These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (ARC)

These Broken Stars
Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
Exp. Pub.: December 10, 2113 TODAY!!!

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 into 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 here 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.

I heart Tarver and Lilac (though I'm not particularly fond of their names).

Tarver Merendsen is a war hero, though if  you asked him, he'd tell you it was undeserved. Unfortunately, he's now bound to mingle with higher society and put forth a good face for the military, which is why he even crosses paths with Miss Lilac LaRoux. Why is she high society? Because her father was the brains behind the spacecraft they were traveling in, which actually bends space in a manner that gets them to hyperjump huge distances. Even though Tarver is worthy to mix with Lilac's society, it's still his duty to know his place, and know that speaking with her will land him back into the war, right smack on the frontline where his life would expire rather quickly. The first time Lilac draws his attention, he didn't realize who she was. But she was kind until her party arrived, and she was forced to treat him like the dirt he apparently was from there on out.

 

When the ship begins falling out of hyperspace unwillingly, everyone is forced into their lifepods. On his way to his own, Tarver has the unfortunate displeasure of saving Lilac from a stampede which separates her from her party. Forced to let him escort her to safety, Lilac guides them to an area of the ship where she knows lifepods won't be assigned to those filling the jammed corridors. When the ship loses power, Lilac has to get down and dirty to get their pod activated and separated from the ship before it completely comes out of hyperdrive and kills them both. Long story short, their pod is the only one to break free and avoid a major crash, leaving them the only two people left alive on an unfamiliar world. The world was clearly terraformed for human life, but for reasons unknown, it's been abandoned. Deciding their best bet is to hike to the main spacecraft, they set off on a journey that will have them questioning their sanity and the rules of a society they may never be apart of again.

 

I absolutely adored this! If you liked Beth Revis' Across the Universe, These Broken Stars was even better! Tarver and Lilac have such strong, engaging personalities that they alone kept me glued to my kindle all night long. Right from the beginning you can sense their attraction bound by a leash, and although they try to avoid one another for both their sakes, getting stranded on a world with no one else kind of makes propriety a pain to deal with. Right now, they need each other. Tarver is the brawns, who has the survival skills to get them through the rough terrain and Lilac is the brains, who knows exactly how to get out an emergency S.O.S. signal to get them rescued. But their clashing personalities was only one entertaining part of this novel. There seems to be something inhabiting that world after all, and it has them constantly questioning whether or not what they're seeing and hearing is real, or if it's just PTSD or hallucinations from malnutrition and dehydration. Once they finally let bygones be bygones and begin to realize they may never get off that planet, emotions come into play, making them wonder if rescue is something they really even want anymore. Because really, who wants to live in a world where their love is forbidden?

Pick it up peeps. You won't regret this one.

ARC provided by Disney Hyperion for honest review.