Review: Sanctuary

General Information

Title: Sanctuary
Author: Caryn Lix
Series: Sanctuary #1
Pages: 480
ISBN: 9781534405332
My rating: ★★★★½☆

 

About: Sanctuary takes us to a space station of the same name that is actually a prison for superpowered teens. We meet junior guard Kenzie and get a glimpse at her guard training under the watchful eyes of her commander (= her mother) before all hell breaks loose. The prisoners take her hostage and her super-patriotic and to Omnistellar Corporations devoted mother is willing to let her die. But then they notice aliens have found a way onto Sanctuary, and Kenzie is forced to work together with the criminals...

I had high hopes for this book, but it even managed to exceed them! Unputdownable at times, this was a book for my liking! It turned from a sci-fi prison thriller to a sci-fi horror, and while I didn't expect this, I loved it!

After some initial repetitions and slight lenghts the pace picked up for the rest of the book, and there were a couple of cliffhanger chapter endings that made me go noooo. Parts of it I couldn't read before bed because these alien-monsters seemed to be lurking behind every corner. The atmosphere of the book is claustrophobic; it being set in space gives the word "trapped" a whole new meaning.

There were also a couple of really sad moments and quite a handful of deaths in this book. Some of the deaths aren't pretty, and there are relatively detailed descriptions of injuries and gore too, so it's not for the faint of heart. It was never over the top though, everything felt fitting and accurate for the genre. (Still, if you get disturbed by blood/gore/horror easily, stay away from this book.)

The only thing that bothered me were the hints at a romance that could be called a case of stockholm syndrome. Sometimes, Kenzie's thoughts had me rolling my eyes. Luckily, there were few truly romantic scenes because the book focused more on the action, on making plans and on getting off that damned horror-station alive. Still, I could've done completely without the romance, but it's ya after all.
(Exception: the romance between two of the prisoners. That was hella cute!)

The characters were fine, I neither loved nor hated them. They had enough development to not feel shallow, but I mostly didn't connect with them either. The superpowers of the prisoners were a cool addition though and were well integrated into the plot. Also, Kenzie is a fangirl who asks herself what her favorite manga character would do in certain situations, and I think that's extremely relatable! I liked to read from Kenzie's pov because she's the outsider who has to adapt and come to terms with learning some unpleasant truths about her world and the corporation she was always told such great things about. The world in this is definitely a dystopia, so this book really combines the genres I love.

All in all I give a clear recommendation. I never expected Sanctuary to be this gripping (and sometimes gruesome) and therefore was positively surprised. Caryn Lix has really taken a simple hostange scenario to a new level!