When it all comes down to it, These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner is part love story, part survival story. Imagine crash-landing on an uninhabited planet with the one person you are very attracted to but know you could never actually date or even pretend to like. This is what happens to Lilac LaRoux, only child of the galaxy's most wealthy businessman, and Tarver Merendsen, a war hero and Major in the military. When these two first meet, they have an instant connection but due to the uh, "very protective" nature of Lilac's father and Tarver's desire to remain alive, each pretends to hate the other. When Lilac and Tarver find themselves the only two survivors of a spaceship crash, they must work together to survive and find a way to signal for help.
There were several things I liked about this book. 1. Each of the main characters has several stereotypical characteristics (Lilac is a spoiled little rich girl and Tarver is just a hick from the outskirts of the galaxy) but the authors find unique ways to show us that there is so much more to these people than that. For example, while Lilac may be the privileged daughter of a gazillionaire, she is really good with electronics. Like, the only reason she and Tarver survive the crash-type good. Tarver may look like a dumb military drone, but his mother is actually a famous poet and he takes after her far more than anyone realizes. 2. I love that so much of this book was about how these two very different people were able to survive together on an unknown planet. 3. The book was told from both Lilac and Tarver's points of view with alternating chapters and scenes from Tarver's interrogation after the fact. 4. There are aliens.
If you are looking for an extreme survival story that takes place on a deserted planet, then you've found your next book. If you're looking for a seemingly doomed, Romeo & Juliet-type love story then you've also found your next book. Try These Broken Stars today!
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