4.5 stars for this excellent book!

I think teenagers will enjoy this book as it has lots of adventure and a bit of romance.

This was such a good book! As I started reading I was a bit skeptical. But, did I change my mind quickly! The mix of interesting characters and situations kept you on the edge of your seat. The addition of new characters to the mix always came at exactly the right time and the book flowed very well. I just loved Gem with all her antics. She brought a bit of humor and lightheartedness to otherwise serious situations. I enjoyed this book a lot and I can't wait to read the next installment to see where life takes Jane and what will happen to Gem and the other Leewits.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This was a fun bit of space adventure! Jane and her brother Will are a great team, getting into and out of trouble by twists and turns. While Jane is the older by several years, she’s never bossy. Will is never petulant. They really compliment each other in this story. Then toss in Mac and the crew of the Solar Vortex, we get a spice of danger as they take on Souless and his corporate empire (the UEC).

The core of the tale is pretty familiar – a small group (the Free Traders) take on a big evil corporation (UEC). So in some ways it felt a little like Star Wars, Firefly, or even The Expanse by James SA Corey. That made it easy to dive right into. It also made it a little predictable. The bad guys are one dimensional. Souless is obviously a villain and any UEC employee is suspect and the UEC enforcers, referred to as Zebras for their uniforms, are all evil mindless muscle. While I had great fun with all the good guys, I would have liked a bit more to the villains.

There’s a sweet romance which was cute but took me a little while to get into. I think Jane is 15 or 16 but Mac comes off as mid 20s. Even without the age difference, Mac has a lot more life experience under his belt, even as Jane is catching up fast in this book (losing her parents, taking up with rebellious Free Traders, spying, etc.). So perhaps their romance won’t feel so awkward in Book 2.

With those two criticisms aside, the book was a great mix of humor and action. Jane and Will often tease each other and share jokes. There’s also the Solar Vortex crew. Then we get the native alien Gem (a Leewits) who lives on Rimrock where UEC is doing heavy mining. She started off with few lines but her part grows as she learns to trust the Free Traders and by the end she’s stealing the show with her humor. She became my favorite character.

I liked the whole bit with the brainframes and Jane’s search for Olivia, the daughter of a man deeply affected by the evil brainframes. This personal quest of Jane’s leads her into spying for the Free Traders. She takes on a bike messenger job which lets her travel all over Golgotha, the main UEC city on Rimrock. There were a few times where I was biting my nails hoping Jane wouldn’t get caught.

All told, the story kept me entertained throughout. I definitely enjoyed Jane, Will, and Gem. 4/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Cassandra Richardson was a great fit for Jane. She sounds like a girl who’s having to grow up fast. She also did a great performance for young Will and the alien Gem. Her male voices were believable and mostly the characters were distinct. I did find that the villain voices were a little overdone. They were so obviously evil from the story but then to accentuate that aspect heavily in the narration was overkill. But over all, it was a good performance. 4/5 stars. ( )

Rimrider (Rimrider Adventures Book 1) by L.A. Kelley is a sci-fi book for teens and young adults but adults might like it too, I know I did. It has a mystery, intrigue, adventure, and action all rolled up into a great plot with a wonderful cast of characters that kept my interest for the get-go. Parents dying suspiciously, father giving her a code to memorize first before he leaves, this code leads to lots of trouble down the way for the two orphans, and lots of action and mystery too. I received a review copy of this book, a review was not required, all opinions are my own. ( )