Chasing the Shadows by Maria V. Snyder: A Fun YA Sci-Fi

What: Chasing the Shadows (Sentinels of the Galaxy #2) by Maria V. Snyder

Who: HarperCollins

When: November 18th 2019

How: A copy of this novel was provided by Harlequin Teen Australia for review.

Year 2522. Lyra Daniels is dead.

Okay, so I only died for sixty-six seconds. But when I came back to life, I got a brand new name and a snazzy new uniform. Go me! Seriously, though, it’s very important that Lyra Daniels stays dead, at least as far as my ex-friend Jarren, the murdering looter, knows.

While dying is the scariest thing that’s happened to me, it morphed my worming skills. I can manipulate the Q-net like never before. But Jarren has blocked us from communicating with the rest of the galaxy and now they believe we’ve gone silent, like Planet Xinji (where silent really means dead).

A Protector Class spaceship is coming to our rescue, but we still have to survive almost two years before they arrive – if they arrive at all. Until then, we have to figure out how to stop an unstoppable alien threat. And it’s only a matter of time before Jarren learns I’m not dead and returns to finish what he started.

There’s no way I’m going to let Jarren win. Instead I’ll do whatever it takes to save the people I love. But even I’m running out of ideas…

When I read Navigating the Stars I remember thinking that it was aimed at a younger teen audience and that if I had known that I might have enjoyed it more than I did (and I did enjoy it!). Because I remembered I went into Chasing the Shadows knowing this and I ended up having so much fun when I was reading it. It was exactly what I needed at the time!

Chasing the Shadows is probably a bit of a slower novel than the first book in the series but I didn’t mind that at all. As a reader I got to know Lyra (known as Ara in this book) more, as well as what her role at the base is now that she’s not in the school/activity room with the rest of the teenagers. Also, it was great to read about a character actually going through physical training rather than suddenly mastering it behind the scenes (that always feels so unrealistic to me). It was refreshing to see her struggling and trying so hard because let’s be real, most of us would struggle and find it hard to master all the things Lyra had to. It’s not easy to suddenly have stamina and know how to use a laser gun.

There was less romance in Chasing the Shadows which I didn’t actually mind for a change (who am I???). I think Lyra needed to concentrate on other things, but that’s not to say that there weren’t romantic moments between her and Niall because there definitely were! But they both had things they had promised to do and instead of shirking those responsibilities they took them seriously. Which I think is actually pretty awesome. Sure, they complained about it (they are teenagers, after all) but afterwards they would go and work really hard to keep each other and everyone else on the base as safe as they could.

The crux of the story comes quite late in the book but it makes sense because the villain is supposed to think Lyra is dead. I feel like there is still so much to learn about him – Jarren – as well as the role of the terracotta warriors and the shadow blob things. There was some more information given in Chasing the Shadows but I am still wondering how and why and who exactly made them. Which makes me pretty keen to read book three! I guess I will have to wait another year for all my answers, though.

All in all I enjoyed Chasing the Shadows! It was a fun read, and I don’t really seem to have a lot of those. I saw a post from Maria V. Snyder saying how much fun she’s having writing the series and I think that really comes across in the story and especially in Lyra’s character. She is such a sassy little thing and I like being inside her head as everything is happening! I’ll be looking forward to whenever I can get my hands on book three in the series, and I hope the cover is just as beautiful as the first two (I’m pretty sure it will be). I’m hoping for purple next time, just sayin’.

© 2019, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

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