Review: Their Fractured Light - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

A year ago Flynn Cormac and Jubilee Chase made the now-infamous Avon Broadcast, calling on the galaxy to witness LaRoux Industries' corruption. A year before that, Tarver Merendsen and Lilac LaRoux were the only survivors of the Icarus shipwreck, forced to live a double live after their rescue.

Now, at the centre of the galaxy on Corinth, all four are about to collide with two new players in the fight against LRI.

Gideon Marchant is an underworld hacker known as the Knave of Hearts, ready to climb and abseil his way past the best security measures on the planet to expose LRI's atrocities. Sofia Quinn, charming con artist, can work her way onto any stronghold without missing a beat. When a foiled attempt to infiltrate LRI Headquarters forces them into a fragile alliance, it's impossible to know who's playing whom - and whether they can ever learn to trust each other.

With their lives, loves, and loyalties at stake, only by joining forces with the Icarus survivors and Avon's protectors do they stand a chance of taking down the most powerful corporation in the galaxy - before LRI's secrets destroy them all.

The New York Times best-selling Starbound trilogy comes to a close with this dazzling final installment about the power of courage and hope in humanity's darkest hour.

Starbound Trilogy:
These Broken Stars
This Night So Dark (Novella)
This Shattered World
Their Fractured Light

Visit Amie Kaufman's website, Meagan Spooner's website or the These Broken Stars website for more information

Review:
I fell in love with this series when I read These Broken Stars last year so This Fractured Light was a book I couldn't wait to start reading. I've just had so much fun reading this trilogy, I love the epic scope of it, the way events unfold across such vast distances and how one man has managed to cause so much complete and utter mayhem throughout the universe.

The first half of this novel focuses on our new couple Gideon and Sofia. We've actually met both of these characters before (Gideon is the earth based hacker who helped Flynn and Jubilee make the Avon broadcast and Sofia is the friend who helped Flynn when he needed a place to hide) but it was really great to get to know them better. Sofia escaped Avon during the previous book and she's now on earth working hard to find a way to bring down LaRoux Industries who she blames for the atrocities carried out on Avon that caused the death of her father. Gideon has is own reasons for bringing down LRI and is equally determined to achieve his goal. The two cross paths when they're both making separate attempts to infiltrate the LRI headquarters and circumstances force them to work together to make their escape.

They've never met before and have no reason to trust each other now so their reluctant alliance doesn't last long but when Sofia's cover is blown and she is in desperate need of help she has nobody else to turn to. I really enjoyed the push and pull between these two, they're united because they have a common enemy but they don't know enough about each other to have full trust and it takes a long time for them to open up and start sharing their secrets. I don't think I loved them quite as much as the previous characters but I did think they made a really cute couple and they're both extremely brave and focused on their goals which was admirable.

In the second half of the book they meet up with the couples from the previous books and this is where things really kick off on the action front. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty going on in the first half too, but when all 3 couples get together they finally start putting enough of the pieces together to have a chance at bringing down LRI once and for all. I don't want to say too much about what happens but Lilac's father isn't going to give up on his goals without a fight and our group of friends aren't going to have an easy time of it. We also get to see snippets from the Whisper's POV and I found it really interesting looking at humanity through the lens of beings so completely other.

Overall this has been a fantastic trilogy and it's certainly one I'll reread in the future. Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner did a brilliant job of tying all the loose threads together and creating an incredibly satisfying ending. I'm going to miss these characters but I'm glad they went out on such a high note and I'll be keeping an eye out for more books from both of these authors in the future.

Source: Purchased

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Review: This Shattered World - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

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. His sister died in the original uprising against the powerful corporate conglomerate that rules Avon with an iron fist. These corporations make their fortune by terraforming uninhabitable planets across the universe and recruiting colonists to make the planets liveable, 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 against the military occupying his home, 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 base together, caught between two sides in a senseless war.

The stunning second novel in the Starbound trilogy is an unforgettable story of love and forgiveness in a world torn apart by war.

