Nothing Personal

SCI-FI:  Tam typically spends her time balancing her waitressing job at a tavern and firefighting classes at a community college. Then she wakes up in a hospital after losing her sight and hearing and finds herself living on a space station where she is one of the few humans among a community of sapient lizards and birds. Not only is her neighbor one of these giant lizards, but her Station Safeties supervisor thinks she is a mere mammal who can’t handle the job. With her boyfriend wanting her to help with illegal drug running on top of it all, what’s a girl to do? Besides keep her new eyes and ears open for the jerk who stranded her there and knows a way home.

A novel that hits the ground running, “Nothing Personal’ takes the reader on an adventure across space.  Although fast paced, the author’s voice takes a bit of getting used to. Often the writing seems chaotic, needing multiple reads that may not even guarantee understanding on the reader’s part. It also managed to be clunky and choppy at time. The writer clearly has a distinct voice, but it may be abrasive to certain readers. The author does a good job of setting the story up as well as creating the scenes and world. It is the characters’ actions, motivations, and thoughts that seem to get jumbled. Also, despite not being the main focus of the story, the relationship between Tam and Max leaves much to be desired even though Tam is such a well-written female lead.  That being said, “Nothing Personal” is an engaging space adventure filled with laughs, love, and learning. 

Arec Rain