I received the second book in Amanda Bouchet’s Endeavor series from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I started reading right before the pandemic shut everything down. It took me a month to get through the first two chapters. That’s not the book’s fault, it’s my brain. Once I was actually able to focus on the book, I enjoyed it.
Starbreaker is a middle book and does not stand on it’s own, nor is much resolved. Characters evolve and the plot moves forward, but you cannot read this book without having first read Nightchaser, and it leaves you waiting for the third book due in 2021. Right now I am having a hard time comprehending we are only 4 months into 2020, so I am feeling skeptical that 2021 is a real thing that will happen.
It’s a little difficult to discuss the book without getting into spoilers for the first book. I like that Bouchet is keeping the story focused on a few characters who are at the heart of the galactic conflict. At the same time, I wish we saw more of the universe and spent more time in The Fold. Bouchet does choose to give readers slices of what life is like under the Dark Watch.
This is the kind of middle book that’s hard to judge on it’s merits, because the story isn’t done. I have a sense of where it’s going and a general idea of the end result, but I can’t judge the middle until I know the end. I liked Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix a lot better after the series was over because I could see what was being built. Right now, I can guess. But I don’t know if we needed to spend time with the rival bounty hunters or not until I read the last book.
If you liked Nightchaser, you will like Starbreaker. I’ll definitely read it again after the series is complete.
