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Chilling Effect

(Chilling Effect #1)

Valerie Valdes (Goodreads Author)

3.61 · Rating details · 1,589 ratings · 429 reviews

A hilarious, offbeat debut space opera that skewers everything from pop culture to video games and features an irresistible foul-mouthed captain and her motley crew, strange life forms, exciting twists, and a galaxy full of fun and adventure.

Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra cruise the galaxy delivering small cargo for even smaller profits. When her sis ...more

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Paperback, 448 pages

Published September 17th 2019 by Harper Voyager

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Dec 12, 2019 Emma rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, fantasybookreview

The book is a mix of Becky Chambers style small stories and gung-ho space opera. It’s a difficult one to love, with shallow characterisations and a plot that’s all surface. Captain Eva Innocente has a strong voice but the wrong kind— she’s an attitudey failure that seems to think that accepting her own mistakes makes everything ok. It might do for you, lady, but all the people who died might have preferred you weren’t such a dick. There are a few good moments, but they’re tenuously linked and ov ...more

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Jul 06, 2019 Tucker (TuckerTheReader) marked it as not-released-tbr

Shelves: humor, science-fiction, adult

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Jan 18, 2020 Lata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: auth-f, x2020-read, bipoc-actor, bipoc-author, scifi-fantasy

3.5 stars. A fun space opera that took a little while to get going, with a wide variety of planets and aliens, a dark setup to Captain Eva Innocente's story, and some thankfully emotional growth on the part of the main character by the end of this book. There was humour and its overall tone is light, which was a little off at times considering just how dark some of the situations are. However, the plot moves fairly quickly, and though not a deep story, was pleasant enough for me to consider chec ...more

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May 29, 2019 Carmen rated it did not like it

Shelves: science-fiction

I received a copy from HarperCollins Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Captain Eva Innocente is living her best life working with a crew of friends that have become family on her spaceship as they pick up odd delivery jobs that take them all over space. Just when she thinks that a job requiring her to drop off a litter of psychic cats falls through is the worst part of her week, she finds out her sister has been abducted by a deep space criminal group that manipulates I received a copy from HarperCollins Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Captain Eva Innocente is living her best life working with a crew of friends that have become family on her spaceship as they pick up odd delivery jobs that take them all over space. Just when she thinks that a job requiring her to drop off a litter of psychic cats falls through is the worst part of her week, she finds out her sister has been abducted by a deep space criminal group that manipulates people by threatening the lives of their abductees. Unable to tell a single soul that she’s now working for this criminal group, she takes her crew on a new dangerous ride so that she can save her sister.

I wish I could say that I enjoyed this book, but then I’d be lying. While a hilarious space opera with strong family ties and psychic cats sounds fun, I spent a good portion of the book asking questions instead of enjoying the story. I think it would’ve been far more enjoyable if it had a good amount of world building early on. Instead, I was confused about the world Eva and company lived in and spent some time confusing the cast of characters for one another. It was hard to visualize this world when the scenery was constantly changing before there was enough time spent to explain where they even were. I wish that some basics were explained early on and that there was time spent on world building before the story kicked off.

I also didn’t care for majority of the characters once I got a hold on them. Much of Eva’s crew was one dimensional and I wish that more time was spent on getting to know the core cast of characters. The only one we really get to know is Eva, who also narrates the story. Eva is extremely selfish, short tempered, and hypocritical. I didn’t really care for her, but I do love that she is willing to jump through hoops for her family even if they aren’t on talking terms.

There are some good and funny moments, but sadly, this was a miss for me. While it’s fast paced, there isn’t enough world building to stabilize the story. I think there is some potential here, but it needs more world building, more character growth, and a slower pace. ...more

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Sep 24, 2019 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it liked it

Shelves: review-copy, science-fiction, audiobook

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/09/30/...

Chilling Effect turned out to be a bit of a fun surprise, considering my initial concerns over it being too silly and offbeat for my tastes. But in the end, I think author Valerie Valdes struck the perfect town, finding that perfect balance between adventure and humor in her debut space opera. Readers will be treated to a fun romp between the stars in this science fiction tale featuring exotic far-flung planets, fascinat 3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/09/30/...

