Published: December 10, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Series: Starbound Trilogy #1
Acquired: Paperback
Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive -- alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth.
Taking a break from reading contemporaries because I need some fantasy/sci-fi in my life. On a whim, I decided to pluck this out of my shelf. Can I just say that this cover is the most beautiful cover I have ever seen? It's perfect for #bookstagram, I swear.
I enjoyed this book. It had the right amount of mystery and sci-fi and of course, romance. It reminded me of Titanic, minus the tragic ending, because, you know, it involves a carrier crashing but this time, it's in hyperspace. Icarus is considered to be one of the best spaceliners out there, just like Titanic was back in the day.
Lilac, aside from the fact that she's uber rich, is knowledgeable on technology and engineering which blew Tarver away. She has lived a life constantly protected by her father that she wants to break free. So, when spaceliner Icarus malfunctioned, she drags Tarver with her into an escape pod. During the whole process though, Tarver was so dumbfounded that this girl, underneath all that class, is a lot of brain.
They come crashing down into an unknown planet and this time Tarver takes the lead. Trained war hero, Tarver takes Lilac into this unknown planet in the hopes of surviving in the said planet. This is where their hate for each other grows. Lilac is still hopeful that a rescue ship will come and find them soon and that somehow, Icarus survived. Tarver is not feeling hopeful.
There's a lot of emotional baggage in this story that made me love Tarver and Lilac because they became so real to me. The mystery just added a lot of drama into the mix. They were both in this unknown planet and suddenly there are voices drawing Tarver and Lilac to a different place that changed their lives altogether.
Change their lives they did. I was blown away by the turn of the events as I neared the end of the book. I DID NOT EXPECT THAT. I'm at a loss for words right now because that's how amazing the story was.
Even if you're not a fan of sci-fi because admittedly they are very confusing. But this one can be the sci-fi book to draw you in.
Amie Kaufman is the New York Times bestselling co-author of These Broken Stars and This Shattered World, and Illuminae, the first in a new series starting in 2015. She writes science fiction and fantasy for teens, and her favourite procrastination techniques involve chocolate, baking, sailing, excellent books and TV, plotting and executing overseas travel, and napping.
She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband, their rescue dog, and her considerable library. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.
Meagan Spooner grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a degree in playwriting, and has spent several years since then living in Australia. She's traveled with her family all over the world to places like Egypt, South Africa, the Arctic, Greece, Antarctica, and the Galapagos, and there's a bit of every trip in every story she writes.
She currently lives and writes in Asheville, North Carolina, but the siren call of travel is hard to resist, and there's no telling how long she'll stay there.
In her spare time she plays guitar, plays video games, plays with her cat, and reads.
