Sky Song

Rix Universe #2

by Lydia Hope

After a dismal upbringing on decaying, alien-infested Earth, Emmaline “Cricket” Beatty now lives a charmed life on humanity’s new and improved home planet Meeus. A constant vulnerability of the before has given way to an ironclad security of the present. Everything is pretty, organized, predictable. There are no flaws in this new world.

When the hospital where Cricket works hosts an intergalactic symposium, she is called upon to translate for the alien guests. She is intrigued to see that a secretive Rix nation has sent a delegate. Lyle is far from a cold-hearted, humorless killing machine like the Rix Cricket has heard about.

When Lyle gets stranded on Meeus, Cricket shelters him, violating Meeus’ anti-alien laws. She’s drawn to this vulnerable male by a combination of compassion, curiosity, and her own loneliness. They develop a friendship that teeters on the verge of becoming something more, except Lyle’s persistent questions about the hospital and medical research conducted there make her increasingly suspicious.

Before too long, a string of seemingly unrelated events happening around Cricket begins to pierce the cocoon of idyllic perfection she built for herself on Meeus. Nothing is what it seems, least of all her new friend Lyle who is using her to search for answers. His quest makes her doubt her own sanity as it puts her in mortal danger, and he is the only one who can keep her safe.

Genres: Science Fiction, Romance, Aliens, Science Fiction Romance, Forbidden Love, Space Opera, Fiction

403 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 14, 2023

Reviews

[Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

Really just couldn’t put this down once it showed up on my kindle at 9pm (bless the time zones) and I read it all throughout my commute and lunch break today.

What’s with Lydia Hope and her plucky heroines working sanitation jobs who have to save their sick alien murder machine boyfriends? I don’t know, but to be fair I’m not mad.

It’s really neat to see Cricket’s story and how the world has developed since the end of Homebound. Lyle is a lot of fun, chaotic where Simon was deadpan, and the main couple is comedy gold. I really appreciate that there’s still a focus on female friendship and an exploration of a society that is falling apart (under the surface, at least). And I always enjoy the character work where each character contributes meaningfully to the story, whether thematically or as a foil. Or for comedic purposes.

Is it a bit of a cop-out that Cricket immediately finds Lyle super attractive, and that makes the romance a little foo fast? Maybe, but I also understand the rationale, especially given how the third act is structured.

She really sticks to that same rule of three in this book, though, and it did create some redundancies in my opinion.

The climax was really neat though. Peak wish-fulfillment at its finest 💙

I think this was a good follow up, and while I wouldn’t say no to a third book, I’m quite satisfied with how this wraps up the story.

Extra brownie points for best boy Simon ✨

-

The way I am counting down the days until this book's release... I have been waiting 3 years for this book and I am so excited!! <3 I've got her preordered and ready to enjoy once release day rolls around (very apt that it comes out on Valentine's Day lol)

[Jayna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm I feel conflicted.
I have a sort of soft spot in my heart for Homebound. Simon and Gemmas relationship worked for me. Simon tended to be cold...but there was love there.
I wasnt a fan of Lyle. He was also stand offish and cold. Their attraction felt weird. He started giving her nicknames, like you would in a relationship, and it felt weird and sudden. Idk I just didn't feel much chemistry. And then Lyle got sick and had to remove himself and live at the club and so the last bit of the book there was no interaction really between them. They have sex but it's just like of...there. it feels like eating cheerios. You eat cheerios but it isn't the most exciting cereal. Cricket tells Lyle she loves him and he basically laughs, brushes her off and the subject is never broached again. And then he is just so cold...and part of his stand offishness is that he is coming down off of some medicine he had to have and he is basically an animal and can't control himself. Fight and fuck. And that would be fine but it ends with them boarding a space ship with simon as well as other Rix, and Lyle is pretty much half dead and they bring him to the med bay. There is no reuniting. No declarations of love. No sweet moments (really I'd say no sweet moments in the whole book). And the suddenly, epilogue: 4 years later with babies. We read that Lyle still has a lot of bad days and sometimes can't stand to be touched. There is no sweet moment with his child(we see a glimpse of Simon with Lyle x Crickets baby, though). No sweet moments with Cricket. Idk I just didnt feel the love at all in this book. He made a few comments throughout like how Cricket was all there was for him, he would die for her, that she was everything etc but he just said those things without his actions really backing up his words. I also really did not like Ruby in this book. In her letters her "voice" didn't sound the same, if that makes sense. Her vibe was different than in Homebound. She made a lot of negative comments about aliens and some stuff felt really repetitive in the letters...like Cricket would write to Ruby about Dr Delano and then ruby would act shocked and then in the next letter Ruby would tell Cricket about Dr Delano. There were also a few comments about God (ugh). If I'm reading a fantasy/alien romance I just kind of forget religion exists, and if it does exist, it isn't the same religion/beliefs we have IRL. At one point I believe Cricket makes a comment about how god answered her prayers and then in a letter, her mom (Ruby) does this big speech about trusting god to make it right and how grateful she is and basically all the Christian stuff about how great god is for Cricket getting better on Meeus. Not to yuck anyone's yum but I'm an atheist so ugh... not my thing.
This still gets 3 stars because Ioved Homebound and I really enjoyed the glimpses we saw of Simon and the mentions of Gemma. I would love for more snippets of them.
There was also some funny banter in the beginning when they were just meeting and talking. I think I enjoyed the first part of the book better than the second

