Review: This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: This Shattered World
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication date: December 23, 2014
Rating: ★★★

Summary (via Goodreads):

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

Straight up, I expected This Shattered World to be better than it actually was. I loved the first book in the series, These Broken Stars – loved the slow build of Lilac and Tarver's relationship and how there was more than meets the eye to them both. And there's definitely a lot of that in TSW. But for some reason, it didn't resonate quite as strongly with me this time around.

At first, I was so excited to meet Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac, not just because Jubilee is a non-white protagonist(!) but also because, like Lilac and Tarver, they both had very strong personalities and interesting pasts which usually makes for good tension. However, just halfway through the book, I found myself completely tired of them both.

Jubilee turned into a highly emotional human being – not a bad thing in and of itself, but still such a departure from the stoic, "stone-faced Chase" we met at the beginning of the story. Flynn lost his clever wit and sarcasm, becoming depressed and despondent and a little bit melodramatic for a good chunk of the book. I understand that people help us change and spark different reactions and emotions and behaviors in us – but here, it felt forced. They both lost the things that made them strong and compelling. I just wish the transition had been slower and more subtle because their character changes did seem out of the blue and made their interactions feel staged.

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of great things to say about the plot in This Shattered World either. The science fiction "logic" went straight over my head, just as it did in These Broken Stars. I know that as a reader I'm supposed to give the benefit of the doubt and suspend my disbelief but even so, some of the events that occurred felt random and disconnected and didn't make sense with other established information. The plot itself was just not all that compelling to me – but that could also be because I'm generally just much more interested in relationships, and I wasn't getting a great deal of satisfaction from reading about Jubilee and Flynn. (I did, however, like seeing Tarver and Lilac together again – even if it was just for a minute and through a webcam and completely awkward and maybe just a little unnecessary. Oh well. At least we got something, right?)

That being said, I do LOVE that there was some cultural diversity in this book without ever feeling like a college diversity pamphlet. (A lot to ask, I know.) There were definitely a lot of characters to keep track of in This Shattered World, especially compared to These Broken Stars, where it was really just Tarver and Lilac. All of the "minor" characters in This Shattered World still felt significant, like their stories would matter more than they actually did in this book, so my guess is that Book Three will be written from a new character's perspective, and I have a theory as to who that new character will be...

In summary: I didn't love This Shattered World, didn't think it was as compelling as These Broken Stars, didn't think the characters were as cohesive or well-developed, but loved that there were diverse characters, and still love Amie and Meagan because they are awesome. And if my theory about Book Three is right, I'll probably read it anyway.

Mini Review: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: These Broken Stars (Starbound #1)
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication date: December 10, 2013
Rating: ★★★★½

Summary (via 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.

Two words. Character. Development. These Broken Stars is chock full of it. It's glorious and magnificent, watching Lilac and Tarver slowly change their minds about each other. Their relationship is the most compelling part of the story, and its development is so well-paced that when you reach the end of the book you just want it to continue on for another 50 pages because their time together feels so hard-earned.

The story is written from two perspectives, but it feels cohesive – kudos to Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. I didn't realize the book was co-authored until maybe halfway through; it was written that seamlessly. It must be the magic of Aussie lit – delicious, intense prose that makes your heart beat a little bit faster.

I'm somewhat disappointed that the next book in the Starbound series is about a different set of characters, because I don't feel that Lilac and Tarver's story is complete, and I don't know how much it can develop if it's told through someone else's point of view. At the same time, I'm glad that Amie and Meagan (yes, we're on a first name basis now, I've just decided) don't seem to be forcing them into a tired, played out, dystopian novel cliche. I'm happy to let them rest, so to speak. To me, Lilac and Tarver's relationship and personal growth are really the core of the story; everything else falls by the wayside.

A Brief Intermission: These Broken Stars

Over the past week or so, I've been slowly reading this monstrosity of a book. I call it a monstrosity because it's a freaking heavy 6x10 hardcover novel that barely fits in my bag and makes my fingers cramp up when I carry it in hand. Ha. Ha. Haaaa. The struggles of a walking life.

Anyway. Should we talk about books, and not the problems I invent for myself?

I'm really liking the slow burn of These Broken Stars so far. It's unexpectedly compelling, which is saying a lot, since I've been reading this on my subway commute to work and at various parks in the city – none of which are particularly great places to read somewhat dark, dystopian novels. Especially when you're easily distracted, like me. On the upside, I'm less likely to cry over characters when I'm in public spaces surrounded by tourists and dogs. So there's that.

I highlighted this quote over the weekend:

There are moments like this when I can actually imagine her at my parents' cottage. I can see her hauling wood with the rest of us, chopping vegetables, going for long walks and calling it entertainment. I think my parents would like her.

It's kind of an odd pick, and maybe doesn't mean much out of context, but still I keep rolling these words around in my head. Lately I've been having conversations with people about the dating scene in New York. I always bring up this Refinery 29 article, how dating is easy because there are so many people around you and so many things you could do, and how it's hard because there are so many people and you're not always willing to commit. And what Tarver says here is so different from all of that... It's about a simpler life, away from everything, from all the distractions and activities that preoccupy us... and it sounds nice, doesn't it? The idea of longs walks, nature, family, someone you love – all of that being enough to make you happy.