Omg, is that a review?! I honestly don’t see how I can call myself a book reviewer when the last time I posted a review was well over a month ago. Oh well, better late than never! And boy, do I have a book for y’all.
I don’t even remember how I found out about Crownchasers. My best guess is that it was mentioned in a recommendations thread on Twitter. Anyway, I purchased it last week, and have already finished it! It was so, so good. And now I finally have another sci-fi book to recommend besides Illuminae/Red Rising/The Expanse.Crownchasers
Crownchasers
By Rebecca Coffindaffer
Published September 29 by Harper Teensci-fi | space race | young adult
My rating: ★★★★★
Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy. Her mother sacrificed everything to bring peace to the quadrant, and her uncle has successfully ruled as emperor for decades. But the last thing Alyssa wants is to follow in their footsteps as the next in line for the throne. Why would she choose to be trapped in a palace when she could be having wild adventures exploring a thousand-and-one planets in her own ship?
But when Alyssa’s uncle becomes gravely ill, his dying wish surprises the entire galaxy. Instead of naming her as his successor, he calls for a crownchase, the first in seven centuries. Representatives from each of the empire’s prime families—including Alyssa—are thrown into a race to find the royal seal, which has been hidden somewhere in the empire. The first to find the seal wins the throne.
Alyssa’s experience as an explorer makes her the favorite to win the crown she never wanted. And though she doesn’t want to be empress, her duty to her uncle compels her to participate in this one last epic adventure. But when the chase turns deadly, it’s clear that more than just the fate of the empire is at stake. Alyssa is on her most important quest yet—and only time will tell if she’ll survive it.
What I Liked
I liked so many things about this book, it’s hard to choose where to begin. Let’s begin with world, though. Or should I say worlds? There are 1001 planets that are ruled by one emperor. As far as I can tell, none of the characters are human, since they’re all from different planets and I didn’t see “earth” in there. But they are all humanoid. I like how the mechanics of the world aren’t unnecessarily complicated. Hyperlight makes ship go zoom, and that’s about it. None of those complicated techie terms like in some other sci-fis.
I enjoyed the setup a lot too, because you all know I’m a sucker for space and treasure hunts. And now they were combined into one novel! This is not a big book, but a lot happens in it, so the pacing is quite fast. I also immediately loved the characters. This book follows Alyssa mostly, but you also get glimpses of the other Crown Chasers. You can tell that there is more to the characters than how they portray themselves, and despite the size of the book, I got the sense that they were really well developed beyond what was one the pages. Some of them are also very scheme-y and suspicious, which is awesome.
From the get go, I had tons of questions. Most of those have been answered in this book, some I hope will be answered in the sequel. There are quite some events in the book that led to more mystery, and I’m excited to see how these will be resolved. I love making up my own theories, so we’ll have to see if I’m right.
What I Liked Less
Not much, to be honest. The only thing I can say here is that because the pacing is so fast, you’re really thrown into the world without knowing a thing about it. So in the beginning it took a while to figure out who’s who and who comes from where. I would’ve loved it if there was an appendix listing all the prime families, which planet they call home, and what their planet is known for.
All in all, I thought Crownchasers was amazing, and one of the best debuts I have read. The sequel comes out in October, and honestly it can’t come fast enough. The cover has just been released, too, and I absolutely love it! If you enjoy the occasional space-race, please check this one out!
Find more review here!
