Review: Shoot the Messenger by Pippa DaCosta

Posted April 26, 2018 by Lola in Fantasy, Review, Sci-Fi / 10 Comments

Shoot the MessengerShoot the Messenger (The Messenger Chronicles #1)
by Pippa DaCosta

Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Space Fantasy/ Reverse Harem

Blurb:
“Lies aren’t her only weapons against the fae…”

In the Halow system, one of Earth’s three sister star systems, tek and magic—humans and the fae—are at war.

Kesh Lasota is a ghost in the machine. Invisible to tek, she’s hired by the criminal underworld to carry illegal messages through the Halow system. But when one of those messages kills its recipient, Kesh finds herself on the run with a bounty on her head and a quick-witted marshal on her tail.

Proving her innocence should be straightforward—until a warfae steals the evidence she needs. The fae haven’t been seen in Halow in over a thousand years. And this one—a brutally efficient killer able to wield tek—should not exist. But neither should Kesh.

As Kesh’s carefully crafted lie of a life crumbles around her, she knows remaining invisible is no longer an option. To hunt the fae, to stop him from destroying a thousand-year-long fragile peace, she must resurrect the horrors of her past.

Kesh Lasota was a ghost. Now she’s back, and there’s only one thing she knows for certain. Nobody shoots the messenger and gets away with it.

A new space fantasy reverse harem series where the guys are hot, the perils are many, and one rebel messenger holds the key to the survival of the human race.

REVERSE HAREM INFO: The Messenger Series is a slow burn reverse harem space-fantasy adventure. This series contains sexual encounters with multiple partners. The harem develops during the series.

My Review:
I was in this weird reading mood and wasn’t sure what to read next, then this one caught my eye and I decided to read it. Shoot the Messenger is on one hand totally different than what I expected (although I can’t really say what I had expected) and at the same time it was exactly the type of read I was in the mood for.

It’s a dark and twisted world. There are lies, secrets and illusions. And a bunch of plot twists that I hadn’t expected. It’s unique and the story multiple times went in a direction I hadn’t expected. It’s refreshing. It’s sci-fi and a bit of fantasy. It’s the Fae as you see them in paranormal books, but then in space. And by the end I wasn’t even fully sure what was true and what not. And even with all the lies, the one at the end might be the one that hurts most as I am not sure how they are going to get over that one.

Kesh is a messenger. One day when delivering a message the recipient gets shot right in front of her face and that’s when things start going wrong. She’s the prime suspect and her proof that she is innocent gets stolen. She finds out that a Fae is here, on this planet, where he shouldn’t be. Many people believe them legends and fae don’t deal well around tek, so it’s a mystery what is this fae doing. And she uncovers a conspiracy bigger than she even imaged. And that’s only the start.

It’s so hard to describe this book as so much happens in this book. It’s quite a long book and there are multiple parts and every part is different, but also part of the same story. And the way the author flips everything you know and changes things up, was so well done. I liked the writing style of the author and really enjoyed the book, although there are some parts that were quite twisted and dark as well and could be a bit uncomfortable to read.

Kesh is a great main character, she build a life for herself, but it becomes clear quickly that she has a dark past she’s trying to avoid or escape. And piece by piece you learn more about that and even at the end of the book I am sure there is so much we don’t know yet. She’s very tough, she survived a lot of difficult stuff and at times she could be a tad too cold and tough. But the great part is that there are also holes in that tough facade. She cares. First about her drone Sota and later about other characters the meets too. And that makes her relatable and realistic. And I like to see that even with how well she could handle everything thrown her way, she also was vulnerable. I also really liked her drone Sota, it’s too bad due to events that happen there aren’t as many scenes with him.

This series is marketed as a Reverse Harem and while there are hints that it will go in that direction, this first book has very little romance at all. It’s definitely a slow burn. With both the characters that I suspect will be part of her harem things progress slowly. There is only a hint of romance in this book and only one kiss in the whole book. I think the romance and the pace things progressed very much fitted the story tough. And I am curious to see where things will go in the next book. I liked both potential love interest and I have the feeling there is much more we will discover about both of them in the next books.

I like how the author wrote the Fae. There were intriguing. They were despicable on the one hand and on the other hand they also seemed realistic. Like their actions made sense, because that was how they viewed the world. Human were their playthings as no one was on their level. And all the illusions and secrets. Just like in some other Fae stories, they can’t lie, but they are the masters of the manipulation and illusion. It was creepy at times how they behaved and acted, but it also felt very much in tune with who there are.

To summarize: Shoot the Messenger was a great read. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this space fantasy read, but it was exactly the type of read I was in the mood for. The world is dark and twisty. It’s a sci-fi book, but with Fae. And there are a bunch of plot twists that were quite unexpected and I liked how they changed things and put things in a whole new perspective. The story was compelling and so much happens in just one book. I liked Kesh, how she was tough and capable, but also had her vulnerable side with how she cared. There is a hint of romance, but it’s a very slow burn, but I am curious to see where things go in the next book. The fae were well written and I liked how the author brought them alive. How cold they could be and view human as only their playthings, how they could create illusions even tough they could not lie. They were creepy, but interesting as well. All in all this was a great start of this series and I am looking forward to the next book and plan to pick up more books by this author.

4 Stars

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Have you read any Space Fantasy books?

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10 responses to “Review: Shoot the Messenger by Pippa DaCosta

    • I haven’t read a lot of space fantasy yet, or maybe not a lot that really got marketed as such. But I do see myself enjoying this genre.

    • I think you might enjoy this one. The romance is a side plot line here and it’s a nice slow burn. The focus is on the story and it can be a bit dark in places too. The whole world building with the fae in space was pretty cool.

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