A review by crisjane
Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

4.0

I started reading this book curious to learn how Claudia Gray would humanize Abel. How could a person love a robot? It seems unlikely to be a genuine, reciprocated love. Halfway through the book I saw it happening. I could see Abel as someone with a soul. More importantly, as I was reading, I was encouraged to think about what makes a person a person. How autonomous are we, really? What really makes us different than AI? Our current human society can be seen as immoral in the most shameful of ways. We destroy a planet that does not belong to us, a planet that many other creatures and lovely living things depend on. We kill each other. We torture. We abuse and misuse people, animals, resources, and ourselves. When I went into the book thinking a relationship between a human being and a very advanced robot / mech sounded dumb because robots don’t have souls and are not as complex as humans. But as the story proceeds, I start to think more about the wasted potential of humanity. The book touches on some topics like war, hunger, community, rivalries, life and death, loneliness, relationships, love, perseverance, values. I was having fun while reading but it also forced me to reflect on current conditions in the world and my role in it. The main reason I won't give it 5 stars is that I was looking for a deeper look into this world where a robot becomes human and is capable of love! That's so interesting and could have been explored more. I would have liked to read more about that rather than all the action scenes.