Mags Javiks has one day left until she boards a spaceship to start her ambassador training, one day in which to admit her love for her best friend Lex. To do so, she will have to trade the solid ground of a comfortable past relationship for the unknown frontier of a possible future together.
Katherine McIntyre is a feisty chick with a big attitude despite her short stature. She writes stories featuring snarky women, ragtag crews, and men with bad attitudes—high chance for a passionate speech thrown into the mix. As a genderqueer geek who’s always stepped to her own beat, she’s made it her mission to write stories that represent the broad spectrum of people out there. Easily distracted by cats and sugar.
I wish it was longer! I love quick little stories like this, but sometimes they really leaving me wanting more...and that's how I feel about this one! I'd love to see Mags and Lex in the future- to see how their jobs are going, to see how they are dealing with eveything, and coping with the distance between them. In such a short amount of time I found myself really invested in these characters.
It's graduation and Mags, the workaholic she is, hasn't made many friends or let Lex, her long time best friend and he who knows her best, turn into more than a friend. And not b/c she stuck him in "friend zone". She just wanted to spare them both the heartache since she was going into the ambassador's program and he was going into infantry.
After her small going away gathering, Mags and Lex hang out on last time, the evening before she is set to board her ship. While it didn't go as far as I was hoping, they do admit their feelings for one another.
I was disappointed that this was so short! It has great potential to be a full length novel. I'd love to see just how their long term relationship stands the test of space (literally) and time. I think the drama they'd go through would make the end result that much sweeter!
Watching two friends realize there is more to their relationship is always interesting to see unfold. Mags and Lex are forced to make a difficult decision on their last days together at the academy when their assignments will separate the two, just as they realize the things they have left unsaid. Watching the moments weigh the two of them down is powerful as it reminds us all of the difficult moments we share that could ultimately change the directions our lives will go.
Short and sweet. The story is about self-doubt, regrets and the bittersweet joy of getting out of your own way. Mags and Lex both loved each other and were afraid to tell each other for fear of losing their friendship. The story seems to end on a happy for now, but to me, it's a "too late" because it's the night before they part, possibly forever.
It was nicely written. No external conflicts really. Not a lot happens. The plot could be the seed of a really good novel. But as a short story it's more like a brief character study. Quick and sweet.
I enjoyed this book just enough to finish it but it really didn't keep my interest all that well. Both the main characters were plain in my opinion and there really wasn't anything within the storyline that pulled me into the story and made me believe that I was right there living this with these characters. The author did do a great job on the descriptions within the story but nothing stood out that made the characters stand out in my mind. Mags and Lex were friends who were going through the academy together but studying different aspects. Mags was vying for the ambassador job and Lex was going to boot camp somewhere totally different. Mags and Lex both had feelings for each other and always danced around the spark that was always between them until the last night before they left for different lives. You could tell how they felt about each other but making them wait until the night before they left each other didn't give the reader much of a chance to root for the relationship. More time on the characters feelings would have been better in my opinion. I feel they should have had the moment of realizing what the other one felt long before they did. I would gladly read another story from this author because just because I didn't like this one doesn't mean I wouldn't like some other story from this author.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The writing in Solid Ground was really well done. At no time did I ever feel my reading experience was disrupted or anything less than great. The grammar and whatnot was on point and just the style of how Katherine read was intriguing.
Not to mention she deals with a topic that many face; regrets. And I think the debating of Mags over her regrets and what she would have changed is something that resonated deeply with me. Just that topic was enough for me to think back and find things to think about.
It was painful and sad but a quick read. So the pain doesn't last as long as it could. But Katherine McIntyre has written a marvelous story.