From Goodreads: "Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness, a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her glass starship, Marauder, however, she's just Andi, their friend and fearless leader. But when a routine mission goes awry, the Marauder's all-girl crew is tested as they find themselves in a treacherous situation and at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter from Andi's past. Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two. Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their ship or just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles toward the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only certainty is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted."

Thank you to Harlequin Teen for providing me with a copy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Oh boy. Where do I even begin with this review? First off, I did not finish this book. It hurts to say that because this was a highly anticipated release for me, but I just couldn't do it. I really did try and got halfway through but after that, I just lost all desire to continue, unfortunately. The story didn't feel like it was going anywhere, I couldn't find it in me to care about any of the characters that were introduced, there were way too many points of view for me to even keep up, and I really did not enjoy the writing style. All in all, Zenith was an unfortunate fail for me and despite the fact that I did not finish it, I am going to review it because I'd like to share my thoughts on my reading experience. So, let's get to it!

Plot:
I know this book has a plot, but I have to admit that it didn't really feel like it had one. I've read tons of reviews that state that Zenith has a very similar plot to Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Now, I haven't read that book (or any other book by SJM, for that matter) but after reading the description of it, I can see the similarities. I have to admit that even the description of the main character made me picture the cover of Throne of Glass while I was reading. I also got some serious Six of Crows vibes from this while reading and...this is not Six of Crows or Throne of Glass in the slightest. But basically, the plot is as follows: Andi is hired to find the lost son of a general from her home planet and is given an ultimatum to basically either find him or die. Or maybe just go to prison forever? There's also a sub-plot involving the queen of another planet that is plotting her revenge to destroy the galaxy. Honestly, I had trouble following what was happening because there were so many different stories happening alongside the main plot. I wish it had just been about Andi and her crew taking on this mission, kicking butt and taking names all across the galaxy. I would have absolutely devoured this book if that had been the storyline! I went into Zenith thinking that was the plot and then was overwhelmed with all of the sub-plots and points of view which led to me ultimately putting the book down because I was just so confused. Maybe if there were less POV changes and more focus on just Andi and her crew (with Andi being the only point of view we read from) or the queen of Xen Ptera and the Marauder crew, then it would have been a better read for me. But it felt very disorganized and like there were far too many ideas trying to take center stage at the same time.

Characters:
I mentioned this above but there were way too many points of view in this book. There was Andi, Valen, Lira, Dex, Nor Solis, and Klaren. Yes, that's right, there are six points of view in this book. If you've been around my blog for a while, you know that I am not a fan of multiple points of view in books. I get confused and just genuinely do not enjoy having to split my attention between multiple characters while I'm reading. I did have high hopes while reading thinking that maybe, possibly, I wouldn't get confused and would really enjoy the story and getting to read from different characters perspectives. Quite the opposite happened, unfortunately. For me, I feel that Zenith suffered from too many characters trying to tell too many stories all at once and it led to me getting frustrated because I just couldn't keep up with what was happening. It might have gone over better if I had connected to at least one of the characters while I was reading, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't find anything about any of the characters that I liked and I found myself just reading to get through it rather than reading to find out what happened to the characters that we were introduced to. I didn't care about any of the characters and felt like the inclusion of so many different viewpoints hurt rather than helped the story.

I think my biggest complaint about the characters involves who I think is considered the main character- Andi. We are told ad nauseam that Andi is known throughout the galaxy as the Bloody Baroness. Are you picturing a bloodthirsty fighter with zero remorse for all of the murders and crimes that she's committed? Because that's what I pictured, that's what I was hoping for. Instead, we got someone who marks all of the kills on her blade (blades? I literally cannot remember if she has one or two) and constantly thinks about the people that she's killed and how she's ruined the lives of their families. She's remorseful over everything she does and is not at all the ruthless killer you're made to believe that she is. If I'm reading about a character called the Bloody Baroness, I want a vicious character who kills with no remorse. I want her to kill and laugh while doing it. I want something from this supposedly terrifying character that you're trying to make me believe is actually terrifying. Andi as a character was a huge let down for me in a long list of letdowns that Zenith presented.

Also, I can't be the only one who thought of Liara from Mass Effect every single time Lira was on the page, right? That's...oddly coincidental.

