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birva's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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? No
4.0
Really unique I found myself not knowing what would happen next and I really enjoyed the plot and the romance. I really loved the interrogation sequences between chapters
The end was really confusing and I don't know if I love it - the book was also quite long for it to just come to that.
When the whole vision thing was introduced and like the fact that the whispers were like helping them by giving them stuff I thought it would be like the hunger games where its like a simulation and laroux company was like controlling them and Lowkey I feel like that would've been a better ending than the actual end. I'm really confused by what happened in the end and what lilac even is
The end was really confusing and I don't know if I love it - the book was also quite long for it to just come to that.
kofolapumpkin's review against another edition
5.0
First of all: Look at that cover. Just. Beautiful.
Even if I didn't love the book, I'd display it on my bookshelf just because the cover is so amazing.
But guys, this book is awesome. I'm usually irritated by the two people's perspective thing but I had no problem at all with it when I read These Broken Stars.
This book was full of surprises and never got boring. Not at all. It was so interesting and heartbreaking but also delighting and heartwarming, I couldn't put it down. Good job Amie Kaufman, this book truly deserves five stars.
Even if I didn't love the book, I'd display it on my bookshelf just because the cover is so amazing.
But guys, this book is awesome. I'm usually irritated by the two people's perspective thing but I had no problem at all with it when I read These Broken Stars.
This book was full of surprises and never got boring. Not at all. It was so interesting and heartbreaking but also delighting and heartwarming, I couldn't put it down. Good job Amie Kaufman, this book truly deserves five stars.
m00plays's review against another edition
5.0
I had a rocky start with this book, but it was SO worth reading! I have to admit there is action right the way through, always something new and unusual going on but for some reason it just took me forever to get through the middle section! However, you hit a certain chapter (if you've read it you know exactly which one I mean) where the shit hits the fan and you just cannot stop reading. Literally this was a book that kept me awake till 2AM to finish it. A must read. I'm sad to find out that the second in the series revolves around different characters because I want to hear more from Lilac and Tarver! READ IT!
brisingr's review against another edition
4.0
More like a 3.5?? Rating may change, depending on how I'll feel about this book in the future. It feels like it's been ages since I finished a book that was not school-related, and gosh, it feels good! Especially since this book was long overdue.
Lilac LaRoux, the heiress of the richest man in the universe, and Tarver Merendsen, hero of a war, meet on the board of Icarus, a spaceship moving through hyperspace with speedlight. There's attraction between them, but they couldn't have been from more different worlds even if they tried. But when Icarus falls and they manage to survive, suddenly all they knew doesn't matter anymore.
Okay, I will admit it. I had no intention to actually buy and read this book, but too much happiness and a really beautiful cover (i'm a space whore) made me cave in. So it's quite understandable that I had almost to no expectations regarding this book, and I actually started it thinking "I will hate this book". And for the first part, I did. It took me almost half of book to FINALLY be interested in what was going on; the writing style is way too plain and it hurt my heart to read this book because of it (two nice lines and two funny ones won't save this book from this criticism, sorry!) and it was the main reason why I couldn't connect with the story and characters. Everything was moving too fast for my liking, I didn't have enough time to grasp a situation before being thrown into another, and it gets tiring, especially since we change perspectives every chapter. At least this very simple writing helps with reading faster. Though, you know, since there are two writers working on this, I was expecting more from it.
Man, I dislike the characters so much! I mean, no, I don't hate them, but I don't feel like they were consistent, I don't feel like their change is real, because, again, everything happens too quick. And so many of their problems would have been solved if they simply talked like two normal human beings are supposed to. I don't know, their attitude, where each thought their opinion was the best.. I was kind of tired by it. I couldn't resonate with any of them, even their pain felt distant and not real, even their despair was something so... far-away from me, as a reader, that it annoyed me more than anything else. I had no interest in their destiny and situation, at some point I even wished they would just die so it could just simply end. I mean, yes, I probably could appreciate some of their traits, but that's how far everything goes and it really pains me to admit it, but that's the unfortunate truth. Again, I think the fast-pace and writing are the problem here, but it's a shame it alienated the characters so much from me, because I am usually the last person to give up on trying to love characters in a story. Too bad.
I wasn't a huge fan of the story until halfway through either. While pretty okay, it was still not spectacular. BUT (and i know it's much needed, because I basically only talked badly this book up until now, hah) from the half mark onwards, everything finally starts getting interesting. Elements from actual SF, besides spaceships, are finally introduced, and the story is finally part of something bigger, everything starts making sense, having quite mind-blowing explanations and there are some plot-twists that I, personally, didn't see coming and I was pleasantly surprised by how things turned out in the end. This is a special case of "I really, really liked a big part of the story, so I will forgive some other problems", and I guess I can be excused; after all, after pages and pages of boring and annoying plot and characters, I'm finally given a good reason for why I should keep going and my excitment went over the moon. I loved the last half so, so much that it made me giddy to keep going, and the new race introduced is hands-down my favorite collective character in a book.
I don't especially liked the romance in the book, even though I am usually the one rooting for the idea of "every book should have the slightest hint of romance". I don't think it fit into the story, neither at the beggining and neither at the end (though this might came from my dislike for the characters), but I do think that personality-wise Lilac and Traver fit together nicely (I'd kill for the same story, written better and with platonic relationship). Though, like I said, there are some really nice lines that deserved either a chuckle, either a highlight, and I liked the structure of the book, each chapter separated by a dialogue from Traver's interoggation (after everything is over), and it's interesting to see the differences between what actually happened and what he says it happened.
