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.
A timeless love story, THESE BROKEN STARS sets into motion a sweeping science fiction series of companion novels. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy. - Goodreads
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If you're an avid book blog reader like I am, you've heard about this book. You've probably heard gushing and exclaiming and squeeeeeeing and all kinds of shipping (or, as Gillian Berry from Writer of Wrongs so cleverly put it, spaceshipping). So it's not like I went into this without expectations. I was prepared to be carried away on a river of stardust into an unknown universe full of magical storytelling, romance and FEELS.
This book... I'm just really confused. So I'm going to try out a new review style - I'm going to give you my impressions halfway through the book, then at the end of it, because I can't figure out how to reconcile them into one cohesive (and coherent) review.
Here were my impressions at the halfway point:
At about halfway through the book I began to feel a little discouraged. But I held on, because I trust my blogging mentors and they all loved it. Plus, I really didn't want to be the ONE blogger in all the world who did not croon on at length about the wonderfulness that is this book.Or, you know, finish it.
I'd heard this described as sorta, kinda like Titanic in space, but I wasn't prepared for it to literally be Titanic in space. I mean, the plot is different, but the characters and basic premise? Waaaaay too familiar. Which, for lots of swoony gals is probably a wonderful thing, but unfortunately I was never a really big fan of Titanic to begin with.
Then there's this mixed up time period thing. They act like they're from Victorian times (or some other very prim, proper, long-dressed, bygone era - I'm not hip to historical periods) but plunked down sometime way in the future. So they talk like they're in an Austen novel while discussing holograms, terraformed planets and using some sort of stun gun... in space. It's all very muddley.
But the biggest thing for me was that I didn't really connect to either of the characters from the get-go. Mainly Lilac. Oh man, is she ever annoying. I just can't with this girl.
My impressions by the end of the book:
I'm now officially pretty much the only book person on the whole of the internet who didn't go crazy for this book. I was relatively unaffected by it. I didn't once feel the need to use the hashtag #TheseBrokenFeels, for example. (At least, not in the same way as everyone else - though it did seem eerily appropriate for my conclusion that my feels actually were broken - because I didn't have any).
I've spent the past two weeks since finishing this book trying to figure out what on earth (or off it... get it?) is going on with me and this book. Because I need to give you guys more than just "I didn't dig it." I think the main thing that I reacted badly to was the way the characters are presented. I didn't like that Rose (sorry, Lilac) not only acted like a bitch, but that since we were in her head, we got to hear her manipulative game playing first-hand and unequivocally. This meant that when the authors tried to make her a more sympathetic and worthwhile character later in the book, it just fell flat for me. Maybe I just have very little patience with high maintenance chicks. But I kept thinking, it's only been two weeks on this planet, and I find it hard to believe that all of a sudden she's this wonderful, selfless, useful, self-reliant person.
Fine, but that doesn't make you Kaylee. Or a good person.And Tarver... well, I had no problem with him initially. He was one of those salt of the earth, hard-working, humble dudes who just wants people to stop staring at him and stop being fake and fancy. I get it; that's pretty much how I'd feel on that ship. But then he goes totally gaga when he sees a pretty girl even after she's a complete bitch to him. I have no respect for that. Just go into your corner of shallowness and be shallow and leave me out of it.
So both of these characters made their respective genders look bad, and I hated them for that.
Maybe it just wasn't my bag - neither was Titanic, if I'm being perfectly honest. Maybe it was just so hyped that I had astronomically high and unrealistic expectations for it that almost no book that wasn't written by Rainbow Rowell could live up to. Maybe my feels really are just on the fritz. But by the end of this book I hadn't changed my opinion much from when I started it. Which is to say I found it mildly entertaining, and I didn't entirely hate the characters. At least, not all the time.
I didn't hate this book, but I didn't go nuts over it. Which probably just mean there's something wrong with me. I'm sure you'll love it.
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Book Title: These Broken Stars
Author: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Series: Starbound #1
Edition: Hardcover
Published By: Disney Hyperion
Released: December 10, 2013
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Young Adult
Pages: 374Date Read: February 17-22, 2014
Rating: 5/10
