space, such a cool concept. I also really love the friendship between Tara and Vega. That they would do literally anything for each other. Jasper was also an intriguing character and it was fun to see his and Tara’s relationship evolve. I really like them together. There’s also twists and turns, and of course, rebels! It was very exiting at the end and I can’t wait to see where this story goes! The drawings were also a fun addition to the book and I wish more books would do that. It made it easier to understand and remember parts of the world building.

Even though I enjoyed it overall, I wish we could have had some more world building right away. It is sprinkled throughout the story but it’s also too little when it first comes. I would have liked to know about the other kingdoms/systems with fae, demons and shape shifters from the start, I feel like that’s a vital part of the world building. I also didn’t quite grasp the different bonds one could have so when they were mentioned again after the explanation I didn’t remember the meaning. The time jumping in the beginning was also a bit weird. I wish we could have gotten to know the characters better in the 2-3 years that were cut and how their relationships came to be. I can’t figure out Atlas for instance. First he’s kind and flirty and then he’s super mean, I don’t get it. I feel like Tara was acting a bit weird around him too and gave the reader mixed signals. I also don’t understand how Tara and Vega came to be such good friends seeing as we’re told they hated each other in the beginning. How they became friends I would have liked elaborated more other than that they were bonded and had to become friends kind of? Lastly, I wish we would have gotten more scenes with Tara in her aeronautics class. That’s what she chose even though she was not supposed to but I feel like that fact was a bit cast aside. There were no consequences for choosing that? Hopefully we’ll get some more answers in the next book. Oh and, we’re reminded time and time again that this is a dangerous academy but apart from the one crash and that one character was stabbed at the beginning of the book I didn’t get the feeling that this was so dangerous.

So overall, I like the writing style, world building and characters very much but the execution was a bit messy for me to give it a higher rating.

Review posted to Goodreads and will be posted to Instagram @vicysboktips on Friday 20.06.

A completely pleasant surprise. Initially fearing I was in for a derivative read, and the first third or so does track that way, Schilling’s writing truly stands out, and I kept wanting to come back.

By the time the worldbuilding really starts to kick in, after a bit of a disjointed entry point to this universe, I couldn’t put the book down.

Our protagonist teeters on that edge of unlikable but ultimately won me over. The writing and editorial choices, particularly a few well-placed POV changes, aided in this battle.

The overall story leaves something to be desired, but that can remedied if the saga continues. I happened on this book from interest in the genre, but definitely came away as a fan of the author and will read on.

Thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have had this on my TBR since January 2025 before it was rereleased and I’ve been so excited to read it when it finally was published in May 2025, but I unfortunately had to DNF about little over 30% in. I was really disappointed in the lack of world building and explanations in this book. I love the war college aspect and that we’re in a different planetary world than what we normally see in most of the newer fantasy books, but there was such a lack of development of the world and how things worked that I found myself SO confused. I just wanted more or a deeper explanation for where they are the purpose of it and I felt like I was about to get it when they were teaching the first year and then we barely got anything other than a couple details about a few planets. But nothing about the overall solar system or why it is the way it is and how it’s governed or who’s ultimately in charge. We have royals but where? It sounds like there’s people in charge on every planet but I’m not really sure.

And there’s a bond?. For how often the bond between Tara and Vega was mentioned, it drove me insane that there was never an explanation for WHY they were bonded or how this bond worked other than feeling each other’s emotions.


And then there’s Atlas. I don’t understand this dynamic. At. All. Do we love him? Do we hate him? This relationship felt so underdeveloped and I know it was early on but I have whiplash…I don’t understand if there’s chemistry or not or if this is a love/hate situation or what but it felt so weird.

I wanted to love it and I stuck with it longer than I wanted to in hopes that some of my questions would be answered but when there was a missed opportunity for world building and a totally weird “romantic” interaction with Atlas I couldn’t keep going.

2 stars solely for the fact that I’m hoping I can try reading it again and get into it because I really want to love it.