{NA Review} The Apollo Academy (The Apollo Academy #1) by Kimberly P. Chase

 {NA Review} The Apollo Academy (The Apollo Academy #1) by Kimberly P. Chase

As the heiress to Titon Technologies, eighteen-year-old Aurora Titon can have whatever she wants—clothes, expensive gadgets, anything money can buy. All she really wants is to escape her pampered, paparazzi-prone life for the stars. Becoming the first female pilot to train as an astronaut for the Apollo Academy is exactly the chance for which she has been waiting. Everything would be perfect if it weren't for her unreciprocated crush on a fellow student, the sexy astronaut bent on making her life hell, and the fact that someone keeps trying to kill her.

The first in a four book new adult science fiction series, The Apollo Academy, is an action packed story of love, discovery, and survival. (Blurb via Goodreads)

{Details} ebook, 340 pages. Published August 6th 2013 (first published August 2nd 2013). Source: Amazon

{Rating} 4/5 - I really liked it!

{Review}

"There was only one place Aurora Titon ever felt free and in control - the cockpit." (page 1, line 1)

Aurora has tried to live a secluded life but to achieve her dream she's forced out of her safe little world, forced into the spotlight. Not only is she competing with other pilots to be an astronaut she's also the first female pilot in the Apollo Academy. And she has to put up with the irritating instructor Sky who objects to her footwear. That's a lot to take on. At times she felt too 'poor me' but I respected her drive and how hard she fought for what she wanted. But she eventually finds the confidence and strength to control her own destiny.

Zane is an unknown in more ways than one. Though a genius with technology he's not skilled when it comes to Aurora. There's quite a bit of will they/won't they, too much for my tastes, but there's more than class differences and money between them, they're connected in ways neither could have anticipated.

I was very intrigued by Sky. I thought it was strange that after seeing most of the book from Zane and Aurora's perspectives all of a sudden we're seeing Sky's but I really liked the addition to the mix and the opportunity to see who he really is. The change in his relationship with Aurora was fun to watch, he's been hard on her and suddenly he sees her in another way. But, like with Zane, they also have connections neither were aware of, connections that complicate everything.

 

It's a sad world Chase has imagined and the outlook is even more depressing. Overpopulation, not just deforestation but no trees, natural resources are depleted and people spend their lives immersed in tech. Though it's sad it's very well developed and well described, I easily can picture life in Chase's world.

I appreciated the bit of mystery - exactly what happened to Zane? what's Sky's role ? what's the big end game? I didn't care so much for the cliched elements - the mean girl, the love triangle, the star-crossed lovers... but they didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the story.

I could definitely see Chase's aeronautical background in the book. She was able to give the experience and use technological terms in a way that didn't have me zoning out. By the end of the book I wanted to be a pilot and to hug a tree. I am eagerly awaiting book two.