Goldilox and the Three Weres: Review: Shadow Run by AdriAnne Strickland and Michael Miller

Shadow Run
(Kaitan Chronicles #1)
AdriAnne Strickland and Michael Miller
Release: March 21, 2017
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Firefly meets Dune in this action-packed sci-fi adventure about a close-knit, found family of a crew navigating a galaxy of political intrigue and resource-driven power games.

Nev has just joined the crew of the starship Kaitan Heritage as the cargo loader. His captain, Qole, is the youngest-ever person to command her own ship, but she brooks no argument from her crew of orphans, fugitives, and con men. Nev can't resist her, even if her ship is an antique.

As for Nev, he's a prince, in hiding on the ship. He believes Qole holds the key to changing galactic civilization, and when her cooperation proves difficult to obtain, Nev resolves to get her to his home planet by any means necessary.

But before they know it, a rival royal family is after Qole too, and they're more interested in stealing her abilities than in keeping her alive.

Nev's mission to manipulate Qole becomes one to save her, and to survive, she'll have to trust her would-be kidnapper. He may be royalty, but Qole is discovering a deep reservoir of power--and stars have mercy on whoever tries to hurt her ship or her crew.

Review:
I'm going to be honest. This book wasn't on my radar until one of my Twitter friends messaged me and told me and I needed to request it because it was "like Firefly and Dune had a book baby that has MURDER DRONES!". Yeah. I requested it real fast after that.

Shadow Run is a fun read from start to finish. It's more heavy on the Firefly than the Dune which made me love it even more. I loved the action which was pretty much non-stop.

The thing that made this book for me was the characters! They were all so amazing! I quickly fell in love with this small band of misfits. The crew really reminded me of the crew from Firefly in how diverse and tight knit it was. It is surprising how much character development actually made it into the story considering that they were in crisis mode most of the book. The diversity in this book was SO refreshing and well-done!

I will say I didn't connect with the captain, Qole, until the second half of the book but I loved that she was a young female captain of a spaceship that collects an energy called Shadow. The worldbuilding combined with Qole's abilities was intriguing. Nev kind of annoyed me from the moment he stepped on the page. He stuck out like the sore thumb when he joined the crew which is to be expected from a prince among orphans and thieves. He acted like a spoiled rich kid most of the time but he did have some likeable and redeeming moments. I will say that I did not like how the crew treated him for the majority of the book. My favorite character though was Basra and I want more. I haven't read a lot of books that feature genderfluid characters like Basra.

The story alternates between Qole and Nev's points-of-view each chapter and I'm not sure if I liked that. There are some noticeable cliches in the book but I overall I didn't mind that much. I did have a few issues with the "romance". Mostly it wasn't there which made the kiss towards the end a bit awkward. Thankfully, it was easy to ignore thanks to all of the action. The story did feel overly wordy and it made the flow of the story feel a bit choppy in places. Also, if violent books are not your cup of tea, I wouldn't recommend picking this one up.

This story overall was okay and I had a good time reading it. In my opinion, Shadow Run is a decent start to a new series but it's not going to be a favorite book. I'm intrigued to see where the authors go from here.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley