Ride the Stars

This was a fun read. The last part got a little too action-adventure that felt a bit disingenuous to this shier, quiet main character that was created in the first half of the book but it was a fun read anyway.

I enjoyed the story & found the characters interesting. However, I got lost several times & couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Things were explained in pieces & didn't always make sense to me, but I think I got the gist of it.

There was a lot to enjoy in "Ride the Stars" -- but there was also a lot that had me gnashing my teeth in frustration. The good bits: Jaide, a female protagonist who is an ace mechanic and an ace pilot; great chemistry between the leads; a strong supporting cast; and a fun secondary romance between Sesame and Nemesis. Now, for the bad bits. [Warning: Spoilers Ahead!] Jaide's abysmal self-esteem is understandable considering the verbal and emotional abuse she endured as a teenager, but her constant self-doubt and self-denegration becomes wearying after a dozen chapters. Then, in chapter fifteen, the story suddenly jumps ahead two years and Jaide undergoes a jarring personality change; it was like the story was inhabited by two completely different characters. Additionally, author Autumn Dawn seems to lose track several times of what certain characters are supposed to know in certain scenes; for instance, in one scene, Skye thinks of Jaide's brother Chrys as a scuzbucket; in the next, he knows full well that Chrys is an undercover operative and that his ill-treatment of Jaide is an act; when did Skye learn that? Also, the identity of the traitor in their midst should have been an "aha!' moment; instead, it was a "hunh?" moment. Finally, the typographical and grammatical errors (Arctic not "actic") made me want to take a digital red pen to the book. Ultimately, "Ride the Stars" is a fun science fiction romance, but it needs a serious rewrite to get better than an "okay" rating from me.