Writing:
One thing I will say that is a potential positive about this book is that I couldn't tell the difference between parts that Sasha wrote and parts that Lindsay wrote. That's not saying that I enjoyed the writing by any means because I, unfortunately, did not but the two did a pretty decent job blending their writing together. I did notice that there were times when the writing would shift from flowery and pretty to...well, not flowery and pretty. So maybe that was the difference in the two author's writing showing? Whatever it was, I just was not a fan of the writing overall in this book. I never found myself enjoying what I was reading but rather just reading to get through to the end- which I couldn't accomplish after all. Sometimes, even if I'm not enjoying the characters or a plot, the writing will be enough to help me push on and finish a book. That was not the case with Zenith no matter how hard I tried.

What I found most difficult to ignore was how the authors did a lot of telling and not a lot of showing, and the use of italics. If you think I have overused the italic button in this review, don't pick up Zenith. There are so many words throughout the book that are italicised for some reason as if the authors didn't trust their readers enough to put their own emphasis on certain words. That made me feel dumb and also slightly irritated me. Seriously, there are so many italicised words in this book. It drove me nuts and definitely contributed to me not finishing this book. As for the telling versus showing, there were so many scenes throughout that felt very unnecessary and filled with nothing but unimportant information that did nothing to move the plot along. There wasn't a lot of description but rather the authors telling the readers about things. We're not able to create the scene in our heads because we're told what's happening or are told the surroundings instead of given descriptions of things. So, long story short, the writing was a no-go for me, just like the rest of this book.

Now, I will say that I did actually enjoy the original 62-page story that was released in 2016 and I was incredibly excited to hear that it was being turned into a full book. But I think this just goes to show that reading tastes can change over time and that's not a bad thing! Maybe I'm just not in the right mindset to read Zenith at this time and I won't say that I'll never pick this up again and give it a second shot. I'd like to think that later in the year I'll revisit this book with a fresh mind and see what I think about it then. But, for now, this is a DNF for me.

On an island junkyard beneath a sky that glows with radiation, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.

Seventeen-year-old Eve isn't looking for trouble--she's too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, she's on the local gangster's wanted list, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive is the money she just lost to the bookies. Worst of all, she's discovered she can somehow destroy machines with the power of her mind, and a bunch of puritanical fanatics are building a coffin her size because of it. If she's ever had a worse day, Eve can't remember it. The problem is, Eve has had a worse day--one that lingers in her nightmares and the cybernetic implant where her memories used to be. Her discovery of a handsome android named Ezekiel--called a "Lifelike" because they resemble humans--will bring her world crashing down and make her question whether her entire life is a lie. With her best friend Lemon Fresh and her robotic sidekick Cricket in tow, Eve will trek across deserts of glass, battle unkillable bots, and infiltrate towering megacities to save the ones she loves... and learn the truth about the bloody secrets of her past.

Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09—one of the last remaining illegal Metals—has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him. Ana’s desperate effort to save D09 leads her on a quest to steal the coordinates to a lost ship that could offer all the answers. But at the last moment, a spoiled Ironblood boy beats Ana to her prize. He has his own reasons for taking the coordinates, and he doesn’t care what he’ll sacrifice to keep them. When everything goes wrong, she and the Ironblood end up as fugitives on the run. Now their entire kingdom is after them—and the coordinates—and not everyone wants them captured alive. What they find in a lost corner of the universe will change all their lives—and unearth dangerous secrets. But when a darkness from Ana’s past returns, she must face an impossible choice: does she protect a kingdom that wants her dead or save the Metal boy she loves?

Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets…and secrets hide in every shadow.

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted. Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems. Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city…And she’ll need to play.

Seventeen-year-old Eelyn’s world is war. Raised to fight alongside her Aska clansmen in a generations-old blood feud against the Riki, her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago. Faced with her brother's betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki if she wants to make it back to the fjord after the thaw. But when she begins to see herself in the people she's been taught to hate, the world Eelyn once knew begins to crumble. And after the village is raided by a ruthless clan many believe to be a myth, Eelyn is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend who has tried more than once to kill her. Together, they must end the blood feud between their clans or watch their people be slaughtered.

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There's not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley's favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.
So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone's explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life. Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer...before the killer strikes again.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for the enemy.

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. 

Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness, a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her glass starship, Marauder, however, she's just Andi, their friend and fearless leader. But when a routine mission goes awry, the Marauder's all-girl crew is tested as they find themselves in a treacherous situation and at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter from Andi's past. Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two. Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their shipor just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles toward the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only certainty is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted.

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful. But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision. With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.