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost never do book reviews but I need to share that this book consumed me and I want people to be consumed by it, too.

I read “Sky Song” exactly a year after I read “Homebound.” I read “Homebound” about 8 times all the way through, own it as a Kindle book, paperback, and audiobook. I know every scene, can quote almost any line, read it in less than 24 hours the first time. I skipped meal and never went to sleep to finish it.

So when Lydia Hope wrote on her blog that this wasn’t going to be Gemma and Simon’s story and that Cricket and Lyle were completely different characters, I was a little hesitant to read it. I wasn’t sure the author could top “Homebound” and I didn’t want to watch her try. Listen – I was wrong.

Cricket and Lyle’s story was so enthralling. Lyle wasn’t Simon and I was actually glad. I can see Hope elaborating on the Rix and their world, so there were definite parallels between Simon and Lyle but their personalities weren’t anything alike. Lyle was a little flirty, charismatic, and just sweet. It felt like Cricket had more fight than Gemma and was a little more outspoken, but I could see how both were molded by their time on Earth. Watching Lyle and Cricket come together - with a much more engaging plot than “Homebound” – was so good that I also read this book in record time.

“Sky Song” could use a fair bit more editing, and I felt that way about “Homebound,” too. I caught a few typos and things an editor would have polished, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying this book.

I’m starting to trust that Lydia Hope just consistently writes amazing stories; at least when it comes to the Rix Universe. I've also bought the paperback.

I’m giving it 5 stars not because it’s a book that could be on the itinerary for a contemporary literature class to be dissected for its prose and symbolism. It’s getting 5 stars from me because this book was something that I devoured and enjoyed and it made me never want to leave that world. Just like "Homebound," I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

[Maddy33 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Before I get started, let me preface this review by saying I am absolutely in love with Homebound. I read this book 2 years ago and since then I have been revisiting Gemma and Simon's tale a lot. Their love story just did it for me : the slow burn, Gemma's quiet strength, Simon's devotion... everything about this book is a beautiful love story. When I learned the author was writing the sequel I was thrilled and could barely wait to get my hands on it.

Sky Song was ... okay.

First, the positive side : I really love this universe. We learn a lot about the Rix culture and it's pretty neat. Theirs is not a perfect society as we had been led to believe. There are problems with their Council, rebels, flawed individuals, even villains. This made them a great deal more believable and that was fun to read. Some of the secondary characters were also interesting: Paloma, the alien twins, even Hipper, the cute little critter.

Now... on to the less fun stuff, which as far as I'm concerned, is mainly about our two main characters.

Ouch, right?

My first -- and maybe my biggest -- issue was that this very much read as a sort-of-but-not-really-kinda Insta-Love. Ugh. Lyle called Cricket "my hearts" for the first time 11% into the book and, at that point, they'd seen each other maybe twice. This felt ... cheap. Especially if I compare the very slow-burn in Homebound, in which Simon was very subtle in how he started showing Gemma his feelings. This? This was not subtle. At all. Cricket was also basically into Lyle from the start. And this was fine! It can happen irl. I get it. But yeah. Insta-love. *Sigh*

Another big problem for me is that I didn't really connect with Cricket. I found her incredibly passive for most of the book and I'm not talking about her boring job, or even her perpetual freakouts during the "spy" scenes. She just felt a little bit like a coward to me.

