Review of ‘Changing Course’ by Brey Willows

This was a fun lesbian sci-fi romance. I’m a fan of Willows, I have enjoyed all of her books and this was no exception. While she has written urban fantasy, fantasy, and post-apocalyptic books before, this was Willows’ first try in sci-fi and I thought she was quite successful. Willows writes in such a variety of genres that while I never know what type of story to expect from her, I do always know I’m going to enjoy it.

The story is about a spaceship captain Jessa, who is wealthy and used to many modern advances. When her ship is hit in space, she has no choice but to crash land on the nearest planet. The planet they crash land on is not known for being the most civilized and she is worried her life is in danger. Kylin, is a scrounger and when she sees smoke from a crash she knows it’s her chance scavenge it for money. What Kylin doesn’t expect is to find a captain that both pushes her buttons and attracts her at the same time. Can Kylin get Jessa to safety on a planet with danger at every turn?

I have to say that I was extremely impressed by the world-building. It is not easy to think up a whole new planet with many species, but Willows really knocked it out of the park here. And what is even more impressive than her imagination is that she did all this world-building without info-dumping. Almost any spec-fic book you read has some info-dumping, it’s almost impossible to completely avoid it. But it was so well done here that if she did any info-dumping, I sure didn’t notice.

I know some people worry about reading sci-fi. I’m happy to say a book like this would be good for a sci-fi fan but also for someone newer to the genre. With how smoothly the story flowed, how I felt like I knew all the types of people and how the world worked without me putting in any effort (what I mean is I didn’t have to learn and remember a giant list of names and tech) that I think this story would also work for people who don’t normally read this genre. This story is a big adventure, with lots of excitement and some good feels thrown in too.

I do have to say I wasn’t blown away with the romance. It’s not bad by any means but I felt it was about average. I have read some great romantic story arcs by Willows so I was hoping for more chemistry in this book, the romance felt more on the sweeter side. The characters do fit together and it was easy to root for them as a possible couple so I don’t have much to complain about.

This is a fun and action-packed sci-fi ride that I would recommend. We don’t get a ton of sci-fi books in lesfic so I’m always happy to see a new one. If you are like me and love this genre or are newer to it and want to give a sci-fi book a try, I think this would be a good choice. Willows is a good storyteller and I’m always happy to be reading one of her books. 3.75 Stars.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.