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Chilling Effect #1
Chilling Effect
A hilarious, offbeat debut space opera that skewers everything from pop culture to video games and features an irresistible foul-mouthed captain and her motley crew, strange life forms, exciting twists, and a galaxy full of fun and adventure.Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra cruise the galaxy delivering small cargo for even smaller profits. When her sister Mari is kidnapped by The Fridge, a shadowy syndicate that holds people hostage in cryostasis, Eva must undergo a series of unpleasant, dangerous missions to pay the ransom.But Eva may lose her mind before she can raise the money. The ship’s hold is full of psychic cats, an amorous fish-faced emperor wants her dead after she rejects his advances, and her sweet engineer is giving her a pesky case of feelings. The worse things get, the more she lies, raising suspicions and testing her loyalty to her found family.To free her sister, Eva will risk her crew, her ship, and the life she’s built on the ashes of her past misdeeds. But when the dominoes start to fall and she finds the real threat is greater than she imagined, she must decide whether to play it cool or burn it all down.
464 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 2019
494 people are currently reading
13241 people want to read
About the author
Valerie Valdes
30 books436 followersValerie Valdes is co-editor of the award-winning Escape Pod science fiction podcast, as well as the author of the Chilling Effect trilogy and space fantasy novel Where Peace Is Lost. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Nightmare Magazine and several anthologies. She lives in an elaborate meme palace in Georgia with her husband, children and cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 979 reviews
December 27, 2020
The book is a mix of Becky Chambers style small stories and gung-ho space opera. It’s a difficult one to love, with shallow characterisations and a plot that’s all surface. Captain Eva Innocente has a strong voice but the wrong kind— she’s an attitudey failure that seems to think that accepting her own mistakes makes everything ok. It might do for you, lady, but all the people who died might have preferred you weren’t such a dick. There are a few good moments, but they’re tenuously linked and overall it felt like individual scenes were more important than the plot. More than once I had to wonder why something was there at all, especially when it was flat out weird. I’m not even going into the bizarre romance/sex thing because I just don’t get what was supposed to be appealing about it at all.
Even with tall that, my main issue is this: if you’re going to put AWESOME psychic cats in a book, why wouldn’t you actually USE them? Now I’m a bit of a cat person and psychic cats were one of the main reasons I decided to give this a go. But, and this is a bit of a spoiler, the cat leader goes from nearly taking over the bridge of the ship in the opening scene to essentially being a lap cat for the rest of the book. I know cats are lazy but that’s such a waste. Maybe they’re in for more adventures in the future but for now it was genuinely dissatisfying. It’s Chekhov’s gun, but with psychic cats. The problem with expectations are that they ruin enjoyment. I was constantly waiting for them to come in to their own, distracted from what was actually happening by my vigilance and resulting disappointment. All I’ll remember is that the author left the psychic cats in the corner. Nobody leaves psychic cats in the corner!!
This is one of those books were the ideas were good in principle but the execution failed to deliver.
ARC via Netgalley
Even with tall that, my main issue is this: if you’re going to put AWESOME psychic cats in a book, why wouldn’t you actually USE them? Now I’m a bit of a cat person and psychic cats were one of the main reasons I decided to give this a go. But, and this is a bit of a spoiler, the cat leader goes from nearly taking over the bridge of the ship in the opening scene to essentially being a lap cat for the rest of the book. I know cats are lazy but that’s such a waste. Maybe they’re in for more adventures in the future but for now it was genuinely dissatisfying. It’s Chekhov’s gun, but with psychic cats. The problem with expectations are that they ruin enjoyment. I was constantly waiting for them to come in to their own, distracted from what was actually happening by my vigilance and resulting disappointment. All I’ll remember is that the author left the psychic cats in the corner. Nobody leaves psychic cats in the corner!!
This is one of those books were the ideas were good in principle but the execution failed to deliver.
ARC via Netgalley
November 5, 2019
Ahoy there me mateys! I am sorry to say that yet another book has been abandoned. I really, really wanted to like this one. It has an awesome cover. The cover says "Kidnappers. Alien emperors. Psychic cats. And she's out of coffee." The psychic cats were of course what led me to pick up the book. It certainly started out strong. The first chapter was perfect. I liked the crew. I liked the premise of bad girl gone good only to have to go bad again to try and save her kidnapped sister. I enjoyed the silly tone at first. So the problem?
The first problem is that the main character, Eva, spends the entire book going from one bad situation to another and getting out of them seemingly based purely on luck and shooting her way out. It was fun at first but never seemed to progress towards the stated purpose of getting her sister back. For someone who is supposed to have all these "bad guy times" in her past, Eva came across as being naive and lacking common sense. Where was the cunning and logic? Where was the planning? This continued for the almost two-thirds of the book and the hopping around with no real purpose annoyed me. Also I am not down with so much lying to herself and her crew.
The second problem was the flatness of the book. There was too much focus on the supposed humor of the characters and their improbable situations. From of the cover blurb, I expected fluffy lightness but the humor fell flat most of the time. The character development, world building, and politics seemed practically nonexistent and the little there was made no sense. The Fridge and BOFA seemed to operate with no real method to the madness. Ye really didn't get enough of the other crew member's personalities either. I don't always want other POVs but in this case I did want them. I wanted to know more about the cool, quirky crew who lived on the ship.
The third problem that is not the book's fault was the Spanish. The author is Cuban-American and I am all for diversity in books. I am not saying it shouldn't be there cause it should. I just found meself getting more upset that I knew I was missing jokes and nuance because I didn't know the words. I wondered if the book would have been funnier if I spoke Spanish. If the book's language has made up words then I assign them meanings and move on. Because it is actually in another real language, in this instance I tried to Google translate and used slang dictionaries to try to remedy me lack of understanding. Not much could be directly translated by me (probably cause I suck). I wanted to know what the chapter titles, bickering, and endearments meant!
The fourth problem with this book was the plot twist. I didn't like it at all. I think others totally would but I just wanted something different. By page 286, I was just not feeling it and getting completely frustrated with Eva.
But the real problem? I know this is silly but I was promised psychic cats. There are 20 of them. And after the first chapter they do nothing. Literally nothing. The "leader" sits on some laps for scratches a couple times. What? I really wanted them to be part of the action, so I did something I don't normally do and skimmed to page 317 until the cats reappeared. Again they do nothing and are just mentioned.
Had I not had so many other issues with the book, I would have gotten over the lack of cat contributions. But that was the final straw. Do they ever get used as anything but a macguffin? I couldn't bring meself to finish and find out. I do think there be readers that would enjoy this. I really am devastated that I didn't. Arrr!
Matey Mogsy's review shows that she liked this book better than I did:
"But while I am glad that the story wasn’t over-the-top in its silliness, a part of me still wishes it had been more memorable. You’re not going to get a whole lot of world-building, character development, or to be honest, any kind of explanation for what’s going on. Still, nothing wrong with this one being a pure escapism read, so long as you go in knowing what to expect."
The first problem is that the main character, Eva, spends the entire book going from one bad situation to another and getting out of them seemingly based purely on luck and shooting her way out. It was fun at first but never seemed to progress towards the stated purpose of getting her sister back. For someone who is supposed to have all these "bad guy times" in her past, Eva came across as being naive and lacking common sense. Where was the cunning and logic? Where was the planning? This continued for the almost two-thirds of the book and the hopping around with no real purpose annoyed me. Also I am not down with so much lying to herself and her crew.
The second problem was the flatness of the book. There was too much focus on the supposed humor of the characters and their improbable situations. From of the cover blurb, I expected fluffy lightness but the humor fell flat most of the time. The character development, world building, and politics seemed practically nonexistent and the little there was made no sense. The Fridge and BOFA seemed to operate with no real method to the madness. Ye really didn't get enough of the other crew member's personalities either. I don't always want other POVs but in this case I did want them. I wanted to know more about the cool, quirky crew who lived on the ship.
The third problem that is not the book's fault was the Spanish. The author is Cuban-American and I am all for diversity in books. I am not saying it shouldn't be there cause it should. I just found meself getting more upset that I knew I was missing jokes and nuance because I didn't know the words. I wondered if the book would have been funnier if I spoke Spanish. If the book's language has made up words then I assign them meanings and move on. Because it is actually in another real language, in this instance I tried to Google translate and used slang dictionaries to try to remedy me lack of understanding. Not much could be directly translated by me (probably cause I suck). I wanted to know what the chapter titles, bickering, and endearments meant!
The fourth problem with this book was the plot twist. I didn't like it at all. I think others totally would but I just wanted something different. By page 286, I was just not feeling it and getting completely frustrated with Eva.
But the real problem? I know this is silly but I was promised psychic cats. There are 20 of them. And after the first chapter they do nothing. Literally nothing. The "leader" sits on some laps for scratches a couple times. What? I really wanted them to be part of the action, so I did something I don't normally do and skimmed to page 317 until the cats reappeared. Again they do nothing and are just mentioned.
Had I not had so many other issues with the book, I would have gotten over the lack of cat contributions. But that was the final straw. Do they ever get used as anything but a macguffin? I couldn't bring meself to finish and find out. I do think there be readers that would enjoy this. I really am devastated that I didn't. Arrr!