Things happened to her, but she never really got into control, or made a decision and stuck to it. At times, she even willfully chose to ignore a problem rather than face it head-on : she refused to believe her doctor could be a bad guy but spent a long while agonizing about what-if. She whined a lot about how Lyle was using her and he would leave her anyway but never stood firm against him to demand answers. She was apparently miserable on that planet but seemed sort of resigned to spend her life there. Even in the final phase of the book, she was the only one to stay away from all the planning to get off-world. She was basically stuck in a kitchen to bake with her girl friend while everyone else -- and I do mean everyone else -- had daily meetings and got shit done. Not Cricket. No, she was left behind and even seemed okay with it, since she only worried about Lyle. All this somehow justified ... because she was a distraction to Lyle's incredible sex-drive and he couldn't function with her around? Which. Just. Ugh.

Lyle and Cricket barely felt like a couple, especially during the last part of the book. They are kept separated a long time. They have sex but it was almost bland. I felt no connection to those scenes. I'm told by Lyle several times he would die for Cricket but it really didn't shine through with his actions. The two of them were too often separated, and when they did spend time together, it was too often shadowed by doubt on Cricket's part and annoying evasiveness by Lyle. Not a good look for both them.

There was no resolutions to this problem, especially with the rushed ending: suddenly we're 4 years in the future, there are two babies, everyone's happy. Sure, I'm told all this, but I'm not shown it. I needed more tender moments, heck, even a scene or two with their family happy to be together. Instead, I'm told Lyle will always suffer from depression to the point of not wanting to be touched while Cricket hovers powerlessly in the background and that their kids will suffer from physical issues because of messed-up DNA.

Talk about a HEA.

Finally, my last point is about Lyle's wives.

I get it, everyone's got a past. I'm not judging. But ... didn't Lyle get separated from them only because he was sent to prison? This doesn't smell like a divorce to me. Especially since one of those wives basically sacrificed herself to save him when they crash-landed on the good guys' planet. This small detail let us believe their relationship was more than just about sex and protection. So now that he's free, shouldn't Lyle check on them to see if they're doing okay? After all, they came from a very backward place and lived through some serious trauma. Lyle seemed to consider he was free from those bounds and responsabilities... but was he really? The fact that he didn't mention them again felt callous, borderline cheaty.

But I'm super torn on this issue because if he really had gone and checked on them and maintened that connection it ... would have been shitty for our romance. I don't see a way this could have been handled well. The whole situation felt somewhat icky and uncomfortable to me.

Alright I'll stop here for now.

All in all, I'm very frustrated because this is a book I wanted to love but didn't.

I still think the author is very talented and am still fascinated with the universe she created. I'll defintely read another sequel if there ever is one.

[HellsBellsnSexySpells · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love this author and this was a great story. The ONLY thing I have to say is that she really really really needs to get a good editor. I'm not sure if English isn't her first language, but there were many sections of the book in which the syntax was so strange that is sounded like it had been run through google translate. Odd misuse of words, incorrect sentence structure, misconjugation, etc. It actually reminded me a lot of mistranslations from French (I live in Canada so I work a lot with french to english translations). Other than that, there were also a ton of typos. I was surprised to see this because this author's past work has been very professionally done.

The other issue is that Lyle, while interesting, is no where near what Simon was in terms of character depth and gravitas.

SPOILER:

When Simon arrived it was like the MMC was finally being introduced and Lyle fell completely to the side.

It was still a great book and I really recommend it if you can get through the grammatical issues

[Whimsey (is in a major book slump.) · Rating 2 out of 5]

 
DNF @ 2%

I was really excited when Amazon sent me the notice that this book had been released, because I really loved Homebound. So my expectations were high going into this story.

I definitely overhyped myself.

It's been a while since I last re-read the first book in this series, but I don't recall it having the writing and grammar issues that were in this book. Honestly, this book read more like an unedited draft than it did a finished novel.

The writing was clunky and amateurish, sometimes reminding me of the tone and phrasing that you'd find in a children's book.

The rustling of leaves was loud. Strong gusts of wind swept over the dense tree canopy, making it go whoosh. When the wind subsided, the rustling quieted down more slowly, uncertainly, as if the trees were unsure of what was happening to them.

An older couple dressed for hiking emerged from the park. “What a beautiful day!” the man said to her. His companion smiled at Cricket.

It was also almost all telling what the characters were feeling, and very little showing. Along with a lot of pointless details added in that did nothing to move the story forward, and didn't actually serve any purpose.

