YA Weekend: Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Series: Book 1 of The Honors
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (February 13, 2018)
Length: 480 pages
Author Information: Rachel Caine | Ann Aguirre
At first glance, I thought Honor Among Thieves was going to read like your typical paint-by-numbers Young Adult novel, but there were actually plenty of surprises to be had, and in the end I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
The story, which takes place in the distant future of 2142, follows a teenager named Zara Cole, whose debilitating headaches as a child caused a schism between her and her family. After a traumatic experience, she became estranged from her parents and refused to relocate to Mars with her mother and sister, preferring to remain by herself on the mean streets of New Detroit. Although the world has seen a number of technological advancements since the arrival of the Leviathan, a race of sentient space ships that bestowed their vast knowledge on humanity, Zara has access to very few comforts, reduced to thieving in order to stay alive. But one day, she steals from the wrong person, landing her in the crosshairs of a dangerous man. Having already survived one attempt on her life, Zara decides to get herself booked into a detention center for wayward youth, thinking she’ll be safe behind jail walls.
What she did not expect, however, were the Leviathan. Each year, the aliens select a hundred individuals from the human population to join them in space in a kind of “exchange program” meant to promote and further relations between the two species. Called “Honors”, those who have taken part in the past have included great minds like artists, musicians, scientists, military strategists, and more. Never once have they called for someone like our protagonist, a petty thief from one of the lowest echelons of society, so it was a surprise to everyone when the Leviathan decided to name her an Honor. But while it is a dream come true for many, for Zara, the idea of being stuck in the belly of what is essentially a giant space whale for a whole year is just about the worst thing she can imagine. Still, when the alternative is to stay on Earth where her vengeful enemy can get to her anytime, the opportunity to get off planet is starting to look like her best chance for survival.
What follows is an exciting, but also at times emotional, narrative detailing Zara’s time on board Nadim, her Leviathan. As an alien race, these sentient ships are an interesting concept. They are first and foremost explorers, traveling through deep space to discover new worlds, offering their inhabitants the same proposal they gave Earth: partner with the Levianthan by letting them recruit their best and brightest for a year, so that each species would be able to share the knowledge and learn from each other. At the end of this period, Honors can also choose to join the Leviathan in a more long-term arrangement called the “Journey”, though few have gone down this path since it effectively means cutting off all ties from their home planet forever. Still, through this process, the Leviathan have rescued countless worlds, including Earth, from the brink of destruction and extinction. They are understood to be benevolent overseers who only want to help.
All this is thrown into question, however, in the time Zara spends with Nadim. Along for the ride is also another Honor named Beatriz, and over the course of the novel the three of them end up forming a tight and long-lasting bond. I loved them all, including Nadim, who is obviously nothing like your usual protagonist. Bizarre and otherworldly as he is, there’s also a familiarity about his character and situation. Like his passengers, he is young and inexperienced, desperate to prove himself. There are a lot of things about his fellow Leviathan that he doesn’t understand, so in many ways, he’s learning as he goes along, together with Zara and Bea.
There is also no romance per se in Honor Among Thieves, though Zara’s connection with Nadim is something unique and, in my opinion, so much more special than any conventional relationship. Not only is this type of bond new and different, it is also very unusual and a little eerie, which immediately piqued my curiosity to find out more. In fact, it was what drove me to keep reading, even through some of the slower paced sections in the first half of the novel which were less eventful action-packed. Because of the new ideas and the increasingly deepening friendships between Zara, Bea, and Nadim, I really never found myself bored.
Because of this, I would say my experience with Honor Among Thieves was a definite win. I got what I wanted in a new and different space adventure featuring cool aliens and complex characters who go on to form beautiful and meaningful relationships. The story also gradually builds to an exciting climax which comes complete with fast-paced action and the kind of space battles you just don’t get to see every day. If this is an indication of where the series is going, sign me up for the next one.
The BiblioSanctum 
Okay, I was wondering about this one, but now I’m sold on it!
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I hope you’ll get to read it soon!
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Sweet. I would assume that author combo would be a good one. 🙂
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Me too. I love Rachel Caine, but I’ve actually never read any of Aguirre’s solo works. I should give them a try 🙂
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This sounds amazing! Pretty sure I downloaded this from Edelweiss and then forgot about it😂 I’ll try to squeeze it in for sure!
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OMG, I do that so often on NetGalley for books from auto-approved publishers! It’s like, why are my stats so bad? *looks at downloaded shelf* Oh…THAT’S why 😀
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I saw this one pop up recently but I decided not to request as not all my recent YA reads have worked out well. Glad this worked for you though. It certainly has some intriguing ideas and cool aliens and complex characters sounds like a winning combination in my opinion.
Lynn 😀
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I understand, I get so nervous about requesting new YA too these days, because of how poorly I’ve done with many of the ones I’ve been excited for. I’m glad this one lived up to my expectations, and surprised me a few times too besides 😀
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Ohhh that good? Interesting
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Yes, I liked that it was a bit different from the usual YA formula!
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The cooperation of these two authors looks like an intriguing partnership, and I’m curious to see how their individual abilities combine into this intriguing story.
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
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It’s always tricky when authors collaborate, but I thought Caine and Aguirre handled it very well! If they took turns writing different chapters or something, I could hardly tell, the transitions were seamless!
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This sounds pretty good! I should know by now that a Rachel Caine book will be interesting at the very least…
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Yep, while her books might not always be a resounding hit with me, I can always count on her to have good ideas though 😀
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We’re twinning! I reviewed this book today. I really enjoyed it! Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre are such great authors individually, but together they are even better. I can’t wait to read book two. I’m so glad you enjoyed this book, Mogsy!
Have a great week. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
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Yay, I checked out your review and I was glad to see you enjoyed it too! I actually haven’t read any of Aguirre’s solo stuff, but I think I might need to know! She and Caine made a great team!
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I love the sound of this one – thank you for a great review, Mogsy:). Alien encounters always fascinate me.
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Yes, especially such fascinating aliens that are essentially sentient ships! Books about human-alien bonds also intrigue me, so that was another reason why I really enjoyed this one 🙂
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This sounds really interesting! Great review 🙂
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Thanks!
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I’m glad you enjoyed this one because it’s definitely on my radar. Need to request it from my library.
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Nice! I hope you’ll enjoy it 😀
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I’ve liked some of Rachel Caine’s work but didn’t much go for Ann Aguirre.
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I only peeked at your review because I’m about to read this myself, but I’m so excited to see that you enjoyed it! Zara and Nadim’s relationship sounds awesome, and I’m actually sort of pumped that there isn’t much romance in this one.
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