Review: Hyperspeed by Lily James

Hyperspeed (AstroSpace League #1)
by Lily James

My Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Scifi Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/m

Blurb:
Kai Mercer was made to race and born to win. A three-time galactic champion, Kai dominates every track he hits. But after years of standing on the podium, the thrill is fading, and the trophies have lost their shine. All he wants is one thing: a challenge fierce enough to reignite his fire.

But they say you should be careful what you wish for . . .

Rev Arathiel is a rookie with stars in his eyes and a mission heavier than any trophy. An endangered alien whose skin glows like a supernova, Rev has clawed his way up from illegal street races to the prestigious Astro Space League. Racing isn’t just a game to him—it’s the key to a better future for his people.

When Rev starts disrupting Kai’s perfect season, their rivalry ignites more than just speed and skill. With the championship hanging in the balance, neither expects the boundaries between competition and connection to blur . . . or their hearts to race for more than just the finish line.

Hyperspeed is an MM sci-fi racing romance with rivals to lovers, opposites attract, and an ego bigger than Jupiter. Perfect for fans of Formula 1, this is the first instalment in a series of interconnected standalones. Expect high-speed races, adorable first times, and some creative uses of prehensile tails.

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

I saw this book on a blog and thought the concept sounded fun racing in space, so I looked it up and managed to get an ARC copy of it. Hyperspeed is told from dual points of view of two racers, one of them is human and the reigning champion who won 3 times in a row and the other is an alien rookie new to the official race circuit, but with experience in the underground race scene.

Kai and Rev immediately become rivals the second they meet a the first race of the season and this book really got those rivals to lovers vibes. They have a very obvious chemistry from the moment they met and it’s clear that their competition spirit and heated rivalry is going to tip over into steam eventually. I would’ve liked for them to tip over into the romance part earlier, as for my taste it was a lot of them being rivals and this was a long book and I just kinda got bored of the dynamic and the way they snap at each other all the time. I also admit that rivals to lovers or enemies to lovers isn’t my favorite trope, so that contributed to that, for those who love the trope this might not be an issue. They do keep have that competitive spirit even after they get together.

There is some steam later on and while I thought it fit the characters, those scenes didn’t really do it for me. I liked how Rev slowly opens up to Kai and I thought his character development was very satisfying to see. I thought Kai’s character arc was a bit less satisfying and interesting, but I did appreciate seeing how he was there for Rev and found out what really mattered for him. I also really liked the sweeter scenes toward the end and how Kai was Rev’s safe place were he could be fully himself and open up. I wasn’t a fan of the conflict and breakup at the end, but did like how it got resolved and how they addressed some issues due to that. There also are some fun scenes were they spend a day with kids for an event.

When I read scifi romance I definitely pick it up for the scifi elements as well as the romance. I was quite excited to see what the author would do with the space racing concept. I don’t know anything about racing and wasn’t sure whether that part would appeal to me, but I actually found myself wishing for more racing scenes and how it all worked. It probably doesn’t help that I don’t know much about racing works and wanted more information about that. And the actual races got glosses over quite quickly and the focus really is on the romance foremost and what each race or meeting means for the romance. I just wanted to read more about the races.

I also wanted more world building and explanation. There is this whole plot line about Rev getting into racing to help his species and I just didn’t get why the galaxy basically declared his species as not existing. This meant they could be treated badly, like no pension or minimum wage, this just seemed weird and I didn’t really get why this was that way and how this all worked. The whole plot line also got resolved very easily and I just wanted a bit more from this. It also didn’t feel very scifi-y most of the time, there aren’t many descriptions of anything except for some of the race tracks. I did like how there were multiple alien species and I thought it was fun how Rev actually did seem alien in his appearance and physiology.

To summarize: I liked the concept of Hyperspeed with racing in space. I wasn’t sure if I would find the racing aspect interesting, but actually ended up wanting more of that. Instead the focus stays firmly on the romance. Rev and Kai have a rivals to lovers romance and there really is a lot of focus on the rivalry. I had hoped they would transition to the romance quicker as I am not a big fan of the rivalry part and got a bit bored with them snapping at each other all the time and trading barbs, especially as this is a long book. The chemistry between the characters is very obvious. Once they get together there are some really sweet scenes involving the two of them and I did like them together. I also liked Rev’s character development and how he found his safe place and opened up to Kai. I wanted more of the scifi elements and the racing. I felt like this book didn’t have as strong as a scifi vibe as I had hoped and I wanted to know more about the world. I liked how there are multiple aliens and Rev actually felt alien. There are some fun side characters too.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.