The part where they end up in Kalina and the Salts was pretty epic. It gives Ava purpose, but also Miyole a role model and someone to help her along. They are so accepting and Miyole is a precious, intelligent little girl. Then after she escapes, we meet Perpetue and Miyole. As for the secondary characters I liked Soli and Luck, but wondered at the beginning why so much time was built building these relationships, but then I figured that is the catalyst for her needing to escape and being on Gyre. Her brother all of the sudden won't talk to her, the Aethers, the other ship kicks her off, and she is going to be exiled. We got to see pretty quickly what she was made of when she was set to be a bride for a ship that they hope to negotiate trade with, and she is caught in a compromising situation that broke my heart. I didn't connect right away with Ava but by chapter 3, I saw that she did have a spark to fight how things were, learning about the fixes and just the desire to learn more, since women don't learn to read or much math, she learned figuring on her own. Women do not have jobs as mechanics or pilots, instead their value comes from kitchens, livestock care, laundry and most importantly having babies. The structure of their ships heirarchy was maddening, but I totally understand that our society used to be similar as well. They are on a spaceship and it sounds like something happened on the earth but they still long for it. I did like the world building even if it took me a while to really understand.

Like me and most sci-fi all of the new words, concepts and world was a little overwhelming, but by Chapter 4 I was learning what everything meant and their slightly different word usage and style. Then I read the synopsis and saw a chance for the main character to totally stand up for women in general on the male dominated planet, and I also wanted to find out how she would fare with her escape. Its pretty and the moon being so close to the water and the girl on the beach. I wanted to read Salvage I'll admit, the cover caught my eye.

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan