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laelyn's review against another edition
3.0
A scifi ya retelling of Bonnie and Clyde sounds like such a cool concept, so I was immediately drawn to Voris' debut novel "Made of Stars". I'm not quite in the typical age bracket for ya fiction anymore but I do enjoy them still from time to time. This book is more on the upper side of that bracket, which I enjoyed because it allowed the characters to be actually violent and for their actions to have dire consequences. It's Bonnie and Clyde after all.
"Made of Stars" turned out to be an enjoyable quick read with interesting characters and good writing, though it doesn't provide a very memorable experience. It started strong, pushing the reader into the middle of an action sequence basically on page 1, which I do like when done right. We get to know all the characters after this exciting prison break, but that also leads to my main criticism: They are just not very deep. There's a lot of potential, but Voris stays on the surface with all of them, and even digging into Shane's trauma never felt very complex., same with Cryrus' struggles unlearning blind obedience to a clearly flawed authority. I never really felt that much for any of the characters, which is also why the romances were pretty meh in the end. And they could have been so great! The antagonists are very cliched and obvious, too, though I did like the underlying themes of them.
The story is at times rather hectic, with the aforementioned prison break lasting barely two pages really to name an example. Voris never really spends time with her action sequences, and a big part of Shane and Ava's fight against their big enemies happen off page. Both of them were just not very believable as these big leaders that entire governments are afraid of, either. The pacing issues and the stark focus on Cyrus instead of them as a couple didn't do them any good in this regard.
All in all, enjoyable for what it is but it could have been much more. 2,5 stars, rounding up to 3.
Many thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for the arc!
"Made of Stars" turned out to be an enjoyable quick read with interesting characters and good writing, though it doesn't provide a very memorable experience. It started strong, pushing the reader into the middle of an action sequence basically on page 1, which I do like when done right. We get to know all the characters after this exciting prison break, but that also leads to my main criticism: They are just not very deep. There's a lot of potential, but Voris stays on the surface with all of them, and even digging into Shane's trauma never felt very complex., same with Cryrus' struggles unlearning blind obedience to a clearly flawed authority. I never really felt that much for any of the characters, which is also why the romances were pretty meh in the end. And they could have been so great! The antagonists are very cliched and obvious, too, though I did like the underlying themes of them.
The story is at times rather hectic, with the aforementioned prison break lasting barely two pages really to name an example. Voris never really spends time with her action sequences, and a big part of Shane and Ava's fight against their big enemies happen off page. Both of them were just not very believable as these big leaders that entire governments are afraid of, either. The pacing issues and the stark focus on Cyrus instead of them as a couple didn't do them any good in this regard.
All in all, enjoyable for what it is but it could have been much more. 2,5 stars, rounding up to 3.
Many thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for the arc!
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
I found the characters to be really interesting but, when it switched povs it was aggravating because I never really knew who's would be next.
I found the characters to be really interesting but, when it switched povs it was aggravating because I never really knew who's would be next.
marieintheraw's review against another edition
2.0
Bonnie and Clyde, this was not. It hurt me in a loveless, lawless way. I just did not get all the feelings everyone else seems to be getting from this sadly.
I received an ecopy of this book through Netgalley; however, my opinions are my own.
I received an ecopy of this book through Netgalley; however, my opinions are my own.
ktjames's review against another edition
2.0
I received an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. To find my review in ASL, here is the link: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorktjames/video/7227942007736421674
I was excited to read this book because I have really gotten into Sci-Fi and with it being YA, I wanted really wanted to enjoy it! Unfortunately, I read about half of it before I put it down to DNF. Perhaps I will try reading it at a different time, but the book just didn't hold me and I couldn't really follow the world-building (it felt flat).
A big portion of why I lost interest is because I didn't care about the characters. At times there was a massive dump of information and other times, there wasn't enough. It started with a prison break, but you have no background to believe the characters could break one out of prison, and didn't seem believable. The second part opened with torturing a captain, but you don't know how they got to there - you didn't learn who Shane was until that chapter in the captain's thoughts.
