Review: Their Fractured Light (Starbound trilogy #3) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Firstly, thanks to Allen & Unwin for this review copy <3

Date Read: November 12 - 20 2015
Date Released: December 1st 2015
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Sci-fi/fantasy
My Rating:

Synopsis:

"A year ago, Flynn Cormac and Jubilee Chase made the now infamous Avon Broadcast, calling on the galaxy to witness for their planet, and protect them from destruction. Some say Flynn’s a madman, others whisper about conspiracies. Nobody knows the truth. A year before that, Tarver Merendsen and Lilac LaRoux were rescued from a terrible shipwreck—now, they live a public life in front of the cameras, and a secret life away from the world’s gaze.

Now, in the center of the universe on the planet of Corinth, all four are about to collide with two new players, who will bring the fight against LaRoux Industries to a head. Gideon Marchant is an eighteen-year-old computer hacker—a whiz kid and an urban warrior. He’ll climb, abseil and worm his way past the best security measures to pull off onsite hacks that others don’t dare touch.

Sofia Quinn has a killer smile, and by the time you’re done noticing it, she’s got you offering up your wallet, your car, and anything else she desires. She holds LaRoux Industries responsible for the mysterious death of her father and is out for revenge at any cost.

When a LaRoux Industries security breach interrupts Gideon and Sofia’s separate attempts to infiltrate their headquarters, they’re forced to work together to escape. Each of them has their own reason for wanting to take down LaRoux Industries, and neither trusts the other. But working together might be the best chance they have to expose the secrets LRI is so desperate to hide."

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Their Fractured Light satisfying ties up the Starbound trilogy and the overall arc while introducing Sophia and Gideon to the story and their interconnectedness to the other characters. While I enjoyed this book overall I do admit it was my least favourite of the series. For some off reason I felt that a lot of the revelations and plot twists were obvious and that any confusion was miscommunication by the characters. What TFL did was bring all the characters together and smooth out everything so they were on the same page for an epic showdown.

Sophia is probably the character I’m least invested in out of our three heroines. To me, she was very average and I found her back story lacking. Compared to Lilac and Lee, Sophia felt… bland. The other two had so much unknown history to be discovered but what was revealed about Sophia was basically what we got in This Shattered World. I did like the concentration on her personality though, and her very serious trust issues that obviously come with her being a con artist. And what a fantastic con artist she is. It was fascinating watching her slip into any number of personas at will, back and forth. I loved the way Sophia could make a guy putty in her hands and manipulate him to her doing. Qurrlllll power! She had pretty decent character growth as the book progressed and I liked that she learned forgiveness.

Gideon was definitely my favourite of the two with his mad hacking skills. While at times misplaced I liked how, when he put his mind to something, he went for it. He was so driven and I admired that about him. I could also really relate to his cheerful personality to hide all the pain he held within himself. I really liked his backstory and the connection he held with everybody else. I appreciated how he tried to understand Sophia and the reasons why she didn’t trust. I’m going to mention again how much I loved his backstory and the threads woven throughout.

Following the style of the trilogy, the romance is slow burn but with this one there’s attraction from the beginning. I didn’t feel this romance as much as the previous books as I felt there was so much other stuff going on. What I did feel though was this back and forth of trust and distrust between the two as they slowly worked their way around each other. It was more a development of understanding each other’s goals most of the way, rather than a focus of love. I liked this progression as they both had walls so it was an interesting dynamic.

While their respective POVs showed all the action, I felt that a lot of the plot and backstory was told through the chapter breaks which are absolutely fabulous. They were my favourite parts of the book. In so little words, so much was revealed and these few lines managed to reveal so much despair, pain, joy, hope and heartbreak.

As always Kaufman and Spooner don’t disappoint on the world building or detail. Corinth is splendour and modern. Tech savvy and luxurious with glamorous skyscrapers reaching as far as the eye can see as they stretch across the horizon. Corinth is filth and poverty. Black markets and hidden secrets with layers of undercities stacked upon each other. I loved the shiny surface of LRI covering so much and everything unravelling.

It all builds up to an epic showdown that I’ve been waiting for since the first book.