The Good for Nothings by Danielle Banas | Heist, found family, space

Ages since the last time I posted? No. Maybe that was just pure timing. Ages until the next post? Ah, well, that’s another story entirely. We’ll have to see about that one.

(Not gonna lie, I miss blogging and having more time on my hands to write fun posts. But one day! It will happen! Until then, I’m going to try and catch whatever sleep and reading time I can. Also, I just noticed I’ve slacked with post titles lately when it comes to reviews. Oops.)

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They're only good at being bad.

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 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.

Whip-smart and utterly charming, this irreverent sci-fi adventure is perfect for fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lunar Chronicles, and Firefly.

Trigger & Content Warnings: abuse (parent), violence

This is such a delightful and fun read set in space.

The Good for Nothings is packed with snark and sass set in space that I ended up enjoying way more than I thought I would. When Cora lands herself in prison after a heist with good intentions (and to prove to her family she can fit in) goes wrong, she’s given a chance at freedom and a clean record if she, along with her new cell companions, find a legendary treasure giving immortality that is only rumored to exist.

But Cora accepts the chance to be free, and especially at a chance to give her robot best friend Elio, a body that won’t glitch. (And if you want my opinion, I’d do the same in Cora’s shoes, because Elio is charming as hell.)

The characters are lovable and adorable.

You might not like them at first, but by the end of reading Banas’ book, you’ll probably want to be friends with all of them. Here’s a run-down of our group of criminals in The Good for Nothings:

• Anders – supposedly violent, but secretly warm and fuzzy who likes lollipops and meat
• Cora – just trying her best and wanting to fit in her family to no avail (according to her mother, with the silent agreement from her father)
• Elio – the cutest robot who glitches and beeps but also wants to be as human as possible like smelling milkshakes and food (good choice, not gonna lie)
• Wren – overly chatty and probably rambles if you’re in the same room, which can be annoying, but secretly she’s a nice softie who’s good at stealing things when no one can notice

They all have good intentions and hearts, and it was fun seeing them develop a friendship and bond with each other as they uncover the clues to find the pieces that would lead them to the treasure. Personally, Anders was hard to warm up to at first because he’s just there when Cora first lands in Ironside prison on the planet of Andilly, but he grew on me quickly as the group set off on their adventure across multiple galaxies.

The Good for Nothings is, overall, a charming book perfect for who want a heist set in space with the found family trope among characters who probably wouldn’t be friends in other circumstances.

Sophia

Blogger at Bookwyrming Thoughts · Website · Read More Posts

Sophia started blogging in February 2012 for the hell of it and is surprisingly still around. She has a GIF for nearly everything, probably listens to too much K-Pop and is generally in an existential crisis of sorts (she's trying her best). More of her bookish reviews and K-Pop Roundups can be found at The Arts STL.

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