Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik

HarperCollins Publishers | February 2019 | 448 pgs

Source: Purchased 

I rarely read Sci-Fi; and I tend to be picky with this genre but this book had my attention throughout so that says a lot how I felt about this book. 

Princess Ada von Hasenberg is the fifth child of six children in the House of von Hasenberg. The von Hasenberg is one of the three High Houses among the space universe and they are officially ruled by the Royal Consortium. Each High House has a Councillor who wield the power and occasionally the three High Councillors will meet for political reasons. In its present case, Ada's father has arranged Ada to wed Richard from House Rockhurst but Ada has her own plans. To escape from the marriage, she has been on the run for two years until she is caught and is thrown into a cell with the notorious Marcus Loch. Known as the devil of Fornax Zero, Loch is known to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion and he is a wanted man by the Consortium.  

However, during the return to Earth their ship is attacked by House Rockhurst's battle cruiser and Ada knew if Richard captures her she'd be used as a political pawn and nothing else. Being constrained in a small cell her only hope is Loch so she strikes a deal with him to help her escape with compensation. Although she isn't sure if Loch is to be trusted, she's willing to take a risk especially when her freedom is at stake. 

Polaris Rising is the first book of a trilogy and what a fun adventure-packed book it is! I loved everything here - the characters, the premise and yes, there's even a romance element in it. Ada is one kick-ass heroine; and Loch is one character who will grow on you the more you read about him. There's some history behind his fugitive persona so I was intrigued by it as well. And the Sci-Fi elements are balanced in a way that there aren't too many related stuff that might bore or confuse you; but I've to say I was quite fascinated by the world-building and the scientific technologies (e.g. nanobots for the prestige that seem like a superb recovery system and FTL drives that is an invaluable source to the universe, etc) alongside the adventures. The next installment (Aurora Blazing) will feature Ada's older sister and their House's head security and I can't wait to read their story!

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