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Strangely, I never read more in the Starbound series after I read These Broken Stars. These books were the early days of Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner’s collaboration, and TBS felt stand-alone, sufficient for me at the time.
So recently, when I felt in the mood for more of their stories, I realized I had left two unread! Perfect! I had something to read.
Each of the three books in this series focuses primarily on one set of young lovers-to-be. In this book, we meet Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac. Jubilee, just Lee to her fellow soldiers, is a hardcore captain who’s known as “Stone-faced Chase.” She works hard and her work is her life. She’s stationed on Avon, a terraformed planet that, for some reason, has yet to become fully livable. The troops are there to put down rebellions by the planet’s colonists.
Flynn is one of the colonists. He’s a leader of a group of rebels who are incensed that the big corporations that brought their ancestors there haven’t fulfilled their end of the bargain to make Avon truly hospitable.
Jubilee and Flynn are enemies: they have every reason to hate and even fear each other. Then Flynn kidnaps Jubilee to try to gain some leverage in the conflict, and they slowly learn that they may have a common enemy instead.
Strange things are happening on Avon, but few people are paying much attention to why. And the cause is beyond belief, a reason for Jubilee and Flynn to work together. But they really need Flynn’s people and the troops to work together, too, which is a tall order. If they can manage it, they may uncover a secret that could ruin one of the most powerful and wealthy men in the galaxy.
This Shattered World is a compelling young adult science fiction book. It has the same elements of romance, mystery, and intrigue as These Broken Stars but is even more action-packed. This book is a good bit more violent. There’s just a lot of fighting going on among all the groups involved. I enjoyed it but probably not quite as much as the first. But then there’s a lot more that will need to happen in the conclusion of the series, Their Fractured Light. I’m looking forward to seeing how it will all be resolved.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 1 use of strong language, about a dozen instances of moderate profanity, 35 uses of mild language, and about 20 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Violence is frequent: the story is set on a planet occupied by military forces. Rebels and military had openly battled a decade before and there’s been a cease-fire, but there are still incidents of killings. Here, a there are several mass killings and a number of fights, killings and injuries. There are some brief gory details. There are instances of characters drinking a lot and getting hangovers.
