Okay, treat I know, buy I know, generic I know. I’m doing right awful with blogging lately. I blame it on the fact that I totally got a “real” job and then I’ve been sick (kidney stones, enough said), and I’ve just been overwhelmed.
But this is totally my baby and I miss being on top of it so I’m going to be doing my best to get back into it, and make sure that I’m posting for you all!
Here is the most recent book that I read: These Broken Stars.
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner
GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository
Genre:
Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance
Part of a Series?:
Yes, the first novel of the Starbound Series
You May Like if You Liked:
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Age Recommendation:
14+
Plot Summary:
From GoodReads:
It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.
Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.
Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?
Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.
My Review:
I am so glad that I finally picked up this novel. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been seeing this all over the place, and I had NO idea what it was. It was on NetGalley and then everyone was jumping on it when it was finally released, and I knew I had to get my hands on it.
When I finally DID get my hands on it, I must admit…it took me awhile to get into it. The first 100 pages or so, it was very hard to get past. If it weren’t for the fact that I had heard so many good things about it, I may have given up. Its not that the story was bad or anything but I felt like…I didn’t really know where things were going. Tarver and Lilac are crash landed on this planet and obviously this is a problem, and they need to survive and figure out a way off, but…it seemed like a lot of book for that. So it was slow going. I wasn’t fond of either character in the beginning, to be perfectly honest.
That sort of attitude sort of makes me laugh now because I ended up SERIOUSLY enjoying this novel. I think once the two main characters started to warm up to each other in the story, that was the moment that I started to warm up to them and the story. Once Tarver and Lilac really began to question the strangeness of the planet and started really focusing on their survival is when the story starts to pick up. The authors are able to build up this incredible mystery and tension, both in the survival on the planet and the build up between Tarver and Lilac. I honestly had no idea what was going on, and I couldn’t even begin to guess what would happen next. The last 75% of the novel went by so fast, and I read it faster than that first quarter of the book. It sped up, the story was interesting and the character development was fantastic.
I think the characters and the way they developed throughout the novel was one of my favorite parts. Lilac could have been the typical spoiled, privileged rich girl that learns the errors of her ways through the trials and tribulations of survival. And I’m not saying that this is untrue, but there’s so much more depth to Lilac’s character than I would have imagined. She has more depth than that, and I really love Lilac because of that. She could easily have been dismissed on my radar as a typical archetype but they take a familiar character type and make it that much better.
I am seriously looking forward to the next book. Amie and Meagan take a story that could be wrapped up in one novel, but build so much mystery and tension and unanswered questions that its subtle enough to make you go, “Wait a minute…what about…” And I love that. Its not a huge cliffhanger but its just subtle enough, its just there enough that you’re thinking, there’s already so much that is going on and I think we’re only on the tip of the iceberg.
Lastly, the reference of Icarus…oh my god, I love that so much, I couldn’t handle that. If you don’t know the reference of the story of Icarus and the reason I love it as the name of the fallen spaceship, you should definitely look it up! I was SO into that reference.
Rating:
4 out of 5 Stars
Recommended or Not?:
Yes! I honestly think this is one of the strongest YA sci-fi novels written lately and I think that’s incredible, considering its two authors in one. I am really looking forward to what happens in the coming books and I am NOT looking forward to waiting for them!
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I hope you enjoyed this week’s Book of the Week. Head to a bookstore soon to pick up this fantastic novel!