Review: Lost Stars

Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was very well-written and fun to read, and it gave me some new theories regarding the Star Wars: The Force Awakens film, which I will not spoil here, but am happy to discuss with people in person. :) I loved both Thane and Ciena, and I could very much identify with their relationship. Also, I thought the world-building was excellent, and the dialogue was engaging. The only thing about the characters that perturbed me is I sometimes felt that Thane was "mansplaining" to Ciena, and although I understood that loyalty was part of her culture, I also thought it was a bit unrealistic that she would stay loyal to "The Empire" for as long as she did, given her intelligence and her strength of character. Overall, I love how Ciena is a strong female protagonist; I just wanted her to be more sure of herself sooner in the book. The book does a good job of raising sociocultural and sociopolitical questions, though, and I think it would be great for an advanced middle school or high school classroom. It is a long book, but it's worth the read, and unlike some speculative fiction books I have read, the battle scenes do not drag on too long. If you love the Star Wars universe, you'll enjoy this book. I now have the same feeling about the book and the new film that I had about the new Ms. Marvel about a year and a half ago: I must write about them! This feeling led to good results last time, so I intend to listen to it. :)

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