I received this book for free from ARC in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner on December 10th, 2013
Genres: Sci-Fi, YA
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.
The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.
Why do the words come so easily for a review of a book I hated but when it comes to a book I loved more than my own limbs there are none? I started These Broken Stars completely unprepared for the total mind-fuck and levels of awe I would go through. And I won’t let you go in as blindly! I’m just not that cruel.
You see, These Broken Stars is exactly what the cover suggest it to be, but with a few hidden qualities I’ll get to in a bit. You have all these bright and beautiful colors, similar to the bright lights and beauty of the ginormous space craft the Icarus. Then you see a beautiful dress meant to show the class of this young woman next to this, a handsome boy in his duller and more ordinary clothing. But if you look closer you see the fear on her face. The anger on his, and the real hopelessness involved with “falling” in space. This is what These Broken Stars is about and so much more! We are introduced to our MC’s Lilac and Tarver and instantly you know that this won’t be some run of the mill “boy meets girl story”. You see that these two have personalities! They have depth and above all they have the drive to survive crash landing on an unknown planet with no inhabitants.
I’ll admit, that in the beginning I was not thrilled with Lilac. I felt she was a bit too spoiled, too wishy washy and too stuck up to be someone I liked. But about 120 pages in my views about her began to shift, and I started to respect this young woman. A lady in every sense of the word, who was able to overcome so much, and survive the tribulations of being so far outside of her comfort zone. I wanted to cry for her, cheer for her, hug her and be there for her. I don’t know how Kaufman and Spooner were able to put so much depth into a character who originally seemed so shallow but I thank you both a million times over. Too often in YA books we see so little, to no growth, that we accept that a character will remain shallow throughout the book and you’ve completely busted that thought wide open.
Then you have Tarver. I loved him immediately and I knew that I would follow that smart, sharp, and ridiculously prepared man anywhere in space. But he wasn’t an overdone or over the top character! His survival skills were made realistic by the fact that he has been in the military and that training has taught him how to keep one foot in front of the other and make sure your heart keeps beating. I loved how he knew exactly what to do and when to do it, to keep Lilac going. And I adore that even though she was a bitch to him at first he always took the high road, and made sure they came out of most of their situations unscarred. We always hear about the “swoony worthy” male MC’s and while I have no doubt that Tarver was yummy to look at, it was his skills, thought process and humor that gave me the urge to get down on one knee for him.
I don’t want to give too much away but please know, that this is the book you need to have. This is the book you need to drop everything for and read. THIS IS THE BOOK YOU NEED TO PRE-ORDER. The world building, writing, plot, psychological mind fucks and amazingly tangible characters are what you’ve been craving and I’d bet my right arm you’ll love it.
