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lilyalthea's review against another edition
5.0
> CHRONIQUE COMPLÈTE <
L'étoile de Ren est clairement le genre de roman qu'on commence et qu'on sait déjà qu'on aura du mal à reposer avant de l'avoir terminé. Dès le début l'auteure sait exactement comment nous embarquer dans son récit et son univers, ce qui est assez rare pour un premier tome quand on se retrouve face à un univers inconnu. Généralement il faut un peu de temps pour apprivoiser l'univers avant que l'intrigue se lance complètement, or ici F.T. Lukens choisi de lancer son intrigue et de développer l'univers en parallèle de l'avancée de son personnage et clairement ça marche à 200 %. Le dosage est vraiment parfait, on a jamais l'impression d'être perdu mais on ne s'ennuie jamais non plus.
Le personnage principal de l'histoire, Ren, est également très attachant et dès le début les enjeux auquel il fait face parlent au lecteur. On est tout de suite investi dans son avancée contre le Baron et personnellement je me suis bien vite passionnée pour ses découvertes concernant les hôtes stellaires ou encore ses diverses rencontres tout au long de son périple. Le personnage dont la rencontre sera la plus déterminante est bien sûr Asher, son voisin de cachot et membre de la Division Phénix dont on comprend bien vite que c'est un groupe d'individus de prestige.
Si j'ai beaucoup aimé le personnage d'Asher en lui-même, j'ai surtout énormément apprécié la relation et la dynamique qui se créée entre Ren et lui. L'auteure évite d'ailleurs tous les clichés habituels à ce propos et le lien entre les personnages se renforce et évolue de manière très naturelle, sans sauter d'étapes. Et puis il faut dire que au-delà de ces deux protagonistes principaux, on rencontre notamment un équipage prometteur et dont les personnages vont sûrement être géniaux à découvrir encore plus en profondeur dans les suites.
De plus l'univers est vraiment riche et présage de superbes évolutions. Si on ne fait qu'en effleurer beaucoup de subtilités puisqu'il s'agit d'un premier tome, comme je l'évoquais en début de chronique le dosage est vraiment parfait ce qu'il fait qu'on en apprend bien assez pour être satisfait tout en étant demandeur et curieux de ce qu'on ne connait pas encore. Que ce soit pour l'univers ou les personnages, on comprend rapidement à la lecture de L'étoile de Ren que ce(ux) que l'on commence à apprécier dans ce tome 1 seront sûrement des favoris par la suite.
L'étoile de Ren est donc un premier tome du tonnerre ET prometteur. J'ai énormément apprécié tout ce que j'ai découvert dans cette lecture et j'ai déjà hâte d'en voir encore plus. Je ne connaissais pas encore l'auteure avant de lire ce roman mais si sa plume est toujours aussi entraînante et ses univers/personnages travaillés, je suis hyper curieuse de découvrir le reste !
L'étoile de Ren est clairement le genre de roman qu'on commence et qu'on sait déjà qu'on aura du mal à reposer avant de l'avoir terminé. Dès le début l'auteure sait exactement comment nous embarquer dans son récit et son univers, ce qui est assez rare pour un premier tome quand on se retrouve face à un univers inconnu. Généralement il faut un peu de temps pour apprivoiser l'univers avant que l'intrigue se lance complètement, or ici F.T. Lukens choisi de lancer son intrigue et de développer l'univers en parallèle de l'avancée de son personnage et clairement ça marche à 200 %. Le dosage est vraiment parfait, on a jamais l'impression d'être perdu mais on ne s'ennuie jamais non plus.
Le personnage principal de l'histoire, Ren, est également très attachant et dès le début les enjeux auquel il fait face parlent au lecteur. On est tout de suite investi dans son avancée contre le Baron et personnellement je me suis bien vite passionnée pour ses découvertes concernant les hôtes stellaires ou encore ses diverses rencontres tout au long de son périple. Le personnage dont la rencontre sera la plus déterminante est bien sûr Asher, son voisin de cachot et membre de la Division Phénix dont on comprend bien vite que c'est un groupe d'individus de prestige.
