Thursday, February 13, 2014

These Broken Stars

These Broken Stars (Starbound, #1)These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

These Broken Stars is the first novel written in the Starbound Universe by Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman. In it, heiress Lilac LaRoux and war hero Tarver Merendsen are the sole survivors of the crashing of the Icarus, the universe's biggest interstellar ship. Having crash landed on a planet that appears terraformed but is strangely devoid of human life, the two must find a way to get word to civilization that they are alive, while at the same time navigating the strange new planet and trying not to kill each other in the process. Soon, secrets are uncovered, and their crash seems to have been more than just a freak accident.

I love love loved These Broken Stars! I was wary at first, because the cover drew me in so much in the beginning, and I was nervous that the story wouldn't meet my expectations, but they exceeded them in fact. While it felt like it took a little while to feel totally immersed, once I was there was no stopping me from turning the pages.

From the get go, we know that the story is not like any other, because Tarver and Lilac like each other at first, but then end up hating each other! The reader gets no breaks when it comes to watching the evolution of these characters' relationship to each other. Lilac is tough and stubborn, but also vulnerable and scared. Tarver is strong and in his element, sure, but he's having to struggle with his opinion of Lilac and try to avoid thinking about his own fears. In the end, they make a couple that outshines the stars (just enjoy the pun and move on).

Pacing was phenomenal. At first, it was a little repetitive, because they had a long way to walk, but the pacing of the story itself was on point at all times. By the time I reached the last page, I felt like I'd been stuck on the planet with them for a whole month, instead of the week or so I read this in. Not only do we see both characters in balanced moments of respective strength and weakness, but we also get all the information needed for the main plotline delivered clearly and without feeling like we'd had a dumpster truck drop all the info on it at once. This also allowed for the storyline to be believable--or rather, it felt like something the characters could resonably believe.

I'm very interested as to where Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner will take this story. Not only are we going to read the next volume from the perspective of two new characters, but I can't wait to see how the main conflict is going to grow and manifest itself. I also really reallly hope we get to see more of Tarver and Lilac, because one book was not enough!

View all my reviews

No comments:

Post a Comment