Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

1 review

nytephoenyx's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I first read Star Crossed in 2013 and I remember loving it enough that I bought the sequel… but one thing led to another and I never read it.  Since this was read in the time before I kept a steady blog, there’s no review for the book, but when I pulled it from my TBR jar, I knew I remembered liking it.  I had just forgotten how much.

Star Crossed is a perfect blend of adult fantasy world building and plot woven into a YA book.  There’s a complicated magic system, a corrupt political system, whispers of war, alliances… Bunce even took the time to build healing lore. All this was put together in such a way that there weren’t info dumps, one of the banes of adult fantasy. There was romance, but it didn’t usurped eh overall story. And the plot was complicated – things came into play that didn’t seem important or interesting at the time but were vital later in the story.

All this to say – reading Star Crossed was a refreshing journey into a YA fantasy world that didn’t make me roll my eyes at cliche tropes and copy-paste heroines and love stories that won’t end. As a character, Digger is interesting. She’s an adaptable person with an unfortunate past and no future. She is a little rash, but doesn’t realize it until she’s made major mistakes. She’s loyal and curious to a fault. And she’s smart and skilled – she’s not perfect at everything (a trait that I abhor in many heroines – nobody is that good) but she know-how to put her skills to good use.

There are a lot of things about Digger’s past we don’t know, but ultimately, they aren’t important to the story, so I kind of appreciate that they weren’t dumped on the reader. The characters surrounding Digger are interesting as well – I quite liked Meri and I thought Daul was a worthy villain. Lady Lyll and Lord Antoch have such potential for a spinoff prequel. I liked that we only knew as much about these characters as Digger did. While I yearn for the deeper story, I also appreciate how focused the book is.

At the same time, I think that is Star Crossed’s singular fault.  While there is clearly a rich world and complex characters behind everything, much of it lives in Bunce’s head.  The story only reveals the items the reader needs to know, and often they are revealed without too much explanation. There’s a fine balance between too much and not enough and while it’s a close line… I think I would have like a little more context for some of the lore.  Just a little, mind you.

Still – I liked Star Crossed just as much now as I did eight years ago.  Fantasy stories with a rogue protagonist are a favorite of mine, and I think Bunce did an excellent job of building a YA fantasy story that doesn’t rely on romance to propel it forward.  It’s immersive enough to really grab you and after the first one-hundred pages while the reader gets situated… the story takes off.  I enjoyed it as a world to disappear in, and I’m glad I have Liar’s Moon on hand because I will certainly be reading the sequel.
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