(Starbound #2)
Publication
Date: December 23, 2014
Hardcover, 394 pages, Disney-Hyperion
Genres:
YA, Sci-Fi
The second installment in the epic
Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of
a bloody war.
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.
My Review
Science fiction and romance are two genres I can definitely
get behind. It also doesn’t hurt that the covers for this trilogy are
absolutely gorgeous!
This Shattered World
has somewhat of a different tone from its predecessor, These Broken Stars.
Unlike Lilac and Tarver’s shipwrecked romance, this book takes place on a
war-torn planet. It’s supposedly a science fiction version of Romeo and
Juliet, which, after reading it, I can see the similarities. Flynn is the
rebel trying to free his people from a life of hardship, and Jubilee (nicknamed
Juliet), is a soldier in the forces sent to Flynn’s planet to squash the rebellion.
Now, while This Shattered World has a very
fascinating concept, I don’t think it quite lived up to its description. Romeo
and Juliet plus sci-fi romance should equal a riveting read. I just think
it never fully explored the hardships of rebellion or being a soldier. Since this
is a 2014 YA release, I can understand why it didn’t go into detail, but it was
disappointing all the same. Still, it had its fun moments with a nice mix of
action, adventure, and mystery.
I had the same feelings for Flynn’s character, in terms of
unmet potential. Flynn is a pacifist, something we really don’t see a lot of in
YA. It’s all about assassins and soldiers. However, his chapters were short.
Often way shorter than Jubilee’s. I wish we could have explored his character
more, since his perspective was supposed to be unique. I also thought Flynn was
the more interesting and realistic of the two characters. Jubilee’s just isn’t
realistic, as she’s the captain of her squad at the grand old age of 18. The fact
that the authors never really address why teenagers are used as soldiers in the
book is actually really annoying. (The same could be said about Tarver’s
character in the first book.)
In addition to the unmet potential, at times the storyline was
a tad confusing. Not because of the Flynn and Jubilee plot, but because of the
alien aspects that were added later. I remember the aliens that were included
in the first book, and I never understood them then, either. It’s just not
explained very well. Also, the ending was rushed, though it did make a strong
point about how easy it is to declare war versus having civilized discussions
with those you disagree with.
Oh, and I was excited to see characters from book one make
an appearance in this installment. And, originally, I was excited to have all
of them come together in book three. (I have since read book three, and now I
have some nitpicks about how all of that went down. I was excited when I first
finished This Shattered World, though.)
All in all, This Shattered World is a solid sci-fi teen
romance. It’s not fantastic, and it’s not bad. It’s just middle-of-the-road okay.
*Note: I purchased
a copy of this book myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.
I won the first book years ago and never had a chance to get around to it. Glad you enjoyed it. I figured it be middle of the road for me also.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it used to be such a hyped series, but I can definitely tell that it's dated now. It has that early 2010s YA vibe.
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