Disclaimer: This is a review, and as such will contain opinions, spoilers and (often) general shit talking. (If you talk about what you don’t like about a work, you learn a lot. When you think through a work with the stakes presented to you by the creator, by the context of the work, you learn a lot. I review things, not because I love to dislike things, but because dislike contains rich and vital information for the process of experiencing something, but I cannot access it without interrogating it.) So, if you don’t want to have this thing spoiled for you, or don’t know how to behave when a person on the internet, that you don’t know, has opinions that don’t line up with yours, this review is not for you. It’s also not for the author/creator of the work. Please and thank you.
Under Cover of Stars is an action-packed sweet space romance from Danielle Price. And this is the exact kind of sci-fi adventure pulp that is always fun – it’s the Star Wars and the Fireflys and the Star Treks and the Babylon 5s – so is it any surprise I have a soft spot for it? I mean this is the kind of thing I love to write.
We get bickering one-upmanship and super strong 70s Han Solo x Princess Leia vibes from this one. A classic reluctant allies to lovers story, the quest is to save a friend from certain doom by paying off his bounty. How? By going on an ✨adventure✨ and trying to not die in the process, of course 💁♀️
The MMC having an asthma-like handicap is an adorable leash on what would otherwise be an unstoppable force. His backstory is heart-wrenching, but the effects of it just make you want to take care of him.
The closed door romance driving this D-wing has that savvy rogue/spirited rookie vibe that results in some really spectacular scenes between the two – the first take-off being one of my personal favourites (where he hooks her into place with a leg through her bag strap as they’re leaving atmo) as that was pulled straight out of the Han/Leia playbook.
The dynamic of the main characters had me smiling throughout the book, and the chemistry between them was great (though the romance stays closed door). There’s forced proximity, a fake marriage, and plenty of tension in this antagonists to lovers story.
In terms of a romance arc, the ending felt rushed to me. There’s such a build-up to the climax that the fallout sort of left me without any wind in my sails and I wish the ending had been more robust – however if we’re talking first book in a series where these two are going to continue in the next book, then I will pocket my disappointment because I’ll happily read more adventures from these two. For now, all I can do is wait and see when the next book is coming.
If you’re new to sci-fi and want something easy to read, this is it – there’s a lot of Star Wars shorthand and familiar tropes from adventure movies to make the world easy to grasp even as we’re moving through a big galaxy with a lot of sociopolitical tension.
“When Sasha Barrett gets bitten by a snake on a mission, her squad captain’s quick actions not only save her life, but also make her realise something she may have known all along…“
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