Chilling Effect turned out to be a bit of a fun surprise, considering my initial concerns over it being too silly and offbeat for my tastes. But in the end, I think author Valerie Valdes struck the perfect town, finding that perfect balance between adventure and humor in her debut space opera. Readers will be treated to a fun romp between the stars in this science fiction tale featuring exotic far-flung planets, fascinating aliens, shadowy crime syndicates, and oh, psychic cats.

Captain Eva Innocente is the protagonist of this story, heading up the crew of the Sirena Negra, a small cargo ship used to run shipping jobs for clients. After being stiffed on her last gig, Eva doesn’t think her day can get any worse, but of course the universe has a way of proving her wrong. Receiving a mysterious call on her private com link, she finds out that an interstellar crime organization known as The Fridge has kidnapped her sister Mari, and they’re demanding an exorbitant ransom for her release. If Eva can’t pay, Mari will be cryogenically frozen and shipped off to a mining planet where she will live out the rest of her days in misery performing hard, brutal labor.

But of course, our protagonist doesn’t have that of kind of money, so she’s forced to make a deal with The Fridge, providing her services to complete a series of missions in exchange for her sister’s release. However, if she tells anyone, all bets are off. Unfortunately, while trying to figure out how to keep the kidnapping a secret from her crew, Eva has a run-in with the lustful emperor of a fish-faced alien race who takes the spurning of his advances much too personally. Now he’ll do anything to have her, even if it means killing an entire space station, and that’s not the kind of attention Eva can afford to have while trying to make clandestine runs for Mari’s kidnappers.

So all in all, I had a good time with this book, and felt that everything from the action to the comedy was on point. I felt it delivered everything a good space opera should, including a heavy dose of intrigue and adventure mixed in with plenty of space faring and exploration. I also loved that the narrative tone was on the lighter side, as this genre tends to get too bogged down by the minutiae of planetary politics, incomprehensible technobabble and too much trivial detail. Happily, none of these are problems in Chilling Effect, making it a good choice for anyone seeking a more accessible or beginner-friendly sci-fi novel to sink their teeth into. It also moves at a good pace and features a charming cast of characters, which helped increase the story’s appeal.

But there’s a downside to having all these elements compete for your attention, especially in the first half of the book. Granted, I never lost interest in the plot, but it did sometimes feel a bit scattered, and more than once I stopped to wonder just when we’ll get to see progress on the main conflict. In that sense, the overall story did take its time to solidify, and at times a lot of the earlier events that took place felt too episodic which tried my patience. This book threw a ton of action in my face, which I appreciated, but it’s not always a good thing. After all, you’re still essentially spinning your wheels if none of it is contributing in a major way to the overall plot.

In general, this novel was also a very shallow experience, but as it is intended to be light and fluffy fare, this wasn’t surprising. Still, I had hoped for a bit more oomph, if nothing else in the comedic side of things because this one was marketed as “hilarious” and “offbeat.” Ultimately, I can’t say I found much of it to be laugh-worthy, as we’re mostly dealing with countless pop culture references and a boatload of other throwaway gags. But while I am glad that the story wasn’t over-the-top in its silliness, a part of me still wishes it had been more memorable. You’re not going to get a whole lot of world-building, character development, or to be honest, any kind of explanation for what’s going on. Still, nothing wrong with this one being a pure escapism read, so long as you go in knowing what to expect.

All told, I found Chilling Effect to be a decent and fun-filled space opera that doesn’t take itself too seriously. By the time the sequel comes out, if I still remember most of the story and the characters, I just might check it out for another feel-good pick-me-up read!

