Book Review: This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

I enjoyed this book far more than the first one, which gives me hope for the third one, which has the characters from the first two books and a set of two new characters; and they all work together. I thought the first one was kind of cheesy, but I mostly chalked that up to the authors finding their footing. What is interesting to me is having read the Iluuminae Files and some of these books, you can tell what parts of the Illuminae files Amie Kaufman did and had ideas for. It's pretty cool!

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:
The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war. (taken from This Shattered World Goodreads page)

MY THOUGHTS ON: CHARACTERS
    Jubilee Chase is a captain in the army and prefers to be called Captain Lee Chase, thank you very much. She was from Vernona before is was seized and ruined beyond repair. So she enlisted in the army. Now she is stationed on Avon.
    Flynn Cormac is Lee's abductor and a rebellion leader. He only wants peace and to talk with the military instead of fighting the military. His opposer wants the opposite. Flynn kidnapped Lee as a trading piece for the military before knowing they don't do trades. So he helps her escape. Then he goes to warn her of impeding attacks. Then he realizes that he is in love with her. Unfortunately for him, Lee does not feel the same way.
    Tarver Merendsen is Lee Chase's former captain. Now he is a retired veteran who lives with his fiance, Lilac Laroux. He gets a call in the middle of the night from Lee asking for help, so he pays them a visit. He and Lilac agree to help with something that they thought was long gone.

MY THOUGHTS ON: PLOT
    I enjoyed this book more than the first one for some reason, and I can't quite figure out why. I believe it's because the characters are more relate-able, as is the plot. The plot is less stranded-on-a-abandoned-planet-with-mystical-creatures and more rebels-versus-the-military-with-questions-about-what-is-really-going-on-with-the-goverment. I really liked the "in between pages" that talk about Lee's past and growing up. I thought they were super neat and gave some interesting insight to a typically closed off character. I also loved Molly. I know he was a side character, but he was cool.

MY OVERALL RATING:4.5/5
Goodreads link
#1 These Broken Stars links: Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Book Despoitory - Audible
#2 This Shattered World links: Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Book Depository - Audible
#3 Their Fractured Light links: Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Book Depository - Audible
Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner's most recent book links:
Unearthed Goodreads link: Goodreads
Links to buy Unearthed: Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Book Depository - Audible