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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I read the Firebird series and I loved Claudia Gray’s world building and plot, so this book was actually at the top of my to-read list. Since I’ve been reading more and more sci-fi, that made me even more excited for this book! And it did not disappoint... for the most part.
While I usually try to stay away from spoilers in my review, I cannot talk about this book without a few spoilers, so just be aware of that from this point on...
The world that Gray has created in this book is just stunning. Four planets that sustain life and are all connected by these controlled black holes. Each planet has different characteristics and houses different types of people fleeing from a destroyed earth. The world building was my favorite part of the story and I really how each planet played into Abel and Noemi’s plan.
Noemi is a pleasant character. She’s tough, a solider who’s ready to sacrifice herself because she thinks herself less than everyone else, but I did like the small character development she had during the story, where she gained a little more self-worth. Definitely one of the least annoying female heroines in a YA book.
Abel is a great character by himself. Part machine and part human, I really enjoyed watching him struggle through his programming and human feelings. I enjoyed how awkward he was because he’s the brilliant machinery capable of understanding jokes and feelings and sarcasm.
I don’t like that he falls in love, and that’s where this story loses a star. You start the book and it’s in two different perspectives, Abel’s and Noemi’s and it’s a YA novel so you know how it’s going to happen. She falls in love with the robot and he discovers he can love. While you understand Abel is incredibly human, in the back of your head you remind yourself that’s he’s also a robot... Noemi of course struggles with that too, which makes it a very realistic transition, I still just have a hard time getting past the fact he’s a robot.
The relationship aside though, the plot was super fun and I was rooting for Abel and Noemi the whole time. I wish Victoria and some of the other secondary characters were in the story more, but I’m guessing they’ll play a bigger role in the next novel. I hope to also see more of Genesis in the next book as well, since that was the one world we didn’t get a good look at. I can’t wait to see how everything is wrapped ip in the final story of Abel and Noemi.
While I usually try to stay away from spoilers in my review, I cannot talk about this book without a few spoilers, so just be aware of that from this point on...
The world that Gray has created in this book is just stunning. Four planets that sustain life and are all connected by these controlled black holes. Each planet has different characteristics and houses different types of people fleeing from a destroyed earth. The world building was my favorite part of the story and I really how each planet played into Abel and Noemi’s plan.
Noemi is a pleasant character. She’s tough, a solider who’s ready to sacrifice herself because she thinks herself less than everyone else, but I did like the small character development she had during the story, where she gained a little more self-worth. Definitely one of the least annoying female heroines in a YA book.
Abel is a great character by himself. Part machine and part human, I really enjoyed watching him struggle through his programming and human feelings. I enjoyed how awkward he was because he’s the brilliant machinery capable of understanding jokes and feelings and sarcasm.
I don’t like that he falls in love, and that’s where this story loses a star. You start the book and it’s in two different perspectives, Abel’s and Noemi’s and it’s a YA novel so you know how it’s going to happen. She falls in love with the robot and he discovers he can love. While you understand Abel is incredibly human, in the back of your head you remind yourself that’s he’s also a robot... Noemi of course struggles with that too, which makes it a very realistic transition, I still just have a hard time getting past the fact he’s a robot.
The relationship aside though, the plot was super fun and I was rooting for Abel and Noemi the whole time. I wish Victoria and some of the other secondary characters were in the story more, but I’m guessing they’ll play a bigger role in the next novel. I hope to also see more of Genesis in the next book as well, since that was the one world we didn’t get a good look at. I can’t wait to see how everything is wrapped ip in the final story of Abel and Noemi.
This YA novel would also appeal to mature middle schoolers. I’m definitely going to recommend it to Audrey. It had moments of Star Wars, the Cinder series, and even Ready Player One.
This story is simply incredible - it's got amazing sci-fi technology, planet missions, global politics and a girl and a robot. I'm giving one of the highest compliments I can: this is one of the only books where a bittersweet ending worked in its favor. I need more!!
Absolutely fantastic! It's the best enemies-to-lovers romance I've ever seen because they are actually enemies and then they fall in love, and it's not even confirmed by the end of the book! Which is so refreshing! It is fantastic and Able is the best person I've ever had the pleasure to read about in a while, and he's not even a real human! Naomi is justified in her behavior as well as Able and Mansfield really shocked me when it was revealed about his plans for Able. He made me want to punch him in the face.
