Hullmetal Girls
by Emily Skrutskie
What is it about:
Aisha Un-Haad would do anything for her family. When her brother contracts a plague, she knows her janitor's salary isn't enough to fund his treatment. So she volunteers to become a Scela, a mechanically enhanced soldier sworn to protect and serve the governing body of the Fleet, the collective of starships they call home. If Aisha can survive the harrowing modifications and earn an elite place in the Scela ranks, she may be able to save her brother.
Key Tanaka awakens in a Scela body with only hazy memories of her life before. She knows she's from the privileged end of the Fleet, but she has no recollection of why she chose to give up a life of luxury to become a hulking cyborg soldier. If she can make it through the training, she might have a shot at recovering her missing past.
In a unit of new recruits vying for top placement, Aisha's and Key's paths collide, and the two must learn to work together--a tall order for girls from opposite ends of the Fleet. But a rebellion is stirring, pitting those who yearn for independence from the Fleet against a government struggling to maintain unity.
With violence brewing and dark secrets surfacing, Aisha and Key find themselves questioning their loyalties. They will have to put aside their differences, though, if they want to keep humanity from tearing itself apart.
What did I think of it:
This is such a cool read.
The viewpoint alternates between Aisha and Key. I liked Aisha from the start and was shocked by what it takes to become a Scela. Aisha sacrifices a lot for her family. I was rooting for Aisha from the start. Key was more difficult to understand at first. Not that I disliked her, but because she herself doesn't even know why she became a Scela, she was harder to get to know. After a few chapters I was rooting for both of them though. Them standing at opposite sides at times made it interesting, I will confess.
As the both of them try to get used to being Scela and part of a unit of four - no easy thing - each has her own battle to fight. Aisha fights for the survival of herself and her family, Key wants to regain her memories among other things. When the two of them run across secrets, and conspiracies, things get really dicey.
I loved the idea of the Scela, and how they worked as a unit. It felt believable and scary. Skrutskie managed to weave the working of the exoskeletons the girls get to become a Scela into the story without info dumping or getting too Sciencey. The fleet and it's workings also felt believable and real. I could easily picture everything. The story was intriguing and really cool. I was on the edge of my seat and had to keep reading to see where the story would lead.
If there's one complaint, it's that I would have loved more details on the training, but yeah, I'm a sucker for school and training stories.
All in all a great read. I'll investigate what else Skrutskie has written.
Why should you read it:
It's a really cool SF read.
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