Matey Mogsy's review shows that she liked this book better than I did:
"But while I am glad that the story wasn’t over-the-top in its silliness, a part of me still wishes it had been more memorable. You’re not going to get a whole lot of world-building, character development, or to be honest, any kind of explanation for what’s going on. Still, nothing wrong with this one being a pure escapism read, so long as you go in knowing what to expect."
May 30, 2019
I received a copy from HarperCollins Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Captain Eva Innocente is living her best life working with a crew of friends that have become family on her spaceship as they pick up odd delivery jobs that take them all over space. Just when she thinks that a job requiring her to drop off a litter of psychic cats falls through is the worst part of her week, she finds out her sister has been abducted by a deep space criminal group that manipulates people by threatening the lives of their abductees. Unable to tell a single soul that she’s now working for this criminal group, she takes her crew on a new dangerous ride so that she can save her sister.
I wish I could say that I enjoyed this book, but then I’d be lying. While a hilarious space opera with strong family ties and psychic cats sounds fun, I spent a good portion of the book asking questions instead of enjoying the story. I think it would’ve been far more enjoyable if it had a good amount of world building early on. Instead, I was confused about the world Eva and company lived in and spent some time confusing the cast of characters for one another. It was hard to visualize this world when the scenery was constantly changing before there was enough time spent to explain where they even were. I wish that some basics were explained early on and that there was time spent on world building before the story kicked off.
I also didn’t care for majority of the characters once I got a hold on them. Much of Eva’s crew was one dimensional and I wish that more time was spent on getting to know the core cast of characters. The only one we really get to know is Eva, who also narrates the story. Eva is extremely selfish, short tempered, and hypocritical. I didn’t really care for her, but I do love that she is willing to jump through hoops for her family even if they aren’t on talking terms.
There are some good and funny moments, but sadly, this was a miss for me. While it’s fast paced, there isn’t enough world building to stabilize the story. I think there is some potential here, but it needs more world building, more character growth, and a slower pace.
Captain Eva Innocente is living her best life working with a crew of friends that have become family on her spaceship as they pick up odd delivery jobs that take them all over space. Just when she thinks that a job requiring her to drop off a litter of psychic cats falls through is the worst part of her week, she finds out her sister has been abducted by a deep space criminal group that manipulates people by threatening the lives of their abductees. Unable to tell a single soul that she’s now working for this criminal group, she takes her crew on a new dangerous ride so that she can save her sister.
I wish I could say that I enjoyed this book, but then I’d be lying. While a hilarious space opera with strong family ties and psychic cats sounds fun, I spent a good portion of the book asking questions instead of enjoying the story. I think it would’ve been far more enjoyable if it had a good amount of world building early on. Instead, I was confused about the world Eva and company lived in and spent some time confusing the cast of characters for one another. It was hard to visualize this world when the scenery was constantly changing before there was enough time spent to explain where they even were. I wish that some basics were explained early on and that there was time spent on world building before the story kicked off.
I also didn’t care for majority of the characters once I got a hold on them. Much of Eva’s crew was one dimensional and I wish that more time was spent on getting to know the core cast of characters. The only one we really get to know is Eva, who also narrates the story. Eva is extremely selfish, short tempered, and hypocritical. I didn’t really care for her, but I do love that she is willing to jump through hoops for her family even if they aren’t on talking terms.
There are some good and funny moments, but sadly, this was a miss for me. While it’s fast paced, there isn’t enough world building to stabilize the story. I think there is some potential here, but it needs more world building, more character growth, and a slower pace.
April 3, 2020
3.5 stars. A fun space opera that took a little while to get going, with a wide variety of planets and aliens, a dark setup to Captain Eva Innocente's story, and some thankfully emotional growth on the part of the main character by the end of this book. There was humour and its overall tone is light, which was a little off at times considering just how dark some of the situations are. However, the plot moves fairly quickly, and though not a deep story, was pleasant enough for me to consider checking out the next installment.
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May 24, 2020
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January 29, 2020Space opera with all the trappings--vaguely piratical captain with bad past but sense of responsibility, motley crew, threat to galaxy, cool alien tech. The cover also advertises psychic cats but they don't play a plot role, sadly.
It's got loads of potential--good dialogue, fun characters, lots of ingenuity and unusual touches, and a nice romance. But it's severely in need of a structural edit to make the plot hang together and keep it driving forward--as it is, the book devolves into a series of events rather than a story for a long period, and there's a recurring...uh, whatever you call the villain equivalent of a deus ex machina, which really didn't work for me. I'm sad it didn't get a structural edit because there's so much to like here. (And of course if you like picaresque plots, this wouldn't be an issue at all. I just don't.)
It's got loads of potential--good dialogue, fun characters, lots of ingenuity and unusual touches, and a nice romance. But it's severely in need of a structural edit to make the plot hang together and keep it driving forward--as it is, the book devolves into a series of events rather than a story for a long period, and there's a recurring...uh, whatever you call the villain equivalent of a deus ex machina, which really didn't work for me. I'm sad it didn't get a structural edit because there's so much to like here. (And of course if you like picaresque plots, this wouldn't be an issue at all. I just don't.)
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April 29, 2019
ARC received in exchange for an honest review - thank you!
This is actually 3.5 stars, but I rounded up because I loved the premise and I REALLY loved the heroine.
Captain Eva Innocente of the spaceship La Sirena Negra has fallen on hard times. She walked away from doing business with her father because she hated how shady it was, and she hated the person she was when she was with him. But that's had financial repercussions for her and her beloved crew. They transport cargo from place to place (their latest: a batch of twenty psychic cats) and basically live hand-to-mouth.
Here's a rundown of everyone on board La Sirena Negra:
➽ Eva, who is BRILLIANT. She's a foulmouthed Latina who's streetwise, aggressive, and incredibly loyal. She also has a definite streak of 'grey morality.' While she doesn't actively try to hurt innocents - especially after some of the mistakes she's made in her past - she's definitely a pragmatic woman, not a naïve do-gooder.
➽ Pink (aka Dr Rebecca Jones) is the closest thing Eva has to a best friend. Snarky and clear-sighted, Pink is 100% loyal to her captain - but that doesn't translate to being blindly loyal. I appreciated that she called Eva out on her bullshit when she felt it was needed, and I wish we'd gotten to see more of her character, plus more of the backstory she has with Eva.
➽ Min is their pilot. Although she does also have a human body, she prefers to spend most of her time with her consciousness tethered to the ship. I'd have liked more of an explanation of how this works - like, does her human body still need sleep? - and she didn't say an awful lot, but I could feel how much Eva cared for her.
➽ Leroy handles their cargo. He used to be an expendable soldier in the corporate space wars, so he has bad PTSD which makes him avoid his two mums, out of a fear he'll hurt them. But he's also loyal, friendly, and dedicated to online gaming.
➽ Vakar is their engineer. He's a quennian, a type of alien described as having a face like a pangolin, facial palps, and emitting scents depending on which emotion he's experiencing. His personality was definitely sweet and slightly submissive.
So this book is a space opera in the truest sense of the word: we hop with Eva from planet to planet as she carries out assignments for The Fridge, an intergalactic crime syndicate who are holding her sister Mari hostage. Unfortunately, Eva isn't great at completing the assignments properly. Time is running out - she needs to find a way to free Mari, get money to pay her crew, and somehow smash The Fridge while she's at it. To make matters worse, an emperor known as the Glorious Apotheosis has taken offence at her refusal to join his harem, and has placed a bounty (dead or alive) on her head.
What I liked:
✔️ This was diverse AS F*CK. Eva is Hispanic, Pink is black, and obviously there are a ton of aliens like Vakar thrown into the mix. There are also loads of nonbinary characters (and not just aliens).
✔️ Zero sexism. Males, females, and nonbinary people were all captains or mercenaries or planet rulers or hunters.
✔️ Funny in unexpected places. It wasn't laugh-out-loud, but there was a gentle Douglas-Adams-style humour underlying the whole book.
✔️ It was well-written and engaging. The quick pace got me hooked straightaway.
A Note on Classification
It is EXTRAORDINARILY hard to classify this book, age-wise. I wouldn't call it YA: Eva is over thirty, and it doesn't have that vaguely coming-of-age sense YA novels tend to exude. But I'm also struggling to label it as 'adult' for one key reason: there is absolutely nothing sexual in this book. Even kisses are disposed of with brutal speed, and the love scenes are fade-to-black. I won't lie, I was disappointed . Not even out of prurience or anything, just because the book kept dropping intriguing hints about Vakar's anatomy. He seems to have genitals which are retracted inside his body? And near his abdomen? Plus he's covered in scales? Even a little bit more elaboration would have helped.
I get that this book isn't focusing on the romance, and that's why there are no sex scenes, but if you're going to have alien-human sex at least tell us how it's physically going to happen! Which leads me on to:
What I didn't like:
❌ Vakar was described very poorly. Beyond him having blue eyes and facial palps (which I'm struggling to picture) NOTHING WAS DESCRIBED. Like, does he have hair? What colour? What colour is his skin? What colour are his scales?
