Alex Sheppard (https://www.facebook.com/authoralexsheppard/) hasn't been very active since 2018, or so it seems after visiting his / her facebook page. Then again, neither am I 😉
However, this post isn't about productivity, but about this book / series. Let's start with the verdict: nah.
Young Adult vs. Childish
This is NOT meant as a negative dig at the author or his / her work! I just give an honest opinion, and it might be a little harsh. So be it.
The book starts as the typical 'rich but ignored heiress runs away from her evil father'. Ramya (the teen girl MC) lands herself aboard an old decrepit freighter, captained by an old war hero, who accidentally knows her father. Aha...
We'll add a large fleet, destroyed by some bio-mechanical fighters, which her daddy developed using dangerous alien technology. We'll pick up an SOS signal from the wreckage, and match Ramya with the Stryker-figther-ship in a kind of human-AI-alien-something-else relation.
The plot is a little over-coincidental, but that isn't the problem. I'm simply not sure if the book is deliberately aimed at Young Adults, or that it's simply underdeveloped writing, or written by a younger author still working on his / her craft. I suspect the latter. I hate to say it, but the word that comes to mind is 'childish'.
Sorry.
Narration
It can't improve on what is somewhat simplistic writing, and tends to become outright condescending at times.
Verdict
I guess the author was relatively young(er) when writing this, and is working on newer, better stuff. There's promise in there, but needs more time to ripe.
The conclusion -- unfortunately -- is to skip this book and its sequels.
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