Another wind gust came, bringing along another whoosh, the cool air going right through Cricket’s thin sweater covered in lint pills. She shivered slightly as she took in a large wooden sign that spelled in carved cursive Serenity Forest: Where Nature Welcomes You! She sighed, feeling despondent.

There were also a lot of strange choices in words and phrasing that felt unnatural and out of place, making them jarring to read.

Cricket quietly slipped away and went to the lab, taking a chrome-encrusted elevator down [...]

“Emma!” Young Terrance burst through the doors ahead of the others.

[...] Salty’s unchangeable Eeyore disposition [...]

Terrance emphatically bobbed his head, setting off an atmospheric event in the cloud of his shaggy coils.

[...] stave off a tornadic argument [...]

And the fact that between one paragraph and the next, both on the same page, a character from the previous book is referred to twice as Simon before suddenly being called Simion. Which was confusing.

Aside from the problems with the writing and story itself, the characters—including the MC, Cricket—were one-dimensional and unlikable.

Cricket's internal thoughts are extremely uncharitable towards her coworkers, but not for the glaring reasons that you would assume—two of the three coworkers introduced are OTT depictions of bigots—and instead are focused on their appearances or what she considers their lack of intelligence.

Cricket spotted Salty’s stringy dark hair in the crowd next to Kim Creek’s unflattering brush cut and moved closer to them.

Terrance’s face acquired a blank look. He was a nice kid but not the brightest bulb in their lab chandelier [...]

She's also rather bigoted herself, taking—in her own words—a couple of bad encounters with aliens and painting every single member of every alien species with the same brush of negativity. She's also dismissive of issues that don't affect her personally.

She’d been accosted once or twice by predatory Peralis and opportunistic little Xosas. With her experiences so diverse and not altogether pleasant, she remained ambiguous toward Meeus’ alien prohibition. It sure was safer this way.
“Not my business, not my problem. [...]”

As for the secondary characters, they were completely hollow and one-dimensional. Their only personality traits were "mean", "bigoted", and/or "stupid".

“Oh, hi,” Salty uttered in her usual depressed monotone. “You missed the first four.” Salty’s tone said she didn’t care if Cricket missed all of them, or if Cricket lived or died.

“I don’t know their species. They’re so strange looking - I’ll have bad dreams all week,” Salty gave a weak shudder inside her blue laboratory scrubs.

Salty threw a hateful glance at Kim who must’ve dragged her out here. “Kim says we need to learn who they are. To be prepared.”
"Prepared for what?" Cricket asked the pointless question. Kim always prepared. She lived her life in preparation for the apocalypse. Doomsday was coming, and aliens were the devil of it.
Kim turned her eyes, hard as chips of hazel rock on her equally unyielding face, to Cricket. “Watch,” she said, and her eyes narrowed into malicious slits. “See how they move. Learn how they act.”

Terrance perked up again, eager to talk about the aliens. “The Xosa was the first to arrive - a skinny little bastard, looked shrewd. And that Gaorz!” Terrance roared with laughter, ignoring Salty’s annoyed look.

Maybe the characters eventually grow to become better and more likable, but there are just too many issues with the writing to make me willing to keep reading in order to find out.

I'm so disappointed. I really wanted to love this book, because I've been waiting on this sequel/series continuation since I first read Homebound a couple of years ago, but sadly this story just didn't work for me.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

This book is much slower paced than the author’s other books. It was a slog through maybe 58% or so. Not helped by the fact that the book needed a second editing pass. Lots of misused words, incorrect prepositions, and run on sentences. It got irritating. Cricket was a schizophrenic mess. I had a hard time maintaining my sympathy. She was so irritatingly blind, willfully ignorant. She listened to Lyle but heard nothing he said. She randomly aggro-screamed, then whimperingly cowered from truth. Not endearing. It was as close to instalove/lust as you could get without it being true love at first sight. One of the things I loved about Homebound was the beautiful unspooling of the relationship. This one was choppy, sudden, and punctuated by absence. The story sort of just resolves, like the author got stuck in the narrative arc and called in a lifeline. Still, after all that, there were some sweet parts and some scenes I’d revisit. So, it was ok, but I enjoyed Homebound and Planet Zero much more.

[Jenni]

dnf at 51%

god, i don't remember the last time i was this disappointed.

lydia hope became one of my top sci-fi/romance authors after reading planet zero. soon after that i fell hopelessly in love with homebound as well. so when sky song was announced to release on valentine's day, well damn, i planned my whole day around devouring this book. and i've really been trying to push through but i can't do it anymore.

this book needed a lot more time and editing. lots more editing. there is so much phrasing that makes absolutely no sense. the characters' motivations and actions make no sense, too. it's really a mess.

ugh. i'm heartbroken.

