This Shattered World (Starbound, #2)

by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Titanic in space is a hard act to follow, and sadly This Shattered World did not measure up. This time we're following Jubilee, who is a captain stationed on Avon, a relatively young planet in the middle of conflict. And our hero is Flynn, a rebel who calls Avon home, but just wants peace and for his planet to develop, since apparently something is stunting the terraforming process. Of course, the two are on opposite sides of the war, but both want the fighting to end, which is essentially what brings them together. They both also want to solve the mystery of why Avon isn't progressing, and what is causing soldiers to just snap, or wander into the swamps. All of this sounds great, but I was bored most of the time.

This Shattered World took forever to grab my interest! I found myself perking up whenever The Fury was mentioned, since I really wanted to know what that was. But I really didn't invest in the story until about halfway in, and even then I felt like it was only just getting started. A lot is happening through out, but it was all dragged out. Instead of having lots of weird things happening to be investigated, it's just Jubilee and Flynn trying to figure out where to meet, how to escape, where hide, or sending messages. It was boring! I wanted to learn more about the oddities of the planet, since that's what the plot is ultimately about! It could have been a heck of a lot shorter if it had just gotten to the point.

I also didn't buy the romance. This Shattered World didn't focus much on the romance, which in a way is good, since I didn't like it for the most part. But I do think some more romantic development would have helped a lot. It's clear from the beginning that Jubilee is standoffish and cold. She's not looking for love, and in fact, I didn't sense any feelings from her toward Flynn at all. On the other hand, Flynn seemed like a lost puppy at times, and not in a cute way. In an annoying, kind of pathetic way. I did like that Jubilee doesn't say she loves him, but that she would like the chance to.

This Shattered World disappointed me a lot. I couldn't get into it, the romance was lacking, and the ending was basically These Broken Stars with different details, which made me roll my eyes. For real. I get that the series is following the misdeeds of LaRoux's various businesses, but couldn't there have been some variation in the reveals and outcomes? I didn't care for it in the first book, but at least I had loved everything else. I'm still interested in the final book though.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.