These Broken Stars (Starbound #1)

I’ll admit I was a bit hesitant to pick this one up. First of all, it sounded a bit like Titanic: In Space!, (and to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t a fan of how the movie ended. *sniffle*) Secondly, Illuminae was my first exposure to Amie Kaufman’s work (albeit in a different co-author form), and its recycled mishmash of sci-fi tropes sadly didn’t do anything for me. But several friends have spoken well of These Broken Stars, so I finally gave it a go.
I’m glad I did.

Told in alternating first-person from the POVs of Tarver and Lilac, the story gives the account of an unlikely pair of starship crash survivors. Lilac’s version is straightforward recall, while Tarver proves more of an unreliable narrator—as he is evidently in the midst of a debriefing, which gradually begins to sound more and more like an interrogation. The style of retelling is particularly effective in that we can be assured of Tarver’s survival and eventual rescue from the get-go… but not of Lilac’s. And there is the increasingly ominous sense that “rescue” is a loose term.

While this book does belong in the sci-fi genre, readers should go into it expecting more of a survival story with heavy romantic elements and a dose of mystery. What we do get of the worldbuilding is sensible and well-structured, but the emphasis is on the relational and personal growth obtained over the course of the hero and heroine’s trek across an enigmatic and seemingly uninhabited planet. Disgruntled far-flung colonies, greedy/unethical corporations, recycled Victorian fashion sense, starships named from ironic Greek mythology… Nothing particularly original going on, but for what it is, it's well executed.

I loved Tarver like I rarely love a protagonist male. He was believable from the start—believably masculine in thought and action, and believably a soldier in discipline and mindset. We’re given enough background not only to buy his exceptionally young “war hero” status (a fluke of mere survival, by his account), but to also accept why he entered military service in the first place (in misguided honor of his older brother.) He’s exceedingly mature, competent, sarcastic, and unassumingly noble. While I wish readers were privileged to more of the poet side of this warrior, he still came across as satisfyingly complex.

Lilac, on the other hand, was a harder sell. You get in the beginning that she’s more than just a pampered rich girl, living under the oppressive shadow of her nearly all-powerful father. But once the story shifts to the crash-landing and the survival/journey theme that makes up the vast majority of the plot, she persists in her wildly impractical ways. (i.e. she stubbornly continues wearing her high-heeled shoes on their day-long hikes through rough terrain until foot injury and infection risk set in, while also insisting on wearing a BALL GOWN even after a suitable jumpsuit alternative is found.) I was patient with her up until this point, where her pride overruled the basics of common sense and pragmatism.

Lilac does eventually wise up. But this reader had largely given up on liking her by that point, and so the romance was more of a biological inevitability than something I could staunchly root for. (Although I very much appreciated the slow-burn progression. Always nice to see a YA where insta-attraction does not even remotely equate to insta-“love.”)

I did get pulled out of the story a bit toward the end—which may be the result of an editing oversight. As it’s something of a spoiler, I’m designating it clearly. (view spoiler on Goodreads) Granted, I haven’t seen this bother any other reviewers as of yet. So perhaps it is not as glaring an oversight as my mind registered it.

Content Note: Minimal harsh language, within a reasonable context. There is sex, though not graphically described. (But despite the direness of the circumstances, there’s no mention or concern for contraceptive use.)

A few qualms aside, I enjoyed the experience. Looking forward to picking up the next book in the series. If sci-fi tends to intimidate you, I’d encourage giving this one a try.

Romeo and Juliet take a ride on the Titanic through an episode of Lost in fancy clothes.

What I Liked: I'll be the first to admit that I am not a huge fan of space stories, mainly because they make me feel dumb. You start throwing terms like hyperspace and rifts at me, and my brain shuts down. However, there are a few books that have managed to capture my attention and this was one of them. THESE BROKEN STARS is beautifully written story, told from alternating POVs that are woven together seamlessly.

Society dictates that Lilac and Tarver can never be together but try as they might, it's obvious that they're attracted to each other. When disaster strikes and they find themselves stranded on a seemingly deserted planet with no real hope of rescue, Lilac and Tarver have to learn to put aside their feelings (sort of) and work together in order to survive.

The romance between Lilac and Tarver is the slow burn kind, and even though I thought they should have set aside their differences and gotten to the kissing early, the fact they took their time made it more believable. There are quite a few plot twists and turns and one in particular that almost made me put the book down. And then shortly after left me scratching my head.

What Left Me Wanting More: While I was happy with how this ended, I did have a few misgivings. I'm all for stories of great sacrifice but I had a difficult time trying to wrap my brain around that "one" twist. The ending also felt abrupt and I wanted more. And by more, I mean, Tarver. I'm hoping we'll get a glimpse of these characters in the companion books.

Final Verdict: Entertaining start to a new space odyssey.

Let me start off by saying that These Broken Stars has one of the prettiest covers I’ve ever seen. That alone attracted me to this book at first. Then I read the synopsis and was intrigued even more. After reading it, I have to say I’m very pleased with this book as a whole. I really liked it. Sure, the pacing was a bit slow, but not in a boring way. I’d describe it as more of a steady read in fact. Kaufman and Spooner wrote a truly captivating and brilliant story with wonderful characters. I think they had just enough detail about this world without it being overkill, although it was a bit touch-and-go for a minute there in the beginning. Once you get through the first third or so of the book, and the characters make the way across this desolate planet, things get really interesting. Even though nothing much happens in the first part, the characters were enough to keep me going, and I’m glad I did.
I really loved Tarver. He’s such a good guy and I loved being in his head. I really liked the Lilac and Tarver dynamic, they had some pretty funny scenes. Some trying scenes, that’s for sure, but also some good ones. Lilac is definitely a hard character to like. She’s a rich girl who lives under her father’s rule, and it takes quite awhile before we get true glimpses of her character, in the end, I like where the authors went with her. I liked the build up to their romance, the steady attraction, turned dislike/hate, turned appreciation, turned love thing isn’t something I see often, done well at least, and I think they did a great job with it. One scene in particular gutted me a little bit, I can’t say anything more!
The world itself was pretty cool. It did, yet again, take quite awhile for things to unfold and I didn’t get all of the scifi stuff that the authors were trying to convey, but I think it was a great start to an interesting series. I’d say this kind of book would appeal to readers of all types. Yes, it’s more of a scifi read, but it’s got a bit of the paranormal fantasy, a bit of dystopian and action, and a good chunk of romance. At times while reading this I didn’t know what genre it fit into and I think that was part of its charm. I loved that about it.