❌ The nonstop action got a bit exhausting after a while. It's a long book, and in the first half I appreciated the rapid pace, because it eliminated any drag or boredom. But it felt like there wasn't a single moment where we could take a breath and pause. Partially that's Eva's character: she's totally non-introspective, which is alright, but that also meant we didn't really see any character growth in her. All her character growth seems to have happened in the backstory.
❌ Beyond a few ominous hints, this backstory is never explained. There's no time to: like I said, the constant fighting wasn't conducive to long chats. But I wanted to know stuff like how Eva met Pink and the others. Hopefully that'll be explained in the sequel...
❌ For a science fiction book, there was astoundingly little science. No technology is explained; we just accept that it's there, and that humans and aliens have somehow learned how to use it. I needed to know more history. Is this a world in which humans have always known that aliens existed? When did humans discover them, if not? Infodumps are obviously bad things, but the issue here was the opposite - an info-lack, if you will.
Overall
It was a good debut and I liked many of its elements, but I'm hopeful that the sequel (which I will be keeping an eye out for) will expand on some of the issues I mentioned.
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
This is actually 3.5 stars, but I rounded up because I loved the premise and I REALLY loved the heroine.
Captain Eva Innocente of the spaceship La Sirena Negra has fallen on hard times. She walked away from doing business with her father because she hated how shady it was, and she hated the person she was when she was with him. But that's had financial repercussions for her and her beloved crew. They transport cargo from place to place (their latest: a batch of twenty psychic cats) and basically live hand-to-mouth.
Here's a rundown of everyone on board La Sirena Negra:
➽ Eva, who is BRILLIANT. She's a foulmouthed Latina who's streetwise, aggressive, and incredibly loyal. She also has a definite streak of 'grey morality.' While she doesn't actively try to hurt innocents - especially after some of the mistakes she's made in her past - she's definitely a pragmatic woman, not a naïve do-gooder.
➽ Pink (aka Dr Rebecca Jones) is the closest thing Eva has to a best friend. Snarky and clear-sighted, Pink is 100% loyal to her captain - but that doesn't translate to being blindly loyal. I appreciated that she called Eva out on her bullshit when she felt it was needed, and I wish we'd gotten to see more of her character, plus more of the backstory she has with Eva.
➽ Min is their pilot. Although she does also have a human body, she prefers to spend most of her time with her consciousness tethered to the ship. I'd have liked more of an explanation of how this works - like, does her human body still need sleep? - and she didn't say an awful lot, but I could feel how much Eva cared for her.
➽ Leroy handles their cargo. He used to be an expendable soldier in the corporate space wars, so he has bad PTSD which makes him avoid his two mums, out of a fear he'll hurt them. But he's also loyal, friendly, and dedicated to online gaming.
➽ Vakar is their engineer. He's a quennian, a type of alien described as having a face like a pangolin, facial palps, and emitting scents depending on which emotion he's experiencing. His personality was definitely sweet and slightly submissive.
So this book is a space opera in the truest sense of the word: we hop with Eva from planet to planet as she carries out assignments for The Fridge, an intergalactic crime syndicate who are holding her sister Mari hostage. Unfortunately, Eva isn't great at completing the assignments properly. Time is running out - she needs to find a way to free Mari, get money to pay her crew, and somehow smash The Fridge while she's at it. To make matters worse, an emperor known as the Glorious Apotheosis has taken offence at her refusal to join his harem, and has placed a bounty (dead or alive) on her head.
What I liked:
✔️ This was diverse AS F*CK. Eva is Hispanic, Pink is black, and obviously there are a ton of aliens like Vakar thrown into the mix. There are also loads of nonbinary characters (and not just aliens).
✔️ Zero sexism. Males, females, and nonbinary people were all captains or mercenaries or planet rulers or hunters.
✔️ Funny in unexpected places. It wasn't laugh-out-loud, but there was a gentle Douglas-Adams-style humour underlying the whole book.
✔️ It was well-written and engaging. The quick pace got me hooked straightaway.
A Note on Classification
It is EXTRAORDINARILY hard to classify this book, age-wise. I wouldn't call it YA: Eva is over thirty, and it doesn't have that vaguely coming-of-age sense YA novels tend to exude. But I'm also struggling to label it as 'adult' for one key reason: there is absolutely nothing sexual in this book. Even kisses are disposed of with brutal speed, and the love scenes are fade-to-black. I won't lie, I was disappointed . Not even out of prurience or anything, just because the book kept dropping intriguing hints about Vakar's anatomy. He seems to have genitals which are retracted inside his body? And near his abdomen? Plus he's covered in scales? Even a little bit more elaboration would have helped.
I get that this book isn't focusing on the romance, and that's why there are no sex scenes, but if you're going to have alien-human sex at least tell us how it's physically going to happen! Which leads me on to:
What I didn't like:
❌ Vakar was described very poorly. Beyond him having blue eyes and facial palps (which I'm struggling to picture) NOTHING WAS DESCRIBED. Like, does he have hair? What colour? What colour is his skin? What colour are his scales?
❌ The nonstop action got a bit exhausting after a while. It's a long book, and in the first half I appreciated the rapid pace, because it eliminated any drag or boredom. But it felt like there wasn't a single moment where we could take a breath and pause. Partially that's Eva's character: she's totally non-introspective, which is alright, but that also meant we didn't really see any character growth in her. All her character growth seems to have happened in the backstory.
❌ Beyond a few ominous hints, this backstory is never explained. There's no time to: like I said, the constant fighting wasn't conducive to long chats. But I wanted to know stuff like how Eva met Pink and the others. Hopefully that'll be explained in the sequel...
❌ For a science fiction book, there was astoundingly little science. No technology is explained; we just accept that it's there, and that humans and aliens have somehow learned how to use it. I needed to know more history. Is this a world in which humans have always known that aliens existed? When did humans discover them, if not? Infodumps are obviously bad things, but the issue here was the opposite - an info-lack, if you will.
Overall
It was a good debut and I liked many of its elements, but I'm hopeful that the sequel (which I will be keeping an eye out for) will expand on some of the issues I mentioned.
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
September 30, 2019
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/09/30/...
Chilling Effect turned out to be a bit of a fun surprise, considering my initial concerns over it being too silly and offbeat for my tastes. But in the end, I think author Valerie Valdes struck the perfect town, finding that perfect balance between adventure and humor in her debut space opera. Readers will be treated to a fun romp between the stars in this science fiction tale featuring exotic far-flung planets, fascinating aliens, shadowy crime syndicates, and oh, psychic cats.
Captain Eva Innocente is the protagonist of this story, heading up the crew of the Sirena Negra, a small cargo ship used to run shipping jobs for clients. After being stiffed on her last gig, Eva doesn’t think her day can get any worse, but of course the universe has a way of proving her wrong. Receiving a mysterious call on her private com link, she finds out that an interstellar crime organization known as The Fridge has kidnapped her sister Mari, and they’re demanding an exorbitant ransom for her release. If Eva can’t pay, Mari will be cryogenically frozen and shipped off to a mining planet where she will live out the rest of her days in misery performing hard, brutal labor.
But of course, our protagonist doesn’t have that of kind of money, so she’s forced to make a deal with The Fridge, providing her services to complete a series of missions in exchange for her sister’s release. However, if she tells anyone, all bets are off. Unfortunately, while trying to figure out how to keep the kidnapping a secret from her crew, Eva has a run-in with the lustful emperor of a fish-faced alien race who takes the spurning of his advances much too personally. Now he’ll do anything to have her, even if it means killing an entire space station, and that’s not the kind of attention Eva can afford to have while trying to make clandestine runs for Mari’s kidnappers.
So all in all, I had a good time with this book, and felt that everything from the action to the comedy was on point. I felt it delivered everything a good space opera should, including a heavy dose of intrigue and adventure mixed in with plenty of space faring and exploration. I also loved that the narrative tone was on the lighter side, as this genre tends to get too bogged down by the minutiae of planetary politics, incomprehensible technobabble and too much trivial detail. Happily, none of these are problems in Chilling Effect, making it a good choice for anyone seeking a more accessible or beginner-friendly sci-fi novel to sink their teeth into. It also moves at a good pace and features a charming cast of characters, which helped increase the story’s appeal.
But there’s a downside to having all these elements compete for your attention, especially in the first half of the book. Granted, I never lost interest in the plot, but it did sometimes feel a bit scattered, and more than once I stopped to wonder just when we’ll get to see progress on the main conflict. In that sense, the overall story did take its time to solidify, and at times a lot of the earlier events that took place felt too episodic which tried my patience. This book threw a ton of action in my face, which I appreciated, but it’s not always a good thing. After all, you’re still essentially spinning your wheels if none of it is contributing in a major way to the overall plot.
In general, this novel was also a very shallow experience, but as it is intended to be light and fluffy fare, this wasn’t surprising. Still, I had hoped for a bit more oomph, if nothing else in the comedic side of things because this one was marketed as “hilarious” and “offbeat.” Ultimately, I can’t say I found much of it to be laugh-worthy, as we’re mostly dealing with countless pop culture references and a boatload of other throwaway gags. But while I am glad that the story wasn’t over-the-top in its silliness, a part of me still wishes it had been more memorable. You’re not going to get a whole lot of world-building, character development, or to be honest, any kind of explanation for what’s going on. Still, nothing wrong with this one being a pure escapism read, so long as you go in knowing what to expect.