Audiobook Comments: Almarie Guerra was a good choice for narrator, giving life to Eva’s multilayered personality. Whether our protagonist is being thoughtful and prudent, or snarky and impulsive, Guerra did a great job portraying Eva in all of her moods. ...more

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Nov 05, 2019 The Captain rated it did not like it

Shelves: abandon-ship

Ahoy there me mateys! I am sorry to say that yet another book has been abandoned. I really, really wanted to like this one. It has an awesome cover. The cover says "Kidnappers. Alien emperors. Psychic cats. And she's out of coffee." The psychic cats were of course what led me to pick up the book. It certainly started out strong. The first chapter was perfect. I liked the crew. I liked the premise of bad girl gone good only to have to go bad again to try and save her kidnapped sister. I Ahoy there me mateys! I am sorry to say that yet another book has been abandoned. I really, really wanted to like this one. It has an awesome cover. The cover says "Kidnappers. Alien emperors. Psychic cats. And she's out of coffee." The psychic cats were of course what led me to pick up the book. It certainly started out strong. The first chapter was perfect. I liked the crew. I liked the premise of bad girl gone good only to have to go bad again to try and save her kidnapped sister. I enjoyed the silly tone at first. So the problem?

The first problem is that the main character, Eva, spends the entire book going from one bad situation to another and getting out of them seemingly based purely on luck and shooting her way out. It was fun at first but never seemed to progress towards the stated purpose of getting her sister back. For someone who is supposed to have all these "bad guy times" in her past, Eva came across as being naive and lacking common sense. Where was the cunning and logic? Where was the planning? This continued for the almost two-thirds of the book and the hopping around with no real purpose annoyed me. Also I am not down with so much lying to herself and her crew.

The second problem was the flatness of the book. There was too much focus on the supposed humor of the characters and their improbable situations. From of the cover blurb, I expected fluffy lightness but the humor fell flat most of the time. The character development, world building, and politics seemed practically nonexistent and the little there was made no sense. The Fridge and BOFA seemed to operate with no real method to the madness. Ye really didn't get enough of the other crew member's personalities either. I don't always want other POVs but in this case I did want them. I wanted to know more about the cool, quirky crew who lived on the ship.

The third problem that is not the book's fault was the Spanish. The author is Cuban-American and I am all for diversity in books. I am not saying it shouldn't be there cause it should. I just found meself getting more upset that I knew I was missing jokes and nuance because I didn't know the words. I wondered if the book would have been funnier if I spoke Spanish. If the book's language has made up words then I assign them meanings and move on. Because it is actually in another real language, in this instance I tried to Google translate and used slang dictionaries to try to remedy me lack of understanding. Not much could be directly translated by me (probably cause I suck). I wanted to know what the chapter titles, bickering, and endearments meant!

The fourth problem with this book was the plot twist. I didn't like it at all. I think others totally would but I just wanted something different. By page 286, I was just not feeling it and getting completely frustrated with Eva.

But the real problem? I know this is silly but I was promised psychic cats. There are 20 of them. And after the first chapter they do nothing. Literally nothing. The "leader" sits on some laps for scratches a couple times. What? I really wanted them to be part of the action, so I did something I don't normally do and skimmed to page 317 until the cats reappeared. Again they do nothing and are just mentioned.

Had I not had so many other issues with the book, I would have gotten over the lack of cat contributions. But that was the final straw. Do they ever get used as anything but a macguffin? I couldn't bring meself to finish and find out. I do think there be readers that would enjoy this. I really am devastated that I didn't. Arrr!

Matey Mogsy's review shows that she liked this book better than I did:

"But while I am glad that the story wasn’t over-the-top in its silliness, a part of me still wishes it had been more memorable. You’re not going to get a whole lot of world-building, character development, or to be honest, any kind of explanation for what’s going on. Still, nothing wrong with this one being a pure escapism read, so long as you go in knowing what to expect." ...more

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Jan 28, 2020 K.J. Charles added it

Shelves: space-opera, sff

Space opera with all the trappings--vaguely piratical captain with bad past but sense of responsibility, motley crew, threat to galaxy, cool alien tech. The cover also advertises psychic cats but they don't play a plot role, sadly.

It's got loads of potential--good dialogue, fun characters, lots of ingenuity and unusual touches, and a nice romance. But it's severely in need of a structural edit to make the plot hang together and keep it driving forward--as it is, the book devolves into a series ...more

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Aug 09, 2018 Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult, arc, sci-fi, action

ARC received in exchange for an honest review - thank you!