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good job Lydia!

Another excellent story from Lydia Hope. The Rix universe holds a special place in my heart, and I'm happy to see Simon and Lyle's stories wrapped up in a wonderful happily ever-after!

[Poppy || Monster Lover · Rating 3 out of 5]

World building was fabulous. The intrigue was on point. The FMC had a compelling backstory. And then Lyle shows up.
I can stan a villainous MMC, but why the fuck was Cricket swan diving into his arms after a few vague conversations? She believes he is using her and thinks he’s shady. So where is the foundation of their relationship? Honestly with tweaking she could have made them work together. Having the FMC not be the ultimate yes-woman would have gone a long long way.

Spice: 2/5

Triggers: murder, medical experimentation, discussion of trafficking and child abuse

[Veevee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 1 of this series, Homebound, holds a special place in my heart. It has this sort of bitter sweet feeling of helplessness and hope with a dash of romance mixed in to create something really special. And because I loved book 1 so much, I really wanted to love this one too, but unfortunately, it just did not live up to my expectations. While this sequel had the same sort of ambiance as the first, I really found the characters and their relationships to be lacking.

Some spoilers ahead, be warned!

Some of the things that frustrated me:

1) After shit goes down, Cricket spends a good chunk of the book humming and hawing over leaving Meuus. Other characters repeatedly tell her that she can't stay because she is literally a wanted felon and she basically ignores them. It was super frustrating and she just felt dense because she never even attempted to rationalize how she might deal with the charges against her if she decided to stay. She seemed to think that she could just go home and continue her life... which was very obviously not the case.

2) Beyond point 1 which annoyed me enough to be its own comment, Cricket overall as a character frustrated me. She had these random outbursts of anger or tears, but rarely if ever made and real choices or moved the plot anywhere. She just did whatever Lyle wanted her to do after yelling at him about it. She felt flat, with an annoying personality and very little intelligence. There is one instance of Cricket making a choice at the end of the book that saved them. But with the lack of build up and my already negative opinion of her meant that I couldn't even really enjoy the show of intelligence, especially because it wasn't actually all that brilliant. She is one of those people who can't see past the end of her own nose and really her nose might be a bit blurry too. She put down other people for being bigoted or stupid (or even just not attractive), but acted that way herself more than once.

3) Lyle was actually equally emotionally rambunctious as Cricket, with the drugs causing him to change personality over the course of the book (note this doesn't actually count as character development). He felt like someone who needed serious medical and psychological help, not a sexy love interest. It also felt like he was using Cricket (which he was) and the whole thing felt icky.

4) The romance was insta-lust with very little actual character development or chemistry. I could not buy into it. The sex was mediocre and actually uncomfortable in some places because of the grey area around Lyle's drug induced actions.

5) The ending was honestly lame. Lyle is basically out of the picture for the last quarter of the book, which means there is little to no closure for the romance arc. The epilogue, didn't help either, because it basically showed them as traumatized (which I mean, fair) people who have kids, which again did not provide any closure for the romance arc. Would it have killed the author to give us a sweet scene between Cricket and Lyle to show how they interact and care for each other after everything?

Overall? Really not the sequel I was hoping for. I would have much rather seen a sequel with Gemma and Simon as they deal with living away from earth. I think that character development could have been really interesting especially since their book and romance arc felt rather unfinished. I also think this story could have been easily switched around to feature Gemma and Simon as main characters infiltrating a hospital for these records, rather than giving us a whole new lack-lustre couple.

[DancingMarshmallow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall: 2.75 stars.

Eh, this was fine? I loved Homebound, the first book in this series, and unfortunately, I can’t help but compare the sequel unfavorably. I think several choices for this book made it overall weaker than the first:
* setting the book on a new planet, rather than Earth. Meeus just didn’t feel as fully developed and interesting as the setting in the first book, whose descriptions were so strong it was almost a character unto itself
* the love interest was also a Rix, and I think it may have been more interesting to choose another species of alien. As a reader who’s only ever “met” two members of the Rix, you have to compare them, and Lyle just isn’t as compelling a character as Simon. I also think having some mystery to the alien really helped the tension in Homebound, and here, Cricket already knows a lot about Rix, so some of that drama is removed
* The romance was…not terribly romantic, I have to say. Cricket just automatically finds Lyle attractive, and off they go, which removes a lot of the tension, and then Lyle just not giving me my swoony love declarations which I like in a romance makes me sad

It’s not a bad book; it’s just nowhere near as compelling as Homebound.

