Review: This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Book Blurb: Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met. Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the rebels. Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. His sister died in the original uprising against the powerful corporations that terraformed Avon. These corporations make their fortune by terraforming uninhabitable planets across the universe and recruiting colonists to make the planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion. Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war. As Flynn and Lee attempt to uncover the truth about Avon, they realize that there is a conspiracy on the planet that runs deeper than either of them could imagine, one that Lee's former commander Tarver Merendsen only scratched scratcehd the surface of two years ago. The stunning second novel in the Starbound series is an unforgettable story of love and forgiveness in a world torn apart by war. My Review: 4 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Another-World, Aliens, Space, Supernatural-- Jubilee has spent most of her life being alone and battling hardships. She has committed herself to being in the military, rising in rank up to Captain, and having a stellar reputation for being soulless and exact. Stationed on the planet Avon, she battles the rebellion from the natives as well as a strange phenomenon termed the Fury that infects soldiers who are stationed on Avon too long. Except Lee, who doesn’t understand why or what is doing it. Flynn is the quiet leader of the rebellion, but he doesn’t want to fight, he just wants peace and equal opportunity for his people. On impulse, he tries to talk to Lee, and instead ends up kidnapping her, setting the two of them on a path that will change everything. I am absolutely in love with the first book in the series, These Broken Stars, and have spent the last year thinking and talking about it and how much I love it to whoever I could. That being said, this book was good but it did not live up to the high expectations that I had built up in my head. Don’t get me wrong, it was a really good book and I liked it, and I may have thought it was amazing if I hadn’t read the first one previously. The biggest difference I think between the two books was that the first book spent so much time building characters and the dynamic between those two characters when they were trapped alone on the abandoned planet. This book introduced characters, but it spent more time on action and the conflict of the planet/rebellion/nefarious plots, less on detailed nuances of Lee and Flynn and how they were together. I really liked the action and plot, it kept me on the edge of my seat (couch, treadmill, whatever) the entire time because I could not predict what would happen next and who would get hurt. This book was a fast paced action adventure where the first was a slow building introspective relationship mystery. Both good in their own way, just not really something that is comparable. I do really like that the books are set in the same world but with different characters and a different dilemma to puzzle. It may sound like I am complaining, but I like that the story was completely different instead a reiteration with new names. I liked that there were other main characters in this story because I was concerned when I heard that there was going to be a second book. Lilac and Tarver had already been through so much in the first book and I felt like it was wrapped up perfectly. Tarver and sorta Lilac make a guest appearance in this title as side characters, so I was thrilled. My absolute favorite parts in this book were seeing the strong bond of love that still exist between them in the rare moments that they had with each other. Lee started out the book as a machine, keeping everyone at arm length so she did not have to deal with messy emotions or reminders of all she has lost. She was orphaned at a young age and tried desperately every year to join the military and finally was allowed even though they knew she was under age. She has worked hard to become the force she is, but it has made her unapproachable and a little cold. Flynn is the complete opposite of Lee, the emotional passionate character. He too lost everything at a young age, including his sister who was the rebellion Leader, yet he just wants his people to have peace and the chance to be free. He is the figurehead of the rebellion due to his sister, but he has no real power to change anything. I kind of felt like Flynn was the emotional girl in the relationship and Lee was the cold, silent muscle/man. They had such a strange dynamic, yet they were drawn to each other regardless of all external factors. The building war came to a crescendo right near the end, taking the book in a direction that I had not expected. There were so many little secrets revealed that I never saw coming or could have predicted. The whispers make an appearance in this book also, making me wonder if they will show up again along the way. I enjoyed this story and look forward to more to come because the villain is still on the loose and the universe is not safe until he is brought down. I hope Tarver and Lilac show up again to lend a hand in whatever comes next. I received this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.