Review: These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

These Broken Stars

(Starbound #1)

by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

December 10, 2013

374 pages

 

Goodreads  Indigo

Goodreads Summary:

Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive -- alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth.

The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

Review

I finally grabbed this book off my shelf to read and I'm very happy to say that I loved it! I can see why it's so well-loved. The cover is seriously stunning. Every time Lilac's dress is mentioned, it pops into my head. Such a pretty visual aid ;) The setting was unique and I especially love how the characters developed.

This was a survival story. Lilac and Tarver are two people who basically come from opposite sides of society. When the spaceship they were on unexpectedly gets pulled out of hyperdrive (think Stat Wars), they find themselves in the same escape pod. The two crash land on a totally foreign planet shaken but otherwise unharmed. When they realize no rescue of any kind was coming, they embark on a journey to look for help. Along the way, they bond and realize there's so much more to each other than meets the eye. 

At first, Lilac, who has an all-powerful father, believed she would be rescued in no time. She kept comforting herself by saying he will come for her but no such thing happened. When it finally dawned on her that no one was coming, I was happy to see her learn to adapt. She adjusted herself to her new world physically, mentally and emotionally. With everything she had to deal with, a part of me really thought she was going insane hearing whispers but thankfully that wasn't the case. We see Lilac start off the book as an intentionally cold and snobby girl but with the passage of time and familiarity with Tarver, she began to open up and show her true side. I admire her strength and resilience because the horrific things she went through to help Tarver, I'm not sure many can endure it. I love that by the end, she was confident enough to stand up to her father and protect her heart.

Since Tarver was a soldier, he was in his element. He took matters into his own hands to equip Lilac with survival skills and to keep her safe while searching for help. Even in his weak moments, he looked out for her. Though I'm happy he was too proud to be nice because it was so fun to hear his inner snarky thoughts about her. He also directly addressed Lilac with terms like My Lady and Your Highness just to irritate her. Those times cracked me up. The interviews with him at the beginning of each chapter created suspense and I was very intrigued to see where it all led. Most importantly, I'm thrilled it showed Tarver retained his verbal sarcasm even after going through so much. He definitely made the best out of his situation. 

I was completely unprepared for the big thing that happened. Lilac died. It happened super fast but I just kept telling myself it wasn't possible. I was in shock. It just couldn't be. I knew there had to be a way for her to come back so I wasn't surprised when she reappeared. Clever trick ;) I can't say too much without spoiling the story but just know that the truth about the planet helped. Lilac and Tarver's questions about the deserted planet were answered. Although I found the synopsis to be a little misleading since they only find out part of the truth, not the whole truth.  Needless to say, I want to know!

While I wasn't thrilled with where the book ended, the story was engaging and the characters were simply fantastic. I just need to know more about the conspiracy! What are we dealing with here?! Hopefully we'll get to know more in the sequel~