Friday, September 5, 2014

Book Review: THESE BROKEN STARS by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner



When we first started throwing around ideas for blog topics and book reviews, I knew right away that one of the first books I wanted to review had to be THESE BROKEN STARS by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. I even read it again just to be sure. And, yep! I loved it just as much if not more!

I don’t typically gravitate toward the Sci-Fi genre (see what I did there?!) because it is easy for me to get lost in the jargon and I end up missing the heart of the story. That was definitely not an issue here. THESE BROKEN STARS captured me immediately, from the moment main characters, Lilac LaRoux, socialite daughter of the wealthiest and most powerful man in the galaxy and poor boy turned war hero Tarver Merendsen meet aboard luxury spaceliner, the Icarus. They couldn’t come from more different backgrounds, and despite their initial attraction, Lilac is hindered by the expectations and boundaries set by her overbearing father.

The instant connection between them is shattered after the Icarus suffers catastrophic malfunctions and though Lilac and Tarver survive the ship’s imminent crash, they must traverse unfamiliar terrain, as they make their way across a nearly destitute planet toward the remains of their crashed ship, searching for rescue teams and if possible, other survivors. There is an element of suspense along the way that gave me goosebumps I wasn’t expecting! I love when a book is able to surprise me like that!

I loved that the relationship between Lilac and Tarver was not of the insta-love variety. Far from it in fact. Their relationship develops slowly over the course of their journey. Not boring by any means, but believable and poignant. They find themselves forced into a situation where reluctantly they must depend on and learn to trust one another, and the relationship that unfolds between them is well developed and achingly beautiful.

I had already been excited to start this book based on the description, and hello, that cover!!! But when I discovered that it was written by two fabulous writers, I was even more anxious to dive in and simultaneously dissect how/what worked for them as a writing team. And let me tell you, the way that Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner wrote THESE BROKEN STARS was absolutely brilliant. It is written alternately in Lilac and Tarver’s perspectives and I never questioned which I was reading, so distinct were their voices.

THESE BROKEN STARS was published in December of 2013, but I read it earlier this year and it is easily one of the best books I have read in 2014!! It is the first in the Starbound Series, but the subsequent books are companion pieces. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly, HIGHLY recommend it! And if you are like me and Sci-Fi isn’t usually your thing, trust me…it will be!


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