Book Review: Ascension by Victor Dixen

*I am reviewing this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. *

Title: Ascension

Author: Victor Dixen

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Source: Readers First

Rating: 5/5 stars

(Amazon|Goodreads)

Book Summary:

Six girls, six boys. Each in the two separate bays of a single spaceship. They have six minutes each week to seduce and to make their choices, under the unblinking eye of the on-board cameras. They are the contenders in the Genesis programme, the world's craziest speed-dating show ever, aimed at creating the first human colony on Mars.

Leonor, an 18 year old orphan, is one of the chosen ones. 
She has signed up for glory.
She has signed up for love.
She has signed up for a one-way ticket.
Even if the dream turns to a nightmare, it is too late for regrets.

Book Review: 

I was excited to read Ascension as Hot Key were describing this as Love Island in space and much like the rest of the UK, I have been hooked by the show that has just finished. This description is so accurate but it was so much more. I even loved this book so much that I read this rather than watched Love Island. This is amazing for me in itself. 

I feel like this book was so great because it does marry romance, thriller and of course sci-fi elements so well. It is, in essence, a science fiction book, it's theme is about a colonising Mars by making a TV show about those travelling to Mars falling in love. I definitely loved the sci-fi element of this book and I definitely think that the romance in the book is so interesting especially how it plays out. 

I also think that the protagonist was quite dislikable at times and was quite stereotypical but I don't think that this truly affected my time reading it. To me, much of my focus was on the story and how that unfolded as this gripped my attention. I also think that all the characters were diverse. In sci-fi, there is a habit to whitewash the characters but there were so many characters from around the world who had a disability and this added to the story.  

So this story is translated and I do feel like the story was not lost in translation. The writing was quite simple but this did not affect me at all. I also definitely liked the different POVs because of the isolation of the main protagonist and added depth to the story. Most importantly, I raced through the story and it was so addictive. I just want to find out what happens next!

The Verdict: 

Ascension was a fast-paced read that kept me hooked throughout making me crave the next one in the series.