This is actually 3.5 stars, but I rounded up because I loved the premise and I REALLY loved the heroine.

Captain Eva Innocente of the spaceship La Sirena Negra has fallen on hard times. She walked away from doing business with her father because she hated how shady it was, and she hated the person she was when she was with him. But that's had financial repercussions for her and her beloved crew. They transport cargo from place to plac ...more

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Jan 18, 2019 Peter Tillman rated it liked it

Shelves: at-bg-pa, new-tbp, cats, science-fiction

This was an entertaining (if scattered) debut novel that I ended up liking pretty well. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but the found-family stuff is nice -- and there's plenty of action! I was looking for light reading and I got it. Not as much of the space cats as I'd hoped, but they are cute and cuddly. The Cuban Spanish bits got distracting, though I could figure out most of them from context. Less of that would have made the story flow better, I think. I'll consider reading the sequel.

The r ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 Hannah rated it it was ok

This is a case where I really wanted to like the book, really should have liked the book, but, unfortunately, could not. The worldbuilding is great. It's zany and a bit campy and fun all around, from psychic cats to mind-controlling parasites. Also, can you say alien romance? I loved that!!
But the execution of the novel left something to be desired. The premise is okay but the pacing is not. I was either being whipped around at breakneck pace or making my way through entire chapters wondering w ...more

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Aug 29, 2019 Beth Cato rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebook, 2019, science, netgalley

I received an advanced copy through NetGalley.

Chilling Effect is a quirky space opera adventure reminiscent of Firefly, with an eclectic space crew captained by Eva. When Eva finds out her sister has been kidnapped by a nasty crime syndicate, she takes on a series of terrible jobs--all while keeping the truth secret from her crew. Of course, everything goes wrong, but does so in surprising ways. That's part of the fun of this book. It's a total screwball romp. You have no idea what's going to ha ...more

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Aug 03, 2020 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, read2020, 2020-laser

Some fun bits, but didn't quite deliver the fun as much as the blurb and cover seemed to promise. I definitely should have seen more from the psychic cats. Loved Vakar who shows emotions through scents, didn't care as much about the adventuring or even the main character Ava. ...more

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May 27, 2019 keikii Eats Books rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley-edelweiss-arc, spanish

To read more reviews from this author and others, check out my blog at keikii Eats Books!

67 points, 3 ½ stars
Quote:

{{You are very cynical.}}
Eat a turd, she thought.
{{You are also very rude.}}
"And you're a parasite attached to my skull who can't seem to understand the meaning of the phrase 'Jódete, coño!'"

Review:
Chilling Effect is a weird book for me. In the beginning I was determined to love it, and then the honeymoon period wore off fast. By the midway point, I was certain I hated the book. In the end, I loved the ending. And as much as I loved that ending and that it made me want to continue on with the series, I just don't know if I will yet.

I also had to spend an unreal amount of time on Google Translate, and Urban Dictionary, and just plain googling around to figure out what, exactly, people were saying. There is so much Spanish sprinkled in throughout the book, at times I didn't even understand what was going on without looking things up. Hell, half the chapter titles are in Spanish! And it wasn't just words. No, it was phrases like "live by the sword, die by the sword." It was actually pretty frustrating because I had to stick to my computer to read this. (I'm still completely and totally lost at "Me Sube la Bilirrubina"...)

Once Chilling Effect started it didn't really stop. It opens with a bunch of psychic kitties causing the main character, Captain Eva Innocente, and her crew a lot of trouble. Then drops into a kidnapping exploitation plot before swinging wildly into an attempted sexual slavery that is somehow not being vilified by everyone. The entire book, the characters are swinging from one task that goes wrong to the next task that goes wrong. Not exactly my favourite type of story.

Then, within all those tasks that go wrong, there are a bunch of plotlines that are just there to make the readers go "hey I recognise that!". A LOT of pop culture, and some not, as well. There is an entire chapter of Pride and Prejudice in here, in the chapter titled "El Orgullo y el Prejuicio" (guess what that translates as?). Chilling Effect just liked to pull from popular things for inspiration and then recreate them in space for fun. I'm sure there were more in here that I missed than I got.

