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A Review of "Anchor Leg"




Introduction

Unfortunately, readers, this is the first book that I've reviewed that I simply couldn't end up finishing. While Anchor Leg by Jack Croxall had an interesting plot, the rest of the novel wasn't enough to keep my attention. The synopsis sounded exciting, and the first few chapters were inviting, but the story slowed as it went on, and I only ended up reading to 48%.

My Rating: ★★

Synopsis: "Humanity has spilled out into the Solar System, into a succession of giant space stations known as the Relay. Seren Temples is a security apprentice running the Relay’s remote Anchor Leg. When sabotage strands her vessel near another damaged ship, Seren and her team are sent across to investigate. The second ship is a zero-G graveyard. Inside its vast hold, nothing but a single vial of frozen blood. " (via Goodreads)

Thoughts and Comments

Pros
  • There were many creative ideas about space exploration and gathering resources--for instance, both Martian mining and surveying ice on frozen planets were mentioned, and I found that to be a neat bit of worldbuilding.
  • Along with the worldbuilding, there was a small amount of "space lingo", if you will, especially in the dialogue, but it was comfortable and easy to understand.
  • The dialogue itself seemed natural and unforced, which is a strong positive aspect in a young adult novel.
  • The technology in the universe is believable and not too-far-out-there to be considered as a part of the near-future. The reader doesn't have to do very much work in figuring out how all of the gadgets work.
  • The pacing was even and properly spaced out, for the most part--I didn't feel like anything was rushed in the novel for the sole sake of getting to the next plot point.

Cons

  • There were a lot of noticeable grammar issues that distracted me greatly, especially in dialogue.
  • Some scenes didn't seem to contribute to the plot; rather, they seemed to be there for the sole purpose of telling us the history of Seren.
  • A lot of blatant exposition was used throughout the novel--the author does a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. Additionally, the exposition comes in chunks, as if to get it out of the way in order to explain what's going on in the present timeline of the novel.
  • In some instances, the tenses seemed to switch, which was a bit confusing
  • I found side character Abril Antonio to be very much a "Mary Sue" character--all of the boys seemed to admire her; she was always lithe and graceful in her movements; she was incredibly talented in the technology department--I didn't find a single flaw in this character, which points to shallow character development.
  • Perhaps the biggest reason that I couldn't finish this book is because Seren fit the mold of "dystopian YA orphan girl" to a T. She was plain, but pretty; she was clumsier than the rest of them, but she managed to shoot a perfect headshot the first time she ever fired a gun; her parents died when she was young, which contributed to her troubled past, since she always finds herself running away--it's a tired trope that shouldn't be involved in young adult novels anymore.



Conclusion

If you're a fan of space adventures, or sci-fi in general, I'd still recommend that you give this book a try! Just because it's not my cup of tea doesn't mean that it won't be yours. It should be taken into consideration that this review of the book seems to go against the majority of the reviews on Goodreads, as the average rating was a 4.13. This hasn't (by ANY means!) swayed my love for space fiction, and I would be more than willing to see something else written by Mr. Croxall.


Amazon Link: See here
Goodreads Link: See here
Riffle Link: See here

 This fulfills my "Soft Science Fiction" subgenre of the Science Fiction genre!


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