Rachel Caine

Ann Aguirre

Honor Among Thieves (Honors)

Meet your new favorite kickass heroine in this daring YA series by New York Times bestselling authors Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre, a thrilling yet romantic futuristic adventure perfect for fans of Claudia Gray’s A Thousand Pieces of You. Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell. Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers. Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth’s dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she’s assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight.

Honor Among Thieves

jess

I was expecting your run-of-the-mill space sci-fi from Honor Among Thieves, but what I got reminded me heavily of Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan combined with the video game Dead Space. Weird combination, yes, but it works. Honor Among Thieves is a near-future where humanity has joined with sentient spaceship aliens for a cultural exchange, but it turns out to be something much darker. (And no, it was not a heist novel, which the title totally made me expect.)

At first, I was really weirded out by what looked like it was shaping up to be a romance between the main character Zara and the alien ship Nadim. Like, I was totally getting ready to complain about straight people antics, but I forced myself to stop thinking of it as a romance and more of a deep bond between two alien species - which, honestly, is probably closer to what the authors were trying to portray. (view spoiler)[Also, as Bea began to bond with Nadim too, it was clearer that it was not meant to be a romance. (hide spoiler)] I eventually grew to like the relationship, as well as all three characters on Nadim. Zara, the narrator, is really aggressive and reckless, but I liked it and her narrative voice was a really fun one because she's not quite as eloquent as your typical narrator - "wrecked his shit" is Zara's favourite way of describing things, apparently, but it suits her. She and Bea also complement each other so well, because they're both soft and aggressive in different ways. I was totally hoping for a romance between them, honestly. 

The entire plot of Honor Among Thieves is the bonding between these three characters while discovering the secrets behind the Leviathans, and it was fascinating watching the secret unfold. (view spoiler)[When it did, it was terrifying. I have to commend the authors for being one of the only authors who could give me chills through their descriptions of the Phage. That last quarter or so of the book is why I described it as Dead Space. Everything gets scarier the further you read, and by the end, I would say that it's definitely drifting into space horror territory, and I would be one hundred percent pleased if it continued this way. (hide spoiler)]

While Honor Among Thieves isn't the most intense sci-fi I've ever read, it is certainly one of the more interesting ones, and a great addition to harder sci-fi.

Marissa Metzler

** spoiler alert **
           well, was it amazing? no. BUT it was entertaining in a very odd way… i’m just gonna leave with some quotes that i found myself questioning why I continuted ti read this 😂
- “ I sensed something deep in my bones, almost like a purr radiating from Nadim’s depths. It could be his pulse or a subharmonic communication I couldn’t quite understand. It made me want to keep touching him.” 
- “I was hurting myself, but I didn’t care, because at least we were hurting together.” at this point they have bonded and thats why she feels his pain
- “I collapsed and felt the misty presence of him form around me. It was the closest we could come to an embrace” 

There were so many more but these were the only few that I had highlighted while reading. I’d only recommend this book because sometimes you need a good three star book. The plot was… something, but the idea of the book was what really had me hooked and wanting to just know how it ended made me skip tons of bodies of text because many scenes you could just read here and there and understand what was going on

Kayla

This book was fascinating and engaging. I was entertained the whole way through and finished it quickly. Zara was a badass protagonist that was easy to root for, even with her flaws. Nadim was really cool to get to know and I enjoyed the bond he and Zara shared. The mystery in this book kept me interested, and the action and stakes had me worrying for the characters. I really liked the book and want to read more.

laura

* I got this book from NYCC for free for my honest review*
I really enjoyed this book. It was science fiction adventure in the same vein as Illumnaie and Unearthed. I was such a fast pace story with a compelling mystery. I felt like I really loved the POV character a lot. But I wanted to have more POV other then her to round up the world. I did like the documents in the book and how the accented the world but I wanted more of them. I did get lost sometimes in the world building and wanting some more clarity. But it keeps me reading and I loved the various twist and turns this book took. Will def be tuning into book 2 :)

Alice Goad

This book was honestly one of my top reads of the year. Potentially ever, but I am saving that title until I have read the other two in the trilogy.

The storyline in this book is one of the most original and exciting plots I have ever come across. A living ship? I'm all in!

The characters, though some are not human, felt so human and so real. Zara, the badass who trusts no-one is one of the most down to Earth characters I have ever had the pleasure to read about. She was so well rounded and it really felt as if you were discovering her at the same time she was discovering herself. Beatriz is a very reserved character, which creates a perfect dynamic between her and Zara. They are like chalk and cheese but it really really works. Finally, the Leviathans. The main two are Nadim and Typhon. They are both very different, but both extremely well developed characters, each with an individual, very human personality.

The twists in the story keep it very interesting and keep you thoroughly engrossed throughout. But what's a space story without something going wrong anyway?

All in all, a fantastic story and I cannot wait to read where it goes next!

Ashton Reed

4.75 stars

As of the moment I can’t think of anything to nitpick about this book, so let’s just dive in! Haha

First of all, I love how unique this book is! I didn’t really have any idea what I was getting into because the blurb is kind of vague, but for some reason I wasn’t even expecting sentient aliens that look like whales but swim through space! That’s so freaking cool! I have definitely never seen anything like this.

Honestly, though this is entirely a space novel, it feels almosts… magical. Whether we were in space, on a planet, or talking to our sweet little alien whale, everything felt so otherworldly and less sci-fi than many other space novels that I’ve read. That magic sucked me in from the first chapter, and I loved it! Now don’t get me wrong, there is definitely still sci-fi stuff going on; the technology, the aliens, all that still felt sci-fi and awesome!

I also love the characters! Starting with our MC, Zara, she kicks booty! She thinks things out before she does them, and she is snarky and hilarious. I also love her development, as well. She starts off so injured by her childhood (which, by the way, I thought was wonderfully developed), but with such deep relationships with Nadim, the sweet whale alien, and Beatriz, her fellow Honor, she learns that love doesn’t hurt, it makes you fight harder. 

While we’re on the subject, Nadim is the star of the show! I love him so freaking much. Everytime he talked, especially at first, it just made me so happy! He’s so sweet, and to see his relationships with his Honors blossoming was so great. I love his development, as well. I hope he maintains his sweetness in the future. Beatriz, too, is an amazing character, but you’ll just have to meet her for yourself ;)

I know I kind of already mentioned this, but the relationships built during the story are probably what make it so intriguing and great. They are deep and build each other up through all the hardships of the past and the present. I loved seeing the friendships develop, especially between Nadim and Zara; they have a deeper relationship that is, well, a deep bond that reflects how we should treat the people we love. 

Overall, I devoured this story! Everything was so deep and otherworldly, whether that be through its magical feel or its space vibe. But what really sold it for me were the characters and the relationships they had with each other. By themselves, the characters were unique, complex, and awesome, but together, they built each other up and helped each other through everything. Basically, go read this book! It’s unique and gripping, honestly. 

Au revoir!


Oh, and if you enjoyed this review, be sure to follow me ;) . I also have a blog (link in bio) and a bookstagram @ashton_reads if you'd like to check that out, as well. Thanks!

Honor Among Thieves (Honors)

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