I am not much of a science-fiction person, and I am just half of a young adult person, but this book manages to pull off an interesting mix of the two. So if you're a mainly young adult reader and you don't know if you should give science-fiction a chance, try this book first and if it seems like something up your alley (my case, haha), then dive right in. Everything is terrifying until you try it!
I will continue the series, because now I am really curious to see what a second volume can bring in my life, so yes, I am excited.
And yes, the big rating is basically only because I loved 1/3 of a book too much.
Lilac LaRoux, the heiress of the richest man in the universe, and Tarver Merendsen, hero of a war, meet on the board of Icarus, a spaceship moving through hyperspace with speedlight. There's attraction between them, but they couldn't have been from more different worlds even if they tried. But when Icarus falls and they manage to survive, suddenly all they knew doesn't matter anymore.
Okay, I will admit it. I had no intention to actually buy and read this book, but too much happiness and a really beautiful cover (i'm a space whore) made me cave in. So it's quite understandable that I had almost to no expectations regarding this book, and I actually started it thinking "I will hate this book". And for the first part, I did. It took me almost half of book to FINALLY be interested in what was going on; the writing style is way too plain and it hurt my heart to read this book because of it (two nice lines and two funny ones won't save this book from this criticism, sorry!) and it was the main reason why I couldn't connect with the story and characters. Everything was moving too fast for my liking, I didn't have enough time to grasp a situation before being thrown into another, and it gets tiring, especially since we change perspectives every chapter. At least this very simple writing helps with reading faster. Though, you know, since there are two writers working on this, I was expecting more from it.
Man, I dislike the characters so much! I mean, no, I don't hate them, but I don't feel like they were consistent, I don't feel like their change is real, because, again, everything happens too quick. And so many of their problems would have been solved if they simply talked like two normal human beings are supposed to. I don't know, their attitude, where each thought their opinion was the best.. I was kind of tired by it. I couldn't resonate with any of them, even their pain felt distant and not real, even their despair was something so... far-away from me, as a reader, that it annoyed me more than anything else. I had no interest in their destiny and situation, at some point I even wished they would just die so it could just simply end. I mean, yes, I probably could appreciate some of their traits, but that's how far everything goes and it really pains me to admit it, but that's the unfortunate truth. Again, I think the fast-pace and writing are the problem here, but it's a shame it alienated the characters so much from me, because I am usually the last person to give up on trying to love characters in a story. Too bad.
I wasn't a huge fan of the story until halfway through either. While pretty okay, it was still not spectacular. BUT (and i know it's much needed, because I basically only talked badly this book up until now, hah) from the half mark onwards, everything finally starts getting interesting. Elements from actual SF, besides spaceships, are finally introduced, and the story is finally part of something bigger, everything starts making sense, having quite mind-blowing explanations and there are some plot-twists that I, personally, didn't see coming and I was pleasantly surprised by how things turned out in the end. This is a special case of "I really, really liked a big part of the story, so I will forgive some other problems", and I guess I can be excused; after all, after pages and pages of boring and annoying plot and characters, I'm finally given a good reason for why I should keep going and my excitment went over the moon. I loved the last half so, so much that it made me giddy to keep going, and the new race introduced is hands-down my favorite collective character in a book.
I don't especially liked the romance in the book, even though I am usually the one rooting for the idea of "every book should have the slightest hint of romance". I don't think it fit into the story, neither at the beggining and neither at the end (though this might came from my dislike for the characters), but I do think that personality-wise Lilac and Traver fit together nicely (I'd kill for the same story, written better and with platonic relationship). Though, like I said, there are some really nice lines that deserved either a chuckle, either a highlight, and I liked the structure of the book, each chapter separated by a dialogue from Traver's interoggation (after everything is over), and it's interesting to see the differences between what actually happened and what he says it happened.
I am not much of a science-fiction person, and I am just half of a young adult person, but this book manages to pull off an interesting mix of the two. So if you're a mainly young adult reader and you don't know if you should give science-fiction a chance, try this book first and if it seems like something up your alley (my case, haha), then dive right in. Everything is terrifying until you try it!
I will continue the series, because now I am really curious to see what a second volume can bring in my life, so yes, I am excited.
And yes, the big rating is basically only because I loved 1/3 of a book too much.
jennkei's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars. There were some niggling details, but it was still pretty good.
cconant265's review against another edition
3.0
This book is the definition of fine. If you already have the book and are planning to read it, I wouldn’t deter you. If you were asking for a recommendation, this wouldn’t be my first choice. The concept is interesting, but it wasn’t executed as well as it could have been.
bdsongbird8's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
mallowmelt_butterblasts's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
ingo_lembcke's review against another edition
3.0
For some reason I did not write a review for this one, I just remember, that I did not like it too much, also the next book in the series has other people as MC's, these two play a minor role, I think (read in blurb/reviews).
As I regularly save when I started a book and when I finished it, there was a note, 3.5 stars rounded down to 3 for not enough suspense...
As I regularly save when I started a book and when I finished it, there was a note, 3.5 stars rounded down to 3 for not enough suspense...
brodie_rose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5