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A review by lynseyisreading
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
5.0
There was nothing broken here.
Fabulous read! I've been searching for something Sci-Fi Romancey for what seems like ages. Ever since I discovered a new and profound love of the genre this year with Lesley Young's Sky's End. And while THESE BROKEN STARS didn't leave me with quite the same insane levels of shaky withdrawals, it was still a fully engrossing read full of SciFi awesomeness and a slow-forming, complicated but sweet, sweet romance. Yay!
I'd also like to comment on the cover.
You may have seen my rather grumpy review recently regarding a cover that was apropos of nothing. That didn't depict a single thing correctly and basically lied about the book's contents, leaving me very disgruntled. Well, here's how to do it right! There's Lilac with her flaming hair. The inappropriately flamboyant green ballgown she happened to be wearing when the ship crashed, and ergo was forced to wear for some days to come over wild terrain while struggling to stay alive. And there's soldier-boy Tarver, reaching for her in the perfect representation of star-crossed lovers, which is exactly what they are.
Perfecto! Full marks for Gryffindor!
Moving on to the actual story, there be something fishy going on in deep space, folks. What could cause a star ship carrying fifty-thousand souls to be ripped out of hyperspace without warning? And why is Lilac, the seemingly unflappable and untouchable heiress to untold power and wealth, suddenly hallucinating and hearing voices? Why is the planet they land on terraformed and ready for habitation, yet abandoned?
The hooks in this story just kept on coming. A new puzzle presented itself at every turn and left you with an almost unbearable desire to just finally know! Like , please, for the sake of Pete, just tell me what the heck is happening! It was awesome. And even better, once the answers started coming, there were still surprises - nay, downright unbelievable shocks - to be found. Seriously, the plot twist at around 80%? Mind = blown.
I really liked the two main characters, Lilac and Tarver, too. Which was just as well since we are alone with them on the unnervingly quiet planet for quite some time. Lilac, being the daughter of the universe's richest and most powerful - and power-hungry - man, has expectations on top of assumptions on top of restrictions piled on her young head, topped off with with a healthy dose of self-enforced discipline and reserve. She has never and can never be herself, because the world is always watching. As is her father. She is also well aware that should anything ever happen between her and Major Tarver, it would be of little surprise to her to hear that he'd been suddenly and inexplicably deployed to a galaxy really, really, reeeeeeally far away. Indefinitely. So she tries to keep up her haughty rich-girl facade to create distance between them, but it's difficult to maintain 24/7, and soon Tarver's rare smiles, small touches and calming strength are bringing down her walls faster than she can rebuild them, and making her question whether rescue is even what she wants any more.
Tarver, as well, being a pragmatic, realistic sort, knows there could never be anything between him and Lilac. If it weren't for the fact they were stranded together and she needed him, she wouldn't even look twice at him, right? Right? So why is it getting harder and harder to remind himself of that fact?
I loved the slow-forming relationship between these two. They started off wary, even a bit prickly, with each other, but the evolution was bound to happen eventually. You could see it in the stars (heh). It was very enjoyable, even if it ended slightly ambiguously. This is book one of a series, after all.
And lastly -whew, how did this review get so long already? - I have to praise the worldbuilding and science fiction elements. They were just plain awesome and so engrossing. The concept of what was happening on the planet was exceptional and I didn't see that coming at all.
I'm going to recommend this one to a) all lovers of well-written YA, b) all lovers of Sci-fi/space operas, and c) all lovers of a darn good mystery.
5 Stars ★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Fabulous read! I've been searching for something Sci-Fi Romancey for what seems like ages. Ever since I discovered a new and profound love of the genre this year with Lesley Young's Sky's End. And while THESE BROKEN STARS didn't leave me with quite the same insane levels of shaky withdrawals, it was still a fully engrossing read full of SciFi awesomeness and a slow-forming, complicated but sweet, sweet romance. Yay!
I'd also like to comment on the cover.
You may have seen my rather grumpy review recently regarding a cover that was apropos of nothing. That didn't depict a single thing correctly and basically lied about the book's contents, leaving me very disgruntled. Well, here's how to do it right! There's Lilac with her flaming hair. The inappropriately flamboyant green ballgown she happened to be wearing when the ship crashed, and ergo was forced to wear for some days to come over wild terrain while struggling to stay alive. And there's soldier-boy Tarver, reaching for her in the perfect representation of star-crossed lovers, which is exactly what they are.
Perfecto! Full marks for Gryffindor!
Moving on to the actual story, there be something fishy going on in deep space, folks. What could cause a star ship carrying fifty-thousand souls to be ripped out of hyperspace without warning? And why is Lilac, the seemingly unflappable and untouchable heiress to untold power and wealth, suddenly hallucinating and hearing voices? Why is the planet they land on terraformed and ready for habitation, yet abandoned?
The hooks in this story just kept on coming. A new puzzle presented itself at every turn and left you with an almost unbearable desire to just finally know! Like , please, for the sake of Pete, just tell me what the heck is happening! It was awesome. And even better, once the answers started coming, there were still surprises - nay, downright unbelievable shocks - to be found. Seriously, the plot twist at around 80%? Mind = blown.
I really liked the two main characters, Lilac and Tarver, too. Which was just as well since we are alone with them on the unnervingly quiet planet for quite some time. Lilac, being the daughter of the universe's richest and most powerful - and power-hungry - man, has expectations on top of assumptions on top of restrictions piled on her young head, topped off with with a healthy dose of self-enforced discipline and reserve. She has never and can never be herself, because the world is always watching. As is her father. She is also well aware that should anything ever happen between her and Major Tarver, it would be of little surprise to her to hear that he'd been suddenly and inexplicably deployed to a galaxy really, really, reeeeeeally far away. Indefinitely. So she tries to keep up her haughty rich-girl facade to create distance between them, but it's difficult to maintain 24/7, and soon Tarver's rare smiles, small touches and calming strength are bringing down her walls faster than she can rebuild them, and making her question whether rescue is even what she wants any more.
Tarver, as well, being a pragmatic, realistic sort, knows there could never be anything between him and Lilac. If it weren't for the fact they were stranded together and she needed him, she wouldn't even look twice at him, right? Right? So why is it getting harder and harder to remind himself of that fact?
I loved the slow-forming relationship between these two. They started off wary, even a bit prickly, with each other, but the evolution was bound to happen eventually. You could see it in the stars (heh). It was very enjoyable, even if it ended slightly ambiguously. This is book one of a series, after all.
And lastly -whew, how did this review get so long already? - I have to praise the worldbuilding and science fiction elements. They were just plain awesome and so engrossing. The concept of what was happening on the planet was exceptional and I didn't see that coming at all.
I'm going to recommend this one to a) all lovers of well-written YA, b) all lovers of Sci-fi/space operas, and c) all lovers of a darn good mystery.
5 Stars ★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.