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Overall Thoughts
This story starts out on high-octane all the way from the beginning to the end. From a stolen ship with an experimental AI, to unknown aliens from maybe another reality, to high-stakes battles, this book has everything. Well, most of it. My main issue being: that was all of the book. There is a mystery set up at the beginning with the main character’s sister, and with some very interesting worldbuilding mentioned with ships that get lost and come back…different, but neither one really played out in the end, and I was left waiting for the rest of the plot. There are follow-up books in this series, which I assume will look into those questions deeper, but I really would have liked at least some more hints in this first book.

Plot
The plot is a rollercoaster, starting very in media res with our protagonist Opal talking to her stolen spaceship and the reprogrammed AI, Clarissa, making sure it doesn’t turn on her and kill her. Then there’s a lost ship with some really cool and scary aliens, and a military ship from the organization Opal used to belong to. One part of the plot transitions to the next with little time to breathe between, and more importantly, little time to answer the questions it brings up. By the end, I was a little confused on what had actually happened and whether Opal’s original objective with the lost ship was achieved or not. Way back in the beginning, it was never really explained why and how Opal had stolen the ship or come to be in this particular part of space. There is a bit of sum up in the last chapter, but by that point, my attention was drifting, unfortunately.

Setting
There are some really cool settings here, and I wish I knew more about them. There are hints of extraplanar aliens, or maybe they’re from another dimension? Or a twisted reality? There seem to be multiple kinds, and some aren’t even corporeal, but only a little bit of explanation is spared on each. They also all seem to be inhabiting the same ship, and even the ship itself seems to be trying to trap or kill Opal. For what purpose? I’m not entirely sure. There’s a military presence later as well, and once again, I’m not certain what they are looking for, or how they found Opal. Devoting just a few sentences or paragraphs per chapter would be enough to give some explanation.

Character
Opal and Clarisse make a great team, barging through all the obstacles against them, and throwing out really cool tricks. They’re both resourceful, and intelligent, and Clarisse seems to have some background in the military and was court martialed. And that’s really about all I know about them, except that there is some connection between Opal giving the AI her sister’s name and voice (Clarisse). Just as in the other sections, there were great action scenes, lots of running and shooting, but after about half the book I really wanted to know more of the world and of the characters. I felt like neither was ever really fully explained.

Score out of 10 (My personal score, not the final contest score)
A great set of action scenes on a spooky and alien ship, though lacking much needed worldbuilding and backstory to bring it all together. 6.75/10.