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.
In starting to write this review, I just had one of those weird moments where I couldn't remember the protagonist's name. I guess that says a lot about my feelings for Defy the Stars. It was just fine, but it wasn't spectacular. It was forgettable. I think that the book makes a lot of promises it doesn't keep within its world-building. There are very few things that annoy me more than a totally awesome world, and a plot that ignores all that and goes for the budding relationship. Give me contemporaries for love stories - I don't want them breaking in and disrupting my sci-fi action scenes. They can be there, but they shouldn't be intrusive.
Noemi and Abel are both pretty forgettable characters on their own. Noemi is your typical hard-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside sci-fi heroine, and Abel is your standard AI-who-discovers-he-has-feelings. Nothing about either of these characters makes them overly interesting or special. If you like the characters tropes here, fabulous! But don't expect any exciting breakthroughs.
Listen, Defy the Stars gets fabulous reviews on Goodreads, maintaining an over four-star average two years post-publication. If you think this is a book you may enjoy and you've been waffling about adding it to your TBR, just do it. It's a great mix of new elements and tired tropes, but I can see people absolutely falling in love with this one. I'm just not one of those people.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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12 February, 2019:
Finished reading
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12 February, 2019:
Reviewed