The Two Lies of Faven Sythe is a standalone space opera novel, written by Megan E. O'Keefe, published by Orbit Books. An imaginative story that gives us a good dose of space pirates and a tantalising queer romance, with an intriguing worldbuilding that keeps you wanting to learn more about the secrets behind the universe of this novel, all with a great cast of characters.

Faven Sythe is a cryst-born navigator, grown from a crystal; dealing with the grief from her mother's death. The lack of answers about her mentor's disappearing, when the flight path was pointing to the Clutch, a graveyard from where nobody returns, makes her get captured by pirates, as she wishes to investigate it by herself instead of relying in the strict chorus.
Bitter Amandine is the captain of a misfit crew, just trying to survive; running from her past, and really protective of her tiny crew. She wasn't thinking about having to deal with hostages, but her destiny and Faven's end being intertwined in an adventure that will take them to not only finding about Amandine's past, but also the conspiracy that the Choir is hiding from everybody.

Faven is quite a curious character: her plan tells us about an impulsiveness, but also the desire to flee from the iron hands of the Choir; she's rebellious, but she's also dealing with a fair share of grief, not only with her mentor's disappearance, but also with her mother's death, which partly motivates her plan. She's forced to trust in Amandine, especially when they are put in difficult situations in a world she hasn't been an active part as a cryst-navigator.
Our other main character, Amandine, is a woman hardened by her past; she's wary of trusting outsiders and Faven is definitely the last thing she could have expected. As you might imagine, we have a dash of romance between our characters; the evolution from reluctant allies feels really natural, and honestly, I'm always for a sapphic subplot.

For being a standalone novel, the worldbuilding is really ambitious: the own concept of the navigators and their origins is intriguing, and O'Keefe plays the best to create a rich imagery out of the concept; and the pirate's society and lore add also a dash of salt to the dish.
The pacing is relatively fast, with plenty of action scenes; the stakes are high and that helps the reader to devour the book.

The Two Lies of Faven Sythe is a really enjoyable space opera novel, perfect if you are looking for a rompy science fantasy proposal with tons of actions and a well-fleshed cast of characters. With the epilogue hinting for more, I hope to eventually revisit this universe in other novels!