Zenith By Sasha Alsberg & Lindsay Cummings | Worth The Hype? I Think Not.





Zenith Part 1 | Sasha Alsberg & Lindsay Cummings
Release Date: June 21st | Mirabel Inc.
Genre(s): Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 62?
Edition: Ebook
Source: Borrowed
Rating:






#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

There is darkness sweeping across the stars.

Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness: a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her fearsome glass starship the Maurader, she’s just Andi, their captain, and protector.

When a routine mission goes awry, the all-girl crew’s resilience is tested as they find themselves in a most unfamiliar place: at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter connected to Andi’s past and a harrowing betrayal.

Meanwhile, on the far side of the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The final pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two.

Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their ship—or just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles towards the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only thing certain is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted.

From internet sensation Sasha Alsberg and author Lindsay Cummings comes a new serialized space opera, full of action, fantastical intrigue, and steamy star-crossed romance.

For fans of popular sci-fi books and fantasy books for teens such as Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, Wool by Hugh Howey, Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.

I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.



I know, I know, it's been about a full month since you guys have heard a peep from me, and I promise I have a solid explanation .

Adulting + (blogging slump) x reading slump = My Situation.

Yes, adulting mixed with the worst case of the slump known to man, literally kicked my ass into the fetal position. I had no desire to read, to blog, to talk about books, to look at books . . pretty much anything that represented this community, my brain wanted no parts of. I tried for weeks to gather enough motivation to post a review with no such luck. I've even read, (sorta kind of) a few books that I actually enjoyed, The Problem With Forever, The Bird & The Sword, This Savage Song, but because of my gruesome slump, I didn't finish either title. However, thanks to the fairly new release Zenith, I was able to come out of my slump hell to give you guys an unfiltered and completely unbiased review on this over-hyped, over-killed, carbon copy of anything science fiction you've ever read in your life, just because I felt as though a truthful review needed to be put out there. (I've seen a handful, not enough though.)

If Zenith is considered an NYT Bestseller, then fuck it I'm running for president.
#Tikaforprez20whatever #bettertovoteformethanTrump 

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Shame On You Sugar Plum Fairies For Sugarcoating Everything. I don't believe in writing disclaimers. (Disclaimer: This does not include mature content, triggers, etc.) So you'll probably see why I don't understand the point of readers and reviewers writing a long heartfelt message about how they like Sasha's personality, how her hair reminds them of strawberry jello, or how her bookshelves are goals. All of that is A: Irrelevant as hell, and B. paired with, " I had some problems with this book, but I love Sasha's bubbly personality and her channel so I think . . . yadda, yadda, yadda. " makes the whole review sound like a bunch of bullshit. After reading so many reviews, I'm completely convinced that 95% of these readers didn't C. Read the book . . like at all, or that D. They're afraid of being the black sheep, so they sprinkle glitter over the negative parts of their review to instead showcase a love letter they've written to the booktuber turned author.

You guys do realize that even if you spray air freshener over a shit smell it still smells like shit right?
FYI: It's just scented shit at that point. 
Oh and Lindsay wrote this book as well. Just a small reminder because it seems as if most of you have forgotten. Poor tink.

Galactica Yawn Fest. If you're going to sell me a book that's only 62 pages, make it the best 62 pages I've ever read in my entire life! Make it feel like the pages were written with holy water, that Rhysand himself came down from the Night Court and blessed the words with his beautifulness. I mean come on, you would think with a book being sold as a serial the authors would've gone the extra mile to blow us away right? Unfortunately no. One of the major problems I had with Zenith, was that it was incredibly boring. There's a load of info-dump in the very beginning of the book -- a hoopla of irrelevant information and details with little to no explanation, that served absolutely no purpose to me. I read the entire book in just under an hour I believe, and after finishing, I literally said to myself, " wait that's it? " Things happened, of course, introduction of characters, (oh boy I can't wait to spill the tea about this) a fight scene, (* nods off *) and I don't know some other things, everything was just so . . uneventful, bland, dry, boring.

BE YOU. Characters included. When I skimmed reviews and saw mentions that this book was " TOG in space, " I immediately knew I'd be annoyed, but honestly, they weren't lying. (And I don't mean that in a good way.) What's frustrating, (atleast for me) is that you have a seasoned reviewer and an established author with quite a few titles under her belt, yet both of them failed to deliver a story that wasn't a replica of something else. Zenith had ZERO personality, and this was all due to the fact that their entire crew of space people read like pre-existing characters from other stories, especially the main character. I don't know if Sarah J Maas was their inspiration, but it's one thing to be inspired, another to give me an exact replica of something that author has already done. When I say the MC, (such a shame that I can't remember her name, any of their names tbh) was a watered down version of Celaena I most certainly mean it. Down to the mannerisms, she read just like Ardalan's Assassin, even went as far as to deem herself " one of the most notorious criminals in all of Mirabel. " (* chuckles *) She was supposed to be the " Bloody Baroness " a ruthless killer with a squad of bad ass space pirates, and honestly it was all a joke. You have Celaena jr, some blue lady that reminded me way too much of Mystic from Xmen, some other chic, and a young girl that was said to be a complete pyscho, yet every time she was in a scene, I pictured her sitting Indian-style, humming a nursery rhyme while blowing hello kitty bubbles. There's also an ex-boyfriend of Celaena jr's in the picture, a Queen Levana wannabe lady, and some other folks. I can't think of a single thing about these characters that stood out and it's not due to poor memory, but to the fact that they just didn't read like themselves. Why did this feel like a novella that included my favorite characters written by other authors? Definitely not a good way to be remembered.

I think in the case of Zenith, the popularity of one of the authors is the reason why the hype skyrocketed as it did, unfortunately, the story wasn't strong enough to back it up. It was far too unoriginal for my tastes. This is my first time reading the story, yet it read with such familiarity. Then you have the weird case of the story being set in space, (with makes the possibilities endless IMO) yet someone came up with the bright idea to have no world-building. Like come on, it's space! How can you not have world-building IN SPACE?! (An asteroid shaped like a skull doesn't count either bruh.) The writing was okay, it was the redundant use of the word " FIKE " a substitute for the word " FUCK " that made all of the dialogue feel so damn childish. No one uses a word that much in one sentence ladies. If that wasn't enough, I was still left to sludge my way through a lackluster plot, praying to the bookish gods to keep me awake long enough to make it past the halfway point. (Which they did BTW) If these are qualities you're looking for in a book, then hey, knock it out trooper.

Unfortunately for me, reading this book was like drinking Koolaid with no sugar. 
I think that sums up my experience good enough.


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