Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

Defy the Stars (Constellation, #1)

by Claudia Gray

A stunning blend of action-packed science fiction and love against the odds. Perfect for fans of the DIVERGENT series.

Noemi is a young and fearless soldier of Genesis, a colony planet of a dying Earth. But the citizens of Genesis are rising up - they know that Earth's settlers will only destroy this planet the way they destroyed their own. And so a terrible war has begun.

When Noemi meets Abel, one of Earth's robotic mech warriors, she realizes that Abel himself may provide the key to Genesis' salvation. Abel is bound by his programming to obey her - even though her plan could result in his destruction. But Abel is no ordinary mech. He's a unique prototype, one with greater intelligence, skill and strength than any other. More than that, he has begun to develop emotions, a personality and even dreams. Noemi begins to realise that if Abel is less than human, he is more than a machine. If she destroys him, is it murder? And can a cold-blooded murder be redeemed by the protection of a world?

Stranded together in space, they go on a whirlwind adventure through Earth's various colony worlds, alongside the countless Vagabonds who have given up planetary life altogether and sail forever between the stars. Each step brings them closer - both to each other and to the terrible decision Noemi will have to make about her world's fate, and Abel's.

Reviewed by Ashley on

5 of 5 stars

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I kind of got Defy the Stars on a whim. I got one of those emails from NetGalley that was all like, "READ NOW for the first 500 members!" Those emails always make me panic.

Normally, before I get anything from NetGalley I put it under heavy consideration.

- I read the synopsis like 8 times to make sure I really really REALLY want the book.
- I see if any of my friends have read it already.
- I deeply consider whether I'm ready to read the book NOW (I don't like accepting ARCs to read later).

But when I get those "read now for first 500" emails, I panic. I'm afraid they're going to go so quickly that I need to decide RIGHT THIS SECOND. So all logic and planning goes out the window and I just have a split second to decide.

I guess because of that, I went into Defy the Stars with two things on my mind:

1) I was wary because I rushed into it.
2) I had already forgotten much of the synopsis since I blazed through it so quickly.

Then, in the first few pages, religion kept popping up unexpectedly (a lot of "the word of God" and stuff like that). I'm not a religious person and don't particularly enjoy reading about it, so this worried me. I was wondering if I unknowingly stumbled onto a religious book.

But I decided to keep going and see what the book had to offer... and it blew me away! It soared passed any of my expectations. And honestly, it ended up being EXACTLY what I wanted to read in that moment.

I had just finished Illuminae (LOVE LOVE LOVE) and was desperately waiting for my order of Gemina to arrive. I was hungry for more sci-fi. Not only was Defy the Stars great sci-fi, but it was also surprisingly similar to Illuminae. Not in a copy cat way, but in an, "If you liked Illuminae you'll really love this next" kind of way. The presentation is TOTALLY different (if you've read Illuminae you know how crazy unique it is), but the premise is similar: space travel, space warfare, artificial intelligence, robots, virus, other planets. Very, very cool.

I loved the technology, the space travel, the main character, the adventure, the conflict.. It was all SO GOOD and SO INTERESTING! I adored it! I can't wait to read more. ♥

Definitely recommend a thousand times over if you're into sci-fi and/or loved Illuminae!

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Reading updates

  • 8 February, 2017: Started reading
  • 10 February, 2017: Finished reading
  • 29 February, 2020: Reviewed
  • 28 February, 2020: Started reading
  • 29 February, 2020: Finished reading
  • 29 February, 2020: Reviewed