I enjoyed this but I also had a couple of issues with it. First, it felt very odd to hear Zoe address Mal by his first name instead of Sir or Captain. A minor thing, but it kept jumping out at me. The other issue I have with the book has to do with Anara's decision to leave the ship for House Madrassa. If you've watched the movie Serenity, although we're not given an exact reason for Anara's decision to leave the ship between the end of season one and the movie's timeline, there's some indication it had to do with friction between Mal and Anara. What happens in this book seemed to undermine that reasoning and it didn't sit well with me.

Otherwise, I enjoyed having an opportunity to spend a little more time with the crew. River really shone in this one, which I appreciated.