I received a copy of Daisy’s Run through OnlineBookClub in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Daisy’s Run is the first in a new series called The Clockwork Chimera, written by Scott Baron. The first novel follows a young woman named Daisy, on what seemed to be a typical, yet exciting, trip back to Earth. Okay, there’s probably nothing typical about a deep space trip involving cryo-sleep. Things get even stranger and more dangerous as time goes on until Daisy finds herself fighting for her very survival.

Daisy’s Run was an exceptionally faced paced science fiction novel, with dozens of twists and turns to be had. It felt like everything I thought I had a grasp on the story being told, another twist was thrown at me to change the direction of the novel.
There was actually a lot of ground covered during the course of Daisy’s Run. So much that I honestly would have judged the author, Scott Baron, had he decided to cut the novel into two parts. I can even perfectly picture where it could have been split and everything. Not that I’m going to complain about getting a longer book here!
There was a lot I liked about this novel. Ironically, something I ended up loving started out as something I hated. I originally thought that the plot of Daisy’s Run was something quite different. At first, I thought it was a blatant run off of 2001: A Space Odyssey, complete with direct references to it (the main character’s name is Daisy, after all). Admittedly the direct references and jokes made me a lot more okay with that idea. But as I kept reading, I realized that I was completely off base with my assumption. The novel is so much more than what I thought and was simply using the core concept of 2001 as a sort of a jumping point. It was pretty brilliant.
The novel was unpredictable in many ways, like what I just mentioned above. After the initial surprise, where the assumption was proven wrong, the novel kept changing and adapting, revealing new depths and hidden plots. It was an interesting choice, and one I’m certainly not going to fault Baron for.
I think I would have preferred to see the plot slightly redirected. While the novel was exceptionally interesting, it did feel like it was a bit all over the place. I believe that splitting the novel into two or redirecting the focus to just one or two main plots/major events would have resulted in this novel feeling more cohesive.
I think that any science fiction fan out there would love this series – especially if they’re looking for something with a female lead. She’s unique and flawed, but that just makes her more human in my mind.
Out of curiosity I went and checked to see if the next novel in the series was out. Imagine my delight when I saw that it was, along with several others! In fact, I found a listing for the next four books. I’m not sure if the series ends at the conclusion of the fifth book though. I didn’t want to look too closely in case of spoilers. But I do know that I have a new series that I can dive into, and that makes me insanely happy.


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It was fine. My biggest annoyance is that about half the book is spent running from the obvious truth that the protagonist is misjudging the situation and she absolutely refuses to consider the possibility. That might be a spoiler I guess but it's so, so obvious the whole time. I feel like it's written that way intentionally. But then… it's just annoying.

After reading Scott Baron's Charlie series I was expecting more of the same. (I would recommend reading the Daisy series first or at least before Dragon King Charlie) A fun little too fantastical tale that would be entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Scott can write well even when sticking to a science based world. Join Daisy in a tale where danger seems to lurk around every corner. Every chapter brings more information and yet more dangers. Can Daisy figure out where the real threat is before it becomes too late for herself and maybe even the human race?

I enjoyed the book from start to finsh. The book grabed me at the start and held my interest to the end. The book did not play out the way I thought it would and I enjoyed it all the more because of the serios plot twits. I have already purchased the second book in the series and can't wait to get started.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book is incredibly confusing to review because every single chapter in the first 50 per cent was a struggle to get through. I seriously considered DNF’ing after the first sex scene because it made me cringe so, so hard.

And it’s not just that it was badly written either. I mean, it was terribly written but in addition, every single thing Daisy does, ends in badly written, cringeworthy sex.

However, after you get past the first half of the book (it’s a struggle) the plot develops, and gets really interesting. The scientific explanations are thorough and easy to understand without making the dialogue boring, and the concept in general is pretty cool. I just wish the book had been this was from inception.

Overall though, what I couldn’t shake off was this deep-rooted prejudice that seemed to run through the book, and though it can be written off as the main characters inherent prejudice/racism/stereotyping(?) it felt like more than that, and it was uncomfortable.

I doubt I’d continue with this series.

Overall I really enjoyed the idea of the plot, setting, and mix of characters. I do not know if what caused my dislike was more the writing style or the annoying main character.
A major part of this book could be summarized like this:
"Let me explain ..."
"No"
"Let me explain ..."
"No"
"Let me explain ..."
"No"
"Let me explain ..."
"No"
---
"Why didn't you explain sooner?"

It annoyed me so much! If at any point in the book, we would have been given a proper explanation of the main character going insane and being tremendously paranoid. If her irrational acting were explained and adressed. If her racist tendencies against machines were properly explored and adressed more than saying "you are racist". If you paint a character with such strong flaws, this needs to be properly developed and adressed to be positive influence on the reader.
Because the main character was acting so paranoid and did never listen to anybody giving her hints as to what was going on, none of the "plot twists" were actually a twist. The reader can see them coming for miles because, well, it was explained if you cared to listen. The character development just got more annoying and worse by the page and at one point, where she just throws all her morals over board and harms her enemies in rather drastic ways and does not even show remorse, I am really stunned - because it is not properly adressed and dealt with.
Oh, and did I mention the cringeworthy sex scenes? "Something really tragic happened. I bet that means you want sex" summarizes how sex is utilized in this book best.

It is so incredibly sad because as I said in the beginning - this world is fantastic and I would love to read a good story with great writing and amazing characters in this world, even with this basic plot line.

I was provided with an eARC by the publisher through netgalle in exchange for an honest review.

Daisy's Run: With a Slow Start, yet a Solid Sprint toward Future Tales

Daisy's Run immediately thrusts readers into a harrowing tale of the perils of space. Through twists and turns, readers will learn there is much more to Daisy than meets the eye. And not only is there more to Daisy, every character has their secrets to hide. As Daisy tries to unravel the truth, new discoveries meet her at every corner, and the story's final revelation surprised me, even as my skepticism meter had increasingly grown throughout the journey.

Other than the first chapter, the story starts a bit slow for my tastes, and I think that's the first element that lost it points in my mind. After thrusting characters into danger (and a poorly written sex scene), Daisy spends the next few chapters adjusting to life on a space ship traveling for six months. It took just a bit too long for the novel to progress through this first act.

Generally speaking, I enjoyed the author's voice, though there are moments where the dialogue feels a tad wooden (though given the overarching plot of the story, I could argue that was intentional). More importantly, there are plenty of moments throughout this story where I scratched my head at the "science" thrown around by the author (a fireball flying through the air without gravity? I asked a physicist friend of mine, and he said that was entirely impossible). So if you're looking for a hard science fiction tale, do not read this book. If you're looking for an action-packed sci-fi thriller that reads like a movie, consider its pages.

Now this story begins a much larger series, titled "The Clockwork Chimera." From what I can tell, four other books in the series are already available. After reading Daisy's Run, I'd say I'm intrigued, and if the second book shows up on my Kindle for 99 cents, I might pick it up.

Final Score: 7/10. I've given it four stars, but it earned that fourth star just because of its compelling finish.

NOTE: I voluntarily reviewed Daisy's Run after receiving a free copy.