Julie • bujo.books's Reviews > Winter’s Orbit

3.5 stars

The renewal of the alliance between the small planet of Thea and the larger Iskat Empire is looming, and it is imperative to the lives of so many that it goes on without a hitch. Native Thean Jainan and his Iskan husband Prince Taam are meant to be the representatives of their cultures for the renewal, but when Taam dies suddenly, Jainan is hurriedly married to Taam's cousin, Prince Kiem, so they may be the representatives. Sunshiney Kiem and reserved Jainan don't get off on the right foot after their rushed wedding, but will have to work together when it's revealed that Taam's death has been ruled as suspicious.

I buddy read this with my friend Katie (@forevermorepages) which was super fun! Hi Katie :)

My main thought was that there's a lot of good bones here, but that some things needed to be built out a little more to be fully successful - let's get into why. First, this is such an interesting book because it's a genre I don't see that often - a 50/50 blend of scifi and romance. Fantasy romance is so popular now, but scifi and romance are so often antonyms. I'd like to see more of this for sure! I liked this version of a queernorm world (universe), especially because it doesn't eliminate discussions of sexuality or gender. There's cool scenes where we see the differences between how different cultures perform gender. The strongest suit is the relationship itself and the reader's opinion of it will make or break the book for them. There was a lot of miscommunication, which was sometimes a bit frustrating, but it did make some sense given the characters' backstories. The pacing wasn't always consistent throughout the story, some parts being slower than others, but I thought that the ending was an excellent summary of the characters and their arcs. The main thing I would have qualms with is that while we see some worldbuilding, there's not enough context/immersion given to the political intrigue plot, which is a larger part of the book. I think that either the political plot needed to be stronger, or it needed to take a backseat for the romance to take full center stage. I do have faith that this could improve in further books, so I'm interested in picking up the sequels. Also, note that while the author is queer, it is not Own Voices M/M (which is something I try to avoid usually), so do with that what you will.

Overall, this just needed some fleshing out of the scifi aspects to reach its full potential, which I think the sequels are capable of achieving.