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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Grief
Minor: Mental illness, Vomit
3.5 stars. This book was engagingly narrated and had a cool plot that rarely slowed. The characters were fine but none were notably interesting. There were several serious issues that made it hard to suspend disbelief – most notably, Lyra’s hacking prowess and the DES’s lackluster security. I would have preferred the conclusion to have wrapped up at least part of the mystery – there’s too much we don’t know.
The premise of this story is pretty cool, with Chinese guardians we have on Earth being discovered on other planets. It’s all a fascinating mystery, and each piece of the puzzle that is revealed is fun to collect and arrange mentally. The space travel and science piqued my interest, as these things always do. The characters and teen romance are fairly typical, but all of it together kept me reading intently and moved me right along into the second book in the series, Chasing the Shadows.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/navigating-stars-sentinels-galaxy-young-adult-book-review/
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/navigating-stars-sentinels-galaxy-young-adult-book-review/
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Maria V. Snyder is one of my favorite authors. Her Study Series is one of my all-time faves. (I could reread those books over and over again and never tire of them.) Her characters are always so multi-dimensional, memorable, and, again, some of my favorites. (I mean, who could ever top Valek and Yelena?) So to say I was excited for a new book from her was a vast understatement.
Even though sci-fi isn't a genre I normally gravitate towards, especially those set in space, I'll read anything this author writes. And Navigating the Stars did not disappoint. It was everything I had hoped it'd be. It featured Snyder's signature style, detailed setting, and a strong, independent leading lady.
Lyra was a great narrator. So relatable, funny, and sassy. And I really appreciated the fact that she actually had a 'normal' relationship with her parents. That's rare to find these days. It was super refreshing.
I will say that it took a little bit of time for all the technical science things to make sense to me. Like time dilation. It was confusing at first, but there was a moment when it all clicked and I found it to be really fascinating.
This was a book I read slowly. Not because I didn't like it, but because I absolutely loved it! I wanted to savor it, take my time, and linger there for as long as I could. I highly, highly recommend it! I'm anxious to get my hands on the sequel! The wait is gonna be torture!
Note: This book does contain some strong language.
Even though sci-fi isn't a genre I normally gravitate towards, especially those set in space, I'll read anything this author writes. And Navigating the Stars did not disappoint. It was everything I had hoped it'd be. It featured Snyder's signature style, detailed setting, and a strong, independent leading lady.
Lyra was a great narrator. So relatable, funny, and sassy. And I really appreciated the fact that she actually had a 'normal' relationship with her parents. That's rare to find these days. It was super refreshing.
I will say that it took a little bit of time for all the technical science things to make sense to me. Like time dilation. It was confusing at first, but there was a moment when it all clicked and I found it to be really fascinating.
This was a book I read slowly. Not because I didn't like it, but because I absolutely loved it! I wanted to savor it, take my time, and linger there for as long as I could. I highly, highly recommend it! I'm anxious to get my hands on the sequel! The wait is gonna be torture!
Note: This book does contain some strong language.
I really enjoyed this new one from Maria V Snyder, I haven't gotten to reading her study series just yet, although after reading this one I want to read it 😊 it did take me a bit to get my head around the space terms at the start but after a few chapters I had a good grasp on it and it flowed well from there. I loved all the interactions between the characters especially between Lyra and Niall. And the banter was fantastic 😅 I also really liked that Lyra still had two loving parents, even if she didn't like them dragging her halfway across the galaxy 😅
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I thought the concept of chinese terracotta warriors in space was brilliant and I am intrigued to see how they got there. The creation of the world in space was great and my hat goes off to Maria for being able to keep track of all the planets and Earth years and Actual years of time.
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The story flowed quite well and was told from Lyra's point of view, i liked the little thoughts that Lyra had that were directed as if she knew someone was reading her thoughts. I didn't see the twist at the end coming until Lyra figured out what had happened and it will be interesting to see what Jarren does in the next book.
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I am looking forward to the next book in this series which I believe is coming out at the end of this year 😊
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I thought the concept of chinese terracotta warriors in space was brilliant and I am intrigued to see how they got there. The creation of the world in space was great and my hat goes off to Maria for being able to keep track of all the planets and Earth years and Actual years of time.
.
