Novel Review: Starfall (Starflight, #2) by Melissa Landers

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Sci-fi Romance

Publisher: Hyperion

Release Date: 2017

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Starflight 1.

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Princess Cassia Rose fled her home world of Eturia to escape an arranged marriage, she had no idea her sudden departure would spark a war. Now after two years hiding as a ship hand, she is finally returning to her beloved home, but not in the way she imagined. Shackled by bounty hunters, she is violently dragged back to account for her crimes. Her only solace is that the Banshee crew managed to evade capture, including Kane Arric, her best friend...with occasional benefits.

Meanwhile, Kane and the rest of the crew of the Banshee plan a desperate rescue mission. But when they arrive on Eturia, Cassia isn't exactly in need of heroics—she's claimed her birthright as Eturia's queen, but has inherited a war-torn planet simmering with rebellion. Cassia must make alliances, and Kane, the bastard son of a merchant, isn't a choice that will earn her any friends. Kane knows he will never find someone to replace Cassia—and is certain she returns his feelings—but how can he throw away his own promising future waiting on a queen?

When the outer realm is threatened by the dangerous Zhang mafia, Cassia, Kane and the rest of the Banshee crew uncover a horrifying conspiracy that endangers the entire universe. In the face of unspeakable evil, Cassia must confront her own family's complicated legacy on Eturia and decide once and for all who her real family is.

The Cover:

I really like these covers. They're pretty, and I love the colors and shiny parts. I appreciate this one shows Cassia going back to her planet, too, since now they're not running away from anything. Since the story doesn't focus overly on the romance, I like that the covers don't, either.

Review:

This book takes place quickly after the first one, only now we're following Cassia and Kane. I was intrigued by their relationship in the first book, and I'm always a sucker for childhood friend/friends to lovers stories. They're a favorite of mine, so I was actually looking forward to this one more than the first.

Similar to the first book, the romance takes a backseat compared to the action and main plot lines. For this book, it's that Cassia's home planet is looking for her. Only for her to find out that some big things have changed, and she actually needs to go back to try and settle things.

I really liked the idea behind Cassie being a runaway princess and going back to her kingdom to take her place back and make things right again. Some of it just didn't play out as well.

I think Cassia played it well, for the most part. She played it smart and did what she needed to in the moment, trusted who she thought she could and fought when needed. Cassie and Kane were actually separated for most of the book, and then there were clear conflicts, since Cassie and Kane grew up on very different sides of the kingdom. She was a princess, and he was a merchants son.

The way it played out wasn't terribly surprising—who was behind what, who was secretly and openly against her. And it was a fun story, for the most part. But certain parts went in odd directions, and some story lines got dragged out or seemed unnecessary. But I think part of that might be that this reads almost more like an adventure novel, more than a sci-fi or romance story.

All this to say, it was all right. I didn't mind it, but it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. The romance was rather subtle and not very intense, like I hoped it would be. I'll probably try another of Landers' novels at some point, but I'll have different expectations, I think.

Novel Review: Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Contemporary (+teenage mother)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publish Date: September 3rd, 2013

Spoilers?: Not more than the synopsis.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Can true love be built on lies? A teen on the run seeks relief and redemption in this gripping, romantic read.

Leah Kurtz has finally found a place to call home, a town where she and baby Addy can live in peace, far from the drug-infested place she grew up. Chris is one of the best parts of her new life, the only person who’s ever made her feel safe. And now that she’s found him, there’s no way she can tell the truth:

Her real name is Faith, not Leah. She’s seventeen, not nineteen. And the baby isn’t hers—Faith kidnapped her.

Faith’s history catches up with her when a cop starts asking questions and Chris’s aunt spots her picture in the newspaper. She knows it’s time to run again, but if Faith leaves, she’ll lose Chris. If Chris is in love with a lie, though, did Faith ever really have him in the first place?