All told, I found Chilling Effect to be a decent and fun-filled space opera that doesn’t take itself too seriously. By the time the sequel comes out, if I still remember most of the story and the characters, I just might check it out for another feel-good pick-me-up read!
Audiobook Comments: Almarie Guerra was a good choice for narrator, giving life to Eva’s multilayered personality. Whether our protagonist is being thoughtful and prudent, or snarky and impulsive, Guerra did a great job portraying Eva in all of her moods.
Chilling Effect turned out to be a bit of a fun surprise, considering my initial concerns over it being too silly and offbeat for my tastes. But in the end, I think author Valerie Valdes struck the perfect town, finding that perfect balance between adventure and humor in her debut space opera. Readers will be treated to a fun romp between the stars in this science fiction tale featuring exotic far-flung planets, fascinating aliens, shadowy crime syndicates, and oh, psychic cats.
Captain Eva Innocente is the protagonist of this story, heading up the crew of the Sirena Negra, a small cargo ship used to run shipping jobs for clients. After being stiffed on her last gig, Eva doesn’t think her day can get any worse, but of course the universe has a way of proving her wrong. Receiving a mysterious call on her private com link, she finds out that an interstellar crime organization known as The Fridge has kidnapped her sister Mari, and they’re demanding an exorbitant ransom for her release. If Eva can’t pay, Mari will be cryogenically frozen and shipped off to a mining planet where she will live out the rest of her days in misery performing hard, brutal labor.
But of course, our protagonist doesn’t have that of kind of money, so she’s forced to make a deal with The Fridge, providing her services to complete a series of missions in exchange for her sister’s release. However, if she tells anyone, all bets are off. Unfortunately, while trying to figure out how to keep the kidnapping a secret from her crew, Eva has a run-in with the lustful emperor of a fish-faced alien race who takes the spurning of his advances much too personally. Now he’ll do anything to have her, even if it means killing an entire space station, and that’s not the kind of attention Eva can afford to have while trying to make clandestine runs for Mari’s kidnappers.
So all in all, I had a good time with this book, and felt that everything from the action to the comedy was on point. I felt it delivered everything a good space opera should, including a heavy dose of intrigue and adventure mixed in with plenty of space faring and exploration. I also loved that the narrative tone was on the lighter side, as this genre tends to get too bogged down by the minutiae of planetary politics, incomprehensible technobabble and too much trivial detail. Happily, none of these are problems in Chilling Effect, making it a good choice for anyone seeking a more accessible or beginner-friendly sci-fi novel to sink their teeth into. It also moves at a good pace and features a charming cast of characters, which helped increase the story’s appeal.
But there’s a downside to having all these elements compete for your attention, especially in the first half of the book. Granted, I never lost interest in the plot, but it did sometimes feel a bit scattered, and more than once I stopped to wonder just when we’ll get to see progress on the main conflict. In that sense, the overall story did take its time to solidify, and at times a lot of the earlier events that took place felt too episodic which tried my patience. This book threw a ton of action in my face, which I appreciated, but it’s not always a good thing. After all, you’re still essentially spinning your wheels if none of it is contributing in a major way to the overall plot.
In general, this novel was also a very shallow experience, but as it is intended to be light and fluffy fare, this wasn’t surprising. Still, I had hoped for a bit more oomph, if nothing else in the comedic side of things because this one was marketed as “hilarious” and “offbeat.” Ultimately, I can’t say I found much of it to be laugh-worthy, as we’re mostly dealing with countless pop culture references and a boatload of other throwaway gags. But while I am glad that the story wasn’t over-the-top in its silliness, a part of me still wishes it had been more memorable. You’re not going to get a whole lot of world-building, character development, or to be honest, any kind of explanation for what’s going on. Still, nothing wrong with this one being a pure escapism read, so long as you go in knowing what to expect.
All told, I found Chilling Effect to be a decent and fun-filled space opera that doesn’t take itself too seriously. By the time the sequel comes out, if I still remember most of the story and the characters, I just might check it out for another feel-good pick-me-up read!
Audiobook Comments: Almarie Guerra was a good choice for narrator, giving life to Eva’s multilayered personality. Whether our protagonist is being thoughtful and prudent, or snarky and impulsive, Guerra did a great job portraying Eva in all of her moods.
August 3, 2020
Some fun bits, but didn't quite deliver the fun as much as the blurb and cover seemed to promise. I definitely should have seen more from the psychic cats. Loved Vakar who shows emotions through scents, didn't care as much about the adventuring or even the main character Ava.
February 5, 2021
This was an entertaining (if scattered) debut novel that I ended up liking pretty well. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but the found-family stuff is nice -- and there's plenty of action! I was looking for light reading and I got it. Not as much of the space cats as I'd hoped, but they are cute and cuddly. The Cuban Spanish bits got distracting, though I could figure out most of them from context. Less of that would have made the story flow better, I think. I'll consider reading the sequel.
The review to read here is Mogsys's, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
========== Earlier stuff ===========
"Valerie Valdes is taking aim at lovers of space adventure with the crew of La Sirena Negra, and I absolutely got sucked into the action (and humor) that makes this one of the most fun debuts we have in 2019. Did I mention there are space cats?" – comment from Executive Editor David Pomerico
"In space, no one can hear you cagando en la mierda.
Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra cruise the galaxy delivering small cargo for smaller profits. When her sister Mari is kidnapped by The Fridge, a shadowy agency that holds people hostage in cryostasis, Eva struggles through one unpleasant, dangerous mission after another to pay the ransom debt. To make things worse, she’s stuck with a hold full of psychic cats, a fish-faced emperor wants her dead for rejecting his advances, and her ship’s sweet engineer is giving her a pesky case of feelings. Qué jodienda.
Chilling Effect, humorous science fiction that parodies pop culture and video games, is complete at 115,000 words but has series potential. My fiction is published in Nightmare Magazine and She Walks in Shadows, and I am a graduate of the Viable Paradise workshop." -- the author's query letter. It worked. http://candleinsunshine.com/musings/m...
The review to read here is Mogsys's, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
========== Earlier stuff ===========
"Valerie Valdes is taking aim at lovers of space adventure with the crew of La Sirena Negra, and I absolutely got sucked into the action (and humor) that makes this one of the most fun debuts we have in 2019. Did I mention there are space cats?" – comment from Executive Editor David Pomerico
"In space, no one can hear you cagando en la mierda.
Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra cruise the galaxy delivering small cargo for smaller profits. When her sister Mari is kidnapped by The Fridge, a shadowy agency that holds people hostage in cryostasis, Eva struggles through one unpleasant, dangerous mission after another to pay the ransom debt. To make things worse, she’s stuck with a hold full of psychic cats, a fish-faced emperor wants her dead for rejecting his advances, and her ship’s sweet engineer is giving her a pesky case of feelings. Qué jodienda.
Chilling Effect, humorous science fiction that parodies pop culture and video games, is complete at 115,000 words but has series potential. My fiction is published in Nightmare Magazine and She Walks in Shadows, and I am a graduate of the Viable Paradise workshop." -- the author's query letter. It worked. http://candleinsunshine.com/musings/m...
September 22, 2019
I expected a story about a ragtag group of lovable and adorable misfits, led by a fearless but flawed leader, having adventures together, with some psychic cats causing mayhem. That sounds like so much fun! However, what I got was a boring group of bland and forgettable random aliens, led by a fearless (obnoxiously so) and flawed (in all the worst possible ways) leader, but the leader just goes and does stuff by herself, and in which some psychic cats don’t matter at all. Let’s break it down!
Our main character, Captain Eva Innocente, is awful. She’s selfish and careless and always seems to get away with everything. Sometimes her crew actually has to trick her into being a good person! Who expects me to actually root for this lady? She’s constantly in these obnoxious fights and battles that she wins so easily, sarcastic all the while and making little quips like she’s a bad counterfeit robotic Tony Stark who won’t turn off. Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!
So Eva is a one-note “badass,” and none of the side characters have any personality. I felt nothing for them. And honestly, it seemed like none of them cared about each other, either. Eva’s concern for their safety and happiness was very perfunctory. (Because, again, she sucks.)
And, I’m so sorry, but the romance is laughably bad. If you ever pass by me and I’m having a random giggle fit, there is a 100% chance that I’m thinking about the romance between Eve and Vakar. The dude communicates via scent and sometimes smells like licorice or farts or whatever, depending on his feelings. (Mmm, yeah.) His genitals are on his stomach and he’s covered in scales. I think he’s supposed to look like an insect? (Hot.) Eva has an allergic reaction to his skin so she has to take a shot whenever they have sex. (What, needles don’t get you in the mood?) He talks like Siri. They communicate horribly and I do not understand why they like each other.
The plot in Chilling Effect moves at light speed. Not a compliment! It’s like a bunch of short stories crammed into a novel with very little plot linking the action scenes together. I just wanted to cradle the book in my hands and whisper, “Slow down, please, and let me get to know your characters and worlds without all these inane stunts that aren’t clearly described anyway,” but I couldn’t whisper because it would just come out as a rage scream.
