Dare Mighty Things {by Heather Kaczynski}

Title: Dare Mighty Things
Author: Heather Kaczynski
Series: Dare Mighty Things #1
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Genre: YA SciFi
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
source: Edelweiss

THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: You must be gifted. You must be younger than twenty-five. You must be willing to accept the dangers that you will face if you win.
Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Gupta’s entire life has been leading up to this—the opportunity to travel to space. But to secure a spot on this classified mission, she must first compete against the best and brightest people on the planet. People who are as determined as she to win a place on a journey to the farthest reaches of the universe. 
Cassie is ready for the toll that the competition will take; the rigorous mental and physical tests designed to push her to the brink of her endurance. But nothing could have prepared her for the bonds she would form with the very people she hopes to beat. Or that with each passing day it would be more and more difficult to ignore the feeling that the true objective of the mission is being kept from her.
As the days until the launch tick down and the stakes rise higher than ever before, only one thing is clear to Cassie: she’ll never back down . . . even if it costs her everything.

Okay. Um, wow. That's kind of where I'm at upon completing this novel. I knew I was going to love it (I mean, space!!) but I don't think I was quite prepared for HOW much I ended up loving it.

Okay, first Cassandra is (half) Indian-American, which pushed this to the top of my TBR when I realized it (if you didn't know, I am also Indian-American). Second, she comes out as asexual, which DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY THAT MADE ME I honestly almost cried. Cassandra herself is a very hard-working, motivated individual. She maybe isn't the greatest at social interactions and having friends, though. Cassandra starts off pretty judgmental and self-righteous, thinking she's better than most of the candidates. But wow does she grow and learn throughout the story.

I also loved our secondary characters. Even though the competition was serious, they were fun and humorous together. I also loved the competition itself, as I love space and tech and so that was a fun look inside what it takes to actually go into space.

The book did take a little while for me to get into, and I felt the ending was way rushed. I will say, I did not expect what happened there at the end, but it was all so rushed I think it took a little while for me to comprehend what had happened. Those two reasons are why it wasn't a full 5 stars, but I really did love this one and will be eagerly anticipating the sequel.

Heather Kaczynski:

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