Review: Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray

Defy the Worlds (Constellation #2)
By Claudia Gray
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Print ARC
Source: YALLFest

To Sum It Up: Noemi has returned to her home planet, but despite all that she’s done to try and defend Genesis as its battle with Earth continues, she hardly receives a heroine’s welcome. Instead she’s treated as an outcast for seeing so much more than a machine in Abel, the prized creation of the legendary scientist Burton Mansfield. Abel is still traveling the galaxy and has even assembled his own crew, but when Mansfield uses Noemi to lure Abel to fulfill his purpose, Abel doesn’t think twice about the sacrifice he will have to make to save Noemi.

Review: Defy the Stars was one of my favorite reads of 2017, so I was very, very much anticipating diving into the sequel, Defy the Worlds. The first book blew me away with the story of Noemi Vidal, a fighter pilot whose home planet, Genesis, is locked in a battle with Earth, and Abel, a mech whose programming is so sophisticated, sometimes it’s difficult to believe he’s not human. Mechs are a huge part of Earth’s strategy to defeat Genesis, and so Noemi’s first impression of Abel was less than favorable. Book one saw Noemi’s attitude toward Abel shift significantly, as they traveled from planet to planet trying to find a way to help Genesis.

The second book finds Noemi back on Genesis, where she’s become an outsider for seeing Abel as so much more than a mech. Abel, meanwhile, has assembled a tiny crew and is once again traversing the planets of the Loop, albeit with caution as he continues to try to evade his creator, Burton Mansfield. Mansfield built Abel for a sole purpose—to house the scientist’s brain after his death. With Mansfield ever closer to that point and desperate to find his “son,” Abel must always stay one step ahead of a man whose genius makes that task seemingly impossible.

Defy the Worlds wastes no time plunging Noemi and Abel into intense action. Earth deploys the deadly Cobweb virus, which Noemi survived in the previous book, against Genesis, and Noemi’s attempt to get help ends up in her capture—by Mansfield and his daughter, Dr. Gillian Shearer. They use Noemi as bait to draw Abel out, knowing that he’ll do anything to save her.

I happened to be watching the first season of HBO’s Westworld while reading Defy the Stars, and by another stroke of coincidence, I read Defy the Worlds during season 2 of Westworld. I’m fascinated by how both the books and the TV series examine how close a machine can come to being human and all of the ethical issues that question raises. Defy the Worlds takes mech tech even further, with Mansfield’s latest iteration offering potential immortality. That is, only to a very select few in comparison to the size of the galaxy’s population. I love how deep this series is, exploring the possibility that a mech might have more humanity than an actual human being.

Although I very much enjoyed reading about Noemi and Abel again, I did feel that this was slower paced than book one. Defy the Worlds was still an excellent read, though, with plenty to love, including some fantastic character development for our two protagonists. The book left off on a hell of a whopper, which makes me all the more eager to get my hands on book three.

All in All: Defy the Worlds was a very solid follow-up to Defy the Stars and definitely worth the wait. I didn’t find it as fast paced as the first book, but otherwise it was awesome to be back with Noemi and Abel once more.

Review: Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

Defy the Stars (Defy the Stars #1)
By Claudia Gray
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley

To Sum It Up: Noemi Vidal is ready to die for her home world of Genesis in its ongoing war with Earth, but her path takes a different turn when she ends up on board a ship that was abandoned thirty years ago with only a robot mech named Abel left behind. Abel longs to reunite with his creator, the renowned genius Burton Mansfield, but Abel’s programming dictates that he must also follow Noemi’s orders, even if they aid Earth’s enemy. As Noemi and Abel traverse multiple planets together, what began as a machine obeying its instructions becomes far more complicated, as Abel discovers just how much he’s evolved over thirty years and Noemi cannot help but see him as more than a mech.

Review: FINALLY—my first 2017 read above 3 stars! I’ve been in a horrible reading slump since late 2016, really, and I’d started to worry that it would never end. Thank you, Defy the Stars for breaking me out of the slump at last!

I’m sure that I would’ve loved this book as much as I did based solely on its own numerous merits, but the way in which it reminded me of HBO’s Westworld, a show that completely blew my mind, just pushed Defy the Stars over the top. Abel, one of the novel’s two main characters, is a mech, a combination of organic parts and technology, modeled after his brilliant creator, Burton Mansfield. Mansfield’s genius is so acclaimed, he’s practically a mythical figure. I did feel that there were even a few parallels between Mansfield and Westworld’s own mastermind, Dr. Robert Ford.

I absolutely loved Abel and his story line. After Mansfield and the rest of the human crew on board the spaceship Daedalus abandon it, Abel is stranded in space, all alone for thirty years until the book’s other protagonist, Noemi, unintentionally finds both the Daedalus and Abel. Although Abel’s been programmed to protect Mansfield, the man whom Abel considers his father, Abel’s programming also directs him to follow the orders of the highest human authority on the ship. Noemi ends up being that human. On Genesis, Noemi’s home planet, mechs are seen as soulless killing machines; having to place her trust in a mech goes against every one of her beliefs and instincts. Abel, being as advanced in intelligence as he is, realizes that his rescue from isolation may be short-lived with his fate in Noemi’s hands.

