Review: Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Horse rating: 0 of 5 horses
I really enjoyed this! It was much heavier on the sci-fi and mystery plot, with mild Dune vibes to boot. It had a very sweet romance to round it out as well.
I loved seeing Kiem and Jainan come together and learn to trust each other. Both of them independently as characters were so adorable, and had great depth. Kiem with his gregarious people-person self, and Jainan with his more restrained, highly technical background. I really enjoyed how they worked together to play to their strengths, even accidentally (like at Hraven Base) - those were some of the cutest moments. Outside of all the other cute moments.
It is a slower, more subtle growing together romance, with fade to black - I think it worked perfectly for balancing emotional connection with the much larger political intrigue and such.
The world building was done so well. All of the tech and elements and world details were worked in seamlessly, in a way that there was no info dumping, but the reader still learned. I especially loved the animal detail - doves and bears not at all like what you’d think. Clever twist.
I got totally sucked into the high stakes mystery plot. I’m a total dingdong when it comes to solving mysteries, so I was on tenterhooks the whole time. Lots of fun.
I also wanted to specifically note that I very much appreciated how gender was done in this world. Indicated through ornamentation, or particularly tied clan scarves. No assumptions, and everyone is respectful. If only that was on our planet too!
Overall, this was a real winner for me on all counts. I’d love to read more by Maxwell - and with a second book slated for November '22, I'll be keeping an eye out for sure!
Winter's Orbit on Amazon
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