JD Kaess

"I received an advance copy of Quantum Step - Payton’s Awakening and went in expecting a fairly typical YA sci-fi story. What surprised me was how much time the book spends grounding Payton as a real teenager before the bigger science-fiction elements fully emerge. That slow build made the later developments feel more meaningful.

There’s a strong sense of mystery running through the story, especially around Payton’s dreams and the feeling that there’s a larger truth just out of reach. I appreciated that the book doesn’t rush to explain everything. It trusts the reader to stay curious.

The science-fiction ideas are imaginative without becoming overwhelming. By the end, it’s clear this is setting the stage for a much larger series. As an ARC reader, I finished the book feeling genuinely interested in where Payton’s journey will go next."