Claudia Gray gives both of her protagonists so many layers to their characters and develops them wonderfully. Noemi is a fierce fighter, willing to do anything to save her planet from being destroyed by Earth. Although ensuring a future for Genesis remains close to Noemi’s heart throughout the book, traveling to other planets with Abel opens her eyes and mind to the possibility that Genesis’s strategy for ending the war with Earth might not be the only way. Abel and his evolving programming also challenge Noemi to question everything she’s ever believed about mechs, which she’s encountered in battle all too often. Abel, however, proves himself to be a different kind of mech. He is the only model of his type, programmed with the skills of the other mech models but possessing a continuously developing personality. Sometimes Abel himself pauses to wonder whether a new feeling he’s experiencing is merely a malfunction or part of Mansfield’s design. The line between man and machine becomes very, very fine, and Gray just nails this aspect of the book. One thousand percent. It is so, so, so easy to forget that Abel is not entirely made of flesh and blood. He’s even got some sass! Abel melted my heart, too, which is not an easy feat.

I’m kind of a reluctant sci-fi reader; previous sci-fi books that I’ve read were too heavy on the technical details of the world and/or contained lots of info dumps. Defy the Stars features the perfect amount of world-building, enough where I feel immersed in the world but without being overwhelmed by endless minute details. The best thing about the world-building here? It’s done through showing, not telling! My last few reads employed a lot of telling, and it was exhilarating to finally encounter some skillful showing.

I’m still thinking about how amazing this book was, which pretty much illustrates the amount of love I have for it. Defy the Stars is a thrilling sci-fi adventure that also stirs the heart and asks how human a machine can be. There are many facets to this book, and each one is highly compelling and engrossing to read about.

All in All: Defy the Stars was so damn good! Westworld fans should find this especially intriguing, but even if you’ve never watched the show, this is such a winning, thrilling sci-fi novel!

Still Distraught Over Fateful

* Spoiler warning for Fateful by Claudia Gray *

In my review of Fateful by Claudia Gray, I expressed my disappointment with the ending, but I felt like I couldn’t go into as much depth as I would have liked to without spoiling the entire book, so here I am.

Now, from the beginning of the book, I had it in my head that people were going to die. I mean, it is the Titanic, after all; it kind of goes with the territory. Fateful was going to be a tragic love story that would leave me thinking about it for days afterward.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for happy endings, but this book was supposed to end sadly. But nooo, the two main characters, Tess and Alec, lived happily ever after. >:/ What’s up with that?! It’s not supposed to end like a Disney princess movie! That’s just not how a story about the Titanic works!

In my opinion, it would have been far more romantic if Tess and Alec had died together! The ending ruined the entire book for me; it could have easily gotten five stars from me if the conclusion had been heartbreakingly tragic.

Well, now I feel much better. Thanks for listening.

Review: Fateful by Claudia Gray

We have a guest reviewer today—it's Melissa, Ally's sister and Lee's cousin! Melissa will be contributing occasional posts in the future, too. Without further ado, here's her first book review!

Fateful
By Claudia Gray
Publisher: HarperTeen

To Sum It Up: Tess Davies is a servant for a wealthy English family, the Lisles. Tess dreams of escaping the cruelty of Lady Regina and creating a new life for herself. Opportunity arises when the Lisles decide to take a trip to America on the luxurious Titanic. Tess has devised a plan to leave the Lisles when the ship reaches America. She only has a few more days of servitude, but will Tess lose sight of her dreams when she meets the handsome first class passenger, Alexander Marlowe? Alec has a dark past that could put Tess and everyone she loves in terrible danger.

Review: I found Fateful to be very well-written, and it brought new life to the story of the Titanic. Claudia Gray created an enticing plotline with werewolves and a werewolf-kind-of-cult. That kind of drama mixed with the inevitable disaster awaiting the passengers of the Titanic is a recipe for a fantastic book. I feel like this book was so close to a five star, but there were only two things holding it back.

First of all, I just couldn’t connect with the characters. I didn’t dislike them; I just wasn’t in love with them. Tess was cool, but I wish there had been something more to her. Alec also had so much potential, but he, too, was missing something. Alec is a cursed and tortured soul, but I feel like Claudia Gray could have pulled more out of him. I feel like he should have had some passion besides Tess, making him more memorable. The plotline was so good; I wish the characters had been just as good.

I was also very, very disappointed with the ending. I really wish it had ended differently. I feel like if the end had gone in a different direction, the book could have reached its full potential.

All in All: I think the book is definitely worth a try. The plotline is too good to just write off because of a few letdowns. Even though Fateful is not one of my favorites, it was very enjoyable. I hope you like it just as much, if not more than I did.