Thursday, December 11, 2014

Review: This Shattered World

THIS SHATTERED WORLD
Starbound #2
Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Young Adult/Sci-Fi
390 pages
Disney-Hyperion
Available December 23rd
Source: BEA

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
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.


MY THOUGHTS
This Shattered World takes us to a perpetually cloud-covered Avon, a planet on the brink of war as the restlessness of the native inhabitants edges toward a breaking point with the military personnel assigned to keep the peace. While we’re easily caught up in the tension between the two sides, in the back of our minds we can’t help but wonder how Lee and Flynn’s story is going to tie in with that of Lilac and Tarver's, straining a bit to remember just what happened to them when the Icarus crashed. It isn’t until about the halfway point when the two stories start to converge, and once they do, we simply cannot turn the pages fast enough to see how things are going to play out.

Lee is quite the departure from Lilac (at least the Lilac at the beginning of These Broken Stars), physically and mentally strong and always battle-ready, prepared for whatever threat is going to come her way. While Flynn does manage to overpower her in the opening chapters, she never stops fighting, even if that fight consists of a quiet defiance that brings a smile to our faces. Though she's constantly thinking of ways to escape Flynn and return to base, she’s not so singularly focused that she doesn’t realize things with the rebels are not entirely what they seem, and it doesn’t take her long before she starts to believe in Flynn and his theories that something more is going on with Avon than simple unrest.

Flynn is much like Lee, beautifully open to the possibility that what he thought he knew or what he’s been told is not the only side to the story, allowing himself to trust a young woman whose reputation for being cold and ruthless precedes her. His affection for her is understandably and thankfully slow in coming, their romance developing at the perfect pace given the level of distrust that exists between the military and the rebels. There are no declarations of love between them, just the simple development of a bond that has the potential to turn into love, and it’s nothing if not satisfying to watch it form in the midst of increasing hostility.

Overall, This Shattered World is a strong companion to These Broken Stars, taking just a little while to completely draw us in given the way our minds question the link between Lee and Flynn and Lilac and Tarver, but growing in intensity with every chapter. We end desperately wanting to wipe the utterly insincere grin from Roderick LaRoux’s face with a good hard smack, already counting the days until the next book releases and hoping against hope that he’ll get what he so rightfully deserves.

Rating: 4/5
 

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This book was given to me by the publisher at BEA free of charge for the purpose of a review
I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

28 comments:

  1. I just love the covers of this series. I haven't read the first book but I heard a lot about it. I know one day I should try it but well, I'm soooooooo long. Glad this one was great too!

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    1. Me too! They're gorgeous:) Hope you get a chance to try this series Melliane!

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  2. Great review! I picked this book up last week, but had a hard time getting into it, which I thought was weird since Those Broken Stars was one of my favorite reads last year. I think I will give a try again based on your review.

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    1. It took me a little while too Christina, but once the connection between the two stories was made apparent, things really picked up for me:)

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  3. I'm glad that this turned out to be satisfying read for you, Jenny. I know that Tanja loved first book, she'll be happy to hear that sequel is just as good.

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  4. Man, I do love a character who needs a good slap... especially if he gets exactly what he deserves. (Eventually.)

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    1. Then you would LOVE Lilac's father (the heroine of book 1). He's something special indeed:)

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  5. Your last sentence? PERFECT. I basically feel that so strongly after this installment, you have no idea. Gorgeous review, dear--I loved this one too. :)

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    1. I hate him Keertana. With every fiber of my being:)

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  6. I have been seeing so many glowing reviews for this Jenny and now after reading your's, I just know I need to read this series!

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    1. I really think you''ll enjoy it Ali, we seem to like the same things:)

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  7. this was really a good review ,, make me want to read this book ,, but first i will have to read the first one first :) AWESOME review as usual

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    1. Definitely read the first one! This is a companion novel in that the two main characters are different, but the two books tie together for sure:)

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  8. I struggled just a little bit with These Broken Stars, but I'm happy to hear that this one seems like it would work much better for me. I certainly love the sound of both the characters being strong and the romance sounds perfect for me too.
    Beautiful review! :)

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    1. I'd be interested to see if this worked better for you Nick! I'm really looking forward to the last book, I need Roderic LaRoux to get his comeuppance:)

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  9. I just finished this one last night and I struggled a bit with the beginning but once Tarver and Lilac pop back in, I was all in. I enjoyed this one, but didn't love it quite as much as These Broken Stars. Still I am most impressed with this series. Glad you are too.

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    1. Same here Heidi! I loved how the two stories tied together, and I can't wait to see what's going to happen on Corinth:)

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  10. I have been rather avoiding reading reviews for this one because I didn't want to spoil myself but your review is totally spoiler free and exactly what I wanted to know about the book! I'm so happy you loved it and I cannot wait till I can read my own copy!
    Great review Jenny!

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    1. I try to make my reviews spoiler free! Hope you love it Pili:)

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  11. I'm so glad you enjoyed the story, Jenny! Can you believe I finally just read These Broken Stars, and This Night So Dark. Now I'm filled with high anticipation *grabby hands* for Lee and Flynn’s story. I'm excited for the new setting and the two story's merging storylines you mentioned since it's all fresh in my mind.
    Lovely review as always :)

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    1. YAY! Hope you love it Kim! I think it might have been helpful for me to reread a few parts of These Broken Stars, I couldn't remember everything that happened toward the end:)

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  12. I definitely agree with everything you said Jenny. When I first started it, it took me a while to get into this one, and I was a bit thrown off with the in between chapter parts, but once everything was explained - I WAS HOOKED.

    I can't wait to see what the third book will bring!

    Amber Elise @ Du Livre

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  13. Awesome cover, though it would have been better if it had looked more fierce

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  14. I have the first book, and I might actually have this one too. I'm not sure... but I really need to read them!

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  15. I loved the slow burn of this romance and the fact that these characters are so different from the previous. I LOVED seeing Lilac and Tarver from another perspective and also getting more of the overall plot. That LaRoux is up to very BAD THINGS. He must be stopped. So happy you enjoyed this as well. Hope you're well! I haven't been around as much but trying to get back at it.

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  16. Yay! Can't wait to read it (yet another book that languishes on my shelf when i know I should read now).

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