Under Different Stars, by Amy A. Bartol (Kricket, book 1)

Format: Kindle edition, 296 pages

Published: December 9, 2014

Publisher: 47North

ASIN: B00MJB2ZEW

Back cover blurb: Kricket Hollowell never wished upon stars. She was too busy hiding in plain sight, eluding Chicago’s foster care system. As her eighteenth birthday approaches, she now eagerly anticipates the day she’ll stop running and finally find her place in the world.

That day comes when she meets a young Etharian soldier named Trey Allairis, who has been charged with coming to Earth to find Kricket and transport her to her true home. As danger draws close, he must protect her until she can wield the powers she cannot use on Earth…and he soon realizes that counting a galaxy of stars would be easier than losing this extraordinary girl.

Kyon Ensin knows the powerful depths of Kricket’s gifts—gifts he’ll control when he takes her for his tribe and leads the forces that will claim Ethar and destroy his enemies, starting with Trey Allairis. Now, Kricket faces the most difficult choice of her life: whether to wage a battle for survival, or a fight for love.

Winner of four 2014 UtopYA Awards, including Best Book of the Year and Best Sci-Fi Book of the Year.

My review: Amazing! This was my first Amy Bartol book, but it won’t be my last. My friends over at The Book Hookup love her, and now I know why. I could not put this down! The plot was gripping, unlike anything else I’ve read for a while – more science fiction than anything else.

Oh, but the UST! *swooon!* I’m a sucker for great UST, and Trey is a worthy book boyfriend. Bartol keeps it subtle in the first half of the book – I loved the scene where he wakes up next to Kricket and Jax tells him to walk it off, lol! – but then amps it up in the second half (the shower scene!) without ever needing to get graphic. Wonderful.

Kricket was a fantastic heroine. I loved her snark and resilience, and her life in foster care means she can get herself out of sticky situations. Bartol shows us the world she has created through Kricket’s questions and discoveries, which is much better than many other authors who use heaps of telling.

The secondary characters are excellent. The baddies are well formed, but I loved hilarious Jax and Wayra the best. I’m really looking forward to the next book to see more of all these characters, especially Trey 😉 Luckily, I have the ARC already! Highly recommended!

My rating: 5/5

Amazon

 N.B: Book 2 in the series, Sea of Stars, will be published on March 31, 2015.

Insurgent, by Veronica Roth

Format: Kindle Edition, 545 pages

Published: May 1, 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books

Back cover blurb:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth’s much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

My review:

Wow! Veronica Roth never ceases to amaze me, especially given her young age. Insurgent is an emotional ride, and at times I had to put it down because the heartfail got a bit much. I love Tobias/Four, but sometimes I just wanted to shake him for being so clueless. Typical teenage boy, really. This book is missing the delicious UST of the first because they have become a couple, yet their relationship is seriously tested by communication issues right to the end.

Tris, although only 16, seems to get stronger as she fights on bravely to find what truth there is left in their world. I was genuinely afraid for her most of the story, but she really is a fantastic heroine. Regardless of heartfail, I could not put down the last third of this book. That ending was amazing, and I cannot wait for book three (which Roth is very amusingly calling Detergent as she is writing it). This series is a must-buy and I cannot recommend it enough!

My rating: 5/5

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• Free Four: Tobias Tells the Story, by Veronica Roth (mrsaubergine.wordpress.com)
• Divergent, by Veronica Roth (mrsaubergine.wordpress.com)