Captain Eva Innocente, our main character, gets into a lot of trouble. She isn't the most competent person. She seems to be chronically incapable of controlling herself, her emotions, and most spectacularly her anger. Which gets her into more trouble than any other outside force. She also isn't really able to control her crew, either, which is a bad trait in a Captain, in my opinion. Eva is also in a really weird romance that I actually found really cute. And the romance was kind of the saving grace of the book in the end.

As I already complained, I really didn't like the start of the book. It just wasn't for me. Once Chilling Effect got down to the point, in about the last 20% of the book, I actually really, really enjoyed it. And that is the worst thing about it. Because it was really good when it stopped playing around. I loved it in the end. And now I want to read the next book in the series, even though I wasn't going to bother before I got to the end.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Valerie Valdes, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for providing the opportunity to review this copy! ...more

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Feb 24, 2020 Justine rated it liked it

Shelves: debut-authors, read-in-2020, review-copies, science-fiction

Originally posted to I Should Read That

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a spoiler-free review.

I’ll be honest, as soon as I heard ‘psychic cats’ I was all in on Chilling Effect. I love space opera, I love off-beat heroes, and I love cats. While banter-y ‘squad’ sci-fi books don’t tend to work for me (see my burning hatred of Aurora Rising), but there was something about Chilling Effect that just worked. While it wasn’t perfect, it was so much damn fun.

Chill Originally posted to I Should Read That

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a spoiler-free review.

I’ll be honest, as soon as I heard ‘psychic cats’ I was all in on Chilling Effect. I love space opera, I love off-beat heroes, and I love cats. While banter-y ‘squad’ sci-fi books don’t tend to work for me (see my burning hatred of Aurora Rising), but there was something about Chilling Effect that just worked. While it wasn’t perfect, it was so much damn fun.

Chilling Effect is a plot-driven book filled with pop culture references (I spotted Star Wars, Deep Space Nine, and Portal, among others) and loads of fun, snappy dialogue. It moves at breakneck speed and kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime. There is a lot of plot packed into this book -- I feel like it actually could have been teased out and made into two books with more in-depth characterisation (see below). However, this does mean that I tore through Chilling Effect quickly and I definitely enjoyed the ride.

For me, a lot of the weaknesses of the book come from the characters. While I really liked Eva, she was the only POV character and therefore was the only one that felt fleshed-out. She is not your classic hero -- she's stubborn, foul mouthed, violent, and a bit mad. However, I really understood her, her absolutely frantic thought process, and the reasons she made certain decisions -- she's such an incredibly fun character and I enjoyed her immensely. However, the other characters did fall a little flat for me. I’d love to have seen some of the story through Vaskar, Min, or Pink’s eyes, especially as they were kept out of the loop of Eva’s situation and plans -- this would have given them more depth and added a new, interesting layer to the story. In fact, I really just felt like I didn’t know them at all and sort of forgot about them as soon as they were off the page (there's even another crew member, but I don't even remember his name because he's so far in the background for the majority of the book). I also didn’t get the sense of camaraderie that is the most joyful part of these 'squad' stories -- the chemistry just wasn't there. At one point, Pink mentions that Eva is her best friend and I thought ‘really? Is she?'. I hope we get to see more from the other characters in later books because they had so much potential to be awesome.

Chilling Effect wasn’t the strongest science fiction book I’ve read, but damn was is fun! I really enjoyed the quirky world building, the fun writing, and the off-beat plot. If you’re looking for a fun book for the summer and love picking out pop culture references in books, you should definitely give Chilling Effect a try. ...more

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Jul 09, 2019 Rike @ Random rated it really liked it

Okay, there were a bunch of things I absolutely loved about this and some I really think could have been done better. But overall I very much enjoyed Chilling Effect. So, good things first:

+ The characters are great! They are super diverse and quite a few of them, including the protagonist, are in their late thirties
+ There is a lot of action but also so much humour in this!
+ While there is a central romance, it's not the focus of the story
+ A lot of the stuff going on here plays with what's rig ...more

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Jan 11, 2020 Lindsay rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

Eva Innocente is captain of the La Sirena Negra and with her small crew of friends they take on small mostly legal jobs to make a living. That didn't use to be the case, as Eva used to work with her father in various criminal schemes. When her sister Mari gets captured by a crime syndicate called the Fridge, she's blackmailed into working for them in a series of jobs that seem to imply progress on ancient alien technology.

