Honor Among Thieves (Honors, #1)

by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre

Meet your new favorite kickass heroine in this daring YA series by New York Times bestselling authors Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre, a thrilling yet romantic futuristic adventure perfect for fans of Claudia Gray’s A Thousand Pieces of You.

Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell.

Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.

Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth’s dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she’s assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight.

• ISBN10: 0062571001
• ISBN13: 9780062571007
• Publish Date: 24 July 2019 (first published 13 February 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Katherine Tegen Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 496
• Language: English

Reviews

[Minx]

Umm, living alien ships that take two Honors (people chosen for the honor of a year long voyage on the ship) into space where they get to experience the universe??! Sign me up! Right from the start I was drawn into Honor Among Thieves. Zara was a character who chose to walk the hard path. She had issues with authority and did what she wanted to do – always. It wasn’t until she found herself backed into a corner that she was given a completely unexpected choice, but to her it was not an honor. When she was chosen as an Honor is was more like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She did not like either option she was given but chose to participate in the Honors program because it was the safer option.

Once she and her companion, Bea, were aboard their Leviathan named Nadim, they quickly realized that there was more going on than what appeared on the surface. On one hand, Zara finds that she has a deeper connection to Nadim than anyone expected and it makes her feel quite unsettled but at the same time she feels “right” for the first time in a long time. On the other hand, it becomes pretty clear to Zara and Bea that they were not being told the truth about the relationships between the Leviathans and their role in regards to humankind. Zara started to question why they were truly there and this “questioning” leads to some pretty dire situations for the crew.

I loved Nadim, he was a fabulous character for a sentient alien being. I found everything to do with the Leviathans just fascinating and man did I wish for it to be true because sign me up for a year long voyage in space! I like the relationship that built up between Zara and Bea, it was a great emotional bond that they shared. It was honest and they were all in when it came to looking out for each other. I loved it! There is a great representation of diversity in this story as well, so A+ for that. The pace was steady but I did feel like the story slowed a bit in parts. The action – I loved the action scenes! Zara was such a fierce character in those scenes and I liked that she and the others were engaged with alien creators who were pretty nightmarish. Honor Among Thieves was a sci-fi gem of a read and I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

Find this review and more at The Genre Minx Book Reviews

[jeannamichel]

One of the best sci-fi books I've read ever! Review to come.

[sa090]

If anything, I’m very conflicted with this book. On one hand it’s got this awesome potential of being a really amazing book but on the other hand it has these other things that make liking it a real struggle for me at times.

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Don’t let that somewhat negative start imply that this book was goddamn awful, because that is not true but it was no masterpiece either. First of all, while this is really the first time I’ve ever seen this idea in a literary form, it’s not the first time I’ve seen these similar elements. There was an anime in 2017 called “Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau” or what is literally translated into “Whale Calves Sing on the Sand” (more commonly known as Children of the Whales) which I enjoyed very much and seeing these elements in this book hyped me up for enjoyment in this one as well, which I got for sure but not on the same level I was expecting.
 
The very compelling setting makes it incredibly easy for me to try and immerse myself into this new world, but I feel like it was lacking in world building. The post-apocalyptic setting on earth was explored adequately, I mean with so many stories like this it’s not hard to imagine what happened and how the basic system of society on Earth works, but the parts that are new to me were handed in small doses that it felt like just scraps of a much bigger picture that quickly ended up as an unreachable itch. Sometimes, the characters would move into a certain conversation that could easily open up the path to a bigger history lesson before something of convenience happens to steer me away from there with a very unsatisfied feeling since nothing resembling a plot moving event happens until the final third of the book so this journey with them here should be a learning one, not me feeling like something is always missing.

Speaking of conveniences, how convenient is that tech in her brain, huh? Connecting is so much easier isn’t it??
 