Starbound Trilogy:
These Broken Stars
This Night So Dark (Novella)
This Shattered World
Their Fractured Light

Visit Amie Kaufman's website, Meagan Spooner's website or the These Broken Stars website for more information

Review:
Having absolutely loved These Broken Stars I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of This Shattered World so I could dive back into the world that Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner created. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I first realised that Tarver and Lilac weren't going to be the main characters for the entire series but the more I thought about it the more I realised changing characters was the best way for us to be able to explore more of this universe. It was also a great opportunity to see another side of what Lilac's father has been getting up to and just how deep the conspiracy goes.

Jubilee, known as Lee to her friends, is an army captain and one of the best soldiers on Avon. It is her job to keep the rebel forces from causing all out war on the planet and she is very, very good at her job. Flynn is the leader of the rebels and he is determined to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict. All the rebels want is to find out why the terraforming of Avon is so far behind schedule and why they are being denied the supplies they so desperately need and they are sick of being ignored and pushed to one side. Some of Flynn's people are getting restless and threatening to revert to violence so Flynn knows he doesn't have long to come up with an alternative option to all out war. When Flynn manages to capture Lee he is hoping to use her safe release as a bargaining tool but when he realises her life is in danger from his people he is forced to change his plans.

I think one of the things I love most about this series is the sheer scale of the world building and it was really interesting to visit Avon and see the struggles the people there are facing. It was easy to understand why Flynn and the rebels were so desperate but that doesn't justify the lengths that some of them were willing to go to to get what they want. At the same time, although Lee and the other soldiers are only doing their jobs, it was harder to sympathise for them because you knew they weren't in the right. The trouble here is that the big corporations who pay for the terraforming are also the ones funding the army and their agenda is purely profit driven and doesn't focus on the lives of the people actually living on the planet.

Although I liked both Lee and Flynn I did have a bit of trouble with their relationship, things happen a little too quickly between them and considering the circumstances I struggled to believe their reactions. One time in particular Flynn has every reason to think that Lee has betrayed him and caused the death of some of his closest friends and family members yet he still takes her side without a second thought and walks away from everyone and everything he has ever known. I just couldn't understand why he would do that and it made me question his character. By the end of the book they had both grown on me and I was able to start rooting for them but I was never quite as invested in either of their characters as I was in Tarver and Lilac which is probably why their appearance was such a highlight for me.

While This Shattered World didn't quite manage to knock These Broken Stars off the series top spot it was still a fantastic read and I'm thoroughly enjoying this series. We've already met one of the main characters of the final book, Their Fractured Light, and I can tell you right now she's going to be fabulous. I have a feeling this trilogy is going to go out with a bang and I absolutely can't wait to see the downfall of LaRoux Industries!

Source: Received from Turnaround in exchange for an honest review

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Hardback:

Review: This Night So Dark - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Don’t miss the breathtaking short story that connects the first two novels in the Starbound trilogy, These Broken Stars and This Shattered World.

Tarver still has nightmares about the night, six months before the Icarus crash, when he rescued a group of civilian researchers being held hostage by brutal mercenaries. Now Tarver and Lilac must reconcile his memories of that fateful night with the truth that they uncovered on a mysterious planet after the Icarus crashed.

Includes three bonus preview chapters from This Shattered World! Download for free today for your e-reader or computer!

Starbound Trilogy:
These Broken Stars
This Night So Dark (Novella)
This Shattered World
Their Fractured Light

Visit Amie Kaufman's website, Meagan Spooner's website or the These Broken Stars website for more information

Review:
This Night So Dark is a free novella that can be downloaded from the These Broken Stars website here. I have to warn you that the story is shorter than it looks because nearly half of the ebook is taken up with sample chapters from both These Broken Stars and This Shattered World but although I would have liked it if the story was longer I can't really complain when the author's have offered this for free.

Although the main events in this story actually happened before events in These Broken Stars I wouldn't recommend reading this until after you've read the first book. People familiar with the first book will already know that Tarver is a war hero but we never really got much information about the mission that earned him that title. In This Night So Dark we find out what really happened in the form of flash backs as Tarver describes the event to Lilac after waking up from a nightmare.

I don't want to say too much about the plot but I will say it gives us some more insight into the kind of man Lilac's father is, it hints at the conspiracy that Tarver and Lilac have already started to uncover and I think it shows that there is even more going on under the surface that we don't know about yet. It was nice to see Tarver and Lilac together after their rescue but if I'm honest I really wanted a bit more information about what they're up to now. I was kind of disappointed when I found out that This Shattered World is about two different main characters because although I'm sure Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner will make me fall in love with them too I'm still going to miss Tarver and Lilac. Hopefully we'll still get a little information about them as the series continues, I have a feeling that Lilac is going to have a key role to play in stopping her father's plans so I'm confident we'll have to see more of her.

If you enjoyed These Broken Stars then you can't go wrong reading This Night So Dark, especially since it's free! It's always nice to be able to revisit characters and get more background information and this little novella achieves both of those goals and has left me eager to pick up the story in This Shattered World.

Source: Downloaded for free via the author's website HERE

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Review: These Broken Stars - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

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 to 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 in this place 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.

The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.

Starbound Trilogy:
These Broken Stars
This Night So Dark (Novella)
This Shattered World
Their Fractured Light

Visit Amie Kaufman's website, Meagan Spooner's website or the These Broken Stars website for more information

Review:
I'd heard great things about These Broken Stars but even though I had high hopes for the story I had no idea how much I would actually love it. As it turns out I was completely hooked from pretty much the first page and nothing could have got in the way and made me stop reading it! I was captured by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner's writing style, I wanted to dive into the world they have created and I fell head over heels for the main characters. This is the kind of book you want to live in, one you'd happily wipe from your memory banks just so you could experience reading it for the first time all over again and I can't wait to carry on reading the series.

Lilac is the daughter of the wealthiest man in the galaxy, she has lived a pampered life and been handed everything she could ever wish for. She is surrounded by people who adore her but she knows that most of them are only there because of her wealth and status so although she looks like she's living the dream she's actually rather lonely. As much as she loves her father she feels suffocated by him and she knows all too well what he will do in the name of protecting her and keeping her safe. Tarver is pretty much her opposite, born to a lower class family he is a soldier who has worked hard for everything he's ever had. As a war hero he now finds himself surrounded by the galaxy's elite travelling on the Icarus but he knows he is there more as an oddity to entertain them than because anyone really has any respect for him and he'd much rather be on the lower decks with his fellow soldiers. Lilac and Tarver aren't from the same social circles and there is no real reason for their paths to cross but fate throws them together when their ship crash lands on an unknown planet. Alone and in hostile conditions they are forced to work together to survive while they wait for rescue.

I don't want to say too much about what happens when they are on the planet but I loved every minute of it, they are fighting for survival while trying to figure out how the Icarus could crash the way it did but for every answer they find they end up with even more questions. Nothing makes sense and there is an even deeper mystery concerning the planet that they now find themselves stranded on. I think what I loved most about this book was the character development and the utterly delightful romance between Lilac and Tarver. I loved seeing their feelings slowly start to grow as they went from disdain for each other through reluctant respect and eventually into friendship and love.

Lilac can come across as quite cold and standoffish towards Tarver in the beginning which makes it really hard for him to get to know her but because we get to see things from both of their points of view readers can understand that she's doing it to protect him from her father. I liked the fact that even though she has been spoiled her whole life she isn't completely useless, she has some skills and even manages to save Tarver's life on more than one occasion. She never complains but instead grits her teeth and gets on with things. Tarver is much more experienced in survival matters but he doesn't pamper Lilac, he expects her to pull her weight but at the same time is happy to teach her what she needs to know. The two of them work really well together and I enjoyed spending time with them both.

These Broken Stars kept me on the edge of my seat, there was one particularly shocking twist that left me trying to pick my jaw off the floor and I'm still shocked by the way things played out but I love it when author's manage to pull on my heartstrings and that's exactly what happened here. I know it's only February but would be very surprised if this book isn't in my top 10 reads of 2015 and I absolutely can't wait to make a start on This Shattered World! If you love stories with rich world building and fantastic characters then you need to pick up this series today.

Source: Received from Turnaround in exchange for an honest review

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