The story flowed quite well and was told from Lyra's point of view, i liked the little thoughts that Lyra had that were directed as if she knew someone was reading her thoughts. I didn't see the twist at the end coming until Lyra figured out what had happened and it will be interesting to see what Jarren does in the next book.
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I am looking forward to the next book in this series which I believe is coming out at the end of this year 😊
I used to love reading Maria V. Snyder as a young teen, particularly her Glass Trilogy, so I was excited to read a young adult sci-fi novel written by her.
Honestly, Navigating the Stars is quite a generic read, but hey, from time to time I do enjoy good, straight-forward generic-ness, you know? It's predictable, it's easy, and when you finish reading, it doesn't feel like you've just stepped off a rollercoaster.
I quite liked the main character, Lyra. I thought she had a good narrative voice, but sometimes her character was a little inconsistent -- like, she's supposed to be bad at math, but somehow manages to solve a mathematical code in MINUTES when the gazillion SCIENTISTS around her couldn't.
The adults in this novel all seemed as incompetent as each other. It didn't really make sense to me, how they were all scientists and trained guards, yet Lyra pretty much figured everything out on her own and did all of the planning for them. I guess it made the whole thing a bit less realistic to me, seeing as it doesn't seem plausible that a seventeen-year-old girl who's barely finished high-school can operate on the same level as scientists who have studied and researched for years, and military-like personnel who have trained equally as long. I could believe Lyra making them approach problems a different way, and perhaps adding her own flair to their plans, but she was basically doing all of their jobs for them.
Not to mention Lyra's mother wins the award for worst mother ever. I don't know about anybody else, but I interpreted her behaviour as highly manipulative and oftentimes selfish. I mean, she made her daughter move to a new planet, knowing all of her friends would either be old or dead by the time they arrived. She has absolutely no faith in her daughter at all, frequently dismisses her and allows her ZERO chances to become her own individual and establish a personal identity.
Niall was a hard-sell for me, mainly because the only other Niall I've heard of is Niall Horan from One Direction who is short, blond and kind of dorky, so I kept imagining him instead of the tall, dark and handsome security guard the author described, but for the most part, Niall just kept out of the way and came in for some romance every now and then, which is perfectly acceptable.
This sounds like a lot of negatives, but I swear I liked this book. I disagreed with some of the characters, the plot and characters were generic, but I was in the mood for generic and now I kind of want to read the rest of the series.
Honestly, Navigating the Stars is quite a generic read, but hey, from time to time I do enjoy good, straight-forward generic-ness, you know? It's predictable, it's easy, and when you finish reading, it doesn't feel like you've just stepped off a rollercoaster.
I quite liked the main character, Lyra. I thought she had a good narrative voice, but sometimes her character was a little inconsistent -- like, she's supposed to be bad at math, but somehow manages to solve a mathematical code in MINUTES when the gazillion SCIENTISTS around her couldn't.
The adults in this novel all seemed as incompetent as each other. It didn't really make sense to me, how they were all scientists and trained guards, yet Lyra pretty much figured everything out on her own and did all of the planning for them. I guess it made the whole thing a bit less realistic to me, seeing as it doesn't seem plausible that a seventeen-year-old girl who's barely finished high-school can operate on the same level as scientists who have studied and researched for years, and military-like personnel who have trained equally as long. I could believe Lyra making them approach problems a different way, and perhaps adding her own flair to their plans, but she was basically doing all of their jobs for them.
Not to mention Lyra's mother wins the award for worst mother ever. I don't know about anybody else, but I interpreted her behaviour as highly manipulative and oftentimes selfish. I mean, she made her daughter move to a new planet, knowing all of her friends would either be old or dead by the time they arrived. She has absolutely no faith in her daughter at all, frequently dismisses her and allows her ZERO chances to become her own individual and establish a personal identity.
Niall was a hard-sell for me, mainly because the only other Niall I've heard of is Niall Horan from One Direction who is short, blond and kind of dorky, so I kept imagining him instead of the tall, dark and handsome security guard the author described, but for the most part, Niall just kept out of the way and came in for some romance every now and then, which is perfectly acceptable.
This sounds like a lot of negatives, but I swear I liked this book. I disagreed with some of the characters, the plot and characters were generic, but I was in the mood for generic and now I kind of want to read the rest of the series.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No