The writing of the book was pretty good, but I think this is really the first time that I felt a bigger discrepancy whenever I’ve read a book by co-authors. Not in the instance that the words were different or that the characters had insane changes no, but rather my feelings and enjoyment when reading certain parts of the book. It’s broken down into 4 parts and till the end, the second part of the book remains my least favourite, if I had to put them in order from best to worst, it’ll be 4>3>1>2. Although now that I’m thinking a little more about it, I think it’s due to what was focused on instead of what I wanted to see. There is a very strange relationship in this book, I won’t spoil it but the authors continuously tried to shove it down my throat to convince me that it’s a natural progression in part 2 in particular and some of part 3 that it felt forced, weird and very unnecessary. I say unnecessary because, there IS a parallel relationship to that one that worked just as well without any need for the certain “edge” the first relationship had. All in all, this was very awkward to read about and honestly, I didn’t like it.
 
If I had to choose one thing I liked a lot other than the setting then it would be Bea, while the book was told mostly from Zara’s point of view, Beatriz (Zara’s co-pilot) was the most interesting one in the entire cast and the best thing is that despite her secondary role, she goes through her own stages of development that I just kept liking her more and more. I reached a point where I wished that she got her own POV just so I can see what she’s up to when she’s off screen, judging by the “modifications” she’s got her own brand of a rebellious streak. Zara on the other hand starts off really unlikable to me with a feeling that the authors are trying a little too hard to make her this untouchable badass that she comes off a little too much. The worst thing about Zara to me though is that she never thinks things through, there are way too many instances in this book where I had to stop reading and take a deep breathe as to not hurl my phone across the room because of something about her actions, which makes me appreciate her development a little more than I expected since she’s less of an idiot afterwards. Nadim was okay, I really enjoyed some things about it but there were others like Zara’s case that made me sigh and roll my eyes in defeat. However, like Zara, everyone/thing get some development so I’m okay on that front for now.
 
The final part of the book is where things get real, it’s fast paced and incredibly fun to read when I see how the development of these characters works in their favor. It’s also the part where a form of a plot comes along that I sit here thinking “Oooh okay, now we’re heading somewhere” and it was just an added bonus because the learning period of the first parts (although lacking in the same quantity I wanted) was fun in their own way. I look forward to see where we go from here because this is a really interesting book, but I think because I expected way too much out of all fronts, I found it to be lacking instead.
 
Final rating: 3.5/5

Reading next: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

[lizarodz]

Quite the Novel Idea https://quitethenovelidea.com https://quitethenovelidea.com/liza-reviews-honor-among-thieves-rachel-caine-ann-aguirre/

• Outstanding writing!  If you are a fan of either (or both) authors, like I am, you are in for a treat.


• I loved Zara. A lot.  She's feisty, good, full of empathy, knows how to fight, she's stubborn, relentless, loyal, and persistent.  She grows a lot as a character during the story.


• I also liked Beatriz, her partner/roommate. She's from Brazil, she's super smart, she understand a lot of what's left unsaid and she's an amazing singer.


• Nadim is a sentient alien ship.  So he's basically a huge alien and people live inside of 'him'.  Honors are the 100 people selected every year to live inside 50 ships for a whole year.  They perform tasks for the ships, do experiments, visit other planets and then come back to earth.  Nadim felt almost like a person, but 'he's' everywhere at once.


• The worldbuilding is unique, easy to understand, if not always comfortable to read. I hope that makes sense for you because I got confused just writing that sentence :)

 

• The 'bonding' that takes place between Zara - and at a lesser degree with Beatriz - and Nadim is kind of weird. For Zara and Nadim feels almost romantic in nature, which is impossible as they are different species, right?


• There is a lot of unexplained things, events, cruelty, mysteries.  A LOT.  Other concepts were really hard to understand for me, like singing stars.


• There's a lot of action, but sometimes it felt like the story was going nowhere fast, you know what I mean?

 



Overall, Honor Among Thieves was weird.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just unlike anything I've read before and might not be for everyone.  It was good enough to hook me to read the next book, that's for sure. This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea

[Amber]

Guys, this book was strange. I loved the concept, and I loved the space travel part, but bloody hell, there’s a romance developing between a human girl and a living alien spaceship. It’s the weirdest thing, and I can’t get on board with that.


I think Honor Among Thieves is a strong science fiction book in a lot of ways. There’s a fair amount of action, although the focus is definitely on the world-building and the relationship between humans and these Leviathans. I really liked what the authors did here.

