DNF Series Review: The Honors by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre

Fresh Fridays: On Friday, I review a brand new series (ie. only has one book released so far) to see if the series is worth keeping up with. Here is this week’s offering:

The Honors Series

Other books planned to be in the series:

Synopsis for Honor Among Thieves (from Goodreads):

Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead of moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell.

Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.

Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth’s dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she’s assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight.

Series: The Honors
Author: Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre
# of Books: 3 (Full Reading Order Here)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Adventure
Heat Rating: unsure
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Date: February 13, 2018 – February 11, 2020
Source & Format: Public Library–Audiobook

Disclaimer: I stopped reading Honor Among Thieves (#1) at 34%. Find out why below…

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I think I found this by browsing the new titles at my library one day. Science fiction in YA is always something I’ve enjoyed but it seems to the new trend (maybe I’m the only one who thinks that?) like high fantasy was a few years ago. But hey, I’m not complaining!

When I read the title and synopsis for this, I was hoping for a Starflight-esque novel. Something that was adventurous and fun but perhaps a little darker and more thought provoking.

I kinda forgot Ann Aguirre was a cowriter on this one until just before I was going to read it. I’ll be honest and say I haven’t had the best track record with her novels. Her writing style isn’t for me as I find her novels take an extremely long time to get anywhere but I really hoped that wouldn’t be the case here since it was cowritten…

What I Liked:

–The World–

This world just felt like a great blend of science fiction worlds I’ve read in the past–yet something completely its own at the same time. I was definitely sucked into this futuristic world and wanted to know more about it at the same time. I loved the little tidbits of information we got along the way like news clippings etc. I find those really add to the world in a way that simple narration can’t provide.

What I Didn’t Like:

–Wasn’t What I Thought–

I thought this would have more thieving on it–my mistake for reading way too much into the title because the synopsis (when I read it now) doesn’t hint at that at all.

–More Character Driven than Drama–

I was 34% of the way into the book and I felt like nothing had truly happened other than Zara meeting the ship and her new honor partner. Not very exciting. So I found myself zoning out a lot while I was listening because it wasn’t holding my attention.

This story is very much character driven. It’s about Zara exploring this new life, the ship and growing up. And simply put: that just didn’t interest me in anyway.

My Audiobook Experience:

Perhaps the audiobook was a poor choice because it is on the longer side of things but I’ve actually had really great luck with this genre as audiobook selections…the production is great though!