Starglass - Phoebe North + GIVEAWAY!

Starglass by Phoebe North
Date Released:  July 23rd 2013
Publisher:Simon & Schuster
Format: ARC
Source: Itching for Books Blog Tours

Summary:
In this futuristic, outer space thriller, Terra has to decide between supporting the rebellion she believes in—and saving the life of the boy she loves.

For generations, those aboard the Asherah have lived within strict rules meant to help them survive the journey from a doomed Earth to their promised land, the planet Zehava–which may or may not be habitable, a question whose imperative grows now, in the dwindling months before touchdown.
Sixteen-year-old Terra’s situation is tough. A dead mom. A grieving dad. A bitchy boss, and a betrothed who won’t kiss her no matter how bad she wants it. She’s doing her best to stay afloat, even when she gets assigned a vocation she has no interest in: botany.

But after Terra witnesses the Captain's guard murder an innocent man, she's drawn into a secret rebellion bent on restoring power to the people. The stakes are higher than anything she could have imagined. When the rebellion gives Terra an all-important mission, she has to decide where her loyalties lie for once and for all. Because she has started to fall for the boy she's been sent to assassinate...

From Goodreads

My Review:

When I first started with Starglass I thought, Good story, good characters, but nothing I hadn’t heard before. Once you think of it, almost every sci-fi novel and movie with people stuck in a big spaceship go the same way: they feel stuck, that they are being controlled and that they want their freedom. When I finished with Starglass, I thought again of my initial opinion and came to the conclusion that yes, Starglass was different from other Sci-Fi novels out there; what made it unique was the brilliant world building and character development. Good job on that Miss North, a really good job

Starglass was very well structured, you get a full understanding of the world, the norms, how everything works inside the Asherah and who are the people that live on board. It took quite a while for the conflict of the story to appear, over 100 pages, which makes it seem like a slow book, I mean, 100 pages of world building? Come on. But it was done tastefully and well, and they went very fast, it wasn’t until I actually looked at the page counter that I thought ‘wow, that was a lot of pages before the main event.’ The main event being when Terra watches someone innocent (and likable) be murdered. Don’t freak out people, it’s not a spoiler, it’s in the summary.

Now Terra, Terra was a very interesting character. She’s quiet, plain and average – I realize this are not the best adjectives to describe a person, but she was still so interesting. Not your typical timid, social awkward girl, Terra was actually an underdog/wallflower. (She sees things, and she understand them…. Yeah yeah, that was from Perks of Being a Wallflower, but it works to describe her) She saw a murder and was later told to stay silent about it, not knowing whom she should trust or if there was anyone to trust she keep quiet, and just goes on being a silent observer, slowly learning, slowly becoming and adult and a part of the community, but never really engaging. Until she finally finds something, a group of people where she does belong, and she becomes passionate. Now this, THIS is what made the book so great for me, you see Terra’s father being a very compromised and dedicated worker, you see her best friend being a very active and girly teenage girl, you see her peers being exited about their jobs, her brother being happy about his rank, and you see Terra as a sharp contrast to all of them, yes, she understands, she works, she likes it, but she’s sort of just there in a big ship through the first half of the book, until she finally finds where she belongs. I simply loved the inside of Terra’s head.

Now the love interest. . . it was weird. Not what you would expect. We have two main boys – not a love triangle, don’t worry – and Terra clicks with one of them, and he’s sweet and he’s good, but it feels weird. It was just. . . weird. Definitely not your common romance set-up, I guess I grew too accustomed to the typical cliché YA romances, to the point were it actually made this one feel weird for me, but it’s not really weird, it’s just done in a different way . It was sweet, but still different. . . I liked it.

Again, I would not say Starglass was original, but the approach the author took was unique and well done, which made it totally worth it. Excellent, excellent world building and character development. I highly recommend it as a summer read, and make sure to keep this in mind: Not everything is as it seems.

About The Author:
Phoebe North spent the first twenty-two years of her life in New Jersey, where she lugged countless library books home to read in the bathtub, at the dinner table, in front of the television, and under the blankets with a flashlight when she should have been asleep. After college, Phoebe went south, enrolling in the University of Florida’s MFA program to study poetry. But after studying children’s literature with kidlit scholars (and geniuses) Kenneth Kidd and John Cech, she started writing books about magic, robots and aliens for teenagers. And realized she loved it almost as much as she loved Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Now, Phoebe lives in New York State with her husband, and many licensed novels. She likes to cook, watch Degrassi, sew, take her cat for walks, and, of course, write. Despite many soaked pages, she still loves to read in the bath

www.phoebenorth.com | twitter.com/phoebenorth

 

Starglass Book Trailer from Phoebe North on Vimeo.

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