(Side note: I cannot help but picture the Rix as Voldemort in a long wig, so I’m sorry that you now know that too)

[BAK · Rating 1 out of 5]

Depressing.

I hope this review helps the author improve. I almost gave two stars strictly because it’s SFR, but ultimately decided on one star.
Spoilerish content!
I remember Homebound being much better than this Rix book. But now I’m second guessing if it really was.
SINGLE HEROINE POINT OF VIEW THROUGHOUT! The male main, Lyle, what’s up with the human nickname btw, does NOT have any POV parts.
The heroine, is frustrating, weak and super judgmental and hateful towards Simon from book one. Apparently she can’t understand his actions, including towards her mother, from when he was imprisoned.
She’s never acts grateful for being saved.
LYLE HAD FIVE, YES FIVE, WIVES BEFORE! Guess they all found someone else when he got imprisoned?
But we never really get any answers as to why all of a sudden Cricket is so amazing to him and he supposedly loves her.
The relationship felt put together for a book, without seeming authentic.
The dialogue was flat and often unrealistic sounding. Because it came across often awkward to how people would actually communicate.
The book could be improved with better editing also.
In general, I wasn’t impressed, excited, thrilled or wowed by this story. I actually finished it feeling depressed. And when I read a book I want to feel happy, love, excitement and wow when you finish it. This book did not provide happy emotions.
It was really sad, especially how Lyle was so messed up, even in the epilogue.
Some people might love this book, and I encourage others to try it if it sounds interesting to you.

[Bookishgames · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sooo disappointed 😭 I liked homebound by the same author but this book was a mess !

Characters : ⭐️
Story : 📖
Romance : 💗💗
Spice : 🌶🌶

The story was way too long. There was a bunch of long chapters filled with fillers and the FMC interacting with characters that weren't important to the story. It slowed the pacing way too much.

As for Lyle, I din't get it. He was clearly using Emma from start to finish and never asked for her opinion. And when she did voice out her thoughts, he shushed her ?????

And Emma (because I refuse to call her Cricket, I cringed everytime I read her surname, and it's used every tao sentences 😭) was so naive ??????? She was basically a mat. She never stood up for herself, and even though she knew Lyle was using her, she "loved" him ? This felt more like psychological violence than anything else. The romance was not cute at all.

So yeah, I was really surprised reading this book. It was so different than Homebound and not in a good way. 😭

[Aj Abdo]

Dnf at 33%

Felt to insta love and i was hoping for a slow burn like homebound. More of a me problem 😪

[sleep · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t even know what to say. I guess I expected another Gem like homebound but sky song unfortunately fell short. To be fair can’t be easy to top homebound.

Why the three star rating??? Simply put the story felt odd, disjointed and from the start there was no instant and captivating pull within the story building as I know her writing to be. It actually fell flat, unfortunately a bit boring. There was an element of instalove which I felt may not have been intentional of the author and in turn made the relationship one dimensional.

In other words there wasn’t much of a slow burn, the opposite of one actually. the development of the relationship with cricket and Lyle didn’t make sense to me. One minute they meet the next she’s catching feelings thinking of a chubby Rix. And then a week later said chubby Rix is an unexpected house guest. The whole story I think just needed massive editing and a lot of rewriting.

I was so eager to read and love this one unfortunately for me it was a massive let down.

[Jade · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 50%
The book is clunky. I am surprised because I loved Homebound and I was saving the sequel for a good time. I did listen to Homebound so maybe I missed the writing but in anycase, Sky Song is not particularly developed. Everything that made the first book good is missing here. The slow burn, the consistency, the chemistry that almost seemed palpable. The character's actions are making no sense, the dialogue between them feels forced. Cricket herself is so wishy washy, judging everyone around her and not even trying get to know anyone and then she goes and forms an insta attachment to this strange mysterious alien who looks like a girl, has one tooth missing and three fingers cut off on each hand and who calls her "my hearts" from the get go. :/ Wasn't the whole point of Rix being special that they are warrior aliens who have healing abilities and can also self heal? I'm bummed but I'm not wasting more time on this insta mess.

