These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“I know a thousand different smiles, each with its own nuanced shade of meaning, but I don't know how to reach the few feet away to touch this person next to me. I don't know how to talk to him. Not when it's real.”

This was one of those delightful, yet very rare times when against all odds a book that I didn’t think I’d enjoy makes it to my favourites. These Broken Stars was, very different from what I expected but in the end, I loved almost every minute of it.

The plot is simple, the Icarus, a very luxurious Spaceliner unexpectedly crashes in the middle of it’s journey through space, apparently the only survivors are Lilac, a young heiress whose father owns almost every known planet, and Tarver, a war hero who comes from a modest family. Both are forced to cooperate as they end up in an unknown, deserted planet. Not much happens besides this really, the book is more focused on Lilac and Tarver’s unlikely alliance and the bond they form as they survive their surroundings than action scenes.

At first, I was a bit wary of this because it seemed like the entire situation had been constructed to get the two main characters together, and in a way, that’s the main purpose, but where I was expecting them to fall into each other’s arms at the first realization of their situation, they didn’t. Their relationship starts badly, Lilac tries to push Tarver away, so her father doesn’t make him a target for being interested in his little princess, and she behaves abominably for the first thirty percent of the story. However, there is a certain determination to her that though it doesn’t make up for her behaviour, it does make it a bit understandable.

Tarver on the other side, is a perfect gentleman, probably one of the most decent romantic interests I have encountered in similar books. He stands by this brattish girl and makes sure both he and her survive through their hostile surroundings, where any other would have abandoned her at the first chance. Of course, after a while Lilac does rise to the occasion and becomes the kind of heroine I personally love, determined and strong and yet still feminine. Their romance flows very realistically, they gravitate towards each other not only because of their status as survivors but because of the things the share.

The writing is beautiful and the descriptions, detailed, it brings the story to life and successfully portrays the character’s emotions in a way that makes it very easy to sympathize with them and understand them. Even though it was written by two different authors the story flows as if it was the work of one.

There is, however, almost no world-building and sometimes the plot feels a bit too slow. But when it comes to the romance and its portrayal, the book excels all expectations, and considering this is probably the objective, I would call it a win. I don’t know what else I can say about this book, besides that it has certainly carved a place in my heart.

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