Name: Empress of a Thousand Skies
ISBN: 9781101999103

Rhoda Belleza

Two fugitives, a princess-in-exile and her accused killer, cross the galaxy as they fight to reclaim her family dynasty and save the universe from a deadly threat.

Empress of a Thousand Skies

Lacy W

Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com

tw: parental death, acts of terrorism, death, racism

Finally, I read a book that was incredibly popular and made rounds on Goodreads. I’m so proud of myself. Granted, I am a couple years late but better late than never, right? I was lucky to find this book at a bookstore in Minnesota. This bookstore was every book lover’s dream. We are talking floor to ceiling of books and all those shelves were just jammed back full of books. The prices were good too! As a thrifter, I always look for good deals and this store had them. Plus, you could take your books there and get credit to the store for them. I could have spent hours in there and never gone through all the books. I’ll visit them again and write a more concise post about this store. I wish I could remember the name but I visited this place with my dad’s girlfriend and it was kind of a spur of the moment visit. 

Anyway. I should probably review the book. 

While I didn’t quite love this book, I did enjoy the ride even though I was bored through parts of it. One positive I must point out is the maps and family tree in the beginning of the book. It makes things a lot easier to keep track of and it’s a unique thing to reference back too for when things get too confusing. All fantasy books and books with huge worlds should have this in all their books. But I understand why they don’t. 

Unfortunately, the book didn’t have a lot happen in terms of events until the surprise twist at the end. I think it was building up for an explosive second book where everything would be answered and conflict would happen. Which is okay if you are into that kind of thing but I was kind of bored through most of the book. However, there was just enough to keep me curious to know what is happening. 

This book talks a lot about racism and how quickly people will start a war over prejudices. I think it offers a great discussion on just how much racism affects society. It made me so mad to see just how awful the racism throughout the book was. If anything, the great discussion involving racism was enough to keep me going through and continue reading this book. 

Overall, while I didn't quite love the book, I’m intrigued enough to read the second book and see what happens. Especially with that surprised twist at the end. Not to mention the cover of this book is gorgeous and the topic of racism is very well discussed.

Angelique Dvali

Jessica Williamson

4 Stars, even.

I think this may possibly be the first space centered sci-fi novel I've ever read. And I really enjoyed it. 

Rhee is a great character. She's not perfect by anyone's terms and she realizes it more and more as the story progresses. Things from her past, things she's always assumed, they make her a very different person as the book moves on.

Dahlen. I hated. Dahlen. I don't like him at all. I'm not sure if he's a good guy, a bad guy, just a dude? I don't know. But I greatly dislike his character and I could have done without him. I mean, I guess the story would have been different with out him, but meh.

Aly. I completely enjoyed Aly. I loved his backstory, how he got to where he was. It was a very interesting story to read and discover. 

Kara. Also enjoyable to read. Probably the most mysterious character but I had some great assumptions about her from the moment she hit the page and it was interesting to see how everything unfolded. 

I wish there had been more Julian. I really enjoyed his character. Hopefully he appears more in the next one.

The bad guys are insanely evil in this one. Just, the things they're doing to people, and the more you find out as time goes on. It just, so horrifying. 

This book has a LOT of political drama, which is one of my favorite things in YA novels. It makes me angry when none of it is ever fixed, but when done correctly, political drama makes for a great story.

I enjoyed Belleza's writing style. It was easy to follow along with and understand. The story itself was good. I enjoyed the way things moved across the galaxy and how everything unfolded. I have some assumptions about this world and how it came to be. I don't know how accurate they are or if I'll ever even find out, but sometimes, speculation is my favorite part.

All in all this was a really solid story. I will wait impatiently for the next installment.

Alexis 

I have to be honest. This book was just okay in my opinion. It took me days to get through the first 100 pages. Nothing about the story was really grabbing my attention and I fell like I wasn't connecting with the characters at all. The last part of the book is really what helped save it. It had a little more going on and I was able to focus on the story a bit more. More than likely if this continues as a series I don't think I will continue.

Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[Ableist language, racism & racial slurs, internment camps (mentioned), strangulation, blood depiction, medical experimentation, needles, consensual & non-consensual drugging, death of a mother/father/sister (recounted, death of a mother (on-page), death of a friend), explosion (recounted & on-page), murder & attempted murder, knife violence, police brutality & violence, torture, mind control (discussed), imprisonment, poisoning (hide spoiler)]

This is a book I had seen with a lot of mixed reviews and yet with the beautiful cover and my re-found love of YA sci-fi I wanted to give it a shot. And honestly, I enjoyed it. 

Overall it was a good read. I enjoyed the world-building - the different planets and species, the politics and war background, and in particular, the use of technology and how it intertwined with the plot line. Sure, it could have been more fleshed out but I felt it was a good balance between detail that didn't feel heavy but gave the book some atmosphere and spacey vibes. 

I enjoyed the characters, although they weren't really here nor there. I did fall in love with Kara late in the story and wished there had been more of her in the first half - which primarily focused on Rhee and her side of the story. 

I'll be blunt - I was a little underwhelmed but that may be due to picking this up as an audiobook. While the narration was enjoyable, this is the type of story that I would love to fall into with more focus than I typically dedicate to an audio story. And so, while I am interested in continuing the series, I think I want to pick up a physical copy of this book to reread before I continue. And maybe that reread will give it that little extra something that I was searching for in the audio.

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Happy reading! ❤

Wren Hardwick

I think I liked this one more than I feel I liked it. 



It's Science Fiction based in space, so it kind of threw me for a loop there, but everyone around me was saying what an amazing book this was so of course I gave into peer pressure and picked it up! 

What I really want to point out is how the author really strikes home with the racial discrimination. There are "Dusties" who are hated and thought to be dirty and worthless and we see the struggle of one of our main characters getting the hate, trying to overcome it and just barely dealing with it.

Rhee is a princess finally old enough to reclaim her throne. After a certain amount of unfortunate events though, she is on the run to save her life and to avenge her families untimely death. With the whole galaxy thinking she is dead though, how will she get back her throne? And who can she trust when she realizes all she's ever known is a lie?

Rhee was annoying. She got better towards the end because she wasn't as naive I guess, but her character was not one I enjoyed reading. I bet she gets better. Hopefully her character will continue to grow.

Alytosha, or "Aly", is one of our main points of view. He is being framed for a horrendous crime that he had no part in and is the most wanted "criminal" in all the galaxies. He is well known on top of that because he was apart of some reality TV show. So his face was already recognizable before someone pushed blame on him for a crime he didn't commit.

Speaking of TV shows, this guy complains a lot about the fact he can't even scratch his head without everyone in the world knowing. Talk about your privacy issues. 



Not to mention the fact that everyone in the galaxy has these "cubes" that basically records your life. It holds all your memories. So what happens when people don't respect the universal rule to never take/read/see/ someone else's cube? 

I liked that these characters barely crossed paths for most of the books. They are linked but their stories are different. It will be exciting to see when they finally collide.

Oh! And I also liked that there was very little romance. Like the story focused on so many other aspects which I loved! 

It shaped up to be a great read, Now to wait for until next year...

Melissa Railey

Megan During

Julia Lotz

jess

Magen Irwin 

Marissa Killian

Lillian Nogalski

For fans of Pierce Brown and Firefly comes an epic sci-fi fantasy, hailed as "an important and relevant novel" by The New York Times. Empress Rhee, also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta’an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty. She’ll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne. Fugitive Aly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. But when he’s falsely accused of killing Rhee, he's forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation – and his life. Madman With planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly must confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy. Rhoda Belleza crafts a powerful saga of vengeance, warfare, and the true meaning of legacy in this exhilarating debut, perfect for readers of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles and Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman's Illuminae Files.

Sheila

Sanne Smit

Candyce Kirk

Victoria Justice

sydney 

Tiffanie Dang

Marissa Scudlo

"EmpressRhee, better known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta'an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty. She'll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne. a FugitiveAly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a holo-vision show. But when he's falsely accused of killing Rhee, he's forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation - and his life. a MadmanWith planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly are thrown together to confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy. a Rhoda Belleza crafts a powerful saga of vengeance, warfare, and the true meaning of legacy in her exhilarating debut, perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer and Pierce Brown."

Empress of a Thousand Skies

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