Book Review | These Broken Stars | Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Title: These Broken Stars
Authors: Amie Kaufman (web | twitter) & Megan Spooner (web | twitter)
Series: Starbound #1
Genre: Science Fiction YA
Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release date: December 10, 2013
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (Thanks, Disney Hyperion!)

Summary: 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.

I didn’t intend to wait to review THESE BROKEN STARS this long, friends, but I’m glad it’s my first review of the year all the same. It sets things off on the right foot, I think. Because Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner’s science fiction/space opera series opener was LEGIT. Fast-paced, twisty, unpredictable, romantic, and dramatic. This series has started with a very awesome bang.

THESE BROKEN STARS is being billed as “Titanic in space,” and it’s this setting that creates the backdrop for our young couple, Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendesen. Like Jack and Rose from the movie, these two are in completely different social strata in this future world. They meet on board the Icarus, the biggest, most impressive space ship of its time. Tarver is a war hero returned from the front and Lilac is the daughter of the most influential, rich, and important man in many galaxies. When the Icarus suddenly and surprisingly crashes on a random planet, Tarver and Lilac are thrown together and must overcome their differences in order to survive. Especially when strange things start happening on the planet they’ve landed on, and their feelings for each other grow with each passing day. The twists! The feelings! The heart-stopping WTFery! *golf claps for Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner*

I know I’ve mentioned before that dual authored books make me nervous. I haven’t encountered many that were very good, in my opinion. So I was surprised by my eagerness to read THESE BROKEN STARS, and even more surprised by how seamless it was. I never once got the feeling that I could tell which author wrote which chapters or sections. The writing, the pace, the plot, it was all so smooth and well done.

Which helps because THESE BROKEN STARS is amazing. Lilac and Tarver are really great characters individually and together. Lilac lives under the dangerously protective glare of her father and must deal with the guilt she feels over the death of someone who once got too close for her father’s liking. She’s got pluck and nerve, and I liked her a lot. And Tarver…listen, I have HUGE soft spots for military ANYTHING, and Tarver Merendsen is the best of all my favorite things about soldiers. He’s missing his parents and wanting to return to them and he’s just so damn sweet, I can’t even.

The longer the two spend on this planet, though, the more things begin to take a turn for the ODD. If the beginning of THESE BROKEN STARS reminded me of Titanic, the bulk of Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner’s book reminded me of Lost. Lilac begins hearing mysterious whispers, Tarver and Lilac discover an abandoned building that they can’t get into at first (like the hatch), and one of the twists reminded me SO MUCH of one of the BIG REVEALS from Lost that my jaw kind of dropped. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. The twists were crazy and captivating, the relationship between Tarver and Lilac was swoony and very nice, and the ending was the perfect mix of tied up and left open. (The next books in this series are companions, not necessarily sequels.)

I was a big fan of THESE BROKEN STARS, friends. Perhaps the ending was a bit quick and perfect, but I’m just going to overlook it because the rest of the book was so engaging and fun and left my heart in my throat. Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner’s story is a page-turner in the very realest sense of the word; I was up more than half the night finishing it. Tarver and Lilac’s relationship and their fight for survival set this series off on the best foot possible, friends, and I can’t wait for whatever these two ladies have up their sleeves next.

Check out some other reviews of These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner!

April @ Good Books and Good Wine: “This is a story that will have you swooning, have you yelling, and ultimately have you fired up.”

Nikki @ There Were Books Involved…: “When you’re least expecting it, you will be punched in the gut and you won’t know what the heck is going on anymore. My face went ♥_♥ → 😀 → :O → ;_; → D’: in about 2.3 seconds flat.”

Gaby @ Queen Ella Bee Reads: “Love Sci-Fi, survival stories and swoony romances? Stop what you’re doing and read this book.”