Finally got around to reading this, I'd been putting it off not out of disinterest but just because I had other projects that were taking my time and I wanted to be able to give this my full attention. Once I started it, I breezed through it in a couple of days. I would vote it at above average or very good, but maybe not excellent.
It was lovely to have a comparatively quiet story where there were no villains to be fought or bad guys to be vanquished, just mysteries to be explored and people to get to know. All the little personal sub-stories were engaging, especially the ones involving people we don't know well so far, showing their flaws and their strengths in equal measure.
I had no problem with Icheb/Bryce, I read it just as sci-fi-analogue-for-asexual, not as PTSD as some have suggested, and I certainly didn't take any of it as being "icky" or "coercive" in the slightest. Just because one has a higher rank than the other doesn't make it coercive or that one was "grooming" the other - a rather horrible word that dirties what to me was a sweet, gentle exploration. Neither wanted to force the other to do anything they didn't want to do, neither was even totally sure the other was interested, neither was pushing for more than the other was ready for. So I hope for more development on that relationship.
I didn't have all that much of a problem with Dr Sal's actions either, despite that I could see she was pushing the boundaries a bit. Given everyone else's reactions, that means either I'm a horribly unethical monster or Kirsten just wrote Dr Sal well enough that she convinced me of her case. I do wonder how long this plot was planned though - if Kirsten made the new helm officer a Kriosian way back in Full Circle with the intention of eventually telling this story when she got chance.
And I too assume the cliffhanger can't possibly be for real - no way would they kill the Doctor "off-screen" in a book. He's the Spock/Data equivalent, if you're gonna kill him off, you make a meal of it. Plus as others have said, no point doing all that work with Kim and Conlon if you're just gonna delete them afterwards, and we've already seen the Doctor and Barclay in future books anyway.
.