Si j'ai beaucoup aimé le personnage d'Asher en lui-même, j'ai surtout énormément apprécié la relation et la dynamique qui se créée entre Ren et lui. L'auteure évite d'ailleurs tous les clichés habituels à ce propos et le lien entre les personnages se renforce et évolue de manière très naturelle, sans sauter d'étapes. Et puis il faut dire que au-delà de ces deux protagonistes principaux, on rencontre notamment un équipage prometteur et dont les personnages vont sûrement être géniaux à découvrir encore plus en profondeur dans les suites.
De plus l'univers est vraiment riche et présage de superbes évolutions. Si on ne fait qu'en effleurer beaucoup de subtilités puisqu'il s'agit d'un premier tome, comme je l'évoquais en début de chronique le dosage est vraiment parfait ce qu'il fait qu'on en apprend bien assez pour être satisfait tout en étant demandeur et curieux de ce qu'on ne connait pas encore. Que ce soit pour l'univers ou les personnages, on comprend rapidement à la lecture de L'étoile de Ren que ce(ux) que l'on commence à apprécier dans ce tome 1 seront sûrement des favoris par la suite.
L'étoile de Ren est donc un premier tome du tonnerre ET prometteur. J'ai énormément apprécié tout ce que j'ai découvert dans cette lecture et j'ai déjà hâte d'en voir encore plus. Je ne connaissais pas encore l'auteure avant de lire ce roman mais si sa plume est toujours aussi entraînante et ses univers/personnages travaillés, je suis hyper curieuse de découvrir le reste !
kris7's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
syphilis's review
5.0
Okay, so here's where I admit I've been hanging onto "The Star Host" since before it was released. I was given a copy for pre-release review. Sadly, here I am, days after release, and only finally able to read and review it.
The first thing I can say about this book is that F. T. Lukens is a master at making the reader care about her characters. I liked Ren by the third paragraph, and I never stopped liking him. In addition to being superhuman, Ren somehow manages to be super human — he feels like a teenager I could have known and hung out with in my own high school days. Despite their basis in science fiction, his struggles stayed relatable. Even better, his reactions to the things that happen to him make those events feel almost real. When Ren was scared, I was scared; when he was happy, or falling in love, so was I.
These are all masterful traits for a narrator. But Lukens' mastery doesn't stop with Ren: all her secondary characters have that same spark of life, their own clearly rich inner lives that intersect with Ren but don't entirely revolve around him. The crews of the ships, his fellow captives, even the soldiers around them are all startlingly three-dimensional. Special mention goes to Asher, who is difficult and funny and cynical and hopeful, in a dizzyingly real reaction to his captivity. I would share examples and quotes, but I'd really hate to spoil the plot of this one for you
In fact, the plot is the second thing I have to tell you about. And that's kind of a problem, because it's such a fun one that I want to make sure you're unspoiled for every twist and turn. Lukens balances her action plot and her emotional plots excellently, once again creating the illusion of real people smashing into each other. Every action has consequences, whether Ren was able to foresee them or not, and those consequences keep everything moving quickly.
Suffice to say that Ren is picked up by his local baron's jackbooted thugs, his capture doesn't go to plan, and he ends up becoming much more important than he could ever have dreamed. Along the way, he meets a political prisoner who turns out to be just as intriguing, in his own way.
The action plot has a couple of quiet spots, but for the most part, it's fast-paced, and it keeps the reader turning pages, demanding to know what happens next. Ren hits the ground running, and apart from his capture, he doesn't stop moving, and my heart didn't stop pounding.
