"Just like you could warm your hands by a fire, you could warm your soul by his smiles. Assuming you have a soul, that is."

Nova by Margaret Fortune is a Young Adult Science Fiction novel that takes place on New Sol Space Station. The protagonist is Lia, a 16-year-old genetically engineered bomb. Lia drives the plot forward in the constant tug-of-war between mission, purpose, love, and identity. Lia only remembers three things: her name, she watched her parents die, and she has one purpose—to go nova.

Michael, a friend from Lia’s past, alters her plans in a way she never expected. He roots himself in Lia’s life regardless of her initial protests. Michael is forgiving and accepting of Lia for who she is now and shows her real friendship. Lia is invited into Michael's home and is enveloped in a sense of love and family. Michael's family not only reminds her what it is like to be around and a part of a family, but it also causes longing in her heart. Michael and his family impact Lia severely, and it causes her to reconsider her purpose and going nova.

Teal and Shar provide Lia with the sense that even after everything she has been through, regardless of what she is, she could be capable of creating a life on New Sol and making friends. Lia knew Teal previously as Michael's sister, but as teens, their relationship blooms into friendship. Teal is strong and helps to shoulder the weight of Lia’s secret. She helps Lia create a plan to save her life, so she does not have to go nova.

Shar, an once bully, turns into a semi-tolerable relationship between the two girls. Shar is the key to Lia discovering her past and recovering her memories. Without Shar, Lia would not remember the real reason she needed to go nova. If Lia had not recovered her memories, there is a chance she would not of went nova and revealed the Spectres.

Michael, Teal, and Shar change Lia’s path through friendship/family, acceptance, other/aloneness, identity, and most importantly—love. These themes contribute through the work by being intertwined with the twists and turns of the plot and character development/arch. Fortune selected themes we face many times throughout our lifetime to enhance the plot and create attachments between her characters and readers. Margaret Fortune’s style rings true to the expectations of voice within a teenage girl—though it might be a bit of an immature and annoying one.

A missed boat of potential but still worthy of a read.

While initially, the hook, in the beginning, kept me reading though the story felt lacking in its commitment to action. A substantial portion of the book is focused on routine time with Michael and his family which felt mundane like a kid listing off they did the same thing at school day after day. The character's inner turmoil was okay at the start of the character arch, but felt like Lia’s character lagged development for 100 pages and became frustrating. The character's feelings felt true and accurate, but the pace was too slow. Nova was interesting, and the themes were developed well, but the ending, pacing, and foreshadowing could have been improved to leave the reader feeling more satisfied and settled. Nova didn’t blow me away, but due to the potential, I’m sticking around to give Fortune one more opportunity to impress me with book 2, Archangel. ( )

This was a find on Axis 360 in our very limited collection. It was a pretty good listen for something I had no expectations of being interesting. The story starts with a space refugee with no memories. When she first gets her memories back, it’s a countdown clock and there are only 36 hours left. Till what? Till she blows up. You see, she is a clone that has been made as a biological bomb. Too bad she's a dud. And that is really what begins the story. Why is she is dud? What should she do with this new life, and what if now, after she runs into people that “know” her is she to do? I found myself engrossed in the story. Part of it was the reader, and part of it was the book. It has a nice ending, but it is a little rushed. Most of the important information in the world building is not given until the end. There is a sequel but I’m pretty sure it follows other people. And I was interested enough to check out book 2.
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Pros: good pacing, interesting characters, interesting mystery, light romance

Cons: felt like Lia should have understood a few things faster

For three years the Celestial Expanse and the Tellurian Alliance have fought over rights to New Earth. Now, there’s a cease-fire accompanied by the good-will release of 500 prisoners of war from the Tellurian prisoner of war camp at Tiersten Colony. Among those being released onto New Sol station is sixteen year old Lia Johansen. But she’s actually a living bomb, set to go off in thirty-six hours.

This is the first book in the Spectre War series, and it’s a doozie. Given the age of the protagonist and her search for meaning after things go wrong, it kind of felt like a YA novel. There’s a touch of romance, coming of age, befriending an enemy… But throughout there’s an undercurrent of something else - the same mystery that Lia’s trying to remember.

I thought the pacing was great, with the book teasing out bits and pieces of the mystery. There was one aspect in particular that I was surprised she didn’t grasp earlier. Yes, she is sixteen and it wouldn’t be easy to work around false memories, but it did frustrate me a bit.

The romance elements were great and gave the ending quite a punch. I liked that Lia developed friendships with several women of various ages. Often books ignore the importance of female friendships to female protagonists, so I really appreciated seeing this.

While the story is self-contained, it opens a lot of future possibilities, and leaves you wanting to know what happens next. ( )

Loved it! Great book. A few twists and turns here that keep the story moving. I liked Lia as a lead character, she could have easily been annoying, but not so. Excited about the rest of the series. ( )

Amie Kaufman blurbed this so I couldn't resist and it totally deserves it! It builds a little slow but stick with it because the ending is rockin. There's a sweet and realistic romance too ;). ( )