Book Review: Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: Their Fractured Light (Starbound #3)
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pulishing Date: December 1st 2015
Length: 432 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, sci-fi, romance, friendship, space travel, war
Source: Bought

A year ago, Flynn Cormac and Jubilee Chase made the now infamous Avon Broadcast, calling on the galaxy to witness for their planet, and protect them from destruction. Some say Flynn’s a madman, others whisper about conspiracies. Nobody knows the truth. A year before that, Tarver Merendsen and Lilac LaRoux were rescued from a terrible shipwreck—now, they live a public life in front of the cameras, and a secret life away from the world’s gaze.

Now, in the center of the universe on the planet of Corinth, all four are about to collide with two new players, who will bring the fight against LaRoux Industries to a head. Gideon Marchant is an eighteen-year-old computer hacker—a whiz kid and an urban warrior. He’ll climb, abseil and worm his way past the best security measures to pull off onsite hacks that others don’t dare touch.

Sofia Quinn has a killer smile, and by the time you’re done noticing it, she’s got you offering up your wallet, your car, and anything else she desires. She holds LaRoux Industries responsible for the mysterious death of her father and is out for revenge at any cost.

When a LaRoux Industries security breach interrupts Gideon and Sofia’s separate attempts to infiltrate their headquarters, they’re forced to work together to escape. Each of them has their own reason for wanting to take down LaRoux Industries, and neither trusts the other. But working together might be the best chance they have to expose the secrets LRI is so desperate to hide.

Summary by Goodreads 

THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT was one of my most anticipated books to be released in 2015. It's been a long wait until I could finally start the third book in the STARBOUND trilogy but it was so worth it! In each instalment Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner introduced us to a new pair of protagonists who were always very likely to fall in love. And THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT is no different. We have the pleasure to meet Sofia, a real con artist, and Gideon, the universe`s most skilled hacker. Their first meeting is just as explosive and heated as Lilac and Tarver and Jubilee and Flynn's first encounters in the previous books. What a dynamic jump into the story!

What I loved most about THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT is that we get to meet our two other favourite STARBOUND couples again. Lilac and Tarver have been there from the very beginning of the story and they are there when it all comes to an end. Just like Jubilee and Flynn, who are at the side of their best friends when the final battle decends upon them. Sofia and Gideon are the perfect addition to this group of friends. They fit together so naturally you can't but adore them.
   Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner write the best characters anyway! Their writing in general is so vivid and strong I can't help getting sucked into their stories again and again... and again.

So much has happened since THESE BROKEN STARS and I couldn't be happier about THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT finally uniting the stories of our six beloved STARBOUND protagonists. The conspiracy dots are connecting to constellations and the story is striving towards a finale like a super nova. In the end THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT is a brilliant and very fulfilling conclusion to the STARBOUND series, solving the mystery of the whispers we encountered in the first book and inducing the big showdown of our friends against the power-hungry Roderick LaRoux.

THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT has so much to offer. We get to explore the planet of Corinth, which creates a rich and diverse background to our story. There is this very sweet love story between Sofia and Gideon and the friendship between all of our STARBOUND heroes. In addition lots of hacking business, chases and battles are upping the thrill factor to maximum.

   The stories of THESE BROKEN STARS, THIS SHATTERED WORLD and THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT connect to one big and brilliant reading experience. And the last book in the STARBOUND series really ends on a beautiful and hopeful message. Thank you Amie and Meagan!

5/5 ***** THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT - A stellar, quick-witted and very beautiful conclusion to my favourite space trilogy! 

With the STARBOUND trilogy Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner created a marvellous reading experience for every fan of...well, words. Yes, THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT and its companions are that good! I'm in love with every fibre of Amie and Meagan's STARBOUND universe!

"I slide my other hand past the hacker's lap, toward the door controls, the movement quick but smooth. The driver's going to get over his confusion and outrage at some point, and I need to get the door open so we can bolt. I'm about to palm the scanner when the boy's lips curve under mine  – he's smiling, grinning – and it's the only warning I get before he's parting his lips and taking full advantage of my ploy by trying to stick his tongue down my throat. 