Something Specific:

Quote:

• "'It is what it is. I can accept it or not.’ Her eyes meet mine. ‘I want him. So I accept it.’ […] She must really love Ken. Some people will ignore a lot to be with the person they love.” (ARC, pg. 195)

The Cover:

My biggest problem with the cover is that it looks like it's trying to do three different things at once, when it could work a lot better with only two of them. I'd prefer it not to have the big side of the face on the left, and only have the see-through girl and boy walking, but even just the face and the boy would work. The two girls just don't work together very well, and it looks weird.

Aside from that, I suppose it fits. The feeling of it works for the story, although it definitely could try to portray the story a lot better.

Review:

I hadn’t heard anything about this book when I saw it at the bookstore, and upon reading the synopsis, I was immediately hooked. And the first page really had me wanting to keep reading, as well. It’s always nice when a book has a good opening, and this one definitely does.

I don’t know why, but just about any book about a teenager with a baby has my immediate attention. Also one with an abusive partner or parent. Those are deal makers for me.

Faith, later known as Leah, has a bad home life. A horrible one, really. She only has her mom, who is horrible, and her older sister, who is alright and there for her but also trying to get out of their situation when she starts college in a couple months.

And I don’t really want to spoil what happens, because it was left a surprise for me and I really liked it, but Faith ends up with a baby, and runs away. Changes her name to Leah, steals a car, and drives to a different state. Lies about her age, but ends up meeting some really nice people, gets an apartment, and a job (kind of, for a while). But throughout all of it, even as she meets Chris and gets close with him, she’s lying about who she really is and what’s going on with her, and is constantly worried about getting caught.

I liked Faith, and understand her reasons for everything she did. Didn’t like some of it sometimes, but understood. I hated her mother, and wasn’t really a big fan of her sister all the time, but maybe I would have just liked to have gotten to know her better, have seen a more rounded character. I liked Chris and his family, and how they all reacted to Faith.

The ending had me guessing, as there were two ways it could have ended and I was really dreading it going in one direction. I ended up liking the ending, though, even though I’d have liked a little bit more of it. I also think I just would have liked more character and relationship development, as I don’t think those were fully fleshed out.

The writing was pretty average, but nice and easy to get to. This was a pretty easy read, not particularly slow although not super fast, and definitely not lighthearted. It deals with a somewhat heavy subject, and it doesn’t really put a light spin on it, which was nice. 

Overall, this was just a pretty good read. Kept my attention, was easy to get through; I liked the story, I liked the characters even if I’d have liked to get to know them all more.

Review: Angel Burn by L. A. Weatherly

4.5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Goodreads Synopsis:

Willow knows she’s different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people’s dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces, and that he’s one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil. In the first book in an action-packed, romantic trilogy, L..A. Weatherly sends readers on a thrill-ride of a road trip - and depicts the human race at the brink of a future as catastrophic as it is deceptively beautiful. They’re out for your soul . . . and they don’t have heaven in mind.

Review:

I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. Also, I'm not a big fan of angels, and haven't read much of them. But I do really like how the angels were done in this story. It was a really different take on them, with how they're evil and kind of killing people. And with Willow being half-angel, it was neat how she was different, and had her angel above her, and I liked what we saw of her connecting with the angel and attacking others. I'm interested to see more of that, as well as finding out more of how she came to be, since the angels shouldn't be able to reproduce with humans.

I liked the alternating point of views, as I usually do, as well as seeing what's going on with other characters in the story. I liked the writing style, it was simple, and pretty. The characters seemed pretty well done, and I enjoyed both of them, although maybe not as complex as they could have been?

I liked Willow and Alex's relationship, how they got along and how close they were. I liked the attraction they had to each other, and how close they got and how warm they were to each other later in the book. I liked how they got pushed together like they did in the book, with having to run off together to hide from the angels, like a surprise road trip, and it forced them to get to know each other.

The pacing was good, with several problems in between the actual action, and lots of time for them to just be together, especially in the cabin in the woods. With all of the down time that they had, it could have gotten slow and become boring, but I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this book, and, again, I was surprised by that. I'm also really excited for more of Alex and Willow. I really want the next book, but I'm confused as to when it's coming out? At least, in the US? Because it said in the edition that I got, that it was coming out soon, but I can't find it anywhere online. Maybe someone could explain this to me?