Miranda @ Bibliodaze

Debris, while I rather enjoyed it, does have some major issues I hope will be fixed in the sequel. My biggest issue with the novel was the pacing. It was really rather slow, and while this comes down on the tastes of the reader, I found my interest waning a bit in the middle because the pacing was dragging. There were interesting things happening, but since Tanyana, for most of the novel, is kept from pursuing them, nothing really comes from them until the end. Thankfully the beginning and the end part make up for the middle, especially the end, where Anderton weaves her mythology and world building together to give the reader a taste of what she has in store for the sequel. In fact I’ll most likely check out the sequel based on the strength of the ending alone, though the novel itself was strong enough to keep me interested. Tanyana, in the beginning, is actually unlikable. At one point in the novel, after the accident and her switch to her new job, which is far away from her home, she throws a fit about how much landau (cab/transportation) fare costs and uses her previous status to bully the man into lowering the fare. The man, as far as I knew, was telling the truth about how much it cost to drive her from one place to the other, as the text gave no other indication that he was trying to cheat her. It left a bad taste in my mouth after I had sympathized with Tanyana in the beginning, that she should do something like that. You could probably try to pass it off as her not adapting well to her new situation, which she doesn’t, but bullying a person into paying a substantially lower amount for his services, no matter how crappy, does not endear me to a character. There’s also the irritating character trait of hers to put off doing things that are exceedingly important, such as refusing to look for a new house because she still hasn’t accepted her new situation and the fact that her new paycheck can’t support her. When these decisions lead to their logical conclusions it was hard to feel a great deal of sympathy for her. Thankfully Tanyana grows and learns, and once she accepted her situation for what it is, I found myself liking her again. By the end I had thoroughly enjoyed watching her develop, especially as a major moment in the end of the book is a very empowering thing to read and watch her go through. Unfortunately in contrast it seemed like the secondary characters didn’t get as much development as she did, or the two other main characters, Kichlan and his brother Lad. Which is fair, I suppose, as at the heart of it, Debris is a story about these three people. But when all I know about their four debris collecting team mates is that one just intensely dislikes Tanyana and may be in love with Kichlan, one is pouty and overly negative, and two are some rather morbidly humorous twins, that may be a sign that there needs to be more growth or focus on these characters, especially as they’re present for a large part of the novel. I sincerely hope that more focus is put on them in the sequel and they develop as much as Tanyana and Kichlan developed in this one. The same can sadly be said for Tanyana’s main love interest, Devich. She and him got together with very little development to that point, and while I see why Anderton wrote it that way, it was still a little off putting at first. It’s easier to swallow now that I know what happens but it may be a little hard for others to take in at first. I called how his character would end up pretty early on, so while I wasn’t surprised it happened, I might have been able to feel more... something towards it if their relationship had been a bit more believable. I’m interested in seeing if the romantic relationship between Tanyana and another character is dealt with the same in the next book. The writing was good and smooth, though at times some of the descriptions were a bit odd. There’s a scene near the beginning that’s honestly downright chilling, and the accident that causes everything was beautifully written in a tragic sort of way. Still, I never quite felt like Anderton was forcing anything out, which is always a major plus. The world building is obviously well done, and I’m honestly couldn't have called the twist about the debris if I tried. It was definitely well thought out and Anderton has obviously put a lot of work into Movoc, and it's a world I'm looking forward to seeing more of. Overall, while it had some problems that kept it from being a great read, I enjoyed Debris. It’s a slow novel that’s getting the pieces set out for future installments and that’s fine. There’s a good enough basis here that if the issues are worked on, it would be a great book. As it is I’m interested in seeing how things play out for Tanyana and Movoc, so I’ll most likely be looking into the sequel when it comes out.A galley of this title was generously provided by the publisher through NetGalley.