Finally, I have to praise the worldbuilding. Much of it is done through character, and both Ren and Asher are constantly running into things that they view through their own prior experiences. Lukens doesn't drop a bunch of universe-specific jargon on the reader and doesn't fall into the hard science fiction trap of requiring that absolutely everything be explained through contemporary science and a few made up mathematical formulas. Ren and Asher are teenagers dealing with something from out of a myth, and their cluelessness on the mechanics behind how the star host works in favor of figuring out how to make it work on their behalf makes perfect sense. In fact, it's refreshing.
All in all, this is an excellent read that I definitely recommend. It struck a great balance and kept me turning pages and half in love with just about every character I met.
The first thing I can say about this book is that F. T. Lukens is a master at making the reader care about her characters. I liked Ren by the third paragraph, and I never stopped liking him. In addition to being superhuman, Ren somehow manages to be super human — he feels like a teenager I could have known and hung out with in my own high school days. Despite their basis in science fiction, his struggles stayed relatable. Even better, his reactions to the things that happen to him make those events feel almost real. When Ren was scared, I was scared; when he was happy, or falling in love, so was I.
These are all masterful traits for a narrator. But Lukens' mastery doesn't stop with Ren: all her secondary characters have that same spark of life, their own clearly rich inner lives that intersect with Ren but don't entirely revolve around him. The crews of the ships, his fellow captives, even the soldiers around them are all startlingly three-dimensional. Special mention goes to Asher, who is difficult and funny and cynical and hopeful, in a dizzyingly real reaction to his captivity. I would share examples and quotes, but I'd really hate to spoil the plot of this one for you
In fact, the plot is the second thing I have to tell you about. And that's kind of a problem, because it's such a fun one that I want to make sure you're unspoiled for every twist and turn. Lukens balances her action plot and her emotional plots excellently, once again creating the illusion of real people smashing into each other. Every action has consequences, whether Ren was able to foresee them or not, and those consequences keep everything moving quickly.
Suffice to say that Ren is picked up by his local baron's jackbooted thugs, his capture doesn't go to plan, and he ends up becoming much more important than he could ever have dreamed. Along the way, he meets a political prisoner who turns out to be just as intriguing, in his own way.
The action plot has a couple of quiet spots, but for the most part, it's fast-paced, and it keeps the reader turning pages, demanding to know what happens next. Ren hits the ground running, and apart from his capture, he doesn't stop moving, and my heart didn't stop pounding.
Finally, I have to praise the worldbuilding. Much of it is done through character, and both Ren and Asher are constantly running into things that they view through their own prior experiences. Lukens doesn't drop a bunch of universe-specific jargon on the reader and doesn't fall into the hard science fiction trap of requiring that absolutely everything be explained through contemporary science and a few made up mathematical formulas. Ren and Asher are teenagers dealing with something from out of a myth, and their cluelessness on the mechanics behind how the star host works in favor of figuring out how to make it work on their behalf makes perfect sense. In fact, it's refreshing.
All in all, this is an excellent read that I definitely recommend. It struck a great balance and kept me turning pages and half in love with just about every character I met.
brinipor's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mateusjobim's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
wildlyminiaturesandwich's review
4.0
NOTE: I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Interlude Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
My rating for this would actually be 3.5 stars but I decided to round up to 4 because I liked it more than I didn't. It was one of those books that seemed to have a lot of potential and then was unfortunately held back a little by certain aspects.
The first being the writing. It kind of read like a fanfiction (which makes sense if you read the author's bio) and that's not necessarily a bad thing but could have used a lot of editing before it was published.
The second thing I felt held this book back from being great was the main character, Ren. He wasn't likable at all in my opinion, and I found it very difficult to connect with him. On the other hand, I really did like pretty much all the other characters, especially Asher.
And the last thing I felt held the book back was the world building, or lack thereof. There was some word building but only to the extent where I found myself wondering over and over again "Is this a sci-fi or fantasy? There's dingy little villages and castles, but also space ports and other worlds?". I love when genres are mixed but it needs to be done well and explained thoroughly and unfortunately that didn't happen in this book.
