Review: Essex Colony

Essex Colony by Lia Cooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

[Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review]

Surprisingly effective and dare I say cute fantasy scifi love story with suspense and action elements. At least, this was my takeaway after I finished reading it. The characters and plot were captivating thorough, though character exploration is ultimately where this little gem truly shines, and the plot feels more like a vehicle to get there . I really enjoyed Soran as a main character, and enjoyed looking at things through her point of view. Her relationship with Aline was also explored in an interesting way, the back and forth between present and past somehow managing to keep things interesting enough despite how easily (and often) such a tactic can become simply annoying.

Though the story was overall both satisfying and entertaining, I think the climax hung a little loose. I expected a bit more than what we go. In that regard, the denouement to me also feels like it was a little rushed for the sake of the cliffhanger-ish ending.

All in all, a very enjoyable story. I will look forward to other things from the author, and hope she continues exploring this setting, and maybe shows us more from the particular point of view of the characters we got to know here.

View all my reviews