[Char · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointment all around. I was beyond excited when a second Rix book was announced, because I thought we were getting a sequel to Homebound with Simon and Gemma's story. I couldn't wait to see what came next for them!

Well, turns out it's a new couple, so I held off on reading it.

Ripped off the bandaid today and ended up DNFing around 10% and searching for "Gemma" in the book to skim and see if Gemma and Simon popped up. Really wish I hadn't skimmed now because that sorta ruined their story for me.

But Lyle just didn't do it for me *at all.* Not even a little. Cricket was a letdown, too, but I could've put up with her if the MMC was worth it. He wasn't. Everything Cricket found "attractive" about him made me shake my head. I just wasn't into him or the little bits of personality we saw from him early on.

Haven't been this letdown by a book in a long time.

[Nessa]

DROPPED.

Was this written by the same author as Homebound? It was devastatingly BORING, and I don't want to be mean, but the beginning chapters dragged on, and while I appreciate that Lyle was a different male compared to Simon, I felt zero attraction or chemistry between him and Cricket. It felt more like a weird predator stalking you, without knowing the reason, you're uninterested, and you just want him to fuck off.

LOL! That was the feeling I got, and honestly, I didn't want to waste my time on a story I couldn't enjoy.

[Arctic_Banshee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars

I am surprised I didn’t dnf, but I keep hoping it would get better like Homebound did.

:SPOILERS APLENTY:


What I liked:

-The setting of the world, Meeus, was very ‘Elysium’ but I don’t hold that against it. Classic story of the have and have-nots.
-I liked the beginning when Cricket is introduced and she’s this little, neat, plain nobody. Nothing special. Cool. Those fmc’s often have interesting character development
-I liked that Lyle was overweight and not super tall, because it’s refreshing to get a different kind of mmc sometimes.
-I liked that he was a little more socially savvy in the charm department than Simon had been. Just made it different.
-I liked Rosamma, Paloma, and Ren. These side characters were interesting. I thought the connection the twins were forced to have bc of biology was unique.
-Hipper was a fun chaotic addition to the story
-I liked the cage fight scene, when certain truths become more apparent to Cricket as to who Lyle really is.
-I appreciated that the author tried to give Zeke a backstory that didn’t make him a complete villain. Sure, he was a POS, but at least we get reasons for how things didn’t turn out with Gemma.
-I liked getting some info on how Gemma and Simon turned out since the first book.
-I appreciated getting some sort of epilogue

You see from the above why I didn’t dnf. I kept hoping things would get better because I was initially on board.

What I disliked:

-Emma aka Cricket started out wishy washy and stayed that way. No real personality of her own except for being an ex-invalid and a mamma’s girl, and then she was on Lyle like static cling. What did Lyle see in her?
-Lyle. OH LYLE. Dude could have been a contender as far as swoony mmc’s go. Instead, he turned out to be a sociopathic neckbeard.
-His backstory is unpleasant, and Cricket just gets over it when she eventually gets him to cough it up. Accepts the fact that he had 5 wives(!!!) only a few months prior (which let’s face it, probably included at least one half-sister or more because we know he done slept with at least one).

Yoooo. 🙅🏻‍♀️ Dude was fresh outta living it up like a pirate Warren Jeffs, and a killer of massive amount of people, but Cricket maybe got a bout of indigestion over it and moved on. So again, what made HER special to him? He just ditched his wives and you can’t tell me he wouldn’t miss having a harem.
-The insta-lust I could live with, if the characters had chemistry at all. But Cricket had a personality of a beige cardigan (which was fine to start with but homegirl never got any color), and Lyle was a manipulative creep who liked to be mysterious.
-I understood the weight issue bc of the medicine but… what about the lip scar and missing tooth? Rix can regenerate, and that happened when he was a teenager. At the very least, the scar would have closed up and the tooth would have regrown.
-She figures out that he was using her but she still couldn’t live without him. Again I ask: Why? What made him special other than being alien? It certainly wasn’t the D. And speaking of—-
- The tepid spice scenes. Not romantic or erotic in the least. He’s not even in his right mind when they finally go all the way. He wasn’t feeling it both emotionally and physically, and I don’t buy that he was good in bed at all. It was uncomfortable to read.

By the end of the book (which I was more than ready to finish by that time), I wanted Lyle to kick the bucket. The epilogue was ok, I guess, but lackluster. Maybe some of it is a set up for the next book or another book down the line, but we don’t know that, do we?

