Ocean’s Echo | ARC Review | #SciFiMonth

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

When Tennal—a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster—is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone with coercive powers strong enough to control him.

Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit’s ability to control minds.

Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn’t all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.

Ocean’s Echo is Everina Maxwell’s second Sci-Fi Romance and another strong and compelling read.

We meet Tennal, a young man on the run for the force of his aunt’s will for him. When she does get ahold of him she forcefully conscripts him into the army with a mind melt with another officer. This officer isn’t wildly happy about the forceful bit and they strike an odd partnership.

One of the aspects I liked about this book is that we got a better look about how the universe is out there. It takes places in the same universe as The Winter’s Orbit but that was on just one planet. Now we get a whole lot more about this world and setting. I would love to dive further into this universe.

Another thing that I loved about this book was Surit, the officer linked to Tennal. He is one of those characters that will always do the right thing as it is within their capacity, who have their heart in the right place and who get shit on a whole lot of the time. But he is one of those that you cherish.

I did not take to Tennal quite as easy. He was an ego pig, only caring about himself. And while nobody deserves to be forced into the army, he never seemed to take responsibility for any action in his life. In the second half of the book this started to change however. He started growing up. He was forced into a sitation where he had to take responsibility one way or the other. And his feelings and connection to Surit made him go a certain way that made him into a whole man.

However I did have some issues with the plot. Certainly I found that the ending of this book dragged on. There was also a bit where Tennal and Surit connected with their powers but the explanation felt vague and I didn’t feel like I had a good handle on this specific bit.