As darkness closes in on the city of shattered light, an heiress and an outlaw must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other. As heiress to a powerful tech empire, seventeen-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she's more than her manipulative father's shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue AI hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem. Gunslinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly the bounty Riven needs—until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive. Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The AI exploits the girls’ darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever.
- Books
- YA Fiction & Indies
- Young Adult Fiction
- City of Shattered Light
City of Shattered Light
FeaturedAuthor(s)
Publisher
Age Range
13+
Release Date
October 18, 2021
ISBN
978-1635830712
Editor review
1 review
Cyberpunk adventure
(Updated: June 04, 2026)
Overall rating
4.7
Plot
5.0
Characters
4.0
Writing Style
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
N/A
What I liked:
City of Shattered Lights is a debut young adult cyberpunk novel about two sisters whose dad is using one of them for scientific research and the other to work on the mechanics of the project. I felt for these two sisters who want to be ordinary girls, but by the daughters of a mad men scientist, they are denied that. What goes down is a fight by one sister to save her sister's life and a battle to save humanity from a science experiment gone wrong. Essentially you have an heiress and an outline storyline playing out in tandem set in a futuristic world. I admit that the heiress is naive and desperately wants to find the good in those she trusts. But we soon learn that it is not all rainbows and sunshine, and very little of what she thought was true is.
Final Verdict:
Pick up this book if you're looking for a fast-paced cyberpunk adventure filled with complex family dynamics and vivid characters—the action and sci-fi blend with romance, making for an entertaining and solid read. The cliffhanger leaves you wanting just enough that I will pick up the sequel.
City of Shattered Lights is a debut young adult cyberpunk novel about two sisters whose dad is using one of them for scientific research and the other to work on the mechanics of the project. I felt for these two sisters who want to be ordinary girls, but by the daughters of a mad men scientist, they are denied that. What goes down is a fight by one sister to save her sister's life and a battle to save humanity from a science experiment gone wrong. Essentially you have an heiress and an outline storyline playing out in tandem set in a futuristic world. I admit that the heiress is naive and desperately wants to find the good in those she trusts. But we soon learn that it is not all rainbows and sunshine, and very little of what she thought was true is.
Final Verdict:
Pick up this book if you're looking for a fast-paced cyberpunk adventure filled with complex family dynamics and vivid characters—the action and sci-fi blend with romance, making for an entertaining and solid read. The cliffhanger leaves you wanting just enough that I will pick up the sequel.
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