Book Reviews / LGBTQ+ / Novella / Science Fiction

Mini Book Review: Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis

Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1)
Publisher: DAW
Pub Date: 6 August 2024
Genre: Science Fiction/Space Opera Novella

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

A high octane sexy space heist from New York Times-bestselling author Beth Revis, the first in a novella trilogy.

Ada Lamarr may have gotten to the spaceship wreck first, but looter’s rights won’t get her far when she’s got a hole in the side of her ship and her spacesuit is almost out of air. Fortunately for her, help arrives in the form of a government salvage crew—and while they reluctantly rescue her from certain death, they are not pleased to have an unexpected passenger along on their classified mission.

But Ada doesn’t care—all that matters to her is enjoying their fine food and sweet, sweet oxygen—until Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there’s more to Ada than meets the eye. He’s not wrong—but he’s so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her—at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off. But as quick as Ada is, Rian might be quicker—and she may not be entirely sure who’s manipulating who until it’s too late…

A phenomenally fun novella that kicks off a trilogy of sexy space heists and romantic tension, Full Speed to a Crash Landing is packed with great characters and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.

I read this as a book recommendation to fulfill one of my reading challenge prompts and after hearing so many good thing about it, I’m glad to say that I get it! I have to be honest and say that I was initially worried when I first picked it up and wasn’t vibing with our FMC. Ada was… A lot to begin with and she kind of rubbed me the wrong way with her attitude. It was overenthusiastic manic pixie but then almost immediately after, we’d get a different side to her that got me thinking: what exactly is going on here?!

I loved that we were almost immediately given clues that Ada isn’t entirely what she seems, and how she presents herself to the crew, while not giving us the whole picture so that we’re kept on tenterhooks to find out what the real story is behind everything. Honestly, we were only just one or two clueless levels up from Rian and the rest of the crew, and while that might not work for everybody, I’m happy to say that it ended up working for me!

Despite being a novella, this is also a bit of a slow burn in terms of plot, so if you can have patience, it’s worth it in the end. Aside from the mystery of Ada’s character, I was intrigued by the world that Revis presents to us. In this future, Earth is on its last legs as the effects of climate change have ravaged the planet and turned it into a toxic dumpster fire, where only few people can live and survive. Of course, humans have already traversed space and found “new Earths” to inhabit, with a few being more powerful than others. It’s scary thinking about how this dystopian reality isn’t all that hard to imagine, especially with the way we’re treating our planet at the moment, but it also made me want to keep reading to see how it factors into the wider plot.

There is also a very mild romance sub-plot in this that I’m desperate to read more about because the chemistry was so good! It wasn’t really instalove but the attraction certainly was instant, and with their palpable chemistry, I felt it on every level! That ending was kinda tragic and heartbreaking for both of them, but knowing Rian, the man is not gonna give up and that last footnote to end the book? Let’s just say that the romance girlies will be eating it up! I know I squealed a little at the declaration. 🤭

By the time we reach the end of this, we’re hit with a barrage of twist reveals that make the initial sense of confusion—and admittedly some frustration—well worth it. I now can’t wait to get my hands on the next two books so I can finish the trilogy asap.

Have you read Full Speed to a Crash Landing or is it on your TBR?

13 thoughts on “Mini Book Review: Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis”

  4. I had initially waited to finish this trilogy because book three wasn’t out yet when I finished book one, but now that the whole thing has been published I need to make a point of getting back to it. You’re right—there were a lot of twists throughout and I’m really curious to see what the endgame for it all is!

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    • I still haven’t continued with the series yet but I’m so glad that it’s complete and that if I wanted to binge read the rest of it, I can do it immediately! 🤭 I’m so curious to see what the endgame for it will be too.

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