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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sometimes YA feels too young for me. This book was not that.
A space adventure that asks the question: who and what has life and a soul?
I loved Abel and Noemi. Both grew together so organically (ha) and made their story so interesting. From visiting four different planets, exploring a war that is nowhere near black and white, and introducing strange and fun allies along the way.
Defy the Stars' universe is so complex and rich, it really sucked me in without feeling too heavy.
A space adventure that asks the question: who and what has life and a soul?
I loved Abel and Noemi. Both grew together so organically (ha) and made their story so interesting. From visiting four different planets, exploring a war that is nowhere near black and white, and introducing strange and fun allies along the way.
Defy the Stars' universe is so complex and rich, it really sucked me in without feeling too heavy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Death of parent
I really wanted to like this book, but it just never took off for me. The story felt forced and unnatural, and that was even before Abel. This book felt like Gray was trying to hard. I finished the book, but I don’t need to know what happens from here.
For some reason, it feels like space adventures is suddenly the flavour of the month with the YA fiction crowd. This year alone I've read [b:Mirage|32768520|Mirage (Mirage, #1)|Somaiya Daud|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521643356l/32768520._SY75_.jpg|52481416] and [b:Last of Her Name|36230905|Last of Her Name|Jessica Khoury|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527215790l/36230905._SY75_.jpg|57871597]. In such a crowded market, it's easy for Defy the Stars to fall flat or to go unnoticed. It's purely because I've enjoyed some other books by Claudia Gray before that I picked the book up and overall, I would say that there are twists and turns abound in the story and that there's something compelling about its plot.
Defy the Stars switches between the perspectives of Noemi Vidal and Abdel. Noemi Vidal is a solider on the planet of Genesis, which has cut itself off the other planets under Earth's control. Genesis and Earth have been locked into a war for ages and Noemi is part of the last Genesis survivors, who are attempting to pull off one last stand against Earth, as Genesis's resources are dwindling whereas Earth continues their assault unabated. Genesis believes that Earth has polluted their planet beyond rescue and that Earth's plan to colonise every single planet in order to find a hospitable host is vile and Noemi is willing to do anything to protect her best friend and her loved ones from the horrors of the war that she has experienced.
Meanwhile, Abel is an android that has been abandoned in orbit by his creator Bruce. Abel's advanced programming has allowed him to survive for years without anyone for company and his programming has surpassed anything that Bruce has crafted for him. When Abel comes across Noemi in the middle of battle, Abel knows that Noemi and her people would view him as an abomination and that they would be nothing more than sworn enemies. But Abel's programming also means that Noemi is able to survive, as she is the highest ranked human that has boarded his ship which means that he is to listen to her. Noemi has never come across anything like Abel, as she's only come across Charlies and Queens - combat models that seem ruthlessly efficient and are nothing like Abel, who seems capable of reasoning and claims to have far more advanced programming than these models. Abel is unlike anything she knows and Noemi believes that he could hold the key to ending the war between Genesis and Earth once and for all.
I've got a weakness for these sorts of hate-to-love stories and the relationship that eventually develops between Noemi and Abel definitely qualifies, as they grow from sworn enemies to begrudging respect and understanding before romance develops. And they've got very understandable reason for not liking each other at the start, as Abel seems subhuman to Noemi whereas Noemi seems underdeveloped as compared to Abel. But their circumstances draw them together and Abel is forced to go along with Noemi's plans, even if that means that it could lead to his creator's destruction.
There were also some really standout moments of the story.
There are definitely aspects of the plot that I found a bit contrived, as it seems awfully convenient that Noemi and Abel discovers clue after clue about how she can end their war. Furthermore, both of them also learn a few truths about the reason for the revolution beginning on Earth and how Abel and Noemi each hold a piece of the puzzle. At some points, it also felt as though the focus of the story was more on developing our characters and their relationship than an epic space adventure/battle that I was hoping for.
Overall, I would still be back for the next book, just to see what Noemi and Abel get up to but I do think that the book could've done very well as a standalone as well.
Defy the Stars switches between the perspectives of Noemi Vidal and Abdel. Noemi Vidal is a solider on the planet of Genesis, which has cut itself off the other planets under Earth's control. Genesis and Earth have been locked into a war for ages and Noemi is part of the last Genesis survivors, who are attempting to pull off one last stand against Earth, as Genesis's resources are dwindling whereas Earth continues their assault unabated. Genesis believes that Earth has polluted their planet beyond rescue and that Earth's plan to colonise every single planet in order to find a hospitable host is vile and Noemi is willing to do anything to protect her best friend and her loved ones from the horrors of the war that she has experienced.
Meanwhile, Abel is an android that has been abandoned in orbit by his creator Bruce. Abel's advanced programming has allowed him to survive for years without anyone for company and his programming has surpassed anything that Bruce has crafted for him. When Abel comes across Noemi in the middle of battle, Abel knows that Noemi and her people would view him as an abomination and that they would be nothing more than sworn enemies. But Abel's programming also means that Noemi is able to survive, as she is the highest ranked human that has boarded his ship which means that he is to listen to her. Noemi has never come across anything like Abel, as she's only come across Charlies and Queens - combat models that seem ruthlessly efficient and are nothing like Abel, who seems capable of reasoning and claims to have far more advanced programming than these models. Abel is unlike anything she knows and Noemi believes that he could hold the key to ending the war between Genesis and Earth once and for all.
I've got a weakness for these sorts of hate-to-love stories and the relationship that eventually develops between Noemi and Abel definitely qualifies, as they grow from sworn enemies to begrudging respect and understanding before romance develops. And they've got very understandable reason for not liking each other at the start, as Abel seems subhuman to Noemi whereas Noemi seems underdeveloped as compared to Abel. But their circumstances draw them together and Abel is forced to go along with Noemi's plans, even if that means that it could lead to his creator's destruction.
There were also some really standout moments of the story.
Spoiler
Abel's emotions slowly showed themselves throughout the story and I thought that the development of Abel as being just a logician and rational being to becoming someone who behaved irrationally in the face of protecting someone he cares about was gradual and made a lot of sense. Furthermore, the twist that Abel was created to be nothing more than Bruce's vessel was truly unexpected and quite upsetting.There are definitely aspects of the plot that I found a bit contrived, as it seems awfully convenient that Noemi and Abel discovers clue after clue about how she can end their war.
Spoiler
Not to mention, Noemi finds Abel pretty easily on Earth even though she doesn't really have a clue about how unhappy he is.Overall, I would still be back for the next book, just to see what Noemi and Abel get up to but I do think that the book could've done very well as a standalone as well.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated