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izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
It has been so long I’ve forgotten what some of these books plots were about. With this one i knew it was about a robot and a soldier. I ended up liking the plot at most because I felt the author crammed so much plot into the book. After stepping back and looking at the bigger picture it makes sense. Somewhat.
It has been so long I’ve forgotten what some of these books plots were about. With this one i knew it was about a robot and a soldier. I ended up liking the plot at most because I felt the author crammed so much plot into the book. After stepping back and looking at the bigger picture it makes sense. Somewhat.
sdloomer's review against another edition
4.0
--4.25/5 stars--
I finished this book in about 4 and a half hours, give or take some minutes (with a lunch break cause even I'm not that baller). That should tell you how much I enjoyed it.
First, this entire novel is one big slow burn. And one that is done very correctly. I think it's clear from the blurb that everyone should expect a relationship of some sort between our two main characters and Ms. Gray did not disappoint.
Second, the most fascinating element, obviously, is Abel: a fully realized AI housed in a robotic, warm, delicious, sexy human body. Talk about having different, er, preferences. I'm just kidding. Sort of. But I did get a little hot when he took his shirt off.
ANYWAY, Ms. Gray does a fantastic job of consistently reminding us that Abel is still not human throughout the book, without completely dehumanizing him. Of course, that takes the form of Noemi Vidal, our soldier heroine, who is all too eager to point out his robotic tendencies at any time. Yes, she's prejudiced. Yes, she's sheltered. But she's still not dumb enough to open herself to brand new experiences and viewpoints and maybe consider that maybe she shouldn't be following her orders blindly and maybe Abel isn't out to kill her 24/7. Now this is something I can get behind: a female MC who isn't single-minded and actually has the depth of character to change some of her beliefs. *Cue fist-pump.
And the spark is there. You'd think it'd be weird falling in love with a mech. Ms. Gray proves this otherwise. Although Abel has unintentionally evolved his programming to transcend into unknowns, like dreaming and the capability of certain emotions, he hasn't done so enough to be deluded. (I guess everyone has their limits.) He still understands that he's not human, but he knows that he's enough for Noemi and she's enough for him, and my brain goes all fuzzy when I think about how beautiful that is. Because some humans can't even comprehend that.
The only reason why I didn't rate this as five stars is the writing. Most of the time it's well-written, but during some chapters, most notably Noemi's, there seems to be a hiccup in expressing emotions. During a few vital scenes, I wasn't particularly sure what in the world she was feeling beyond physical conditions, and I felt we could have used a little extra detail.
Other than that, I'm placing this on my favorites shelf, because I'd like to have an Abel of my own someday.
I finished this book in about 4 and a half hours, give or take some minutes (with a lunch break cause even I'm not that baller). That should tell you how much I enjoyed it.
First, this entire novel is one big slow burn. And one that is done very correctly. I think it's clear from the blurb that everyone should expect a relationship of some sort between our two main characters and Ms. Gray did not disappoint.
Second, the most fascinating element, obviously, is Abel: a fully realized AI housed in a robotic, warm, delicious, sexy human body. Talk about having different, er, preferences. I'm just kidding. Sort of. But I did get a little hot when he took his shirt off.
ANYWAY, Ms. Gray does a fantastic job of consistently reminding us that Abel is still not human throughout the book, without completely dehumanizing him. Of course, that takes the form of Noemi Vidal, our soldier heroine, who is all too eager to point out his robotic tendencies at any time. Yes, she's prejudiced. Yes, she's sheltered. But she's still not dumb enough to open herself to brand new experiences and viewpoints and maybe consider that maybe she shouldn't be following her orders blindly and maybe Abel isn't out to kill her 24/7. Now this is something I can get behind: a female MC who isn't single-minded and actually has the depth of character to change some of her beliefs. *Cue fist-pump.
And the spark is there. You'd think it'd be weird falling in love with a mech. Ms. Gray proves this otherwise. Although Abel has unintentionally evolved his programming to transcend into unknowns, like dreaming and the capability of certain emotions, he hasn't done so enough to be deluded. (I guess everyone has their limits.) He still understands that he's not human, but he knows that he's enough for Noemi and she's enough for him, and my brain goes all fuzzy when I think about how beautiful that is. Because some humans can't even comprehend that.
The only reason why I didn't rate this as five stars is the writing. Most of the time it's well-written, but during some chapters, most notably Noemi's, there seems to be a hiccup in expressing emotions. During a few vital scenes, I wasn't particularly sure what in the world she was feeling beyond physical conditions, and I felt we could have used a little extra detail.
Other than that, I'm placing this on my favorites shelf, because I'd like to have an Abel of my own someday.
mea9an's review against another edition
4.0
Defy the Stars is a story about a girl named Noemi about to embark on a suicide mission for her home world, Genesis in a battle against Earth. During a practice mission, Noemi stumbles across a line ship with a mech, or artificial intelligence in a human-like body who she joins up with in an attempt to put a pause on the current war against Earth.