I thought it was really interesting and real that Earth was the bad guy. I've never read any books where they were set up that way. And the author did a great job with handling levels of guilt and judgment, in my opinion.
Plus, once Able acknowledges his feelings for Naomi, the book got 10x better. The way he thinks about her and how considerate he is to her is so cute and admirable. I loved listening to it and getting to react to the shock and embarrassment of what he said.
The author did a very good job at character development and I loved reading it. The writing was fantastic, everything about it was enjoyable to read, and the audiobook, which I listened to was amazing! Both voice actors did a great job narrating it. The voice actor who voiced Able made his voice sound mechanical, which I had not been expecting but was a really cool surprise. I loved everything about it, I have nothing bad to say about it. I'm excited to read the next book!
I thought it was really interesting and real that Earth was the bad guy. I've never read any books where they were set up that way. And the author did a great job with handling levels of guilt and judgment, in my opinion.
Plus, once Able acknowledges his feelings for Naomi, the book got 10x better. The way he thinks about her and how considerate he is to her is so cute and admirable. I loved listening to it and getting to react to the shock and embarrassment of what he said.
The author did a very good job at character development and I loved reading it. The writing was fantastic, everything about it was enjoyable to read, and the audiobook, which I listened to was amazing! Both voice actors did a great job narrating it. The voice actor who voiced Able made his voice sound mechanical, which I had not been expecting but was a really cool surprise. I loved everything about it, I have nothing bad to say about it. I'm excited to read the next book!
I loved this book so much.. Abel and Noemi's adventures in space, their relationship evolving from one point to the next, had me hooked.
Going from enemies to allies, friends to young love, I was rooting for them all throughout the story..
This book is definitely one of my favorites of the year..
Going from enemies to allies, friends to young love, I was rooting for them all throughout the story..
This book is definitely one of my favorites of the year..
This was so good, and such a fast read! I kept having to put it down, but every time I picked it up I was immediately engrossed in the story. Claudia Gray writes some of the most compelling scifi out there, and I'm super excited for the next installment.
This reminded me of Carve the Mark, and while overall I liked the storyline of Carve the Mark better, there were certain things that Defy the Stars did better. One of the things about Carve the Mark that bothered me was that it didn't take place on Earth, and the people weren't actually "people" but they kind of were people? They looked human, and their world for the most part contained things that we have on Earth. They lived in a group of planets that all somehow were able to support life, and the people on those planets weren't human either, but they kind of were?
Defy the Stars did a much better job with this, in my opinion. The people were actually people, because they were descended from humans who had actually lived on Earth at one point. I had an easier time believing that 200 years in the future, we were able to perfect the science of space travel enough to where we were able to travel through wormholes and colonize other planets in the galaxy.
The whole romance aspect of this book was weird to me, but I found myself rooting for Abel and Noemi to end up together.
Defy the Stars did a much better job with this, in my opinion. The people were actually people, because they were descended from humans who had actually lived on Earth at one point. I had an easier time believing that 200 years in the future, we were able to perfect the science of space travel enough to where we were able to travel through wormholes and colonize other planets in the galaxy.
The whole romance aspect of this book was weird to me, but I found myself rooting for Abel and Noemi to end up together.
I was able to acquire this e-ARC through Netgalley’s first 500 people to hit “read now.” I am SO glad Netgalley did this for Defy the Stars, because this novel was one of my highly anticipated for this year. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. This novel was fantastic. Do read the synopsis above just so you may be able to understand my review a liiiiittle bit better 🙂
Man I don’t even know where to start, this novel blew me away. I feel like I haven’t read a book in so long that made me enjoy it so much and get really attached to the characters. I guess, first things first – this plot was so fantastically done. The way the author wove the story line throughout the novel was absolutely brilliant. And uGH THE WORLD BUILDING. As a space geek, it pleased me so much. Claudia Gray made it seem so realistic and possible that these other planets the characters travel to could be real one day, could exist. Everything about Noemi & Abel’s adventures on all the planets was exciting. Also everything connected so well, and the author has set up a bigger picture conflict for the rest of the series. This book was just so well done in regards to plot and world building, I’m so amazed and awed and I desperately want more.
