Whip-smart and utterly charming, Danielle Banas’s irreverent YA sci-fi adventure The Good for Nothings is perfect for fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lunar Chronicles, and Firefly. Cora Saros is just trying her best to join the family business of theft and intergalactic smuggling. Unfortunately, she’s a total disaster. After landing herself in prison following an attempted heist gone very … prison following an attempted heist gone very wrong, she strikes a bargain with the prison warden: He’ll expunge her record if she brings back a long-lost treasure rumored to grant immortality.
Cora is skeptical, but with no other way out of prison (and back in her family’s good graces), she has no choice but to assemble a crew from her collection of misfit cellmates–a disgraced warrior from an alien planet; a cocky pirate who claims to have the largest ship in the galaxy; and a glitch-prone robot with a penchant for baking–and take off after the fabled prize.
But the ragtag group soon discovers that not only is the too-good-to-be-true treasure very real, but they’re also not the only crew on the hunt for it. And it’s definitely a prize worth killing for.
Praise for The Good for Nothings:
“A fun, galaxy-spanning treasure hunt with plenty of action and heart.” —Publishers Weekly
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Overall, a good, entertaining read. Nothing that blew my socks off, but the story moved right along.
(I saw something somewhere indicating that this might be Book #6 of a series, but this is the first I’ve heard that; and I can’t find any more info to that effect. But, regardless, it reads just fine as a standalone tale.)
There is a host of quirky main characters whom we very slowly get to know, as they head off on a quest together. (Honestly, it greatly reminded me of the original “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie.)
In addition to the fun characters, it boasted a rather intriguing story, a few surprises, many predictables. There are a lot of betrayals, several of which I did not see coming; and some of which still left the ultimate victorious resolution of the story a bit of a downer. Nothing spectacular here, but all-in-all a fun, entertaining read.
Reminding a bit of Guardians of the Galaxy, these pages are packed with action, humor and more than a little heart.
Cora is the daughter of the most renowned crime family in the universe, but her life isn’t what anyone probably suspects, especially since she can’t seem to live up to her mother’s expectations. When the latest heist…um, job…ends up in disaster thanks to Cora’s supposed mistakes, she decides to prove herself once and for all. Which lands her in prison. Her two cell-roomies are more than irritating, but when one comes up with a plan to escape, Cora’s in. Of course, it doesn’t go as planned. Instead, the prison director breaks a deal—steal a treasure (which borders on myth), and they can go free. Not only do they have to find said treasure, but it’s a deadly quest. Add the director’s own lies and schemes, and Cora knows she’s in over her head. But that doesn’t mean she has any other choice.
When I saw the cover, I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure this read was going to be as fun as I’d hoped, but I was pleasantly proved wrong. This story is simply a fun, entertaining read with explosions, near escapes, odd aliens, evil plots, twisted characters, snarky humor, true friendship, lots of food, and tons of heart. Oh, and some quirky romance, too. The pages fly by with ease and created more than one or two smiles along the way.
Cora is a great character to pull this type of story together. She’s snarky, she’s tough…and yet, she’s neither of these. The first chapter already made her more than likable as she tries to live up to her name, almost makes it, and desperately fails. But there’s so much fire in her, and she’s a piece of gold in her own way. I loved her friendship with her robot, but then, that robot was impossible not to like. The idea of friendship and trust and family are what centers this tale. Not that everyone can be trusted. There are characters to love, characters to hate, and those that are very hard to see what their true intentions might be. As to the romance…well, that one fits the rest of the story nicely.
In other words, anyone who loves a bit of hair-brained fun with heart and spacey adventure will want to pick this one up. I received a complimentary copy through Netgalley and enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.
That was so good!! I couldn’t stop reading. 🙂
Cora is the daughter of a crime family, but she didn’t exactly inherit the family’s talents. She is the best at reading auras, and her inventions mostly work, but when her mother puts her in charge of distracting the guards at the huge job, she makes a complete mess out of it. To make up for it, and get back into the family’s grace (mostly for the paycheck she desperately needs) she and her BF robot try to rob the family’s next job a day before. Unfortunately, it goes horribly wrong and they end up in prison.
At failed escape plan, she bargains with the warden for their and their cellmates’ release, in exchange for going on a treasure hunt.
Onboard of an ancient ship, Cora, Elio the robot, kleptomaniac Wren and disgraced soldier they call Anders, embark on an intergalactic treasure hunt.
It’s such a fun story to read, it has a little bit of Lunar Chronicles vibe – which I love. 🙂 All of the characters are very different, with secrets and secret agendas.
I was instantly pulled in to the story, it’s gripping, fun, and very intense. One hard it’s a trainwreck waiting to happen, on the other, it’s a charming story of reluctant teamwork for a semi-common goal. 🙂
Highly recommend it!
received from Xpresso Book Tours