Review: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Book: These Broken Stars 

by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Series: Starbound #1

Released: December 10, 2013

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 374 pages (Hardcover)

Rating: 5 of 5

Goodreads

From Goodreads: 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.

So. THIS BOOK you guys. It's so wonderful. I love it. I had so many emotions throughout this book. If you follow me on Goodreads you would've seen my posts while I was reading it. They were all over the places. Lots of "this is so great!" with some "I'm enthralled and fascinated!" and then a "No. no no no no no. NOOOOOO" mixed in. So yeah. I should probably start from the beginning though.

I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this book, ever since Gillian over at Writer of Wrongs was live tweeting her reading of it a few weeks. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it when it was released on Tuesday. Plus, did you SEE that cover? Swoon. I love that dress. (It actually went on tour with a few writers which you can see here).

So basically this book is Titanic in space. And then kinda like Lost once they crash land (I'll get to that in a minute). 

It starts off on board the Icarus, the most wonderful ship in the whole world (sound familiar?). We meet Tarver Merendsen, who is a war hero from a poor background, and Lilac LaRoux (I adore this name. So great), who is the richest girl in the world-plus the daughter of the man whose company built the Icarus. They meet, he has some insta-love going on (which, blah, so not realistic), but then he finds out who she is and immediately changes his mind. The first couple of chapters are good, not great. The story really picked up for me once the Icarus starts to crash. 

The book alternates between Tarver and Lilac's points of view. And it totally works. What else works? The mysterious interrogation of Tarver between the chapters. It's leading you somewhere, and you can't wait to find out where.

Tarver & Lilac end up in an escape pod together, which crash-lands on a nearby planet. This is when I really, really started loving this story. There's lots of tension, arguing, and all around discord. Tarver has the survival instincts of a soldier who has been placed in dangerous situations, and Lilac? Well, she just appears to be a spoiled rich girl. (Like Jack & Rose from Titanic. Ha.) But you guys, there is so much more to these characters that gets unraveled as the story goes on. They each have lots of layers. Like onions. Or parfaits. 

Or ogres.

So as they traipse around the island planet, they start to notice lots of mysterious things. Like whispers. And this is where I started to think of Lost. In which case Tarver = Sayid and Lilac = Shannon. Add in an odd smoke monster, and I would've been in heaven.

Seriously. He's even a soldier. And she's rich. SAME!

I'm really invested in this story and the characters by this point. And then. AND THEN.. 

AMIE KAUFMAN AND MEAGAN SPOONER RIPPED MY HEART OUT. AND HAPPILY TRAMPLED IT INTO THE GROUND.

Me: Why? WHY? WHYYYYYYYY????

But. BUT. The book doesn't end there. There's more. Lots more. So don't let the massive depression that will inevitably take hold of you stop you from finishing this book. It's worth it. And I LOVE the ending. So there's that to keep you going.

This is most definitely one of the best books of the year. And it would be a great book to convert friends over to the Sci-Fi genre if they're not already fans.