Some books I have trouble reviewing and I don’t really know why. Changing Course is one of those, even though I liked it, a lot. So while I usually try and write my review with the story still fresh in my mind, I decided to let this one sit for a few days and see what stayed with me.

First of all I have to say how impressed I am with the outstanding world-building in this book. There’s a lot of travelling on the Indemnion planet, and I had no problem imagining what each place was like, and how each person the MCs met looked.

Jessa Arabelle is an intergalactic space captain, whose ship crashes after a collision with an asteroid. She manages to get everyone into escape pods and jump into the last one with some of her crew only to nosedive onto the very uninviting planet of Indemnion. Very aware of her responsibilities as a captain, she’ll do everything she can to protect her crew until she finds a way to bring them home. Kylin Enderson was born and raised in Indemnion and meets the crash survivors on her way to scavenge the wreck. When Jessa insists she lets her come along in hope of finding other survivors, Kylin can’t say no.

Kylin is used to fending for herself, scrounging what she can and enrolling in fights to feed herself and get her sick father the cough medicine he needs. Jessa is a hard worker but comes from a completely different world, where poverty doesn’t exist and emotions are shunned in favour of rational, sensible and pragmatic decisions. Even as she falls for Kylin, she has a hard time understanding what her life is really like.

Changing Course is an exciting read, bringing to life a fascinating world, both awfully scary at times and delightfully beautiful too. Yet, as wonderful as the sci-fi aspect of the book is (definitely 5*), I found the romance aspect a bit lacking. I didn’t really get the emotion I was expecting. Hence the 4* rating. Then again, the characters are good, they’re layered and intense, and I loved Asol. I wouldn’t say no to a sequel about her…

Changing Course @ Bookshop.org / IndieBound / amazon

This post contains affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on this blog at no additional cost to you.