Book Review: Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes

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Media Type: Print Book
Title: Chilling Effect
Author: Valerie Valdes
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Pages: Paperback; 448
Release Date: September 17, 2019
Source: Publisher / TLC Book Tours

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Genre: Space Opera
HDB Rating: 3*

Recommended to: Readers who love snarky heroines, plenty of action, and lots of madcap antics.

Add it on: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

A hilarious, offbeat debut space opera that skewers everything from pop culture to video games and features an irresistible foul-mouthed captain and her motley crew, strange life forms, exciting twists, and a galaxy full of fun and adventure.

Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra cruise the galaxy delivering small cargo for even smaller profits. When her sister Mari is kidnapped by The Fridge, a shadowy syndicate that holds people hostage in cryostasis, Eva must undergo a series of unpleasant, dangerous missions to pay the ransom.

But Eva may lose her mind before she can raise the money. The ship’s hold is full of psychic cats, an amorous fish-faced emperor wants her dead after she rejects his advances, and her sweet engineer is giving her a pesky case of feelings. The worse things get, the more she lies, raising suspicions and testing her loyalty to her found family.

To free her sister, Eva will risk everything: her crew, her ship, and the life she’s built on the ashes of her past misdeeds. But when the dominoes start to fall and she finds the real threat is greater than she imagined, she must decide whether to play it cool or burn it all down.

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Oh, this book! First off, I have to praise Harper Voyager for pushing #ownvoices books out in the world. Captain Eva Innocente was hilarious, snarky, and the kind of woman I’d gladly follow into battle. The fact that she just so happened to cuss in Spanish whenever she was extremely angry made me crack up laughing. As a person with a family who does the same I couldn’t help but love Eva, prickles and all.

Starting with the good, I can definitely say that there’s not a boring character in this book. Eva’s whole crew is just a bit mad, and full of personality. Although I suppose they would have to be, to follow Eva Innocente. I loved their family dynamic, and how much each of them was willing to sacrifice for any of the rest of them. The ship felt like a place that I’d want to visit. Provided I wasn’t visiting on a day when Eva decided to get into a fight, that is.

In terms of the plot, the overall story line was pretty solid. I liked that they brought Eva’s actual family into the picture, and that Eva did do some growing up throughout the story. Let’s be honest, we all make bad decisions. Eva just makes a lot of them all at the same time, for a fair amount of this book. What pushed this book down in ratings for me as mainly the pacing, to be honest. It drags at points, and runs at a mad pace during others. I needed a little more of an even keel, to keep me reading on.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m in the for the long haul on this series. I liked Eva and her misfit crew enough that I’ll be back for the next book. I only hope that now that we’ve established the dynamic between these characters, things will even out a bit. I’d love to dive deeper into the places that La Sirena Negra travels, follow along on more battles, and giggle madly at the banter between these friends. So, count me in. I’ll be waiting.

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.