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eliajor's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
5.0
Protect Abel and Noemi at all cost. I loved the way the author characterised Abel and his robotic 'logical' way of thinking and how it slowly evolved to incorporate his own feelings and thoughts. I loved the banter between Abel and Noemi, especially how we get to see (not be told) how each of them start to like aspects of the other. Abel is simultaneously knowledgeable (duh as a robot) but naive and innocent even, which makes. his introspection all the more precious when he makes a breakthrough. And yes, I too have fallen for his dry humour. Though I knew early on what Mansfield's plan was for Abel, I was still hit hard by his inner thoughts and turmoil. Who knew I could relate to a robot of all characters.
I do believe Mansfield programmed Abel with a 11/10 charisma for the final few chapters because I was making inordinate amounts of noise.
AND THIS BOOK WAS PUBLISHED ONLY IN 2017? Even though it's marketed as a YA, it feels more than the label it was given. Yes, it's accessible to anyone and yes the romance can feel slow, but it's a book that I treasured the experience of.
DEFY THE STARS? More like defied and defined my expectations of Claudia Gray's future work.
I do believe Mansfield programmed Abel with a 11/10 charisma for the final few chapters because I was making inordinate amounts of noise.
AND THIS BOOK WAS PUBLISHED ONLY IN 2017? Even though it's marketed as a YA, it feels more than the label it was given. Yes, it's accessible to anyone and yes the romance can feel slow, but it's a book that I treasured the experience of.
DEFY THE STARS? More like defied and defined my expectations of Claudia Gray's future work.
annashiv's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this. So much. I just couldn't give it five stars because the world building was just a little lacking and the ending forces me to continue reading the next book.
khardan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
elvenrapier's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
powderysweetgirly's review against another edition
3.0
3.5- Definitely need to read the 2nd book, but I rlly enjoyed this one!
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
The nature of humanity is nicely examined in this exciting sci-fi with an empathic leading couple
Abel is a mech, created as a superior artificial being, who has, after 30 years spent locked up in an abandoned spacecraft, has developed something more of a consciousness than other mechs.
Noemi is a young woman who has signed up for a suicide mission to protect Genesis, the colony planet of a dying Earth that is rebelling to protect their way of life and home. Caught up in a battle in which her friend is badly injured, she unwittingly frees Abel from his decades-old prison when she boards his ship looking for medical supplies.
Abel is arrogant, dedicated to his creator and programming, but must obey Noemi as his new commander, and he is forced to agree to her plan involving his own destruction if it will save her home planet. Noemi begins by seeing only the mech, the artificial life. But his quirks, his questioning nature, his own humanity start to become more apparent - can she really destroy the being she is coming to respect and rely on?
The story takes the pair through several galaxies, to various planets as they search for materials they need to fulfil Noemi's mission, coming into contact with refugees, rebels, terrorists, who all help to make points about human nature, love, loyalty.
I found myself completely caught up in the story, the two main characters. Noemi is sometimes a little TOO moral, but she is resourceful, brave and dedicated to her cause. Abel, often more the focus of the two, is a highly attractive character that we are allowed to feel respect for and even see his burgeoning sense of humour through the narration.
It's a story that even feels quite real - a mixture of Star Wars, Wall-E and I Robot. I loved the themes, and seeing inside both the leads, especially Abel. His growth was great to follow.
This is the first in a series and I would definitely pick up the second if I saw it, I want to know what happens next, though the ending feels satisfying, the story has not finished and I want to see how the decades-old battle between the planets continues.
Abel is a mech, created as a superior artificial being, who has, after 30 years spent locked up in an abandoned spacecraft, has developed something more of a consciousness than other mechs.
Noemi is a young woman who has signed up for a suicide mission to protect Genesis, the colony planet of a dying Earth that is rebelling to protect their way of life and home. Caught up in a battle in which her friend is badly injured, she unwittingly frees Abel from his decades-old prison when she boards his ship looking for medical supplies.
Abel is arrogant, dedicated to his creator and programming, but must obey Noemi as his new commander, and he is forced to agree to her plan involving his own destruction if it will save her home planet. Noemi begins by seeing only the mech, the artificial life. But his quirks, his questioning nature, his own humanity start to become more apparent - can she really destroy the being she is coming to respect and rely on?
The story takes the pair through several galaxies, to various planets as they search for materials they need to fulfil Noemi's mission, coming into contact with refugees, rebels, terrorists, who all help to make points about human nature, love, loyalty.
I found myself completely caught up in the story, the two main characters. Noemi is sometimes a little TOO moral, but she is resourceful, brave and dedicated to her cause. Abel, often more the focus of the two, is a highly attractive character that we are allowed to feel respect for and even see his burgeoning sense of humour through the narration.
It's a story that even feels quite real - a mixture of Star Wars, Wall-E and I Robot. I loved the themes, and seeing inside both the leads, especially Abel. His growth was great to follow.
This is the first in a series and I would definitely pick up the second if I saw it, I want to know what happens next, though the ending feels satisfying, the story has not finished and I want to see how the decades-old battle between the planets continues.
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
5.0
Sadly I wrote a full review on this only to have lost it all with a computer restart. Oh well.
The gist of it, is that I didn't know what to expect. This is a book that has been on my bookshelf for many years at this point and I frankly wasn't excited about reading it at all. But it fit with this months #buzzwordathon prompt of a book with space/star themed words in the title and since I had access to the audio book I decided to give it a listen while I worked on some chores...
BOY was this way more enjoyable than I expected it to be. I loved it. There is friendships, epic space battles, robots, romance and much more. I enjoyed the commentary on what it means to be human and questionings ones beliefs after experiencing new things.
The book is set in a world where the humans of earth have been destroying the world (too real) and are now at the tail end of of the planets life. There are humans who have found different worlds to live on but none have been the complete answer that billions of humans still on earth need.
Genesis, being the best option has decided not to allow earth to take it over for fear that they will kill it the same way they are killing earth. One of our main characters is a fighter of Genesis actively protecting the portal between Genesis and Earth and the story starts with a battle between the two planets where she finds an unexpected bot that had been forgotten in the wreckage of war.
MY only complaint so far is that the main character is so young, and I would have preferred her to be older, but in general I'm not the biggest fan of YA anymore because of that. So I just pretend she is older in my head which isnt that hard to do based off of the general story.
The gist of it, is that I didn't know what to expect. This is a book that has been on my bookshelf for many years at this point and I frankly wasn't excited about reading it at all. But it fit with this months #buzzwordathon prompt of a book with space/star themed words in the title and since I had access to the audio book I decided to give it a listen while I worked on some chores...
BOY was this way more enjoyable than I expected it to be. I loved it. There is friendships, epic space battles, robots, romance and much more. I enjoyed the commentary on what it means to be human and questionings ones beliefs after experiencing new things.
The book is set in a world where the humans of earth have been destroying the world (too real) and are now at the tail end of of the planets life. There are humans who have found different worlds to live on but none have been the complete answer that billions of humans still on earth need.
Genesis, being the best option has decided not to allow earth to take it over for fear that they will kill it the same way they are killing earth. One of our main characters is a fighter of Genesis actively protecting the portal between Genesis and Earth and the story starts with a battle between the two planets where she finds an unexpected bot that had been forgotten in the wreckage of war.
MY only complaint so far is that the main character is so young, and I would have preferred her to be older, but in general I'm not the biggest fan of YA anymore because of that. So I just pretend she is older in my head which isnt that hard to do based off of the general story.