These Broken Stars (Starbound, #1)

by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

[jnikkir]

This review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

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These Broken Stars is one of the most talked-about new releases of 2013, and for darn good reason. It's been described a lot as "Titanic in space", which is true to a point - except the crash happens very early in the book, and Rose and Jack--I mean, Lilac and Tarver--aren't separated by the crash, but rather, they're brought together by it.

In These Broken Stars, Lilac and Tarver -- a war hero with a humble background, and the only daughter of the richest man in the known universe -- meet on the voyage, and there is definitely a draw between them when they first meet on the ship. The two recognize in each other a sort of kindred spirit, despite their vastly different upbringings. However, Lilac is forced to brush Tarver off in a very unfortunate way, and the two are forced to part ways.

But it's the Icarus's crash that ends up stranding them together and bringing them closer.

Right from the beginning, Tarver completely had my heart. His narrative voice is fantastic. He's stoic, subtly snarky, and though he might have a tough exterior, above all you can tell that he is a good person. Since this is sort of a stranded-on-a-desert-island, fight-for-survival kind of story, I was halfway expecting Tarver to be more disparaging toward Lilac once they crashed. Thankfully, this wasn't the case. Tarver's realization of Lilac's strengths (despite his doubts about her character, thanks to her professed reasons for brushing off his advances on the ship) came way earlier than expected, almost from the very beginning when he notices how she's smarter than he assumed she would be, and that she's tough in her own way. It's not Lilac's "helplessness" that causes much conflict, but rather their clashing personalities as they both struggle to survive on this unfamiliar planet.

Lilac is a character that I wasn't really expecting to like, based just on the blurb. But from the very beginning, I recognized something in her that I really liked. She immediately proved that she's more than one would expect from her privileged upbringing, even while on the ship. And when they're finally stranded, she doesn't complain, and doesn't expect Tarver to do absolutely everything for her. She's tough and resilient. She's not unexpectedly awesome at surviving in the wilderness (in fact she kind of sucks at it), but she shows strength and stubbornness and a ferocity that I really really liked.

And Lilac and Tarver together... Okay, yeah, I guess technically it's insta-love, if you're judging by the timeline of events. But it never once felt forced or too fast. The sheer amount of things that they go through, and the amount that they learn about one another in that time, is miles beyond the norm, and their relationship moves from partnership, to friendship, before it becomes more. Their fight to stay alive is the most important thing, and their personalities clash often. The two of them are both incredibly stubborn, and that just made their eventual acceptance of their fate, and realization of their feelings, all the sweeter.

Another really great thing about These Broken Stars is the mystery, and the chills. This being a sci-fi book, I wasn't expecting to be genuinely scared by anything in it. I get scared when I'm reading horror or paranormal ghost stories, but sci-fi? I adore it, but it rarely genuinely scares me. That being said, the things that Lilac and Tarver experience when they're on the "deserted" planet freaked me the heck out. No, really -- at once point I was reading in my living room with only one reading light on, and the rest of the lights were off, and I had to get up and turn more lights on. Maybe I'm just a sissy, but there you go.

Not only does These Broken Stars bring the chill-factor, it also brings the FEELS. Lilac and Tarver are just... ugh. (You know it's serious when I can't even properly express my feelings, guys.) These two have such awesome chemistry, and their relationship grows so perfectly, and then BAM. When you're least expecting it, you will be punched in the gut and you won't know what the heck is going on anymore. My face went ♥_♥ → :D → :O → ;_; → D': in about 2.3 seconds flat. And that was... what, only about 2/3rds of the way through? It was intense.

And then the real crazy stuff started happening, and I just fell more and more in love with the book because my feels were EVERYWHERE and I didn't know what the heck was going on but the pages basically just turned themselves until it was all over.

 

In conclusion...

I am so thankful that this book lived up to the immense hype surrounding its release! If you're a fan of YA sci-fi and romance in equal measure, you are bound to love this book. I feel like it's the perfect balance of the two - maybe leaning a little more toward the romance, until the end, but the story just felt so complete, was written so succinctly, and not one element felt out of place. It all just fit together like... well, the first third of a really satisfying puzzle.

I say "the first third" because These Broken Stars is the first in a series of companion novels featuring three different sets of characters, but the same "baddie" -- which is just a freaking awesome idea, especially since this first book is such a success. This is an excellent start to the Starbound trilogy, and I can't wait to see what Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner have in store for the next two books!!

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There were books involved...