This is meant to be funny. I don't see it. It is light, and action-packed, ...more

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Feb 20, 2020 Samm | Sassenach the Book Wizard rated it really liked it

Sooooooo I'm a bit confused and surprised. I read this cause there were weird cats on the cover...but I ended up liking it in a non-gag way. The characters were enjoyable. I think the conflict was a little too simple but I can see why that would appeal to some readers when there's already so much to remember about the world. I want more of Eva's crew and more of the weird space cats. Eva's relationship with her sister and father are especially messy in this book and are very clearly going to be ...more

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Dec 02, 2019 Sci-Fi & Scary rated it it was amazing

Review to come.

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Oct 18, 2019 Taryn rated it really liked it

Shelves: bipoc-author, 2019-release, fiction, sff

Cute and fun, found family sci-fi with lots of action. There are psychic cats! Although I kept waiting for them to become a plot point (wouldn't it be amazing to hypnotize your enemies with your cat?!) and sadly it never happened. Captain Eva is on a mission to save her sister, who has been kidnapped by a crime syndicate, and she has to do it without alerting her (very perceptive) crewmates. That’s easier said than done, as Eva has to make up crazy excuses for visiting far-flung parts of the gal ...more

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Sep 17, 2019 Gabi rated it it was amazing

I really loved this novel! I'm a big Mass Effect fan and I appreciated all the references. Also, I love space adventures and this is the first one I've read that is unapologetically Latinx. I love how much Spanish was in it. This book is fun and has psychic cats and space dinosaurs! Love it!

Full review: https://gabimorataya.wordpress.com/20... ...more

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Jul 18, 2020 ✰ Aileen ✰ rated it it was ok

Shelves: e-book, not-going-to-finish-this-series, never-again, dystopian-and-scifi

I seriously don't know why this is labeled science-fiction. ...more

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Apr 19, 2020 ✨ LADYCOMICBOOK ✨ rated it it was amazing

This is an #OwnVoices science fiction book based in space! I felt like the book was slow at first but it definitely picked up towards the middle. The Latinx protagonist is Eva Innocente who is captain of a space ship called the Sirena Negra. The book has romance, action, and family drama. Overall I loved this book and I'm excited to read the sequel! ...more

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Jan 31, 2020 charlotte, (½ of readsrainbow) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: non-white-characters, black-or-african-characters, aoc-et-al, lgbt, latinx-characters, f-lgbt, adult-lit, other-lgbt-side, dystopia-sci-fi, 2-stars

On my blog.

Rep: Cuban American pan mc, Black side character, side character with PTSD, nonbinary side character

Galley provided by publisher

Based on the reviews, this seems a bit of a hit or miss book, and for me it fell squarely into the latter category. It had all the ingredients for me to love it, and yet it fell flat.

Chilling Effect follows Captain Eva Innocente who is forced to work for a crime syndicate after her sister is kidnapped. But she isn’t allowed to tell her crew, and must inst On my blog.

Rep: Cuban American pan mc, Black side character, side character with PTSD, nonbinary side character

Galley provided by publisher

Based on the reviews, this seems a bit of a hit or miss book, and for me it fell squarely into the latter category. It had all the ingredients for me to love it, and yet it fell flat.

Chilling Effect follows Captain Eva Innocente who is forced to work for a crime syndicate after her sister is kidnapped. But she isn’t allowed to tell her crew, and must instead complete the tasks in secrecy. And then obviously the truth comes out and, you know what, I sort of lost track of where the plot was supposed to be going at this point.