All-in-all I did enjoy the book, it could have used at least 200 more pages to really flesh things out and slow down the pacing, but overall it was a good read and I probably will end up reading the other two in the series
My rating for this would actually be 3.5 stars but I decided to round up to 4 because I liked it more than I didn't. It was one of those books that seemed to have a lot of potential and then was unfortunately held back a little by certain aspects.
The first being the writing. It kind of read like a fanfiction (which makes sense if you read the author's bio) and that's not necessarily a bad thing but could have used a lot of editing before it was published.
The second thing I felt held this book back from being great was the main character, Ren. He wasn't likable at all in my opinion, and I found it very difficult to connect with him. On the other hand, I really did like pretty much all the other characters, especially Asher.
And the last thing I felt held the book back was the world building, or lack thereof. There was some word building but only to the extent where I found myself wondering over and over again "Is this a sci-fi or fantasy? There's dingy little villages and castles, but also space ports and other worlds?". I love when genres are mixed but it needs to be done well and explained thoroughly and unfortunately that didn't happen in this book.
All-in-all I did enjoy the book, it could have used at least 200 more pages to really flesh things out and slow down the pacing, but overall it was a good read and I probably will end up reading the other two in the series
fishindices's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
claudia_marcela's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
write_of_passages's review
5.0
TL;DR: A super fun world with 'chosen one' and found family tropes, wonderful characters and a sweet us-against-the-world romance? So glad I found this one!
THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER-FREE
CHARACTERS: I immediately fell in love with Ren. I have a soft spot already for brothers, and his brother is such a huge part of what makes him tick too. He's got drive, passion, strength, and is a cutie. Add in Asher, who in my opinion does such a lovely job of filling in the spaces of Ren's personality and it's a perfect recipe for a lovely romance. I love that the main characters draw so much strength from their love for each other.
PLOT: The plot is action-packed, a very us-against-them, which is one of my favorite types of romances to read, when they have to work together to succeed. The pacing is quick, too, sweeping me away into this brilliant world.
EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.
This is a YA fic, so it doesn't have the full emotional intensity that it could have as an adult fic. This series had the potential to be utterly devastating if it were adult. That being said, it's still a 4 out of 5 for me. I was instantly swept away into the characters, the world, and the conflict.
CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled?
Fulfilled and settled. As much as a first book in the series can be. Perhaps because it's YA, the author doesn't leave us waiting for too long for the relief after having to go through the pain of the conflict.
WOULD I GO BACK IN TIME AND READ THIS BOOK KNOWING WHAT I KNOW NOW?
100%. I'm still on the fence about whether I may choose to purchase my own copies of this book for my personal collection. That's a big deal, if I'm thinking I may want to read it again!
THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER-FREE
CHARACTERS: I immediately fell in love with Ren. I have a soft spot already for brothers, and his brother is such a huge part of what makes him tick too. He's got drive, passion, strength, and is a cutie. Add in Asher, who in my opinion does such a lovely job of filling in the spaces of Ren's personality and it's a perfect recipe for a lovely romance. I love that the main characters draw so much strength from their love for each other.
PLOT: The plot is action-packed, a very us-against-them, which is one of my favorite types of romances to read, when they have to work together to succeed. The pacing is quick, too, sweeping me away into this brilliant world.
EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.
This is a YA fic, so it doesn't have the full emotional intensity that it could have as an adult fic. This series had the potential to be utterly devastating if it were adult. That being said, it's still a 4 out of 5 for me. I was instantly swept away into the characters, the world, and the conflict.
CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled?
Fulfilled and settled. As much as a first book in the series can be. Perhaps because it's YA, the author doesn't leave us waiting for too long for the relief after having to go through the pain of the conflict.
WOULD I GO BACK IN TIME AND READ THIS BOOK KNOWING WHAT I KNOW NOW?
100%. I'm still on the fence about whether I may choose to purchase my own copies of this book for my personal collection. That's a big deal, if I'm thinking I may want to read it again!