And then the book ends. Just like that. Which I was glad for, but it just felt like an extra slap of thoughtlessness to go with the bad writing face punch. I can’t judge the quality of the dialogue that’s in Spanish, even though there is a lot of it, because translations are never provided and I’m unwilling to try to translate entire conversations by myself. I’m not super heartbroken, though, because the English dialogue was terrible so I’m assuming the Spanish wasn’t an improvement.
But beyond anything else, the thing that just outrages me the absolute most? Those psychic cats on the cover and in the book summary do nothing but purr every once in awhile. This was a scam. You can’t treat me like this! I’m calling my lawyer. My lawyer is a cat and she is furious on my behalf.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-galley.
Our main character, Captain Eva Innocente, is awful. She’s selfish and careless and always seems to get away with everything. Sometimes her crew actually has to trick her into being a good person! Who expects me to actually root for this lady? She’s constantly in these obnoxious fights and battles that she wins so easily, sarcastic all the while and making little quips like she’s a bad counterfeit robotic Tony Stark who won’t turn off. Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!
So Eva is a one-note “badass,” and none of the side characters have any personality. I felt nothing for them. And honestly, it seemed like none of them cared about each other, either. Eva’s concern for their safety and happiness was very perfunctory. (Because, again, she sucks.)
And, I’m so sorry, but the romance is laughably bad. If you ever pass by me and I’m having a random giggle fit, there is a 100% chance that I’m thinking about the romance between Eve and Vakar. The dude communicates via scent and sometimes smells like licorice or farts or whatever, depending on his feelings. (Mmm, yeah.) His genitals are on his stomach and he’s covered in scales. I think he’s supposed to look like an insect? (Hot.) Eva has an allergic reaction to his skin so she has to take a shot whenever they have sex. (What, needles don’t get you in the mood?) He talks like Siri. They communicate horribly and I do not understand why they like each other.
The plot in Chilling Effect moves at light speed. Not a compliment! It’s like a bunch of short stories crammed into a novel with very little plot linking the action scenes together. I just wanted to cradle the book in my hands and whisper, “Slow down, please, and let me get to know your characters and worlds without all these inane stunts that aren’t clearly described anyway,” but I couldn’t whisper because it would just come out as a rage scream.
And then the book ends. Just like that. Which I was glad for, but it just felt like an extra slap of thoughtlessness to go with the bad writing face punch. I can’t judge the quality of the dialogue that’s in Spanish, even though there is a lot of it, because translations are never provided and I’m unwilling to try to translate entire conversations by myself. I’m not super heartbroken, though, because the English dialogue was terrible so I’m assuming the Spanish wasn’t an improvement.
But beyond anything else, the thing that just outrages me the absolute most? Those psychic cats on the cover and in the book summary do nothing but purr every once in awhile. This was a scam. You can’t treat me like this! I’m calling my lawyer. My lawyer is a cat and she is furious on my behalf.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-galley.
May 7, 2021
This book is a series of pretty well written action sketches strung together by the thinnest, stupidest excuse of a plot line. The characters start out pretty well, but they don’t develop in any way. Our gang-ho heroine, Captain Eva Innocente, rushes into action without thinking and with no sensible plan just as much in the beginning as at the end. Her swagger becomes annoying. I have no idea why her crew mates follow her, but they do. She wants to rescue others but needs to be rescued all the time. She fucks up just about every mission, and at the end she is back where it all started. I usually don’t care for romance but in this book, that was the only relationship that actually worked.
The individual missions are rather entertaining and show quite a bit of creativity. My favorite was the planet where we have a bunch of aristocratic dinosaurs re-enacting a period romance novel involving marriage commitments and a butler, ending in a wild orgy. I chuckled at that. Another loosely followed the opera scene from The Fifth Element, taking place on a cruise ship, wearing ridiculous cat suits and fighting a kidnapper, space pirates, mercenaries and security guards. And one memorable adventure played out like a mission from Portal. I wish she did more with the psychic cats, and I could have completely done without the idiotic emperor chasing Eva through the galaxy just because she rejected him in a bar.
Overall, Valdes seemed to have a bunch of pretty creative sketches written in a notebook somewhere, but could not come up with a coherent story to tie them together, and failed to develop her characters.
The individual missions are rather entertaining and show quite a bit of creativity. My favorite was the planet where we have a bunch of aristocratic dinosaurs re-enacting a period romance novel involving marriage commitments and a butler, ending in a wild orgy. I chuckled at that. Another loosely followed the opera scene from The Fifth Element, taking place on a cruise ship, wearing ridiculous cat suits and fighting a kidnapper, space pirates, mercenaries and security guards. And one memorable adventure played out like a mission from Portal. I wish she did more with the psychic cats, and I could have completely done without the idiotic emperor chasing Eva through the galaxy just because she rejected him in a bar.
Overall, Valdes seemed to have a bunch of pretty creative sketches written in a notebook somewhere, but could not come up with a coherent story to tie them together, and failed to develop her characters.
November 4, 2023
A hilarious action packed space opera with a tad bit of romance. Perfect for anyone who wants a funny sci-fi with a butt-kicking main character!
August 21, 2022
The story is about as absurd as 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' if not quite as cleverly constructed but the crew and events of this plot reminded me of 'Firefly' most of all. Especially at about half way, when the captain is considering her crew as her family and she is privately recollecting how they had each joined her, the characters here felt very familiar to those aboard Serenity. I liked the crew more than the captain but I think that's the point of her character.
It probably went on for a little too long but is fun and entertaining. I quite liked the scent decoder device and there was heaps of other quirky tech in this story.
I had figured out the "switcharoo" well before half way and although I usually don't mind when that happens, in this book it felt like it dragged until it was finally revealed at about three quarters.
I liked the book, I'll continue the series.
It probably went on for a little too long but is fun and entertaining. I quite liked the scent decoder device and there was heaps of other quirky tech in this story.
I had figured out the "switcharoo" well before half way and although I usually don't mind when that happens, in this book it felt like it dragged until it was finally revealed at about three quarters.
I liked the book, I'll continue the series.
August 16, 2025
Hilarious Space Opera
Absolutely hilarious! I cackled the entire time reading this!
Our FMC was the funniest!
I hated her family with a passion though.
Full review to come tomorrow because I don’t have it in my soul to do tonight!
Absolutely hilarious! I cackled the entire time reading this!
Our FMC was the funniest!
I hated her family with a passion though.
Full review to come tomorrow because I don’t have it in my soul to do tonight!
August 29, 2019
I received an advanced copy through NetGalley.
Chilling Effect is a quirky space opera adventure reminiscent of Firefly, with an eclectic space crew captained by Eva. When Eva finds out her sister has been kidnapped by a nasty crime syndicate, she takes on a series of terrible jobs--all while keeping the truth secret from her crew. Of course, everything goes wrong, but does so in surprising ways. That's part of the fun of this book. It's a total screwball romp. You have no idea what's going to happen next. There are many little video game tributes throughout that made me grin, too.
Eva's a fun heroine. Well-meaning, edgy, and competent at her job. Her voice, with Spanish sprinkled throughout, is wonderfully authentic. I've only seen this done by one other scifi book, Amber Royer's Free Chocolate, and here's hoping more such books are on the way.
I'm betting the cover of this book alone will sell a bunch of books. It gets across the fun vibe quite well. I think about my only complaint is that I wanted more of the cats!
Chilling Effect is a quirky space opera adventure reminiscent of Firefly, with an eclectic space crew captained by Eva. When Eva finds out her sister has been kidnapped by a nasty crime syndicate, she takes on a series of terrible jobs--all while keeping the truth secret from her crew. Of course, everything goes wrong, but does so in surprising ways. That's part of the fun of this book. It's a total screwball romp. You have no idea what's going to happen next. There are many little video game tributes throughout that made me grin, too.
Eva's a fun heroine. Well-meaning, edgy, and competent at her job. Her voice, with Spanish sprinkled throughout, is wonderfully authentic. I've only seen this done by one other scifi book, Amber Royer's Free Chocolate, and here's hoping more such books are on the way.
I'm betting the cover of this book alone will sell a bunch of books. It gets across the fun vibe quite well. I think about my only complaint is that I wanted more of the cats!
January 30, 2024
I really loved this novel! I'm a big Mass Effect fan and I appreciated all the references. Also, I love space adventures and this is the first one I've read that is unapologetically Latinx. I love how much Spanish was in it. This book is fun and has psychic cats and space dinosaurs! Love it!
December 9, 2025
there’s no way this isn’t mass effect fanfiction. i loved it for that and i want more of that from diverse sci-fi authors. chilling effect started off strong, got really shaky in the middle, pretty long and boring toward the last third, picked back up around 85%, and then dragged a little bit toward the last 7%. i think it would’ve benefited the novel to be shorter or, instead of spending so many pockets of time away from the crew or fading in and out of time, we could’ve done a mass effect 2 companions missions thing and travel with each companion or multiple companions at once. it would’ve been a better writing mechanic to develop the romance which was pretty lackluster. the love interest felt like a legion/garrus hybrid which could have worked if the readers were given more time with him. i can only imagine how boring he is as a love interest—if you can even call him that—for people who don’t know what a geth is or who garrus vakarian is. overall, i’m going to continue because i miss the mass effect series but i understand if it’s too dense to hold non-sci-fi fan’s attention. despite the fact that the last stretch put me into a month-long reading slump, the audiobook narrator did a great job of making the characters sound interesting, especially with captain eva. the cats were my favorite part of the novel and i look forward to more!
