This is a review of all five books in the series.
The story is fun and interesting. The choice of a Filipa heroine and family adds a nice touch. At times the asides take away from the main storyline, and the subplots are not that strong. In many ways, this is a coming-of-age story, but our heroine does not start out as a child.
These stories are the first I have read in decades that gets the time factors in space battles correct. The distances are huge and nothing happens quickly. I do, however, have an issue.
The main problem I have is with some of the physics (I am a physicist so…). Even napkin level math says traveling at 0.54 c for long periods will have time dilation impacts on those not there with you. With all the high-speed fighting and the number of missions flown, Beth's family would have died of old age by the time she returned home. This one problem nagged me throughout all the books. I could not ignore it.
I recommend these to anyone who likes space battles and an interesting set of aliens. They are not deep emotional stories, but the world-building is fun to read. There were a few places, at the beginning of each novel, where there is too much telling, but it soon passed.
The ending was a little too easy, but everyone has their style and this fits well with the tone of the books