I can imagine writing a sequel after a first book is difficult. But the fact of the matter is, the overall lack of real romance made this a disappointment. I’d recommend the first book for sure, despite it not being perfect. But this one was an effort to read.

[Misti · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, this book needs another pass over with a proofreader. There are some glaring problems.
I did like Lyle and Cricket. I like how "other" the Rix are. Lyle tells the truth to Cricket but she has no context to understand. I felt like the end action and resolution was a little rushed, but this time there is an epilogue. Time will tell if it gets the re-reads that Homebound gets.

[Dr susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sci fi adventure with romance

The worldbuilding is interesting; Meeus isn't the paradise everyone believes. I like Cricket better than Homebound's Gemma, but Lyle's backstory is a shock, especially since I liked the character. The epilogue didn't leave me with all the happy feels, which was surprising in a romance-based story. Hipper is hilarious and an entertaining addition to the cast of characters. I did enjoy the story and hope there will be more Rix Universe books.

[Constantine AAA · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to Sky Song, but I couldn’t get past the first chapter. The story seems like it has a lot of potential with a magical setting and adventure, but the writing style didn’t pull me in. I found the character Cricket especially frustrating—her personality felt forced, and I couldn’t connect with her at all. Instead of adding charm to the story, she made it hard to stay interested. Maybe it improves later on, but the beginning just wasn’t engaging enough for me to keep reading.

[LizKat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is no Homebound that's for sure.

There were so many problems with the story but it all comes down to an unlikeable MMC with almost no redeeming qualities and a major doormat of a FMC. Toss in tons of plot holes and a rather sad ending and I'm sorry I read this book.

Extremely disappointed.

[Erin (she_is_2_fond_of_books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great wrap up to the story that began in Homebound. I loved getting to know the plucky Cricket, and Lyle’s self deprecating & cheeky humor made for some light hearted moments, in what is ultimately a pretty serious and tense plot.

I really appreciate this authors Sci Fi world building skills and the time she takes to flesh out our MC’s back stories and motivations. It adds so much to the reading experience and how invested you become. Her writing style is unique, and sometimes feels a little strange from a rhythmic sense… but it all adds to the atmosphere. You feel as off kilter as our human heroine in an Alien landscape. Navigating this strange adventure. Also love the time spent on character friendships and family. You get a bit of Alien slice of life, along with the larger fast paced plot, and of course a moving romance.

It’s hard to put into words, but these are some of the most unique Sci Fi Romances I’ve ever read, and they’re some of my favorites. I hope more people discover and appreciate them as much as I do!

[kiwi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is soooo hard to rate, because I enjoyed the mystery of the first third. I would rate that specific part 4 stars, I felt very immersed and entertained.

The book felt way too long though, it dragged, even with the exciting mystery part of the story, and I ended up having to skim the last few chapters. That part might be a me-problem though.

Sadly, I also didn't really enjoy the romance in this one. I had trouble getting to know and getting to like Lyle, the MMC, and feeling a connection between him and the FMC. Of course there's a logical story-reason for that, which at least explains some of it, but that doesn't change the fact that I couldn't get into him and their romance. Honestly, it felt more like she had some misplaced infatuation with him than a real romance.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I really did enjoy myself! Lyle and Cricket's story is very different from Gemma and Simon--so don't be starting the book expecting Lyle to have Simon's personality or manurisms. You will be disappointed if you are looking for the same relationship dynamic.

Homebound will always have a special place in my heart, but this was such a fun read. We get to understand the Rix a lot more, which is great to see. Cricket was an enjoyable perspective to read from, and Lyle was an interesting mystery.

I definitely recommend this book! Excited for the potential of seeing more of the Rix universe in the future 😊

[Sabine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 my hearts stars
FMC is lonely and melancholic, but so damn naive. She knows Lyle is evasive about a lot of things and is using her, but she never grows a spine.
I appreciate that the MMC is morally gray. He was a criminal, a ruthless space pirate (I grew up watching Albator, I get how space pirates can be romantic).
I liked the overall story, I just wished the FMC was not such a gullible push-over.

[WitchyMitchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay!

This was great. Interesting and we got to hear more about Simon and Gemma from book 1, Homebound (that romance was more toe-curling and satisfying than this one but I have no complaints). Set up for more riveting stories in this universe. I. Am. Here. For. It. Always!!!!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I really have enjoyed both books in this series and hope more are to come. I’m also hoping for more books from Homeworld.