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cover artist: julie dillon
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cover artist: julie dillon
September 26, 2019
Did Not Finish.
I really wanted to like this book, with its whacky style, pop-culture references, and diverse cast of characters. However, it reads, to me, like a first draft that was written to fill pages that didn't get properly edited into what could have been a good book. The tone shifts, the descriptions are sparce, and there are several unexplored ideas and characters that never reached their full potential.
I really wanted to like this book, with its whacky style, pop-culture references, and diverse cast of characters. However, it reads, to me, like a first draft that was written to fill pages that didn't get properly edited into what could have been a good book. The tone shifts, the descriptions are sparce, and there are several unexplored ideas and characters that never reached their full potential.
February 26, 2020
On my blog.
Rep: Cuban American pan mc, Black side character, side character with PTSD, nonbinary side character
Galley provided by publisher
Based on the reviews, this seems a bit of a hit or miss book, and for me it fell squarely into the latter category. It had all the ingredients for me to love it, and yet it fell flat.
Chilling Effect follows Captain Eva Innocente who is forced to work for a crime syndicate after her sister is kidnapped. But she isn’t allowed to tell her crew, and must instead complete the tasks in secrecy. And then obviously the truth comes out and, you know what, I sort of lost track of where the plot was supposed to be going at this point.
I think my main problem with this book was that it was almost trying too hard to be a funny adventurous romp through space (a la Star Trek). Everything happened in a kind of bitty way, and didn’t always clearly connect together, most obviously at the point where everything is revealed and Eva decides that…she wants her ship back? She doesn’t care that this crime syndicate might destroy the galaxy, she just wants to steal her ship back.
Which leads me to my second point. Eva is such a hypocritical and selfish character. Selfish, because she doesn’t tell her crew, but just gets them into increasingly dangerous situations for no apparent reason (from their POVs), and because she just wants her ship back when the rest of the galaxy is at stake. I read one review, about halfway through the book, which mentioned how she seemed to be aiming at “charmingly reckless” but veered more towards general disregard of crew’s safety while claiming to be all about keeping them safe. Hence the hypocrisy. (Not to mention that time she referred to a character as being self-centered when she herself had been so for the entire book. Not that I’m still frustrated by this.) Ultimately, I hadn’t disliked a main character as much as I did Eva in a long time. Also there was hints that she may have been complicit in the deaths of a bunch of people which is why she was out of the game (ha), but like. She didn’t really show much remorse for it. It was never going to be smooth sailing, me and her.
The final thing I really didn’t like was the romance with an insect alien. Like, I do not want to read even the beginnings of potential sex with an insect alien, let alone the foreplay bit. I completely skipped those parts, I won’t lie. Also, I don’t mean to sound like I’m policing how you write sexualities, but Eva was meant to be pansexual and, unless I missed something, that didn’t seem obvious. Of course, the insect alien could have been what that was about. Maybe. But anyways. There are so many simple ways to establish that, and I never felt as though it was established. (Disclaimer: I was skimming after a bit so it’s entirely likely I just missed it.)
So yeah. In the end, it was just another hit-or-miss book that completely missed me.
Rep: Cuban American pan mc, Black side character, side character with PTSD, nonbinary side character
Galley provided by publisher
Based on the reviews, this seems a bit of a hit or miss book, and for me it fell squarely into the latter category. It had all the ingredients for me to love it, and yet it fell flat.
Chilling Effect follows Captain Eva Innocente who is forced to work for a crime syndicate after her sister is kidnapped. But she isn’t allowed to tell her crew, and must instead complete the tasks in secrecy. And then obviously the truth comes out and, you know what, I sort of lost track of where the plot was supposed to be going at this point.
I think my main problem with this book was that it was almost trying too hard to be a funny adventurous romp through space (a la Star Trek). Everything happened in a kind of bitty way, and didn’t always clearly connect together, most obviously at the point where everything is revealed and Eva decides that…she wants her ship back? She doesn’t care that this crime syndicate might destroy the galaxy, she just wants to steal her ship back.
Which leads me to my second point. Eva is such a hypocritical and selfish character. Selfish, because she doesn’t tell her crew, but just gets them into increasingly dangerous situations for no apparent reason (from their POVs), and because she just wants her ship back when the rest of the galaxy is at stake. I read one review, about halfway through the book, which mentioned how she seemed to be aiming at “charmingly reckless” but veered more towards general disregard of crew’s safety while claiming to be all about keeping them safe. Hence the hypocrisy. (Not to mention that time she referred to a character as being self-centered when she herself had been so for the entire book. Not that I’m still frustrated by this.) Ultimately, I hadn’t disliked a main character as much as I did Eva in a long time. Also there was hints that she may have been complicit in the deaths of a bunch of people which is why she was out of the game (ha), but like. She didn’t really show much remorse for it. It was never going to be smooth sailing, me and her.
The final thing I really didn’t like was the romance with an insect alien. Like, I do not want to read even the beginnings of potential sex with an insect alien, let alone the foreplay bit. I completely skipped those parts, I won’t lie. Also, I don’t mean to sound like I’m policing how you write sexualities, but Eva was meant to be pansexual and, unless I missed something, that didn’t seem obvious. Of course, the insect alien could have been what that was about. Maybe. But anyways. There are so many simple ways to establish that, and I never felt as though it was established. (Disclaimer: I was skimming after a bit so it’s entirely likely I just missed it.)
So yeah. In the end, it was just another hit-or-miss book that completely missed me.
February 20, 2020
Sooooooo I'm a bit confused and surprised. I read this cause there were weird cats on the cover...but I ended up liking it in a non-gag way. The characters were enjoyable. I think the conflict was a little too simple but I can see why that would appeal to some readers when there's already so much to remember about the world. I want more of Eva's crew and more of the weird space cats. Eva's relationship with her sister and father are especially messy in this book and are very clearly going to be the focal point of the next book which I am absolutely going to read.
My big beef with this book is the way so many chapters and scenes were ended. It was like the author wrote 25 different spots and was like "ha! This is where I'm going to end the book" but then she got another idea and added that on...and then did it again and again. It messed with my head quite a bit.
I've got lots of questions and enjoyed a lot of the cast so I will definitely keep reading.
My big beef with this book is the way so many chapters and scenes were ended. It was like the author wrote 25 different spots and was like "ha! This is where I'm going to end the book" but then she got another idea and added that on...and then did it again and again. It messed with my head quite a bit.
I've got lots of questions and enjoyed a lot of the cast so I will definitely keep reading.
January 11, 2020
Eva Innocente is captain of the La Sirena Negra and with her small crew of friends they take on small mostly legal jobs to make a living. That didn't use to be the case, as Eva used to work with her father in various criminal schemes. When her sister Mari gets captured by a crime syndicate called the Fridge, she's blackmailed into working for them in a series of jobs that seem to imply progress on ancient alien technology.
This is meant to be funny. I don't see it. It is light, and action-packed, but the drama that Eva has going on with her family and the crime syndicate is a bit too heavy and imminent for humor. It also pretty much drowns in plot, particularly in the first half. It is worthwhile continuing through to the second half (when the title of the book eventually makes sense).
This is meant to be funny. I don't see it. It is light, and action-packed, but the drama that Eva has going on with her family and the crime syndicate is a bit too heavy and imminent for humor. It also pretty much drowns in plot, particularly in the first half. It is worthwhile continuing through to the second half (when the title of the book eventually makes sense).
July 18, 2020
I seriously don't know why this is labeled science-fiction.
September 4, 2023
This would make a very entertaining TV show, but the narrative was a little too episodic to hold together as a novel.
May 4, 2023
Space soap operas are a favourite genre of mine, some kind of guilty pleasure. So I've read quite a few of them over the years - care to find out what makes Chilling Effect stand out?
The first thing that comes to mind is the setting. Usually, space operas exist in a world that is pretty much dominated by English or American cliches. It's like the Royal British Navy took to space. Everything is centered around English.
Spaaaaaace!
Joss Whedon broke that formula by incorporating an Asian influence in his Firefly universe, and that changed the overall feeling. Valerie is doing the exact same thing - with Spanish instead of Asian. And if you think about it, it kind of fits, doesn't it?
Yes, the British naval forces have been very grand at some time, but the Spanish armada was impressive nonetheless. Conquistadores roaming the new world, and all that adventurous stuff happening in the Caribbean between the British, the Spanish and the French. So why not take that to the stars? Spanish it is!
Get ready for commander Shepherd, eh, Captain Eva!
Funny side note: I think there is a reference to the Mass Effect universe here, by some human commander named Schäfer (which is the German equivalent to the English shepherd of the original games). In fact, there are some of these pop culture references strewn around the entire novel (including a portal gun). It makes for a fine and sometimes nerdy humor throughout the story.
(And the space gates along with their mysterious builders are also quite reminiscent of Mass Effect - then again, it's a trope that has been used in different settings as well, like the tabletop role playing game Coriolis.)
Psychic cats. In space. Space psycho cats. I hope the space pirates rats will follow soon.