I think my main problem with this book was that it was almost trying too hard to be a funny adventurous romp through space (a la Star Trek). Everything happened in a kind of bitty way, and didn’t always clearly connect together, most obviously at the point where everything is revealed and Eva decides that…she wants her ship back? She doesn’t care that this crime syndicate might destroy the galaxy, she just wants to steal her ship back.

Which leads me to my second point. Eva is such a hypocritical and selfish character. Selfish, because she doesn’t tell her crew, but just gets them into increasingly dangerous situations for no apparent reason (from their POVs), and because she just wants her ship back when the rest of the galaxy is at stake. I read one review, about halfway through the book, which mentioned how she seemed to be aiming at “charmingly reckless” but veered more towards general disregard of crew’s safety while claiming to be all about keeping them safe. Hence the hypocrisy. (Not to mention that time she referred to a character as being self-centered when she herself had been so for the entire book. Not that I’m still frustrated by this.) Ultimately, I hadn’t disliked a main character as much as I did Eva in a long time. Also there was hints that she may have been complicit in the deaths of a bunch of people which is why she was out of the game (ha), but like. She didn’t really show much remorse for it. It was never going to be smooth sailing, me and her.

The final thing I really didn’t like was the romance with an insect alien. Like, I do not want to read even the beginnings of potential sex with an insect alien, let alone the foreplay bit. I completely skipped those parts, I won’t lie. Also, I don’t mean to sound like I’m policing how you write sexualities, but Eva was meant to be pansexual and, unless I missed something, that didn’t seem obvious. Of course, the insect alien could have been what that was about. Maybe. But anyways. There are so many simple ways to establish that, and I never felt as though it was established. (Disclaimer: I was skimming after a bit so it’s entirely likely I just missed it.)

So yeah. In the end, it was just another hit-or-miss book that completely missed me. ...more

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Sep 26, 2019 laurel [the suspected bibliophile] marked it as dnf

Shelves: sci-fi, arcs

DNF at 4%

Eh, just not feeling it.

I don't know what it is, but it's not holding my attention. Maybe because in 4% I've already read three or four descriptions of Eva's tangled black hair? I dunno. I feel snarky tonight, and I'm just not feeling it.

Maybe later, maybe never.

Probably never.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. ...more

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Oct 20, 2019 Jamie rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club

I was promised Firefly meets Mass Effect, and that's exactly what I got. Valerie Valdes wears her influences pretty obviously, but those inspirations offer more complex casts of characters that interact realistically and never feel like simply complimentary pieces for the protagonist to use. That may be a bit too harsh, but Eva's crewmates were not really given moments to express themselves outside of Eva's needs or wants which boxes them into essential roles only to support her actions. The boo ...more

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Sep 26, 2019 Jaclyn Brett Lewis rated it it was ok

Shelves: abandoned

Did Not Finish.

I really wanted to like this book, with its whacky style, pop-culture references, and diverse cast of characters. However, it reads, to me, like a first draft that was written to fill pages that didn't get properly edited into what could have been a good book. The tone shifts, the descriptions are sparce, and there are several unexplored ideas and characters that never reached their full potential. ...more

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Aug 04, 2020 Rameela (Star) marked it as to-read

Shelves: recommended-to-me

Rec from Neelam

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Jul 03, 2019 Dea rated it did not like it

Shelves: on-kindle, netgalley

I expected a story about a ragtag group of lovable and adorable misfits, led by a fearless but flawed leader, having adventures together, with some psychic cats causing mayhem. That sounds like so much fun! However, what I got was a boring group of bland and forgettable random aliens, led by a fearless (obnoxiously so) and flawed (in all the worst possible ways) leader, but the leader just goes and does stuff by herself, and in which some psychic cats don’t matter at all. Let’s break it down!

Our I expected a story about a ragtag group of lovable and adorable misfits, led by a fearless but flawed leader, having adventures together, with some psychic cats causing mayhem. That sounds like so much fun! However, what I got was a boring group of bland and forgettable random aliens, led by a fearless (obnoxiously so) and flawed (in all the worst possible ways) leader, but the leader just goes and does stuff by herself, and in which some psychic cats don’t matter at all. Let’s break it down!

