These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner Series: Starbound #1
Published by Disney-Hyperion
Published: November 11th 2014
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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.
Everyone I know has seemed to love this book. Like insanely love it. I had thought about it once or twice as the cover is GORGEOUS, but I always held back as I had read space books before and they aren’t my thing. But once again it was suggested to me right around the time I was looking for a new audio. I decided to take a chance and see what the fuss was about. Sadly, I was right in my initial reaction. Space books just aren’t my thing, or I have yet to find the right one.
These Broken Stars is a very Titanic like story. It is about Tarver, a lower class war hero, and Lilac, the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver and Lilac are traveling on board the Icarus together when there is an accident and the ship is taken out of hyperspace and falls to the nearest planet. Now alone together they must rely on each other not only to survive but to live. But nothing is as they thought and when they start to uncover some truths nothing will even be the same for them again.
This was a strange reading experience for several reasons. I LOVED the narrators. Their voices were really great at telling the story of survival and love and uncovering truths. I felt like they did a good job of engaging the reader and telling the story of what was happening. I also really loved Tarver and Lilac (plus Lilac LaRoux just sounds AWESOME when you say it out loud). They had that wrong side of the tracks things going on and I loved the push and pull between then. I mean Lilac was so spoiled but she was tougher than anyone gave her credit for. You would think that would make me love the book. That is where the strangeness comes in. As much as I loved the narrators and the characters, I couldn’t stand the setting and the plot.
It was going along okay for a while. I mean I thought it was silly, as I find space books silly, but it was still going okay. And then it took a turn and I was left trying to figure out what the what was happening and why I was still reading. I just didn’t get the need for things to turn the way they did. To me it didn’t fit and from that point on the reading was downhill. I couldn’t come back from that feeling unfortunately and the book suffered because of it.
I guess what I am trying to say is that although I liked the narration and the characters, it just all didn’t work. It wasn’t my kind of book which is okay. I tried it and I finished it. No one says I have to love it. I will say that I would love to listen to another book with these narrators. That is definitely on my list of things to look for.
It has been a few years since I listened to this one. I loved the narrators. Seriously loved them. I don’t remember a lot of specifics about the story itself anymore, but I do know I never went on to read the rest of the series. I don’t even remember disliking the story. I should go back and see if my review jogs my memory.
This reminds me that I need to read on in the series. I actually like this novel. I thought the characters were excellent, and the concept of the plot was intriguing. I did think it was a little slow though– it seemed like a lot of just…making it through the night.
Lilac though…she was kind of a powerhouse. I really liked Lilac.
I liked the second book in this series MUCH more than the first which, like you, I had a hard time buying into. Unfortunately the third book ultimately ruined all of that because I wound up intensely disliking the main characters. Alas.
I never continued on with this series, despite thinking I might would one day. This book was just OK for me too, and the space stuff was actually my favorite part. I couldn’t connect with the characters and especially not their romance. The end is definitely interesting… I can see why it would turn you off. I was sort of torn on my feelings for it.