When a routine mission goes awry, the all-girl crew’s resilience is tested as they find themselves in a most unfamiliar place: at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter connected to Andi’s past and a harrowing betrayal. Meanwhile, on the far side of the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The final pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two. Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their ship—or just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles towards the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only thing certain is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted."


All opinions in the following review are 100% my own and are completely unbiased. Enjoy!

Part one of Zenith: The Androma Saga is only 56 pages (44 if we're excluding the title page, blurbs, dedications, and acknowledgements) long, but grabs you from page one and does not let go until the very end. While I felt this was quite short, especially for an "opening," I did take into account that it is a serialized book and that the remaining installments are going to be released throughout 2016. Despite having only 44 pages of content to read, Sasha and Lindsay were able to hook me from the very first page of the prologue and have secured my interest in all future installments of Zenith!

The book begins with a prologue called Cell 377 and a character named Valen Cortas. There isn't much information given except that he's locked away in a prison and that he wants revenge. I was immediately curious as to who he was, and why he was locked up. Thankfully I got my answer by the end of part one! The rest of the book (with the exception of chapter eight) follows Androma Racella, or Andi as she is frequently called, and her crew of misfit criminals. Andi is the captain of the Marauder and is known across the galaxy as the ruthless Bloody Baroness. Her crew consists of Lira, Breck, and Gilly who are her second in command/pilot, and two gunners. While we are only given bits and pieces of information about the crew, I almost instantly fell in love with Lira, and found myself making parallels between Gilly and Sasha.

While I absolutely loved this book, there were a few minor things I found myself questioning. Throughout the majority of the book, there are multiple references to things found in the universe of Zenith, but little to no explanation as to what these things were. Now, I gave those things a bit of a pass because, this is the start/opening to this book, and I feel like the references will be touched on again as more of the story is released. Again, this is the very beginning of the book. It's hard to harshly judge the 44 pages of content because that's all it is. But within the 44 pages, I believe that Sasha and Lindsay did a wonderful job setting up the story and the universe to where they could very easily expand and explain in future parts of the book. I would love to learn about more planets/galaxies and some of the heists that Andi and her crew have done!

One thing, however, that did bother me, was Andi. She's supposedly the ruthless Bloody Baroness, but constantly talks about how much guilt she has in regards to all of the people that she's killed. I feel as if someone called the Bloody Baroness should be almost emotionless and brutal and not care about the number of people that she's killed. Mark up your katanas and move on to the next one, girl! Hopefully she fills the shoes of that title more in the later installments, because I would love to see her go full on Bloody Baroness! Other than that, I loved Andi so very much.

Am I the only one totally shipping Andi/Lira, by the way? No shame, I will go down with the ship.

Zenith gave off a very Firefly-esque vibe for me. I loved the idea of a rag tag group of criminals doing odd jobs to try and skirt by while avoiding the government that is constantly pursuing  them. Each character introduced in the book was very unique, and I really enjoyed the little things about all of them that made them stand out. Being able to connect with at very least the main character is a huge factor into whether or not I'll end up liking a book, and by the end of part one, I had either a connection or strong feelings about all of the characters introduced. I'm really interested in learning more about Valen as well as Nor Solis! Also, I feel like Andi working for the governor of Arcardius could turn out to be very interesting. Especially with them having a fairly rocky past. I smell a plot twist coming!

The writing all throughout Zenith Part One was absolutely beautiful. It was so descriptive, and I really felt like I was right there on the Marauder with Andi and the crew, or in Cell 377 with Valen, and even on Xen Ptera with Nor Solis. I enjoyed the small details written in, such as the space trash referenced several times that is said to be just randomly flying through space. I really got a kick out of that, for some reason. All of the writing flowed very well together, and both Sasha and Lindsay's writing was absolutely seamless. It felt like there was one author writing the book and I really loved not being able to tell which author was writing at what time. With such a strong start, I really can't wait to see what these ladies have in store for the rest of the book!

By the end, I found myself saying "Is that it?!" I was so hooked that I wasn't ready for it to end, but I feel as though it ended very strong, and left a wonderful open world for the story to branch out into. I am hoping for more of Nor Solis' storyline, as I feel like she could turn out to be vicious and a real threat to the galaxy. As far as Andi goes, I'm interested to find out just how she intends to get in and smuggle a person out of Xen Ptera. Fingers crossed for some really cool fight and flight scenes! All in all, this was a strong debut for Sasha and Lindsay as co-authors and it certainly has my attention! Now when does part two come out?!