You Sexy Thing
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I picked up You Sexy Thing based on a recommendation from an online friend. I had never heard of the author, didn’t read a synopsis, and by the time it came off hold at the library I couldn't even remember who had originally recommended it. Turns out the title references the name of a rich guy’s spaceship, and this is an adventure, not a space romance. The initial setup felt almost like Douglas Adams meets The Hobbit. Straight off the bat we learn two things: the crew is facing a quiet threat of reabsorption into the ranks of the (probably evil) Holy Hive Mind’s military, and their restaurant is prepping for a food critic’s arrival to give them a shot at a “Nikkelin Orb”. These two things are treated with the exact same level of importance.
The book moves fast in the first couple chapters; the author does a good job balancing plot development with hints dropped about the universe, so while I wasn’t sure where the plot was going I was never confused to the point of frustration. I’ll always have a soft spot for sci-fi writers who really commit, and Cat Rambo delivers. They give us aliens with tentacles, one with a beak, and twin were-lions in the first chapter. We’re also treated to my second-favorite aspect of sci-fi - refusal to default to today's cultural norms! (Because why would a future intergalactic society match our norms? Of course it wouldn’t.) We get treated to several interspecies romances (no real spice, but well written emotions), many of which either don’t have gender or have female-coded individuals falling for each other.
Cat Rambo does a very impressive job balancing borderline goofy humor with Ann Leckie-esq politics as we get deeper into the book. The only reason it got 4 stars instead of 5 is that this is the first in a series. While it's an excellent series kickoff, it wasn’t entirely satisfying on its own, and I’m grumpy that I have to wait for the next book to come out.
One note of warning - I didn’t pair this book with the Purple People Eater cocktail for color alone. Rambo may have had a lot of fun writing You Sexy Thing but they didn’t shy away from emotional gut punches when the plot required. If you’re looking for something super light you might want to save this for later, but I think it was the perfect amount of sour to balance out the sweet.
Purple People Eater:
1.5 oz vodka
1 oz blue curacao
.5 oz lemon and lime juice
1 oz water
.5 oz grenadine
1 oz cranberry juice or grape juice
Colored sugar for garnish
I pulled the original recipe from here, and updated it to reduce the grenadine and remove the sugar component of sweet and sour mix. I couldn’t find unsweetened cranberry juice and don’t love super-sweet cocktails, hence the updates. Next time around I’ll probably do just a splash of grenadine to get a better balance, or find unsweetened cranberry juice.
I tested this up and over crushed ice, but I’m not convinced either is the best method for serving it yet. If I ever get around to buying a blender I may try it as a blended drink.
