When to Eat a Friend

Honor Lost

I really appreciated this series diversity of relationships and delving into proper use of gender pronouns. But if I ever get violently overtaken by an alien parasite which attaches itself to my brain and brutally, horrifically changes by mind and body and my friend almost immediately starts combining names like were some celebrity couple…

I’m going to eat the bitch.

Seriously that whole part felt so off to me. The descriptions of the violence done to the character in the story is brutal and gross at times. They literally use Morse code to beg to die (which to be fair is considered though not done) and another character is like…

“I wonder what gender pronouns they prefer?”

Me: They prefer death you asshole!

Honor Lost is the third and final book in a series that started with the excellent Honor Among Thieves and the fun but starting to get weird Honor Lost– a book mainly about Zara Cole Earth thief who gets sent on a space mission with our friendly Leviathan visitors. Learns a secret. Does a whole shit-ton of stupid stuff. Has adventures and some three-ways…

Overall the series was fun but this felt a bit odd. It struck me that the book is more about collective than character which isn’t a bad thing except it I didn’t care about any of the characters by the end they annoyed me more than anything else. I suppose Zara stands out as the character but she becomes more of the Queen Bee of this hive.

Nadim was a great character in earlier books but now he’s basically a jealous and anxious boyfriend. And Bea disappears into a relationship as well.

Plus it’s a personal thing but it annoyed me when Zara kept calling her significant other (I’m trying to be vague) sweetheart and honey. Probably because there felt like a “lesson” to each of those particular interactions.

Yeah I guess I don’t really like Zara it’s also not a great look on a leader that everything that they are dealing with in this book and happens is on her, her past and her sometimes unilateral decision making.

If only they had thought to mutiny.

Recommend: Yes to the series overall.

The first book is an excellent read and the diversity really is appreciated. Also you don’t see Leviathans much in YA sci-fi. And despite my not really enjoying the 3rd all that much its still a fun fast read and I can’t say I wasn’t engaged on the strength of the first two.