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A review by laelyn
Made of Stars by Jenna Voris
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!