Title: ReconnaissanceAuthor: Aubrie Dionne
Series: Paradise Reclaimed #2
Release Date: April 5, 2013
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
ISBN13: 9781939590060
Format: Paperback, 262 pages
Genre: YA, dystopia, sci-fi
Source: blog tour
Nova Williams has lost her one shot at Lieutenant hood and at love. Lieutenant Crophaven has promoted her rival, Andromeda, all because her lifemate, Sirius, sacrificed their mission to win back Andromeda’s love.
While sneaking out to prove Andromeda is a fake, Nova finds an alien ship hovering over their colony. Lieutenant Crophaven assigns her to a reconnaissance mission, giving her a second chance to redeem herself. Sirius must fly her and a research team to the vessel to decide if they are a threat. Thrown together with the lifemate that betrayed her, she battles with her own jealousy while her team battles for their lives.
Can she forgive Sirius in order to save her team and warn her colony?
Reconnaissance easily picks up from where the previous book, Colonization left off. Nova's at the bottom of the pit of dispair. Her goal, which she had worked towards in every moment of her life, plus the affection of her lifemate were both taken away by a girl she absolutely couldn't stand. When an alien ship that doesn't seem too friendly with her planet arrives, she has to not only tolerate her lifemate, but also somehow work out how to save her people.
In the beginning, I was very comfortable with how the story was put together. It was very well laid out, so even if I didn't read the first book, I'd have no problem with the second. The characters and general background information was pretty self-explanatory, or at the very least not too difficult to figure out later on in the story. As well, I could see exactly what kind of person Nova was just by reading the first couple of pages, and piece together some other characters' personalities.
The first thing I noticed about the characters were their galactic names. Nova, Solar, Sirius, Andromeda. While not all characters were named after stars and the such, it was still interesting to see how those names reflected upon the setting, and even the culture of those living on Paradise 21. Nova, while sounding quite different than Andromeda in the first book, I felt could've had her bitterness and grudging attitude toned down a bit. I looked forward to her character development, but somewhere in the middle of the book she became all nice to Sirius, without really any build-up to that change in her character. To describe it frankly, it was . . . sudden. Another thing I was a little miffed about was her immediately condemning Andromeda in her mind without much to back herself up with. In the end, I didn't mind Nova as a protagonist, but felt like there were still some things to be improved upon.
Final verdict? Enjoyable, but somehow not very risky. I feel like the novel could've used a bit more of a plunge into the unknown, a little less formula. Frankly speaking, it was too easy to read. Nothing to wrench my heart out or make my mind go haywire. But either way, Aubrie Dionne is a wonderful writer whom I'd like to see progress in the future.
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In the beginning, I was very comfortable with how the story was put together. It was very well laid out, so even if I didn't read the first book, I'd have no problem with the second. The characters and general background information was pretty self-explanatory, or at the very least not too difficult to figure out later on in the story. As well, I could see exactly what kind of person Nova was just by reading the first couple of pages, and piece together some other characters' personalities.
The first thing I noticed about the characters were their galactic names. Nova, Solar, Sirius, Andromeda. While not all characters were named after stars and the such, it was still interesting to see how those names reflected upon the setting, and even the culture of those living on Paradise 21. Nova, while sounding quite different than Andromeda in the first book, I felt could've had her bitterness and grudging attitude toned down a bit. I looked forward to her character development, but somewhere in the middle of the book she became all nice to Sirius, without really any build-up to that change in her character. To describe it frankly, it was . . . sudden. Another thing I was a little miffed about was her immediately condemning Andromeda in her mind without much to back herself up with. In the end, I didn't mind Nova as a protagonist, but felt like there were still some things to be improved upon.
Final verdict? Enjoyable, but somehow not very risky. I feel like the novel could've used a bit more of a plunge into the unknown, a little less formula. Frankly speaking, it was too easy to read. Nothing to wrench my heart out or make my mind go haywire. But either way, Aubrie Dionne is a wonderful writer whom I'd like to see progress in the future.
