I had to write a review for this book after I bought it based on the 100% 5-star rating it currently has. I can only conclude that other reviewers of this book are either teenagers, not very well read or friends of the author.
The story is straightforward and extremely linear: Under-achieving but high potential recruit has formative experience that kick-starts her latent brilliance. Suitably black-hatted foe presents itself for a beating and duly receives one. But wait... has her own side turned against her in the interim? Gasp!
There is only one plot-line here. The narrative starts with and continues with our heroine, only switching away a tiny handful of times (I think I counted six), and even then mostly to directly support the main narrative (Main narrative: "I wonder what they'll do!?" Switch to foe: "we're going to blow the hell out of them." Tension established, switch back to the main narrative: "I hope they're not going not blow the hell out of us.") The plot is utterly predictable, with no unexpected turns or twists.
Quite apart from the uninteresting plot there are a couple of other endemic flaws:
1) the writing is just not very good. People "intone"; they say things "proudly"; whole conversations are contrived, clanged into place for nothing but a reveling in the defeat of a foe or glory of a success. There's a portion that waffles on for what seems like an eternity talking about the kinky (in a bad way) fate that awaits our heroine, for no good purpose (except titillation, possibly) - even as I was wading my way through it I knew that none of this would come to pass. The linear, predictable, never-fail nature of the plot had already become obvious.
2) things happen that just wouldn't. Futuristic translator devices are special purpose little boxes with a "go" button that get hung around the neck; a futuristic jail complex has doors with "brass keys" and no surveillance cameras (convenient! What luck!); handcuffs have remote controls (more boxes with buttons) that are green, blue or black depending on how much unlocking they can do. An allied force is trying to return some recaptured battleships to a suspicious space port, but is told to clear off, thank you very much - we don't trust you. What about a handover in a safe area with protocols to neutralise the threat? Or a devious plan for a reverse-ambush? No - "we don't trust you. Tell you what - keep them."
Stories about a likeable character making good and achieving astonishing success are always compelling, and this one is no different. However, the writing is too bad, the conversations are too contrived and the plot line is just too ludicrously simple for this book to be enjoyable. Enjoyable or not enjoyable, however, it's certainly not literature.
