3.5/5 ⭐️s

Tiffany and Robert’s ability to mold a world in the span of one book is so amazing. Dustwalker brings us to a post-apocalyptic Earth where humans are barely surviving as bots thrive. Dystopian is kind of a nonstarter for me after the sheer number of series I read with it back in 2012, but my favorite writing duo didn’t fail to make this story stand out.

Ronin is a Dustwalker: a robot tasked with roaming the desolate wastes to scavenge goods for the bot-run cities. He spends centuries living this life and feeling incomplete…until he sees Lara. Her dancing immediately sparks something inside of him, and he has to have her. Lara’s need for survival means she’ll do almost anything, including agreeing to live with a bot despite her hatred of them.

There were parts I loved and parts that fell flat. I didn’t feel either main character really stood out - both were kind of forgettable compared to other TR pairings, and I never felt that angst/chemistry with them. It made the first half of this book less than appealing since that focused on their relationship.

The second half of the book is where the plot shone for me. Lara and Ronin deciding to fight for the humans gave the story a drive it lacked at first. The best character in this book was the main antagonist, Warlord. He had depth and motive, and he was VERY easy to hate. Once defeating him became the primary focus of the story, I was much more entertained.

Overall, I think this is a must read for sci-fi readers. While it’s, at its core, a romance, the standout here is the sci-fi story.

Spice: 2/5