Sanctuary by Caryn Lix

Sanctuary (Sanctuary, #1)

by Caryn Lix

Alien meets Alexandra Bracken's The Darkest Minds in this thrilling debut novel about prison-guard-in-training, Kenzie, who is taken hostage by the superpowered criminal teens of the Sanctuary space station-only to have to band together with them when the station is attacked by mysterious creatures.

Kenzie holds one truth above all: the company is everything.

As a citizen of Omnistellar Concepts, the most powerful corporation in the solar system, Kenzie has trained her entire life for one goal: to become an elite guard on Sanctuary, Omnistellar's space prison for superpowered teens too dangerous for Earth. As a junior guard, she's excited to prove herself to her company-and that means sacrificing anything that won't propel her forward.

But then a routine drill goes sideways and Kenzie is taken hostage by rioting prisoners.

At first, she's confident her commanding officer-who also happens to be her mother-will stop at nothing to secure her freedom. Yet it soon becomes clear that her mother is more concerned with sticking to Omnistellar protocol than she is with getting Kenzie out safely.

As Kenzie forms her own plan to escape, she doesn't realize there's a more sinister threat looming, something ancient and evil that has clawed its way into Sanctuary from the vacuum of space. And Kenzie might have to team up with her captors to survive-all while beginning to suspect there's a darker side to the Omnistellar she knows.

Reviewed by shannonmiz on

4 of 5 stars

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

I really wasn't sure about this one when I started. The first few chapters were kind of rough- like, I thought I might DNF honestly. And look, you definitely have to suspend some disbelief if you want to fully enjoy this one. But enjoy it I did when it got going!

What I Liked:

  • The characters! They're probably my favorite thing about the book, actually. Like Kenzie was okay at first, and her parents were kind of driving me bananas, but then when we get to the actual prison kids? Oh yes, I am in! And Kenzie got a lot better, too. She started to become much more likable as the book progressed.


  • Morally grey decisions FTW! Ohhh how I love these. And I love when there is definitely not a "good", or obvious decision, and that is how a lot of stuff in this story went down. And the characters, of course, did not always agree on which decision was less awful. Makes for a compelling plot.


  • There was quite a bit of action once things got going. A lot of bold choices, too. I was glad to see that the author didn't shy away from certain decisions, so the book never once seemed too easy, or safe. 


What I Didn't:

  • Really, just the parts where I had to suspend some disbelief. But I am not the best at that, so. Especially in the beginning, some of Kenzie's choices didn't make a ton of sense to me, based on what I knew of her. And she was making me mad. But that was really just the first quarter of the book or so, and after that it was smooth sailing.


Will I Read the Sequel? Goodness yes, I obviously need to know what will happen now!

Bottom Line: If you love a space adventure with a fun cast of characters and can get on board with a little suspension of disbelief, this is definitely one to check out!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 June, 2018: Finished reading
  • 12 June, 2018: Reviewed