Our main character, Captain Eva Innocente, is awful. She’s selfish and careless and always seems to get away with everything. Sometimes her crew actually has to trick her into being a good person! Who expects me to actually root for this lady? She’s constantly in these obnoxious fights and battles that she wins so easily, sarcastic all the while and making little quips like she’s a bad counterfeit robotic Tony Stark who won’t turn off. Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!

So Eva is a one-note “badass,” and none of the side characters have any personality. I felt nothing for them. And honestly, it seemed like none of them cared about each other, either. Eva’s concern for their safety and happiness was very perfunctory. (Because, again, she sucks.)

And, I’m so sorry, but the romance is laughably bad. If you ever pass by me and I’m having a random giggle fit, there is a 100% chance that I’m thinking about the romance between Eve and Vakar. The dude communicates via scent and sometimes smells like licorice or farts or whatever, depending on his feelings. (Mmm, yeah.) His genitals are on his stomach and he’s covered in scales. I think he’s supposed to look like an insect? (Hot.) Eva has an allergic reaction to his skin so she has to take a shot whenever they have sex. (What, needles don’t get you in the mood?) He talks like Siri. They communicate horribly and I do not understand why they like each other.

The plot in Chilling Effect moves at light speed. Not a compliment! It’s like a bunch of short stories crammed into a novel with very little plot linking the action scenes together. I just wanted to cradle the book in my hands and whisper, “Slow down, please, and let me get to know your characters and worlds without all these inane stunts that aren’t clearly described anyway,” but I couldn’t whisper because it would just come out as a rage scream.

And then the book ends. Just like that. Which I was glad for, but it just felt like an extra slap of thoughtlessness to go with the bad writing face punch. I can’t judge the quality of the dialogue that’s in Spanish, even though there is a lot of it, because translations are never provided and I’m unwilling to try to translate entire conversations by myself. I’m not super heartbroken, though, because the English dialogue was terrible so I’m assuming the Spanish wasn’t an improvement.

But beyond anything else, the thing that just outrages me the absolute most? Those psychic cats on the cover and in the book summary do nothing but purr every once in awhile. This was a scam. You can’t treat me like this! I’m calling my lawyer. My lawyer is a cat and she is furious on my behalf.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-galley. ...more

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Mar 19, 2020 Lucille rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2020

3,5/5
A really fun read! Before the confinement I couldn't get into it because I read bits of it here and there and couldn't concentrate in the tram and bus but now i was able to rush through it and enjoyed it a lot! ...more

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Sep 22, 2019 Marlene rated it it was amazing

Originally published at Reading Reality

First of all, any story that begins with genius, psychic cats on a spaceship has me from jump. And that’s exactly the way that Chilling Effect starts, with Captain Eva Innocente running around La Sirena Negra trying to chase down her cargo; 20 genetically engineered, hyper-intelligent and hypnotic felines.

And just when she thinks she’s finally corralled the last one – everything goes pear-shaped. Which turns out to be a metaphor for this entire space-romp o ...more

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Space Opera Fans : October 2020 READER: Chilling Effect by Valdes	11	37	Nov 15, 2020 03:50AM
Book to the Future!: November 2019: Chilling Effect	1	3	Jul 01, 2020 10:30AM

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About Valerie Valdes

Valerie Valdes

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Valerie Valdes is most recently published in Uncanny Magazine, Time Travel Short Stories and Nightmare Magazine. Her debut novel Chilling Effect was published by Harper Voyager in September 2019 and by Orbit UK in February 2020.

Other books in the series

Chilling Effect (2 books)

Books by Valerie Valdes

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Quotes from Chilling Effect

“That was war for you, like a game of musical chairs where seats kept disappearing until only one was left, and people rarely stopped to ask who the hell was in charge of the music.” — 3 likes

“Few people were willing to tolerate a critter that would climb up your ass and wear you like a Halloween costume, so most of them were extinct.” — 1 likes

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