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March 25, 2016

Starflight by Melissa Landers {Review}

Starflight (Starflight #1)🚀

by Melissa Landers

Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She’s so desperate to reach the realm that she’s willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.

When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he’s been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world—and each other—the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe…

My Thoughts

5 STARS!!!!!

This GIF tweet pretty much sums up my feelings after reading Starflight…

 

How I feel after finishing an amazing book! 🙌💕🙌 pic.twitter.com/ALNi1UuDz1

— Sarah K (@thebooktraveler) March 8, 2016

Starflight hit my radar because to be honest, my love for Illuminae. I decided that maybe I like scifi more than I actually realized because Illuminae was by far my #1 book last year! So, when I saw another scifi YA book, I decided to just go ahead and preorder.

What I was hearing: I was hearing good things from others bloggers about Starflight on Twitter and reviews. Things like “fun” and a “great read”, so of course this encouraged me even more.

What I didn’t like:
There really was only one thing I didn’t like about the book. It was that it took about a hundred pages for me to finally connect and love the characters. But there was a moment with space pirates that seriously was one of the BEST SCENES I HAVE EVER READ! It was hilarious and I instantly from that moment forward loved the book. 

What I loved:
From that one moment I referenced above, the whole book just kept getting BETTER and BETTER! This book is one of those that the more you read, the more you love everything about it. 
It’s everything you hope you get from a book. 
  • Feelings: I laughed, I cried, I got frustrated, I got scared, I got excited, I was surprised. All these combinations of emotions make a great story because when you can’t get invested emotionally, the book gets boring. But this book had it all!
  • Humor: I laughed out loud a lot! I love it when books are funny and it’s pulled off in a way that isn’t forced but totally organic. 
  • Romance:  I was so confused initially going into this romance. They really didn’t like each other, AT ALL. Doran was a total spoiled brat frat boy jerk. So, I was really interested in HOW could they possibly end up hooking up? But the way Melissa wrote the story it was a fantastic slow burn. The enemy to lover trope is my FAVORITE and I really liked how she developed this one. 
  • Friendships: This book had GREAT secondary characters. All my favorite books have this. I fell in love with this crew.

Starflight is part of a companion series, which means that the other books will have different main characters. I’m coming to love standalones more than ever because it really is torture to have to wait years for a series to complete.

Overall:

Even if you don’t read scifi, I would recommend this being a great place to start because it’s EVERYTHING I want from books: a great story and great characters. Starflight is the fun adventure you’ve always wanted to take. 

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Filed Under: Review, Science Fiction 24 Comments

Comments

  1. Cody Roecker says

    March 25, 2016 at 12:03 am

    I was super excited to pick this book up, and now I am even more excited. Definitely going to go get a copy soon! 🙂 great review!

    Have you read any other Melissa Landers books? I have heard some mixed things but was thinking of reading those too. Would love to hear what you think! 🙂

    Have a great night!

    Reply
    • Sarah K says

      March 25, 2016 at 5:33 am

      No I haven’t actually. I have an EBook of Alienated but hadn’t been motivated to read it. However after this book I’m definitely interested to see if I like her other series too. This book really surprised me at how well rounded and fun it was.

      I loved it! Let me know your thoughts once you read it. ☺️

      Reply
  2. Angel @Angel Reads says

    March 25, 2016 at 3:16 am

    I am so looking forward to read this one! It sounds so good and I cannot wait to pick it up.

    Thanks for the review.

    Reply
    • Sarah K says

      March 25, 2016 at 5:34 am

      It was awesome and I can’t wait for you to read it too!!!

      Reply
  3. Bee @ Quite the Novel Idea says

    March 25, 2016 at 6:26 am

    I’m not the biggest fan of Sci-Fi but occasionally I come across a book that gets a lot of positive reviews and even hype so I check it out. Examples of that are the Lunar Chronicles and Illuminae, both of which I loved! So this book sounds great, has a pretty cover and it has been getting amazing reviews. I really want this book now. I only hope it doesn’t disappoint me!

    Reply
  4. Pili @ In Love With Handmade says

    March 25, 2016 at 7:23 am

    I’ve been very excited about this book because I really enjoyed the author’s debut and it’s been compared with Firefly, which is a big of mine, so I just cannot wait till I can budget it in and grab a copy!!

    Reply
  5. Carina Olsen says

    March 25, 2016 at 8:34 am

    Yay 😀 So glad you ended up loving this book so much sweetie. <3 I loved it too. Such a great one. Thank you for sharing your lovely thoughts about it 🙂

    Reply
  6. Aila @ One Way Or An Author says

    March 25, 2016 at 9:13 am

    I’M SO GLAD YOU LIKED THIS ONE TOO – NO, LOVED. <3
    I have fallen in love with Starflight. After this book I also picked up Alienated from my library. It was pretty good, too! But it definitely had a different feel than this one. I still like Starflight better, but Alienated was still enjoyable. I have yet to pick up the sequel!

