My most recent book finish is "This Shattered World" by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. This is the second book in the Starbound Trilogy, and let me tell ya, it was fabulous.
Synopsis:
"The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.
Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.
Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.
Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.
Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war." (from Goodreads)
WARNING!!! If you haven't read the first book in the series, "These Broken Stars", and you plan to, you might want to stop reading now, because there could be a few accidental spoilers here. Also, if you haven't read the first book, I would suggest you read it before you read this one. There are connections that you'll need to make, and you'll need to have information from the first book to do so.
My Synopsis:
The rebels and the soldiers have been fighting for quite some time, and have recently entered into a cease fire. During this cease fire, Flynn runs into Jubilee on the military base, and decides to kidnap her in order to get some answers about why his planet has been so slow to be terraformed, why he and his people are forced to live with nothing, and he wants to ask questions about a secret facility that he stumbled across earlier that very same day. Flynn brings her to the rebel's base camp secretly, and while there, his comrades (or are they?) find her and are preparing to kill her, execution style. Instead of allowing this to happen, Flynn saves her and lets her return to the military base. This decision really does change his life forever.
Love eventually blossoms between Flynn and Jubilee. They are both fighting it. They think that they are two different, and that they have hurt each other too much for it to work. They feel that their people need them too much, but they give in. Their love is about forgiveness, and acceptance of each other and themselves. It is heart breaking and beautiful all at the same time.
My thoughts:
When I started this book, I was so disappointed that Lilac Laroux and Tarver Merendsen, the star crossed lovers from "These Broken Stars", were not the main characters. The first book was so full of mystery and love and plot twists, and it just a breath-taking story. I was sure that it was a book that I would have to suffer through. Boy, was I ever wrong.
I have to throw in that both Tarver and Lilac did make a cameo in the book, and I really appreciated how it tied the story together with the first book. It really needed it, and it just thrilled me that I would get to see more of their story, even if it was from afar. :)
This story is very different from the first, and I loved that about it. "These Broken Stars" was a little slow at first, and it was mostly about love and survival up until the last third of the book. "This Shattered World"was fast paced from the beginning. I flew through it!
There are similarities, some of which I can't get into because I don't want to completely ruin the book for you, but in the first book, Tarver is a soldier, determined and strong. He's very serious in the majority of the book. Lilac is a rich girl, that actually isn't all about parties and fashion and socialization. She longs to have a normal life, away from her manipulative father. In this book, Flynn is more like Lilac, except he has nothing. No home and no immediate family. He wants to end a war among his people. He wants to change the world, like Lilac wants to make a difference and stop her father. Jubilee is just like Tarver. She has lost more than he has, but personality wise, they are the same. They are all star-crossed, and each couple is perfect together. A match made in Heaven.
I seriously recommend this whole series to everyone who reads this. It is one of the best series I have ever read. EVER! It's the perfect mix of romance, fantasy, and science fiction.
Photo cred: readingaftermidnight.com (This blog site is amazing. Y'all go check it out!!)
Review for Their Fractured Light coming soon!!!!!
XOXO,
Eden
