BookView Review

Hurst’s tightly executed third entry in the Lily Starling series is a fine blend of suspense, calculated intrigue, and blurred moral lines. What begins as a routine visit to Caris’s lab quickly unravels into a deeper crisis for Lieutenant Lily Starling. After stopping the architect of a dangerous new technology, she is unsettled by the Union’s choice to preserve it. Meanwhile, a plague in the Nullstorm region places her on a vaccine mission riddled with irregularities. As supply issues mount and a friend suddenly disappears, Lily finds herself piecing together a much larger and more calculated scheme. 

Hurst’s prose is crisp and efficient, driving the story forward with a strong sense of urgency while still allowing space for investigation and character reflection. The pacing is measured, the world-building remains immersive, and the tension never lets up. At its core, the book explores questions of institutional trust, control, and manipulation. The different plot threads, such as Bimini’s life cycle, Datch’s reconstruction, Ronin’s pursuit of immortality, and the plague, are all variations on the same central question: what does it mean to preserve life, and at what cost?  

A high-stakes, character-driven YA sci-fi with a distinctly dystopian edge.

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