Review: Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Winter's Orbit
Everina Maxwell
Release: February 2, 2021
Goodreads Amazon

Ancillary Justice meets Red, White & Royal Blue in Everina Maxwell's exciting debut.

While the Iskat Empire has long dominated the system through treaties and political alliances, several planets, including Thea, have begun to chafe under Iskat's rule. When tragedy befalls Imperial Prince Taam, his Thean widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam's cousin, the disreputable Kiem, in a bid to keep the rising hostilities between the two worlds under control.

But when it comes to light that Prince Taam's death may not have been an accident, and that Jainan himself may be a suspect, the unlikely pair must overcome their misgivings and learn to trust one another as they navigate the perils of the Iskat court, try to solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war... all while dealing with their growing feelings for each other.

Review:
Have you ever started a book and knew immediately that it was going to quickly become an all-time favorite? Y'all. Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell was one of those books for me. This book pulled me in and didn't let me go. Everything about this story spoke to my soul and it brought me so much joy. To steal the words of one of students, this book was a book of my heart.

It checked so many boxes for me and contained so many of my favorite tropes! Some of these are:

-Arranged marriage/marriage of convenience. Check! 

-Epic space setting. Check!

-Political intrigue. Check! 

-Space princes. Check!

-Surprise feelings and mutual pining. Check!

-Oh no! There's only one bed! Check!

-Slow burn romance. Check!

Y'all! I can't give a book any higher praise than to tell you that I wanted to immediately start rereading it right after I finished it. And I have let myself reread this one twice and it is one I know I will pick up again and again.

As much as I adored this book, I've been having a hard time getting my thoughts on it in order. This story is a sprawling space opera that is gloriously character driven. It reminded me more of a fanfic in that way and how it focused on the relationship. I loved it so much! It is all about the characters overcoming their pasts and finding happiness. It was also a queernorm story where the characters being queer wasn't used as a plot device. This is a recent trend that I want to see more of in my fiction. It brings my little queer heart joy.

I fell in love with Prince Kiem and Count Jainan as soon as they appeared on the page and I haven't been able to get them out of my head. Prince Kiem is literal sunshine and my heart hurt for Jainan as we learned more and more about his past marriage. The book hangover for this book was real. There have been few books in the last few years that have garnered the same amount of obsession this one has. 

The arranged marriage trope is one of my favorite tropes but only if it's done right. And oh boy! Was it done right in this book! I was rooting for them to come together and fall in love. I loved watching them dance around each other and as they slowly became friends and started to fall for each other. I also loved the community they start to pull around them. I need a book about Bel in my hands stat!

I'm a sucker for an SFF book with lots of political intrigue and Winter's Orbit had it in spades with Jainan being a diplomat and Kiem being a prince. I'm also a sucker for good space opera with lots of worldbuilding and I need more books set in this world! I was intrigued with politics of the Iskatian empire and I want more! I will admit that it took me a bit to kind of understand where Kiem and Jainan stood in the empire and I'm not sure I completely understand. But it didn't take away from the story at all.

This book is definitely going to be one of my favorites of the year. I'm going to call it and place it in my top five. So far it's my favorite book of the year and it's going to be a serious contender to keep that spot over the next ten months. The more I think about it the more I love it. The author said she's writing another book set in this world and I need it! I hope one day she writes more about Kiem and Jainan but I will take anything she'll give me in this universe.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

    

  5 / 5 Stars!