Winter's Orbit: The instant Sunday Times bestseller and queer space opera

Bis 70% war es ein 5 Sterne Kandidat, aber zum absoluten Highlight gingen mir die letzten 70 Seiten dann einfach zu schnell, vor allem die Trauma-Überwindung offpage.

Ich lese ja eigentlich kein Sci-fi, aber fand das hier echt gut! Aber ja die ganzen technischen, strategischen und politischen Erklärungen fand ich oft anstrengend durchzukommen. Richtig reingekommen bin ich so nach der Hälfte. Die Romance war super cute! Besser als erwartet

I’m DNF for now. I’m so sorry but the story is just not for me. Because I love Jainan und Kiem, and the relationship forming between them, I’m going to give this another try a little bit later in the year. The writing is beautiful but the pace of the story is just to slow to my liking. DNF at page 70 - ⭐️ Star

Protect Jainan at all costs. The main issue about this book seems to be whether there is enough or too much romance, with opinions that diverge widely in both directions. Funnily enough, for my taste, the book found exactly the right balance for Kiem and Jainan's relationship and everything else – the murder, the mystery, the politics – that's going on. Also, despite the serious parts and the increasing issues with the world they live in we get to see, it never stopped being fun, and as someone who's so tired of all dark and gloomy and honestly kind of depressing sci-fi, that's something I always love to see.

Ehrlich gesagt tue ich mich mit der Rezension für "Winter's Orbit" ein wenig schwer. Im Grunde war die Geschichte nicht uninteressant und die beiden Protagonisten durchaus liebenswert. Wenn ich allerdings an das Gelesene zurück denke, gibt es eigentlich kaum eine Szene, die mir besonders in Erinnerung blieb. Und obwohl es zwischendurch durchaus mal etwas spannendere Passagen gab, nahm ich sie eher als "gegeben" hin, als dass ich besonders darauf brannte, wie sich die Spannung wohl lösen würde. Ich weiß nicht genau, woran es lag. Das Buch war eigentlich gut und flüssig zu lesen. Wie jedoch die ganzen Charaktere miteinander agierten, wirkte oft ziemlich holprig und nicht nachvollziehbar. Auch das ganze politische System machte den Zugang zur Geschichte nicht einfacher. Und es mag ja sein, dass eine politische Hochzeit von heute auf morgen plausibel ist, aber die Umsetzung und das Miteinander des frisch gebackenen Ehepaares war irgendwie merkwürdig und unglaubwürdig. Ich konnte mich nicht wirklich in deren Situation hineinversetzen um zu verstehen, warum sie so handelten, wie sie handelten. Da fehlte einfach der entsprechende Input seitens der Autorin, um eine Verbindung zu den Charakteren aufzubauen. Dass es in dem Buch weniger um die "Romanze" ging als um die eigentlichen "Gefahren" drumherum, fand ich eher positiv. Wie gesagt wurde es zwischendurch etwas spannender und eigentlich war die Idee zum Plot durchaus ansprechend. Deswegen empfand ich das Lesen des Buches nicht als Zeitverschwendung. Manches hat sich bis zum Ende etwas verständlicher und nachvollziehbarer aufgelöst, sodass ich das Buch schließlich doch ganz zufrieden aus der Hand legen konnte.

Oh man, I never thought I'd read something that would be in the science fiction genre - but I can say that (aside from the romance) I liked the world-building and everything so much that I'm a little hooked! The book was beautifully written, and took enough time for all the plot lines and also the character developments. I would have loved to have had a deeper insight into Taam and Jainan's relationship and also Jainan's coming to terms with it. Jainan became a little too quickly too self-confident for me at this point. (But that's really nit-picking at a very high level.) At first, I wasn't sure I liked Kiem, but he turned out to be such a cool character that I fell for him completely. I love the two of them and so hope to learn even more about the universe in the somehow sequel <3<3<3

This is character driven Sci-Fi book set up around some political schemes. I liked the two main characters which were so totally different and grew so much throughout the story. At some points it was a bit tropy, but I liked it nonetheless. But what I liked most was the diversity in this book, how normal everything queer was, especially how gender was described and how everyone just showed if they were female, male or non-binary. It seemed so easy in this book - and showed therefore how long the way is that lies before us.

This book is one of my immediate favorites and even though I read it early in January, I'm already certain that it will be in my highlights from this year. Many thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for the eARC! The protagonist of Winter's Orbit is chaotic Prince Kiem who is suddenly thrust into a political marriage for the sake of his Empire's stability. His new partner Jainan just lost his previous husband but will carry out his duty to the Empire with a replacement. Both of them are pretty much opposites - Kiem is a charming social butterfly, while Jainan is mostly a quiet introvert. Even though neither of them have a solid grip on the basics of communication, they find a balance when it is revealed that the death of Jainan's first husband might not have been an accident after all. If they don't figure out what has happened, their Empire will find itself on the brink of a devastating intergalactic war. Right from the beginning, I was drawn in by the characters. Both of the protagonists grew on me very quickly, which made it so easy to fly though the book. Their relationship starts off difficult and there are oh so many misunderstandings. This usually puts me off, but in this book, I actually really felt with them and it didn't bother me at all. Even more, I found myself deeply involved in their relationship after just a few chapters! Something positive I also immediately noticed is the great writing style. It is easy and at the same time full of humor - I ended up grinning almost all the time while reading Kiem's chapters. His direct and slightly depreciating comments and comebacks are hilarious! This made the first half of the book, that is basically just mutual pining, very enjoyable! (Even though, again, I usually don't really dig stories with a romance that barely progresses past the first stage in the center.) It did surprise me just how much the romance took the main stage, especially in the first half of the book. Since I love both the characters, though, I was happy with that, too. It's even more fun to watch their dynamics when the political intrigues and murder investigation kick off! Also noteworthy are the great secondary characters and the awesome worldbuilding that I did not, in fact, get enough of. Despite me raving about this book, I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. This book deserves a content warning for domestic abuse. For me, it didn't feel very explicit, but people who are sensitive about this topic should be careful. Before I started this book, I already knew about its past as a popular work on a fanfiction website, and I had heard about some tropes that would play a role. Therefore, it's no surprise that I noticed how similar - in the best way - this book feels to good fanfiction. It might be the mixture of suspense and romantic moments, and the dramatic climax. I am a huge sucker for some of those tropes and actually stayed up late reading because I couldn't stop and just really, really wanted to see it! The ending is also very satisfying (although it might be a tad cliche, which I didn't mind at all). All in all, Winter's Orbit is now a new favorite book of mine. The pacing isn't at all what I expected, and it's true that the protagonists' inability to talk to each other can become infuriating, but both of those flaws are easily forgiven. This story and its lovable characters are absolutely fantastic!

Holy cow. Now this was something I have never read before! It was amazing. I loved the protagonists and the storyline. No clue why, but I caught the issue of Jainans past very quickly. Maybe it was because of my own experiences, maybe it just was very obvious. But I didn’t mind, cause the interesting part was, how this would turn out with Kiem. I liked the conflict of the book. It was a big one, but written in a way you could still follow it, even tho I hate politics. Oh and Bel .. amazing that one. Badass head to toe.

I had so much fun! I enjoyed the space politics and mystery. 

Spannende, unterhaltsame und queere Science-Fiction-Story, mit zwei Protagonisten, die ich vom Fleck weg mochte!

3.5

Really loved the characters and I would love to read more about them!! But sadly the plot just didn't cat me

Kiem and Jainan, such cuties