ARC Review: These Broken Stars - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: These Broken Stars
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Pub Date: December 10th, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Page Count: 384

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.

The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.

Survivor meets Titanic where you find two complete strangers contrasting in personality after a survived ship crash. Both characters will frustrate you to no end as you'll hope (and hope) for them to finally get together and admit their true feelings. - Musings of a Blogder

Whoa. This book. Just dang. 

I’m going to be honest. I was in a total reading slump when I started reading this. I didn’t care about the exceptionally beautiful cover as I was ready to tear apart every word I read. My initial plan failed, of course. I ended up loving the book to the point that I put my iPod down and went: I can’t write this review. And that’s why it’s taken me this long to write the review.

What can I say about this book that won’t give too much away? Well? I actually don’t like sci-fi that much, so loving this blew my mind. This book simply reminds me of some kind of futuristic castaway thing. When I was younger, I read those Survivor books for guided reading lessons. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I can tell you what you want to expect: awesomeness.

Main characters Lilac and Tarver are totally different. Lilac is what people think is the “dumb heiress” and Tarver’s the famous soldier that started with nothing. So they’ve both got their opinions on each other. When you pair these two together on an unknown planet trying to survive, it makes an amazing story. I actually loved both characters. Both authors created characters that I loved and actually grew quite attached to.

Next, the story. The story has to fit the characters, right? Yes. Because of Tarver and Lilac’s personalities, they had different ways of trying to survive. It was so interesting and captivating reading about how these two strangers became trustworthy friends. I found it really heartwarming but not really fluffy.

About halfway through the story it started getting more sci-fi ish. Lilac started hearing and seeing voices, kind of ghost-like. I, myself, don’t even know what was going on and even now, am not 100% sure. If there’s anything about this story that needs work it’s going to be the “world”. I read this, knowing it was going to be futuristic, but at the same time, I didn’t know what was going on exactly. If a reader is introduced to a new world, they aren’t going to know the same things as an author who actually creates the world. I’ve seen this before and I just don’t get it.          

    

The world was so strange and so unexplained that it took away from the actually story and understanding. The ending was about them getting back to civilization, but I didn’t understand what was going on at that point. I felt like the book would’ve had a better impact if I actually could understand how the “future tech” worked. 

About 75% of the way, the book lost me. I was so confused but at the same time, I was able to understand MOST of it. (And about that time, you may get angry and throw your eReader across the room. Or was that just me??)

And then the ending... GOSH. I’m not supposed to talk about ending of books because I’m a spoilery spoilered person.

I’m still giving this book 4 stars because I really enjoyed it and it really overall surprised me. I didn’t want to put it down at all! Only thing is that I wish it would’ve been a little easier to understand as well as conclusive.

Amie's Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website |

I'm a young adult author from Melbourne, Australia, represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary. I write fantasy, science fiction and all things speculative.

My favourite procrastination techniques involve chocolate, baking, sailing, my dog Jack, gardening, plotting and executing overseas travel, napping, my music collection and reading. Also my husband.

Author's Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website |

Meagan Spooner grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a degree in playwriting, and has spent several years since then living in Australia. She's traveled with her family all over the world to places like Egypt, South Africa, the Arctic, Greece, Antarctica, and the Galapagos, and there's a bit of every trip in every story she writes.

She currently lives and writes in Northern Virginia, but the siren call of travel is hard to resist, and there's no telling how long she'll stay there.

In her spare time she plays guitar, plays video games, plays with her cat, and reads.