A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher's chest: an illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog -- donning the moniker Technician -- to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner's tyrannical laws.
Nathaniel Fremont, the Commissioner's son, has never had to fear the law. Determined to earn his father's respect, Nathaniel sets out to capture the Technician. But the more he learns about the outlaw, the more he questions whether his father's elusive affection is worth chasing at all.
Their game of cat and mouse takes an abrupt turn when Eliza, a skilled assassin and spy, arrives. Her mission is to learn the Commissioner's secrets at any cost -- even if it means betraying her own heart.
When these uneasy allies discover the most dangerous secret of all, they must work together despite their differences and put an end to a deadly epidemic -- before the Commissioner ends them first.
Flo's Review
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey with this book. Sci-Fi is not a genre I usually read, but every once in awhile I get hooked by an interesting premise and expand my reading universe. (See what I did there?! Lol). When I read the synopsis for Tarnished, it gripped me and I wanted it.
This book didn't disappoint and I'm so glad it didn't! The pacing was incredible. I had a deadline for getting this review done, so I'd given in to the fact that I'd need to spend the majority of the day reading to meet this goal. But it ended up being a chore by no means. Even if I didn't have to get the review done today, I would have still kept reading. I would think that I needed to put the book down and take a break, then I would just keep turning the pages. I would think that I was taking a break at the end of a chapter, but guess what? I wasn't! I kept going.
Tarnished had three narrators, and I really liked all three of their voices. Thor did a good job of making them distinct. Often with books that are written by the same person that have multiple POVs, the characters sound the same, because the writer is the same. That wasn't the case here. Nathaniel, Anna, and Eliza remained true to their own voices throughout.
Nathaniel. Needs a hug. Come here, Nathaniel, let me give you a hug. Of the three, I think he had the hardest journey of self discovery. His growth, the decisions he makes, are honest and true to where his character is at each point in the story. He went a long way from the beginning to the end, and the reader felt allll his pain.
Eliza was just interesting to read because of her training. How she was trained affected her every move and was fascinating to read about. Then, oh, a little more than halfway through Thor dropped something on the reader, and I'm all, "Wha!?!!" While Nathaniel had the biggest journey of self growth in the story, Eliza, too, moved quite a bit.
I felt least connected to Anna, because her tunnel-vision passion is something I could not relate to. But, of course, you can see why she was the way she was.
The slowly growing romance was great! I love me some romantic tension, and Tarnished brought it! The only thing that gives me pause is the end. The "whole story" comes out in typical fashion, but without enough context. I don't feel like I truly understand how the "villain" came to be the way they were. How did their past, motivations lead them to what they did? Perhaps a novella a la Marissa Meyer's Fairest is in order.
Tarnished Are the Stars publishes October 15th from Scholastic, and if you enjoy sci-fi, romance, queer rep, an engaging story, and intriguing characters, then definitely pick it up!
I received this ARC as part of Miss Print's ARC Adoption Program.
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