Chilling Effect
⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆ ☆
Chilling Effect (Chilling Effect, Book 1) by Valerie Valdes
A book is not the best medium for this story.
It’s entertaining, unique, and occasionally funny, definitely not bad, but Chilling Effect leans heavily on situational comedy, where characters land in unusual scenarios and strange settings. There’s nothing wrong with that, but in a book, it takes longer to set up and describe these moments, which can dull their impact. This kind of humor often works better on screen, where timing is everything. In writing, witty banter or sharp, snappy humor tends to land better, but the little that’s here felt a bit stale.
I’m also not a fan of it being yet another Firefly copycat. Plenty have tried to capture that “ragtag motley crew in space” magic, and Chilling Effect is just the latest in a long list of imitators that don’t quite measure up.
It’s possible the book is better than I gave it credit for, but I’ve been burned out on sci-fi comedies lately, and this one’s style of humor just didn’t hit the mark for me.
