These broken stars

4 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve read other books from these authors and really enjoyed them, and this book didn’t disappoint. I read it in two days!

Our two main characters are traveling through hyperspace on a luxury spaceliner named Icarus. Lilac is the 16 year old daughter of the richest man in the universe. Her father is overprotective and doesn’t let Lilac go anywhere alone. She has bodyguards with her 24/7 and he actively discourages any boy from showing interest in his daughter. Lilac, never knowing if someone wants to be near her for her money, influence or access to her father, has built up a protective wall around her to keep everyone at a distance. She works hard to project an aura that she is superficial and flighty.

Tarver is an 18 year old soldier from a small country family with no influence. His father is a teacher and his mother is a poet. Tarver has had a very active military career and showed heroics in battle. This resulted in him being promoted to Major at only 18. One of his duties on Icarus is to rub elbows with the elite and pose for photo ops. It’s a duty he detests and wants nothing more than to go back to his regular duties.

When Icarus is jolted out of hyperspace and begins to falter, the 50,000 people on board panic. Lilac and Tarver are caught up in the chaos and find themselves alone in an escape pod. As Icarus loses power, the escape pod electronics stall and they can’t eject from the ship. Using skills she learned as a young child, Lilac gets the pod free from the ship and they hurtle toward an unknown planet. The pod crashes and the two miraculously survive. The planet appears to be in the early stages of terraforming, but they can’t find any colonies. More disturbing, they don’t find any other survivors from the crash. Desperate to find the crashed ship and increase their hopes of a recovery vessel finding them, Lilac and Tarver set out on an long trek across a foreign landscape to seek help. But not all is at it seems, and the couple face more danger to their survival than just the elements.

This book is told by Lilac and Tarver in alternating chapters. The characters are likeable and the action is non-stop. There is not a lot of worldbuilding, but you get enough to understand the dynamics of the story. The story is very engaging and I had a hard time putting the book down. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in the trilogy.