Ascension by Jaqueline Koyanagi

I spotted Ascension on a list of books with POC main characters. Alana, the main character, is not only a POC but gay and disabled as well. So rare that you find a book with a character being any of those things much less all three. I did love Alana but still had a few problems with Ascension.

Alana is an engineer. Currently, her and her aunt eek out a living on a small planet servicing  spaceships that come in. Alana's sister, Nova, helps them out. Nova works as a spirit guide, helping people die and providing guidance for the wealthy. Nova doesn't want Alana to be an engineer but being an engineer is all Alana's ever wanted. One day a spaceship comes looking for Nova. Alana stows away and starts a new adventure. Will Alana be able to help the ship's crew find Nova?

Alana is strong. Although she has Mel's Disorder and lives in constant pain, she still wants. She wants to fly. She wants work on ships. She wants to love. Stowing away on the ship got in the sky. Alana fights to stay on the ship, help the crew find her sister. The other crew members are just as wonderful as Alana. They are all wonderful. No one's perfect and they all have their own wonderful struggles. I see this is the first in a series but Koyanagi has yet to write more. I would like to see more about Alana and the crew of the Tangled Axon.

I had 2 problems with Ascension. Koyanagi took a long time to build Alana's world. In fact there were a lot of things that weren't entirely explained. But since this was the first in a series, I assume more will be explained later. The second was the ending. While I see why Koyanagi did it that way but I didn't like it. That had a lot to do with the fact that I didn't feel like the world was fully explained. I do hope that Koyanagi writes more. She's started an interesting world. Others who shared their thoughts: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, A Dribble of Ink, and elisabethsheff.
This was my fourth read for the LGBTQIA reading challenge.