Book Review: Caretaker (Book 1) and Guardians (Book 2) by Josi Russell

I was approved to read Guardians, but wanted to read Caretaker as well so I could give the book the best review possible.

Please consider this your possible spoiler alert if you would like to read the books, I will not give away any major plot points, but will be including a summary.

Caretaker

Floating through space, Ethan Bryant is the Caretaker of humans who are in a sleep state on their way to a planet called Minea. His future with his wife was stolen when the original Caretaker died tragically and the computer locked him out of his stasis chamber. He has 50 years until they reach their destination with no one else awake on the Ship 12-22.

When Ethan is settled into his routine for five years, he is surprised when the computer wakes up one of the passengers, an engineer who discovers they are far off course and the ship's 4000 passengers are in danger.


Overall, I liked Caretaker; Russell's take on the language she created was refreshing, her descriptions were fantastic, and the characters were well-developed. Her take on how isolation changes a person was interesting and I liked how she portrayed their coping with loneliness.

Guardians

Minea is portrayed as "the place to be" on Earth but the passengers of Ship 12-22 arrived to find that it did not live up to the infomercials. Most of those who arrived work in the dangerous Yyinum mines, but they are barely surviving.

Thanks to Ethan stepping up as Caretaker in Book 1, he is appointed the role of Governor when he arrives at Minea so his family is relatively comfortable. Unfortunately, he is not in a position to help the poor as much as he and his wife Aria would like. 

There is an accident when Ethan goes on a trip to survey Minea's mountains and Aria has to decide if she will save him or focus on finding a cure for the strange illness that is sweeping across the planet.

Guardians could be read as a standalone book if desired, but I actually liked Caretaker more than the second installment. This book is still fast-paced, well-written, and interesting but it did not hold my interest quite as well as the first because I felt as if there were far too many coincidences throughout Guardians.

Find Book 1 here: Caretaker
Find Book 2 here: Guardians

I received the books for free in exchange for my honest review, all opinions are my own.