That said, the book gets very weird when it comes to the romance. There was flirting between the main character and the Leviathan that she was living in. The word “seduce” was used. I think it would have been better if the relationship had stayed platonic and they’d forged a really strong bond (like an unstoppable force, y/y?) but instead it became very odd. I’m not sure how readers will feel about this.

I loved the relationship between Zara and Bea, and I was actually shipping these two because they had some chemistry. Individually, they’re also really good characters. Zara is the main, but Bea was also given a decent amount of development. I hope we get to see more of her in the sequel, and that her character doesn’t get pushed to the side in favour of the weird romance.

In terms of plot, there’s a good amount of action. There are a couple of slow points, but the book is mostly quite suspenseful. I was really interested in learning more about the mysterious Journey. The ending was creepy, and I’m really excited to learn more about what is going on there.

Honor Among Thieves isn’t the best book I’ve read, and it’s certainly not the strongest YA science fiction, but I enjoyed it and I’ll be reading the sequel when it’s releases.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Well that was unexpectedly awesome! See- I expected to like it of course, otherwise I'd not have read it. But one, I didn't expect it to be as awesome and two, it did start off slow, and I wasn't sure it was going to work for me. Clearly, I was incorrect. 

That little bit of initial slowness is the only negative I have with the book whatsoever. So let's get that out of the way. The first maybe 12% didn't wholly capture me (and in hindsight, the level of detail seemed a tad unnecessary). But I was interested enough to keep going, and I am so glad with my life choice! Let's talk about why I loved this, shall we?

• •It was one of those incredibly rare books that I literally lost hours of my life in and didn't realize. You ever find yourself reading along, then suddenly look at the clock and actual huge amounts of time had passed? Yeah, me either. This does not ever happen to me, and it did with this book. I was just so completely engrossed in it that I straight up lost track of time- it was that compulsively readable.



• •I loved all the moral dilemmas and struggles the characters faced. The stakes were so incredibly high during the whole story, and often there wasn't a good decision to be made.



• •Zara's character growth was awesome- and believable. Zara had spent her life going through family issues (we'll get to that) and getting in trouble. She initially rejects the chance to go into space with the Honors, but finds herself in space. She learns about herself, about others, and figures out that she is someone worth fighting for.



• •The relationships the characters formed were amazing. There is a romantic relationship, which I shan't spoil (but if you have read the book, I chuckled as I wrote the spoiler tag 😂 (the ship with a ship on a ship?) . But that was far from the only important relationship. Zara and Beatriz becoming friends was such a lovely journey. They complimented each other perfectly, and they brought out the best in each other. And I loved how much Zara cared for her family, even as she knew that her going away from them was probably the best choice she could make for them.



• •There was so much freaking action! I am often wary of books that offer a lot of action, but this one was so perfectly balanced. Enough stuff going on that I was always engaged, but never overwhelmed. And of course, the downtime necessary to truly fall in love with the characters!



• •Despite the complexity of the world, it never confused me. I don't necessarily understand it all yet, but the authors did a phenomenal job of giving the right amount of information at the right times. The world itself became a huge part of the plot as a result, and I felt fully immersed, yet always excited to learn more.

Will I Read the Next Book? Um yeah, can I have it this actual second? Of course I will read it! I feel like with such a vast world, there is unlimited potential, and I cannot freaking wait.

Bottom Line: In the end, the slow start was a non-issue because the rest of the book was just that epic. This book had it all: fabulous characters I was rooting for, a world I couldn't get enough of, and super high stakes that made it impossible to put the book down!

*Copy provided for review

[Ashley]

Maybe 3.5 stars.

This book was... okay. There were definitely some interesting parts, like Zara's relationship with with Nadim (the ship). I quite liked that connection they had. But ultimately I didn't really connect with the story style and some of the ideas. A few elements felt kind of whimsical (like singing stars) and it just wasn't my thing I guess.

The book ended setting the stage for book 2, but the big "reveal" at the end didn't really excite me. I just don't think I'll be really interested in the rest of the series.

In short, it was a good book and I would recommend it if the synopsis makes you go HELL YEAH.