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someonetookit 's review for:
Navigating the Stars
by Maria V. Snyder
ACTUAL RATING 3.5 stars
Ok. The premise of this was intriguing. There’s space travel, intrigue, cute boys and kidnappers. A 17 year old girl takes the forefront and poops all over the abilities of most of her elders when it comes to infiltrating the Q-Net (it’s like the internet but functions across space and time). It should have been amazing! Alas I was just a tad underwhelmed. Maybe I am jaded towards YA atm, maybe I just didn’t ‘get’ it. Who knows? But here's the breakdown.
What did I love?
• The wormhole travel – So in order to traverse space, passenger vessels fold time and space in a way that can only be described as pinching it in the middle. Now this cannot be achieved unless one is at a ‘Crinkle Zone’ and there is not another body anywhere close otherwise Holy Batman, you’re gonna have issues. I really loved that Snyder made it simple to understand because there are multiple theories in existence and while I mostly understand them, I feel like the intended audience may not.
• Ming – This is Lyra’s mother and frankly she’s kind of a genius parent although also a little absent at times. Whether her daughter is giving her sass, illegally worming into the Q-net or needing emotional support, Ming is mostly available and an absolute pro at it.
• Lyra’s various commanding officers – these people do not take shit from anyone. While all are amazing, each has their own special quality. One is sarcastic and will take the piss whenever she can, another is a prickly bugger who has a heart of gold, while yet another is just friend goals and always willing to save Lyra from her dumbass self.
What wasn’t my cup of tea
• The first half having no action and then suddenly stuff happens super quickly in the last 150 pages – I understand slow burn. A LOT of people love a slow burn. Its just not my thing. And its nothing against Snyder either. I just like things being punchy.
• I’ve read the whole book (most of it twice) but I still don’t get what the hell the deal is with the damn markings – so there’s markings on a tablet and they mean stuff. Its attempted to be explained as to their significance and how they enact with the other worlds. But I’m still so damned confused about what the hell is happening that I just kind of started to skim over the bits where they were mentioned.
• The massive plot twist about the identity of ‘The Boss’ – I hate to say it but CALLED IT! It was made a little obvious from around 1/3 of the way through as to who the mystery thief was. Its quite possible that I just found it predictable because I average 100 books a year, but I mean, the crumbs were more like wholearse slices of bread.
• The emphasis that was put onto a character near the beginning and then NEVER AGAIN! – I get secondary characters; they give the reader another person onto which to cling. They provide opportunities for important dialogue. But it really kind of irks me when you deliberately include someone in a plot and then just BAM the persons gone. No one knows where or why, just gone…
So, what I’m saying is that I neither loved nor hated it instead it’s a novel that I found slightly better than average when all aspects were taken into account. It had some really good potential once it started to get to the interesting stuff and we are introduced to the Big Bad. I quite enjoyed the simplicity of the time jumps (time travels normally around the wormhole but those inside aren’t subject to its passage), it’s simplified version of a theory that has been discussed relating to space travel. While Lyra was tempestuous and argumentative, she is also super smart and sassy – I will admit however that I wanted to yell at her to just do as she’s damn well told a couple of times. Overall, it’s a book that lays some epic groundwork for further instalments in the series. I just hope they are a little better paced and a tad less predictable.
Ok. The premise of this was intriguing. There’s space travel, intrigue, cute boys and kidnappers. A 17 year old girl takes the forefront and poops all over the abilities of most of her elders when it comes to infiltrating the Q-Net (it’s like the internet but functions across space and time). It should have been amazing! Alas I was just a tad underwhelmed. Maybe I am jaded towards YA atm, maybe I just didn’t ‘get’ it. Who knows? But here's the breakdown.
What did I love?
• The wormhole travel – So in order to traverse space, passenger vessels fold time and space in a way that can only be described as pinching it in the middle. Now this cannot be achieved unless one is at a ‘Crinkle Zone’ and there is not another body anywhere close otherwise Holy Batman, you’re gonna have issues. I really loved that Snyder made it simple to understand because there are multiple theories in existence and while I mostly understand them, I feel like the intended audience may not.
• Ming – This is Lyra’s mother and frankly she’s kind of a genius parent although also a little absent at times. Whether her daughter is giving her sass, illegally worming into the Q-net or needing emotional support, Ming is mostly available and an absolute pro at it.
• Lyra’s various commanding officers – these people do not take shit from anyone. While all are amazing, each has their own special quality. One is sarcastic and will take the piss whenever she can, another is a prickly bugger who has a heart of gold, while yet another is just friend goals and always willing to save Lyra from her dumbass self.
What wasn’t my cup of tea
• The first half having no action and then suddenly stuff happens super quickly in the last 150 pages – I understand slow burn. A LOT of people love a slow burn. Its just not my thing. And its nothing against Snyder either. I just like things being punchy.
• I’ve read the whole book (most of it twice) but I still don’t get what the hell the deal is with the damn markings – so there’s markings on a tablet and they mean stuff. Its attempted to be explained as to their significance and how they enact with the other worlds. But I’m still so damned confused about what the hell is happening that I just kind of started to skim over the bits where they were mentioned.
• The massive plot twist about the identity of ‘The Boss’ – I hate to say it but CALLED IT! It was made a little obvious from around 1/3 of the way through as to who the mystery thief was. Its quite possible that I just found it predictable because I average 100 books a year, but I mean, the crumbs were more like wholearse slices of bread.
• The emphasis that was put onto a character near the beginning and then NEVER AGAIN! – I get secondary characters; they give the reader another person onto which to cling. They provide opportunities for important dialogue. But it really kind of irks me when you deliberately include someone in a plot and then just BAM the persons gone. No one knows where or why, just gone…
So, what I’m saying is that I neither loved nor hated it instead it’s a novel that I found slightly better than average when all aspects were taken into account. It had some really good potential once it started to get to the interesting stuff and we are introduced to the Big Bad. I quite enjoyed the simplicity of the time jumps (time travels normally around the wormhole but those inside aren’t subject to its passage), it’s simplified version of a theory that has been discussed relating to space travel. While Lyra was tempestuous and argumentative, she is also super smart and sassy – I will admit however that I wanted to yell at her to just do as she’s damn well told a couple of times. Overall, it’s a book that lays some epic groundwork for further instalments in the series. I just hope they are a little better paced and a tad less predictable.