But then there's the part that separates the Chilling Effect from other stories in the genre. And no, I'm not talking about the psychic cats, although they are quite unique - but there mostly an interesting footnote, most of the time. No, it's the part where the usually political and/or military sass of those stories is traded for organized crime and a captain lying to her crew with all the best intents in the world - until she realizes that intention does not turn wrong into right. It's a character development that is way above the genre standards, and it brings a seriousness to the table that balances out the sometimes quirky humour.
So, what can you expect? It's an underdog story, some light romance, some revenge on the side, space opera action with sometimes quirky humour. And it's all being played in a vast and big universe, but don't expect too much world building. A lot of planet names - or alien species - seem to be throwaway words, like there this moment, gone the next, never to return. The real world here is the small world aboard a space ship in the void of space, and the kind of family you choose to have .
*****
All in all, I would have loved a bit more serious world building (and for the cats to be put into action at some point), and I had a feeling the ending was cut short (then again, there's a next book). And while I enjoyed the Spanish sentences thrown into the story for atmosphere, I would have really loved some translations in footnotes. I'd say 3.5 stars.
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Read this review on the blog - the layout is better 😃.
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The first thing that comes to mind is the setting. Usually, space operas exist in a world that is pretty much dominated by English or American cliches. It's like the Royal British Navy took to space. Everything is centered around English.
Spaaaaaace!
Joss Whedon broke that formula by incorporating an Asian influence in his Firefly universe, and that changed the overall feeling. Valerie is doing the exact same thing - with Spanish instead of Asian. And if you think about it, it kind of fits, doesn't it?
Yes, the British naval forces have been very grand at some time, but the Spanish armada was impressive nonetheless. Conquistadores roaming the new world, and all that adventurous stuff happening in the Caribbean between the British, the Spanish and the French. So why not take that to the stars? Spanish it is!
Get ready for commander Shepherd, eh, Captain Eva!
Funny side note: I think there is a reference to the Mass Effect universe here, by some human commander named Schäfer (which is the German equivalent to the English shepherd of the original games). In fact, there are some of these pop culture references strewn around the entire novel (including a portal gun). It makes for a fine and sometimes nerdy humor throughout the story.
(And the space gates along with their mysterious builders are also quite reminiscent of Mass Effect - then again, it's a trope that has been used in different settings as well, like the tabletop role playing game Coriolis.)
Psychic cats. In space. Space psycho cats. I hope the space pirates rats will follow soon.
But then there's the part that separates the Chilling Effect from other stories in the genre. And no, I'm not talking about the psychic cats, although they are quite unique - but there mostly an interesting footnote, most of the time. No, it's the part where the usually political and/or military sass of those stories is traded for organized crime and a captain lying to her crew with all the best intents in the world - until she realizes that intention does not turn wrong into right. It's a character development that is way above the genre standards, and it brings a seriousness to the table that balances out the sometimes quirky humour.
So, what can you expect? It's an underdog story, some light romance, some revenge on the side, space opera action with sometimes quirky humour. And it's all being played in a vast and big universe, but don't expect too much world building. A lot of planet names - or alien species - seem to be throwaway words, like there this moment, gone the next, never to return. The real world here is the small world aboard a space ship in the void of space, and the kind of family you choose to have .
*****
All in all, I would have loved a bit more serious world building (and for the cats to be put into action at some point), and I had a feeling the ending was cut short (then again, there's a next book). And while I enjoyed the Spanish sentences thrown into the story for atmosphere, I would have really loved some translations in footnotes. I'd say 3.5 stars.
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Read this review on the blog - the layout is better 😃.
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August 27, 2019
To read more reviews from this author and others, check out my blog at keikii Eats Books!
67 points, 3 ½ stars
Quote:
Review:
Chilling Effect is a weird book for me. In the beginning I was determined to love it, and then the honeymoon period wore off fast. By the midway point, I was certain I hated the book. In the end, I loved the ending. And as much as I loved that ending and that it made me want to continue on with the series, I just don't know if I will yet.
I also had to spend an unreal amount of time on Google Translate, and Urban Dictionary, and just plain googling around to figure out what, exactly, people were saying. There is so much Spanish sprinkled in throughout the book, at times I didn't even understand what was going on without looking things up. Hell, half the chapter titles are in Spanish! And it wasn't just words. No, it was phrases like "live by the sword, die by the sword." It was actually pretty frustrating because I had to stick to my computer to read this. (I'm still completely and totally lost at "Me Sube la Bilirrubina"...)
Once Chilling Effect started it didn't really stop. It opens with a bunch of psychic kitties causing the main character, Captain Eva Innocente, and her crew a lot of trouble. Then drops into a kidnapping exploitation plot before swinging wildly into an attempted sexual slavery that is somehow not being vilified by everyone. The entire book, the characters are swinging from one task that goes wrong to the next task that goes wrong. Not exactly my favourite type of story.
Then, within all those tasks that go wrong, there are a bunch of plotlines that are just there to make the readers go "hey I recognise that!". A LOT of pop culture, and some not, as well. There is an entire chapter of Pride and Prejudice in here, in the chapter titled "El Orgullo y el Prejuicio" (guess what that translates as?). Chilling Effect just liked to pull from popular things for inspiration and then recreate them in space for fun. I'm sure there were more in here that I missed than I got.
Captain Eva Innocente, our main character, gets into a lot of trouble. She isn't the most competent person. She seems to be chronically incapable of controlling herself, her emotions, and most spectacularly her anger. Which gets her into more trouble than any other outside force. She also isn't really able to control her crew, either, which is a bad trait in a Captain, in my opinion. Eva is also in a really weird romance that I actually found really cute. And the romance was kind of the saving grace of the book in the end.
As I already complained, I really didn't like the start of the book. It just wasn't for me. Once Chilling Effect got down to the point, in about the last 20% of the book, I actually really, really enjoyed it. And that is the worst thing about it. Because it was really good when it stopped playing around. I loved it in the end. And now I want to read the next book in the series, even though I wasn't going to bother before I got to the end.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Valerie Valdes, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for providing the opportunity to review this copy!
67 points, 3 ½ stars
Quote:
{{You are very cynical.}}
Eat a turd, she thought.
{{You are also very rude.}}
"And you're a parasite attached to my skull who can't seem to understand the meaning of the phrase 'Jódete, coño!'"
Review:
Chilling Effect is a weird book for me. In the beginning I was determined to love it, and then the honeymoon period wore off fast. By the midway point, I was certain I hated the book. In the end, I loved the ending. And as much as I loved that ending and that it made me want to continue on with the series, I just don't know if I will yet.
I also had to spend an unreal amount of time on Google Translate, and Urban Dictionary, and just plain googling around to figure out what, exactly, people were saying. There is so much Spanish sprinkled in throughout the book, at times I didn't even understand what was going on without looking things up. Hell, half the chapter titles are in Spanish! And it wasn't just words. No, it was phrases like "live by the sword, die by the sword." It was actually pretty frustrating because I had to stick to my computer to read this. (I'm still completely and totally lost at "Me Sube la Bilirrubina"...)
Once Chilling Effect started it didn't really stop. It opens with a bunch of psychic kitties causing the main character, Captain Eva Innocente, and her crew a lot of trouble. Then drops into a kidnapping exploitation plot before swinging wildly into an attempted sexual slavery that is somehow not being vilified by everyone. The entire book, the characters are swinging from one task that goes wrong to the next task that goes wrong. Not exactly my favourite type of story.
Then, within all those tasks that go wrong, there are a bunch of plotlines that are just there to make the readers go "hey I recognise that!". A LOT of pop culture, and some not, as well. There is an entire chapter of Pride and Prejudice in here, in the chapter titled "El Orgullo y el Prejuicio" (guess what that translates as?). Chilling Effect just liked to pull from popular things for inspiration and then recreate them in space for fun. I'm sure there were more in here that I missed than I got.
Captain Eva Innocente, our main character, gets into a lot of trouble. She isn't the most competent person. She seems to be chronically incapable of controlling herself, her emotions, and most spectacularly her anger. Which gets her into more trouble than any other outside force. She also isn't really able to control her crew, either, which is a bad trait in a Captain, in my opinion. Eva is also in a really weird romance that I actually found really cute. And the romance was kind of the saving grace of the book in the end.
As I already complained, I really didn't like the start of the book. It just wasn't for me. Once Chilling Effect got down to the point, in about the last 20% of the book, I actually really, really enjoyed it. And that is the worst thing about it. Because it was really good when it stopped playing around. I loved it in the end. And now I want to read the next book in the series, even though I wasn't going to bother before I got to the end.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Valerie Valdes, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for providing the opportunity to review this copy!
February 24, 2020
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a spoiler-free review.
I’ll be honest, as soon as I heard ‘psychic cats’ I was all in on Chilling Effect. I love space opera, I love off-beat heroes, and I love cats. While banter-y ‘squad’ sci-fi books don’t tend to work for me (see my burning hatred of Aurora Rising), but there was something about Chilling Effect that just worked. While it wasn’t perfect, it was so much damn fun.