I will say that the romance in this book is a lot better than that in Claudia Gray’s Firebird trilogy. The romance in this story is a more natural, slow burn romance that progresses over the course of the book and never takes precedent over the plot of the novel. The characters are snarky, but each have their own personalities and the dialogue keeps the story interesting without being too much.
The character development was probably one of the stronger suits of the book. It had a lot of depth and each of the characters that were introduced had a strong beginning, middle, and end to their story. While the end up taking extremely different paths, I think it really fit each character specifically with who they were and just what they were meant to be doing.
One thing I did notice was that Gray writes each chapter in an episodic way. Similarly to FanFiction, Gray’s book reads as though each chapter has just come out weekly and if something isn’t happening by the end of the chapter, than something has to come out of nowhere and create drama or a side plot. In a way, it was nice to have this because it kept the pace moving consistently, but it also was very jarring to read at points. It’s almost as if Gray didn’t want to have any point in the book where there wasn’t something going on.
I was really excited going into this book, because Claudia Gray is one of my favorite authors and I was really happy to see her write another sci-fi series as I believe it is her strong suit. One thing I think needed to be expanded on is her world-building in the early stage in the novel. It begins with Noemi, an older teen of the planet, Genesis, attempting to pray to God. Although it was later explained how people on another planet would have the same religion, in the beginning it had me very confused and took me out of the narrative until it was fully explained.
Despite its minor flaws, Defy The Stars is a good book that I would recommend. The characters are slightly older and there are adult themes such as mechs that basically act like prostitutes mentioned many time, so I would suggest this be listed as more New Adult, rather than Young Adult, but it truly depends on the readers. If you’re looking for a thoughtful story about war, space, and interesting characters, I would suggest giving this book a try.
I will say that the romance in this book is a lot better than that in Claudia Gray’s Firebird trilogy. The romance in this story is a more natural, slow burn romance that progresses over the course of the book and never takes precedent over the plot of the novel. The characters are snarky, but each have their own personalities and the dialogue keeps the story interesting without being too much.
The character development was probably one of the stronger suits of the book. It had a lot of depth and each of the characters that were introduced had a strong beginning, middle, and end to their story. While the end up taking extremely different paths, I think it really fit each character specifically with who they were and just what they were meant to be doing.
One thing I did notice was that Gray writes each chapter in an episodic way. Similarly to FanFiction, Gray’s book reads as though each chapter has just come out weekly and if something isn’t happening by the end of the chapter, than something has to come out of nowhere and create drama or a side plot. In a way, it was nice to have this because it kept the pace moving consistently, but it also was very jarring to read at points. It’s almost as if Gray didn’t want to have any point in the book where there wasn’t something going on.
I was really excited going into this book, because Claudia Gray is one of my favorite authors and I was really happy to see her write another sci-fi series as I believe it is her strong suit. One thing I think needed to be expanded on is her world-building in the early stage in the novel. It begins with Noemi, an older teen of the planet, Genesis, attempting to pray to God. Although it was later explained how people on another planet would have the same religion, in the beginning it had me very confused and took me out of the narrative until it was fully explained.
Despite its minor flaws, Defy The Stars is a good book that I would recommend. The characters are slightly older and there are adult themes such as mechs that basically act like prostitutes mentioned many time, so I would suggest this be listed as more New Adult, rather than Young Adult, but it truly depends on the readers. If you’re looking for a thoughtful story about war, space, and interesting characters, I would suggest giving this book a try.
mortaldivergence's review against another edition
5.0
I don't normally read a lot of science fiction, but I truly loved this book! I couldn't put the second half of the book down!
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
Not my favorite Claudia Gray book, but guys. AI Romance.
shelbybrinley's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book so much! I’m normally not super into sci-fi but this book might have changed my mind. I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. The romance is “muah*chef’s kiss*”
I love Abel and his sass. Noemi and her determination. And just literally everything about this book.
I love Abel and his sass. Noemi and her determination. And just literally everything about this book.
betharanova's review against another edition
5.0
I'm in love!
This is every ounce of thoughtfulness you could hope for out of any sci fi book. It's struggles with faith; questions about humanity; protecting your own versus lending a hand to others. Every single character in this book is a full person, flawed and unsure but so often trying their best. And no one brings that home better than the protagonists, Noemi and Abel. I'm a sucker for inhuman romances and enemies forced to work together, so I would have read this in any case; but there is such incredible character development behind their slowly changing dynamic.
It's not every day I find a book that is written with a true and obvious love for humanity and an understanding of how we mess up--but how we can make things better again.
This is every ounce of thoughtfulness you could hope for out of any sci fi book. It's struggles with faith; questions about humanity; protecting your own versus lending a hand to others. Every single character in this book is a full person, flawed and unsure but so often trying their best. And no one brings that home better than the protagonists, Noemi and Abel. I'm a sucker for inhuman romances and enemies forced to work together, so I would have read this in any case; but there is such incredible character development behind their slowly changing dynamic.
It's not every day I find a book that is written with a true and obvious love for humanity and an understanding of how we mess up--but how we can make things better again.
neverfruitt's review against another edition
5.0
A reread and I still loved it. It's a super sweet scifi love story
rlstrayer1's review against another edition
4.0