    I KNOWWWW THE WHOLE TIME IN THE BEGINNING I WAS LIKE "okay how is Doran gonna prove himself cuz rn he is a grade A jerk."
    But then he did.

    And UGH.

    So many feelings. I love all these characters. Did you know there's a companion to this coming out soon? Can't wait! *squeels*

    Reply
  7. Wren says

    March 25, 2016 at 9:17 am

    I have heard a lot about this book. A lot of raving. Mostly over the romance. While I don’t particularly like romance, I’ll end up following the trend soon enough.
    But the humor? I am interested. I laugh easily. So you know. It’d be interesting to see how quickly I laugh.
    Awesome review!

    Reply
  8. Annalisse says

    March 25, 2016 at 10:02 am

    Alright! Seeing your enthusiasm on Twitter and this review has definitely convinced me to read it. I just put it on hold at my library so hopefully I love it too!

    Reply
  9. Jamie @ Books and Ladders says

    March 25, 2016 at 11:04 am

    I really need to pick this one up. You are constantly talking about it and I think I need to give it a go. I will do that (eventually)! Great review, as always, Sarah.

    Reply
  10. Lizzie @ Big Books and Grande Lattes says

    March 25, 2016 at 11:41 am

    Great review! I’ve been going through just a general slump for like the past month, so maybe reading this book will help! I’m really excited to read it so I’m hoping it will boost my mood. I’ve heard so many great things!

    Reply
  11. Lauren @ SERIESous Book Reviews says

    March 25, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    I loved this one as well! It was amazing and everything I wanted it to be when I heard about its release last year.

    The banter between Doran and Solara was top notch–Landers writes some of the best witty one-liners I’ve come across in YA.

    Reply
    • Sarah K says

      April 4, 2016 at 8:36 pm

      Yes!!! Her one liners were AMAZING!!! I fell so in love with this book and want everyone to read it!

      Reply
  12. Amber Elise @ Du Livre says

    March 26, 2016 at 9:51 am

    I didnt even really plan on reading this one because I didn’t like the alienated series. But who am I to say no to space pirates?? I have the audiobook, but I’ve been trying to finish my current read (20 hrs) before starting this one.

    Reply
    • Sarah K says

      April 4, 2016 at 8:35 pm

      I haven’t read her other series but everyone who has read both says this is way better. I LOVED this book so much. It’s one of my favorite books this year hands down!!!

      Reply
  13. Rayna @ Reader Rayna says

    March 29, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    I received this book in one of the Uppercase Boxes and I’m really interested to read it! I have her other series, Alienated, and I still have yet to read that, too, but I’ve heard good things about it, also. I think I’ll definitely have to read it soon!

    Reply
    • Sarah K says

      April 4, 2016 at 8:34 pm

      STARFLIGHT IS AMAZING!!! I’m so glad you have it!!! It’s definitely one of my favorite books this year. Hands down.

      Reply
  14. Denise says

    March 31, 2016 at 11:45 am

    This sounds so good! I haven’t actually heard very much about this book (considering how well publicised it was, and how the author has another popular series), but now I really want to read it! I consider myself a fan of SciFi, so it really appealed to me. I love books set in space so much!! The cover is so pretty, and I’m glad it made you laugh!

    Great review Sarah – thank you for sharing! 😀
    Denise | The Bibliolater

    Reply
    • Sarah K says

      April 4, 2016 at 8:32 pm

      This majorly exceeded my expectations. The characters were so fantastically developed. I definitely recommend it and it has become one of my favorite books this year!

      Reply
  15. Kristen@My Friends Are Fiction says

    April 2, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    This book was SO FUN and such a fast read. I adored it! I’ve read Landers other series and felt that this was much stronger. I can’t wait to read the upcoming companion book.

    Reply
    • Sarah K says

      April 4, 2016 at 8:17 pm

      Same! I will definitely read the companion. This was my first book by her. I have an ebook of her other series but it hasn’t interested me as much. Maybe one day I will. But yes, loved this book to pieces.

      Reply
  16. Morgan @ Gone with the Words says

    April 6, 2016 at 11:55 am

    Your review is awesome! I loved this book too, a lot! The space pirate scene was the BEST and hate-to-love, enemies-to-lovers is always such a good romance trope. I can’t wait for the companion book! I like this new trend of connected books but not sequels, it’s kind of refreshing. And I still need to read Illuminae! Haha.

    Reply
  17. PenelopeMelb says

    April 13, 2016 at 12:28 am

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    I know it is hard to write posts manually everyday, but there is solution for this.
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    Reply

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