Not only was the plot phenomenal, but the characters were extraordinary. A lot of the times I find it hard to like the main characters and usually favor the side characters, but in this case I adore the mains. Noemi is this selfless, intelligent, strong, badass Genesis (earth-like planet she lives on) warrior. She will give up her own life for the future of her planet and her people in a heartbeat. I loved her voice and her actions, her compassion for others. However, my favorite character from the book was Abel. Think Terminator with this one – like Arnold Schwarzenegger. A robot meant to help people not kill them. That was Abel. He’s a mech, a robot, designed by a man named Mansfield who creates mechs for earth. But Abel is his special one, the only one made (all the other mechs are duplicated but he’s the only one single Abel model). Without giving much away, Abel as a mech actually has character, thoughts, feelings, and depth to him. Everything about him I adored. To his snarky remarks, his intelligence, his loyalty to Noemi…agh guys my heart hurts thinking about him. He’s SO PURE. Literally so pure. He brought so much more to the book and I desperately need the sequel so I can see more of him.
Defy the Stars did start off a little slow, but once things started moving, once the characters started traveling, things got really intense. I couldn’t stop reading at one point, and I got torn away from reading because of work and other responsibilities. Everything about Defy the Stars I loved. Literally everything; I have no complaints. If you’re looking for an exciting space adventure with a robot who’s more human than wiring, PICK THIS BOOK UP. Defy the Stars reminded me a lot of Star Wars, as well as the Illuminae series by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman! It had the Illuminae level of twists and turns and space excitement so if you enjoyed those books, I think you’ll REALLY like Defy the Stars. I haven’t read Claudia’s other series but I definitely will now!
This novel was fun, thrilling, action – packed, and yes there’s romance. ITS A SLOW BURN TOO. The best kind!! Pick this up when it hits shelves on April 4th. But look out for me running by you to get my own copy haha!
Man I don’t even know where to start, this novel blew me away. I feel like I haven’t read a book in so long that made me enjoy it so much and get really attached to the characters. I guess, first things first – this plot was so fantastically done. The way the author wove the story line throughout the novel was absolutely brilliant. And uGH THE WORLD BUILDING. As a space geek, it pleased me so much. Claudia Gray made it seem so realistic and possible that these other planets the characters travel to could be real one day, could exist. Everything about Noemi & Abel’s adventures on all the planets was exciting. Also everything connected so well, and the author has set up a bigger picture conflict for the rest of the series. This book was just so well done in regards to plot and world building, I’m so amazed and awed and I desperately want more.
Not only was the plot phenomenal, but the characters were extraordinary. A lot of the times I find it hard to like the main characters and usually favor the side characters, but in this case I adore the mains. Noemi is this selfless, intelligent, strong, badass Genesis (earth-like planet she lives on) warrior. She will give up her own life for the future of her planet and her people in a heartbeat. I loved her voice and her actions, her compassion for others. However, my favorite character from the book was Abel. Think Terminator with this one – like Arnold Schwarzenegger. A robot meant to help people not kill them. That was Abel. He’s a mech, a robot, designed by a man named Mansfield who creates mechs for earth. But Abel is his special one, the only one made (all the other mechs are duplicated but he’s the only one single Abel model). Without giving much away, Abel as a mech actually has character, thoughts, feelings, and depth to him. Everything about him I adored. To his snarky remarks, his intelligence, his loyalty to Noemi…agh guys my heart hurts thinking about him. He’s SO PURE. Literally so pure. He brought so much more to the book and I desperately need the sequel so I can see more of him.
Defy the Stars did start off a little slow, but once things started moving, once the characters started traveling, things got really intense. I couldn’t stop reading at one point, and I got torn away from reading because of work and other responsibilities. Everything about Defy the Stars I loved. Literally everything; I have no complaints. If you’re looking for an exciting space adventure with a robot who’s more human than wiring, PICK THIS BOOK UP. Defy the Stars reminded me a lot of Star Wars, as well as the Illuminae series by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman! It had the Illuminae level of twists and turns and space excitement so if you enjoyed those books, I think you’ll REALLY like Defy the Stars. I haven’t read Claudia’s other series but I definitely will now!
This novel was fun, thrilling, action – packed, and yes there’s romance. ITS A SLOW BURN TOO. The best kind!! Pick this up when it hits shelves on April 4th. But look out for me running by you to get my own copy haha!
Ein Buch, das ein ganz neues Thema aufgreift. Neu, spannend und fesselnd von Anfang an