Book Review: Spinning Starlight

Title: Spinning Starlight
Author: R.C Lewis
Genre:Young Adult // Retelling // Sci-Fi // Romance
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Format: eARC
Source:  Publisher (Negallery)


Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it's hard to escape it. So when a group of men show up at her house uninvited, she assumes it's just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired.
Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi's vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word and her brothers are dead.
Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home-a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers' survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back (goodreads)?


Spinning Starlight was a lovely story about a girl doing all she can to protect her brothers. Even with such an endearing tale, I found Spinning Starlight to be stale.


Plot: Liddi is the youngest of nine children and she is slated to take over her parent's multi-million dollar technological company at the age of 18. One night, she manages to escape a potential kidnapping only to realize that her eight brothers are missing. If she wants to keep her brothers alive, Liddi must forgo using her voice, and travel to lands that she never knew existed.

I requested this book because I flat out adored Stitching Snow. While Stitching Snow admittedly had some pacing problems, Spinning Starlight stayed at a constant pace throughout the entire novel. So constant that I was bored at times. My heart never pounded with anticipation, nor was I at the edge of my seat like I was with Stitching Snow. Spinning Starlight could be considered dull when compared to Lewis' early work.

I usually prefer sci-fi lite novels because the futuristic terms perplex me. Spinning Starlight is sci-fi heavy, especially because Liddi's expertise is technology. There was a lot of jargon that made my eyes glaze over and caused me to nod off mid-sentence. 

Characters: From the start, I could tell that there was some depth to Liddi. She's the oddball in her family, the one child that can't create something new and important. I really enjoyed her inner monologue and her maturity. As the youngest child, she has the attention of the gossip magazines, and throughout the novel she sees her experiences as headlines that the media would create.

Liddi's eight brothers are more detailed through Liddi's memories of them. I loved these little snippets of the past, but they did very little to help me connect with her brothers, probably because there were so many of them.

Tiav is our love interest and I generally liked him. Liddi and Tiav's relationship progressed rather quickly, but I will admit that they complimented each other as a couple. 

World Building: SCIENCE. For all of you sci-fi buffs, this book will please you. There is advanced technology, an abundance of space, and interplanetary travel! In this novel, Lewis' strength is creating new worlds. It's not just the geography, it's the culture, and language and each of these factors are fleshed out very well. I loved this world, I just couldn't handle the scientific jargon that accompanied it.

Short N Sweet: Spinning Starlight does not match the magic of Snitching Snow, but I'm sure this will be a great read for readers with a knack for science.




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