Asshole." – p. 32

THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT you might enjoy AVALON by Mindee Arnett, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis and  GLITCH by Heather Anastasiu.

* Read THIS NIGHT SO DARK, the prequel to THIS SHATTERED WORLD.

* Click here to read an excerpt of THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT!

* For more information about Amie and Meagan visit www.meaganspooner.com and www.amiekaufman.com.

Book Review: This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: This Shattered World (Starbound #2)
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publishing Date: December 23rd 2014
Length: 390 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, sci-fi, space travel, romance, war 
Source: Netgalley

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.

Summary by Goodreads

In the fashion of THESE BROKEN STARS, THIS SHATTERED WORLD is told from two alternating perspectives by two very different characters. Jubilee is a soldier, trained by the government in order to keep order and peace. Flynn is a rebel and set on freeing his planet, Avon, from the military's tight reign. Avon's problems are their private problems, too, which definitely makes them star-crossed lovers. The two fight against each other. And when they know they can trust each other, they are fighting for the war to finally end.

The moment Flynn and Jubilee meet in a bar for the first time, you just know that their relationship is not going to be easy. Both carry emotional baggage with them. They are both very intelligent characters strongly defined by their goals and their pasts. Jubilee's personality is shaped by very methodical thinking and rational acting patterns. Whereas Flynn is more the emotional and passionate type. You never know what happens next, because their romance isn't as predictable as people might think. Especially in times of war their romance is bitter-sweet and every second of their young lives is endangered.
   Many attacks and the whole rebellion in general are leaving us with many casualties, violent crimes and victims. This second book in the STARBOUND series is much more fast-paced than the first, the characters are always charged up, the action top-notch. 

The spaces in between chapters are filled with bits and pieces of the story of a little girl who is plagued by illusions and memories and who is also witnessing strange occurrences and feelings of fright and loneliness. I wasn't too interested in these parts. But as readers fast guess they are an important part of explaining Jubilee's past. 

Amie and Meagan explore what it means to be a female commander, to have a high-ranking position in the military. And on the other hand what it means to be the leader of a rebellion. While THESE BROKEN STARS was set in a very sparse and lonely setting with only two characters most of the story, THIS SHATTERED WORLD totally blew my mind. There are so many characters, changes of setting and plot surprises that make Jubilee and Flynn's story so great. 

Tarver and Lilac, the two THESE BROKEN STARS protagonists, make a guest appearance, too. They get involved in Jubilee's case and help her find a solution. Tarver is a friend of Jubilee and only the mention of his name made me one happy, giddy reader. Now I'm counting on all four of them to show up in the third book in the STARBOUND series again. It is the best when beloved characters come back!

5/5 ***** THIS SHATTERED WORLD - A war-torn planet, star-crossed lovers and a galactic conspiracy. What's not to love about the sequel to THESE BROKEN STARS?

Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner invite us to another planet of their marvellous story galaxy. They are definitely not holding back on evoking strong emotions in their readers every way they can. There are massive casualties in the rebellion on Avon and no one is safe. Not even our two lovers Jubilee and Flynn. How are we ever going to endure the wait for the last book in the STARBOUND trilogy?

"He tugs me off the main path and into the shadows between the bar and the supply shed next door. Then it hits me: I'm not going to make anyone run laps in the morning. I'm a military officer, being captured by a rebel. I'm probably never going to see my troops again, because I'll be dead by morning. 

With a snarl, I jam my hand back and down, sending the blade of the pink plastic cocktail sword deep into the guy's thigh. Before he has time to react, I give it a savage twist and snap off the hilt, leaving the hot-pink plastic embedded in the muscle. 

At least I won't go without a fight." ― p. 10

THIS SHATTERED WORLD you might enjoy AVALON by Mindee Arnett, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis and  GLITCH by Heather Anastasiu. Teens in space, rebelling, looking for freedom. Accompany them on their way to winning a big war with their enemies and themselves.

* Read THIS NIGHT SO DARK, the prequel to THIS SHATTERED WORLD.

* Click here to read an excerpt of THIS SHATTERED WORLD.

* For more information about Amie and Meagan visit www.meaganspooner.com and www.amiekaufman.com.

*Thanks to Disney Hyperion for providing me with a review copy via Netgalley!