These Broken Stars: My Thoughts, a Fun Fact and a Blog Tour Giveaway
These Broken Stars (Starbound #1)
by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner
To be published on December 10, 2013
by Disney-Hyperion
Source: Thanks to Disney-Hyperion for approving me for an e-ARC on Netgalley. My full FTC disclosure is on the right sidebar.
Summary provided by authors: It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever? Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.
My (brief) thoughts, to be expanded upon on Goodreads soon: Based on the cover and synopsis, this book was not at all what I expected. I mean, this might be the most gorgeous YA cover of 2013 — the stars, the billowy dress and hair, the fingers just about to touch….
Whoops, wrong sci-fi fingers. But I will come back to the cover AND the correct fingers later; just bear with me…
So, given the cover and the equally awesome names of the main characters, I went in expecting a swooningly romantic, high drama story with tons of glamour. For the first few chapters, it seemed like that’s where the book was going: rich girl and regular-guy-made-good, both aboard this gigantic spaceship, noticing each other. As other bloggers have mentioned, at first the book had a Titanic In Space kind of feel. But then the spaceship crashes, and Lilac and Tarver escape.
The next 200+ pages of the book are a survival story — Lilac and Tarver tramp around a new planet, looking for food, supplies, and other survivors. This part of the story was interesting, but survival stories aren’t my favorite, and the glamour I was imagining was gone, and I became a little skeptical as to where things were headed. (Note: Lilac does do much of the tramping around wearing aforementioned billowy dress, so this cover is not one of those annoying “slap a pretty dress on the front so girls will read it” YA covers.) At this point, the story was reminding me a lot of Under the Never Sky — the pampered girl/tougher guy relationship dynamic and all the roaming.
Then Lilac starts hearing voices. Tarver tells her this is probably because she hit her head. But a very spooky vibe starts to develop and then something pretty surprising happens. So surprising that … wow… I felt even more skeptical, because … what??? But then, as the story continued, that very surprising plot twist made the book work for me. And the fingers, which I now can’t stop staring at, took on a new significance.
It’s rare that a book can really surprise me, but this one did! I also love the fact that These Broken Stars will be part of a set of companion books, each featuring a different couple.
As part of the These Broken Stars Promo, here’s my Fun Fact from authors Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner:
“We did a lot of research on survival skills for this book, and we were particularly freaked out to discover just how many nasty bacteria can be lurking in that crystal clear mountain stream that looks so safe! Despite the common idea that ‘spring water’ is just scooped up from some gorgeous, tinkling stream winding its way through the mountains and poured straight into a bottle for you, it turns out purification is definitely required! We realized this would be a common problem for soldiers on new planets. We didn’t think it would be feasible for them all to stop and continually boil water for twenty minutes each time, and the problem with purification tablets is you can run out of them. This was the reason we built a water filter straight into Tarver’s canteen–and this is technology that’s available today. That’s just one of the tiny details that go into world building!”
Thank you for more information about this! I was definitely thinking swoony romance based on the cover but now I'm looking forward to the other elements that are included. I have this on my reading schedule for next week and hope I like it too!
Can't wait to hear what you think. The romance was different than I expected — there was a spark, then a very slow build, then that very surprising twist….
I had mixed feeling about picking this up – I had opportunity to read it, but I gave up after 20%. I just couldn't get into the story.:/
Glass @ Way Too Hot Books
Sorry to hear that — I definitely did not expect all the survival stuff!
I'm not big on survival stories either–but I did LOVE the unexpected twists in this book:)
I was so taken aback by that one major twist but then it really made the whole story come together for me. And I'm laughing that my fun fact is about survival and bacteria — I'm going to have to get one of those special canteens…
I love this book. Nowadays, it's quite rare to find an enjoyable space-themed Romance but I guess it's because this one, though, romantic in its own way, was premodinantly about how two people's survival at first.
Cool fun facts! 🙂
Exactly — it was romantic in the end, just not the kind of romance I was expecting!
Great to hear it was surprizing, I will have to check it out.
Definitely!!
I loved this one! Like the sci-fi fingers there!
I read this recently and, like you, I was really surprised by it! I really enjoyed it and not I can't wait to check out the companion novel. Great review and fun fact!
Janina @ Synchronized Reading
Can't wait to see your expanded review. This was super fun! I really enjoyed Under the Never Sky, so I think between that and what you said – that the twists made this one work for you – I should really enjoy this one. 🙂
Based on your thoughts, I'm picking this one up!
I've seem other reviewers who really loved this one and I'm excited for it, but I love that this book actually surprised you. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm walking into with this book and that's probably one of the main reasons I can't wait to read it!
Yeah, I definitely enjoyed this one. There were moments when I wasn't sure, but then the twists and …. odd things happened. It was interesting, that's for sure.
I ADORED this book! I love survival stories, but I was totally surprised to find out that this was, in fact a survival story. The blurb doesn't indicate that at all. The ending left me gob-smacked! Phewf…just epic. It goes down as one of my favourite reads of the year. I loved Lilac and Tarver's relationship (a.k.a the bickering). XD
I also liked your sci-fi fingers picture. The first one. 😉
I love survivor stories so I think I'll like this one. And although I suppose a pretty dress on a cover isn't the most fitting image, I think it's gorgeous and so I'm okay with it! I'm really curious about this twist though. Hmm.
-P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex
My friend had the chance to read this early and she loved it! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy too!
I will have to think about this one–you have me intrigued when you say it surprised you because I know how much of a reader you are. You would be a hard person to surprise, but survival stuff for so many pages. I am uncertain, but that isn't always a bad thing. 🙂
YAY! Loved this post and book!!
Great post! I love the fun fact! Although I hate to think about where "mountain spring water" actually comes from.
For awhile this was my maybe like…then I. Saw it blow up around the blogosphere and was like whoa, my friends really like this…so now it's on my TBR definitely. Lately I haven't been much in the mood for survival or dystopian, but I know when the moods strikes this would be perfect!
–Dee's Reads
I'm glad you trekked on psat the survival stuff to get to the twist! I wasn't expecting that at all! LOVE when something can surprise you. Glad you ended up enjoying it!
Oooh, I haven't thought about it that waay before but I can totally see it! I already feel the urge to re-read it haha. Thanks for sharing the fun fact about the cover!
I'm starting this today!
Your hint-dropping has me all kinds of curious about what is going to happen in this book. I already wanted to read it, but NOW I REALLY want to read it. I need to know the significance of the fingers touching. I want to know about the voices. And the questions go on and on…
I started the first chapter last week and then got swept up with school. This book is on my Thanksgiving to do list, though! I'm so excited to read it and thankful that you gave me a map for the story, because you know how I feel about not knowing what's coming.
I just saw a review on goodread saying TBS is one of the best books of 2013! I'm really excited to read it!
So excited for this, and all the hints about the books have me so curious. I'm really looking forward to the actual survival part on the plantet as well as the romance 🙂
Sounds great, can't wait to check it out!
So excited for this book, seriously c: More so than maybe any book in 2013! Very intrigued by the twist you mentioned