I am picky when reading multiple POVs (more than 2); many times the story ends up focusing on just one or two of the characters rather than all the different POVs, which is the same thing that happened here. There were characters from Shane, Ava, and Cyrus' POV but mostly just Shane and Cyrus.
There was also a corrupt government angle; which was expected and had some interesting aspects, but I just felt it wasn't fully fleshed out.
Overall, I just didn't connect to the characters or have really enough understanding of them and the world.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me access to an early copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
I was excited to read this book because I have really gotten into Sci-Fi and with it being YA, I wanted really wanted to enjoy it! Unfortunately, I read about half of it before I put it down to DNF. Perhaps I will try reading it at a different time, but the book just didn't hold me and I couldn't really follow the world-building (it felt flat).
A big portion of why I lost interest is because I didn't care about the characters. At times there was a massive dump of information and other times, there wasn't enough. It started with a prison break, but you have no background to believe the characters could break one out of prison, and didn't seem believable. The second part opened with torturing a captain, but you don't know how they got to there - you didn't learn who Shane was until that chapter in the captain's thoughts.
I am picky when reading multiple POVs (more than 2); many times the story ends up focusing on just one or two of the characters rather than all the different POVs, which is the same thing that happened here. There were characters from Shane, Ava, and Cyrus' POV but mostly just Shane and Cyrus.
There was also a corrupt government angle; which was expected and had some interesting aspects, but I just felt it wasn't fully fleshed out.
Overall, I just didn't connect to the characters or have really enough understanding of them and the world.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me access to an early copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
nutbug's review against another edition
5.0
This is the best YA book I have read in a LONG time.
The characters are the heart of this story, I love them with all my soul. I love their little family with all my soul, I want to be a part of it. Their connections were so overwhelmingly human and three dimensional, it brought me to tears. I felt every single one of their emotions, raw and horrible.
The writing of this book is SPECTACULAR! The world building is easy to follow, there was no slogging through early exposition, and everything came off as hauntingly real. Though some may call it a bit simple, it was perfect for me. Jenna Voris understands that you don't need to know about the intricacies of space travel, but hearing the characters say "I love you" is INTEGRAL.
Most of all, the ending broke my heart. I knew what was coming, but I wasn't prepared to read it. But read it I did. And I'm glad I did, I am better for having read this book. I hope and pray there is a sequel, but at the same time, I'm happy with the ending as it is, the conclusion was very natural.
So yeah, I would recommend this book. In fact, I will beg you to read this book, so we can talk about it together. :^)
The characters are the heart of this story, I love them with all my soul. I love their little family with all my soul, I want to be a part of it. Their connections were so overwhelmingly human and three dimensional, it brought me to tears. I felt every single one of their emotions, raw and horrible.
The writing of this book is SPECTACULAR! The world building is easy to follow, there was no slogging through early exposition, and everything came off as hauntingly real. Though some may call it a bit simple, it was perfect for me. Jenna Voris understands that you don't need to know about the intricacies of space travel, but hearing the characters say "I love you" is INTEGRAL.
Most of all, the ending broke my heart. I knew what was coming, but I wasn't prepared to read it. But read it I did. And I'm glad I did, I am better for having read this book. I hope and pray there is a sequel, but at the same time, I'm happy with the ending as it is, the conclusion was very natural.
So yeah, I would recommend this book. In fact, I will beg you to read this book, so we can talk about it together. :^)
marissacoy's review against another edition
3.0
YES if you like bonnie and clyde in space, or if you’re in a six of crows hangover and you’ll read anything
NO if you want beyond surface level world building and characters
NO if you want beyond surface level world building and characters
loganslovelylibrary's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 rounded up! I really liked this book a lot, the Bonnie/Clyde spin off was awesome and the characters felt really well-rounded. I thought the political aspects were interesting and very easy to understand, especially for a YA sci-fi book!! Definitely recommend this one! It does get a bit more violent than I expected in the end, but it serves the story’s purpose. And I just wish we got one more chapter or an epilogue after that ending!
joanareads's review
4.0
This was a 3.5 stars most of the way through but I appreciate the absolute commitment to the bit.