These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Series: Starbound (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Space Opera/Romance

Subjects: survival, planets, outer space, love

Setting: In space and on a terraformed planet, in the future

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense. Rotating between Tarver and Lilac.

Age/Grade Level: Teens +

Length: 374 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Hyperion

Summary/ product description: “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.

A timeless love story, THESE BROKEN STARS sets into motion a sweeping science fiction series of companion novels. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.”

My Review: This extra-planetary survival story was utterly romantic and entertaining. I love the two main characters and how their relationship develops. They start off as completely stranger to each other, though they both have their own name to fame. Tarver and Lilac are thrown into a dire situation and come out changed. They’re well developed and pretty much the only characters in the book, with the exception of the characters at the beginning and end of the book. They both are stranded on a mysteriously abandoned terraformed planet and are also the lone survivors of the Icarus crash.

Lilac is very stubborn and strong-willed. Her father is the richest man in the universe, and the owner of LaRoux Industries. Tarver is a solider and the son of a poet and history teacher. He processes thing internally, so he’s a bit introverted. He’s also chivalrous and ever humorous at times. At times their dialogue and narration seemed like they sounded Australian, like one of the authors, so I wasn’t sure if I should imagine them with what kind of accent. There’s a lot of slow, sweet romance. It’s not insta-love. It’s a realistic love created in their circumstances.

The book started out slow, and felt like it was dragging on the hiking part. But once things started happening, they kept me going. The problem was the type, not the story. I had a hard time reading thing book at a fast pace because the typography is set badly. There are too many words of the pages, which are big, and have small type. It kind of hurt my eyes. I did like how before each chapter there was a page with quotes from Tarver’s interrogation. The chapters weren’t long, but the pages were.

I really though the sci-fi stuff in this book was cool. We got to learn about Terraforming, which is when people intervene with a planet’s climate to make its conditions livable. Trees are planted, and animal brought to breed. It’s way faster than letting a planet evolve on it’s own. Also, there’s strange event occurring on this planet. Ghosts, hallucinations. Lilac keeps hearing whispers. She thinks she’s going crazy. When we find out what the heck is going on, it’s a surprising twist. There’s more to this planet than they thought. Lilac and Tarver must reach the wreckage and find a way to achieve rescue.

This book is being made into a TV show apparently. I don’t know if Syfy will pick it up or what, but I can definitely see it as a show. I recommend this book if you liked: Avalon by Mindee Arnett, Across the Universe by Beth Revis, The 100 by Kass Morgan. The TV shows: Firefly, Stargate, or any other TV shows or movies that take place on other planets.

Cover Art Review: Really beautiful. Love that dress and the text. The models look like the characters.