Chilling Effect is a plot-driven book filled with pop culture references (I spotted Star Wars, Deep Space Nine, and Portal, among others) and loads of fun, snappy dialogue. It moves at breakneck speed and kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime. There is a lot of plot packed into this book -- I feel like it actually could have been teased out and made into two books with more in-depth characterisation (see below). However, this does mean that I tore through Chilling Effect quickly and I definitely enjoyed the ride.
For me, a lot of the weaknesses of the book come from the characters. While I really liked Eva, she was the only POV character and therefore was the only one that felt fleshed-out. She is not your classic hero -- she's stubborn, foul mouthed, violent, and a bit mad. However, I really understood her, her absolutely frantic thought process, and the reasons she made certain decisions -- she's such an incredibly fun character and I enjoyed her immensely. However, the other characters did fall a little flat for me. I’d love to have seen some of the story through Vaskar, Min, or Pink’s eyes, especially as they were kept out of the loop of Eva’s situation and plans -- this would have given them more depth and added a new, interesting layer to the story. In fact, I really just felt like I didn’t know them at all and sort of forgot about them as soon as they were off the page (there's even another crew member, but I don't even remember his name because he's so far in the background for the majority of the book). I also didn’t get the sense of camaraderie that is the most joyful part of these 'squad' stories -- the chemistry just wasn't there. At one point, Pink mentions that Eva is her best friend and I thought ‘really? Is she?'. I hope we get to see more from the other characters in later books because they had so much potential to be awesome.
Chilling Effect wasn’t the strongest science fiction book I’ve read, but damn was is fun! I really enjoyed the quirky world building, the fun writing, and the off-beat plot. If you’re looking for a fun book for the summer and love picking out pop culture references in books, you should definitely give Chilling Effect a try.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a spoiler-free review.
I’ll be honest, as soon as I heard ‘psychic cats’ I was all in on Chilling Effect. I love space opera, I love off-beat heroes, and I love cats. While banter-y ‘squad’ sci-fi books don’t tend to work for me (see my burning hatred of Aurora Rising), but there was something about Chilling Effect that just worked. While it wasn’t perfect, it was so much damn fun.
Chilling Effect is a plot-driven book filled with pop culture references (I spotted Star Wars, Deep Space Nine, and Portal, among others) and loads of fun, snappy dialogue. It moves at breakneck speed and kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime. There is a lot of plot packed into this book -- I feel like it actually could have been teased out and made into two books with more in-depth characterisation (see below). However, this does mean that I tore through Chilling Effect quickly and I definitely enjoyed the ride.
For me, a lot of the weaknesses of the book come from the characters. While I really liked Eva, she was the only POV character and therefore was the only one that felt fleshed-out. She is not your classic hero -- she's stubborn, foul mouthed, violent, and a bit mad. However, I really understood her, her absolutely frantic thought process, and the reasons she made certain decisions -- she's such an incredibly fun character and I enjoyed her immensely. However, the other characters did fall a little flat for me. I’d love to have seen some of the story through Vaskar, Min, or Pink’s eyes, especially as they were kept out of the loop of Eva’s situation and plans -- this would have given them more depth and added a new, interesting layer to the story. In fact, I really just felt like I didn’t know them at all and sort of forgot about them as soon as they were off the page (there's even another crew member, but I don't even remember his name because he's so far in the background for the majority of the book). I also didn’t get the sense of camaraderie that is the most joyful part of these 'squad' stories -- the chemistry just wasn't there. At one point, Pink mentions that Eva is her best friend and I thought ‘really? Is she?'. I hope we get to see more from the other characters in later books because they had so much potential to be awesome.
Chilling Effect wasn’t the strongest science fiction book I’ve read, but damn was is fun! I really enjoyed the quirky world building, the fun writing, and the off-beat plot. If you’re looking for a fun book for the summer and love picking out pop culture references in books, you should definitely give Chilling Effect a try.
October 10, 2020
**I was gifted a copy by Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
Chilling Effect is an action packed sci-fi which is light on the science but high on the adventure scale. Sadly the excitement petered out early for me.
Captain Eva Innocente who has a penchant for profanities and a bunch of psychic cats populating her ship, has been trying to get by with her crew by delivering small cargo across the galaxy. That was until she received a message that her sister had been kidnapped by an intergalactic criminal organisation. Sworn to not inform her crew of the truth she is thrown back into the life of sketchy missions she was sure she had left in the past in order to save her.
The story began interesting enough. The plot pretty much followed this small crew jumping from place to place on individual missions, giving us a glimpse of different corners and aspects of the galaxy Valdes has created. The world-building was definitely the strongest part, having a Becky Chambers-esque feel to it. However, after passing the halfway point of the book I started to get really bored.
The plot had a sort of curveball moment which really threw me off. Rather than being a ‘blow your mind’ twist it was just confusing and I think this has a lot to do with the characters. I felt a massive disconnection to them, particularly the protagonist who I didn’t grow to like in the slightest. But I also feel like there wasn’t enough there to show properly developed relationships between them all either.
With a close-knit space crew at the centre of the story I’d expected a well written found-family but there was just something missing with this one. And the romance didn’t exacly work for me either. As the story progressed these far more interesting secondary characters got less and less page time too and overall the relationships just felt very surface level.
Also the whole “weird emperor who wants her dead and chases her across the whole galaxy because she refused to have sex with him one time” just felt really stupid and an attempt at humour which didn’t work out at all.
The chapter titles were fun but sadly I do not plan to read the sequel.
Final Rating – 2.5/5 Stars
Chilling Effect is an action packed sci-fi which is light on the science but high on the adventure scale. Sadly the excitement petered out early for me.
Captain Eva Innocente who has a penchant for profanities and a bunch of psychic cats populating her ship, has been trying to get by with her crew by delivering small cargo across the galaxy. That was until she received a message that her sister had been kidnapped by an intergalactic criminal organisation. Sworn to not inform her crew of the truth she is thrown back into the life of sketchy missions she was sure she had left in the past in order to save her.
The story began interesting enough. The plot pretty much followed this small crew jumping from place to place on individual missions, giving us a glimpse of different corners and aspects of the galaxy Valdes has created. The world-building was definitely the strongest part, having a Becky Chambers-esque feel to it. However, after passing the halfway point of the book I started to get really bored.
The plot had a sort of curveball moment which really threw me off. Rather than being a ‘blow your mind’ twist it was just confusing and I think this has a lot to do with the characters. I felt a massive disconnection to them, particularly the protagonist who I didn’t grow to like in the slightest. But I also feel like there wasn’t enough there to show properly developed relationships between them all either.
With a close-knit space crew at the centre of the story I’d expected a well written found-family but there was just something missing with this one. And the romance didn’t exacly work for me either. As the story progressed these far more interesting secondary characters got less and less page time too and overall the relationships just felt very surface level.
Also the whole “weird emperor who wants her dead and chases her across the whole galaxy because she refused to have sex with him one time” just felt really stupid and an attempt at humour which didn’t work out at all.
The chapter titles were fun but sadly I do not plan to read the sequel.
Final Rating – 2.5/5 Stars
didnt-finish
May 20, 2024DNF @ 61% because I got to a point last night while reading where I just laughed and threw my Kindle down onto the bed and decided to finally put it down and go to sleep.
The pacing in this is fucking insane. It's made up of tons of random scenes of full throttle action, juxtaposed with the slowest overall plot momentum. The general plot happens because the main character has to lie to her found family crew, a trope I generally hate. Nothing happened with the psychic cats. The time jumps are wild.
And it's straight up Mass Effect fanfiction. The first space station we're in is Omega. There is a long dead alien race that left behind gates to travel the universe. The second space station is the Citadel and has tons of elevators LMAO.
Honestly, I think this could have been more successful for me if it had been tightened up - a few less side quest hijinks, a bit more of a focus on each side character that Eva is close with. If it's really Mass Effect fanfic, then why were there only two characters who ever did off-ship missions with her? And one of them didn't get anywhere near the character development that the love interest does.
Too many hijinks, not enough heart.
The pacing in this is fucking insane. It's made up of tons of random scenes of full throttle action, juxtaposed with the slowest overall plot momentum. The general plot happens because the main character has to lie to her found family crew, a trope I generally hate. Nothing happened with the psychic cats. The time jumps are wild.
And it's straight up Mass Effect fanfiction. The first space station we're in is Omega. There is a long dead alien race that left behind gates to travel the universe. The second space station is the Citadel and has tons of elevators LMAO.
Honestly, I think this could have been more successful for me if it had been tightened up - a few less side quest hijinks, a bit more of a focus on each side character that Eva is close with. If it's really Mass Effect fanfic, then why were there only two characters who ever did off-ship missions with her? And one of them didn't get anywhere near the character development that the love interest does.
Too many hijinks, not enough heart.
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dnf
September 27, 2019DNF at 4%
Eh, just not feeling it.
I don't know what it is, but it's not holding my attention. Maybe because in 4% I've already read three or four descriptions of Eva's tangled black hair? I dunno. I feel snarky tonight, and I'm just not feeling it.
Maybe later, maybe never.
Probably never.
I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.
Eh, just not feeling it.
I don't know what it is, but it's not holding my attention. Maybe because in 4% I've already read three or four descriptions of Eva's tangled black hair? I dunno. I feel snarky tonight, and I'm just not feeling it.
Maybe later, maybe never.
Probably never.
I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.
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