Book: Read a book involving a war, battle, or where characters are active military or veterans, or with poppies on the cover, or honor the ‘unknown soldier’ of your TBR and read the book that’s been there the longest.

 

 

The main characters eventually join the Imperial Navy and there are plenty of battles in the book.

Lost Stars - Claudia Gray Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Never again will I take for granted a full day just for reading. It's been so long since I finished a book in one day that I forgot how it feels.

Lost Stars is a good book, but it's also a frustrating one. I get it, because we know what happens in the movies, in some ways, we know more than these characters do. Still, it's very frustrating to see characters you've grown to like turn a blind eye to fascism and even justify it.

Thane Kyrell was someone I can relate to on a personal level. He's a very cynical person and to a certain extent, so am I. He is very naive and idealistic when it comes to love, though. He really did believe in Ciena and in some cases, his belief was justified. I feel sad for him though, knowing that someone you love could grasp at straws trying to defend something that's evil. His POV was enjoyable. He struggled at first, but then he found something he could really believe in.

Ciena was more of a mixed bag. I admire her competency and to a certain extent, even her honor. However, I refuse to believe that honor is more important than the lives of people or than freedom. I understand that it's her culture and all that, but it's so unhealthy. She was grasping at straws trying to defend the genocide of an entire planet, of building a Death Star in the first place and she was being an apologist for fascism.

In the end, she was broken, depressed, and suicidal because she couldn't take it anymore. And instead of finally accepting everything she believed in was wrong and she could right it, she decides her honor is more important, her "loyalty" to the empire is more important. That's not loyalty- it's being self-serving because it makes you feel better.

Nash Windrider takes the cake for the worst person in the book though. What kind of person sees his planet and everything he loves get destroyed and then decide that giving in to fascism is the better option?

Still, despite my frustrations with the characters, I really did enjoy this book. I liked seeing through the eyes of Imperial officers and what they thought. At some point, they probably believed they were the good guys. Maybe at the end, they refused to acknowledge they weren't. Perhaps that's the real tragedy- every side in the war believed they were right, until they were proven wrong. Honestly, I would have given this a higher rating if the apologism for a fascist regime didn't annoy me so much.

The ending was more open-ending than I usually like for a standalone, so I'm hoping for a sequel. Or at least some acknowledgment of what happens to the characters elsewhere.

A few years back, I read nothing but Star Wars. I was a little addicted, but reading predictable stories about Luke, Leia, Han & their broods eventually got boring. The more recent influx of novels digging deeper into the traditional stories has some promise.

This novel gives the reader a personal view of how young people grew up after the end of the Clone Wars wanting to serve the Empire. The institution that is clearly evil in the movies isn't seen the same way by those who are raised on Imperial propaganda and 'history' lessons. I love the fact that this author gave us two main characters who grew up on the same planet and are close friends, but who end up with very different views of the Empire.

Ciena and Thane experience the events that we are already familiar with from a more personal point of view. They have friends on Alderaan and on the Death Star. Who is 'good' and who is 'bad' isn't nearly as clear to them as it is to us. The Empire has taught them not to question, only to obey, but they see too much to remain unaffected. In the meantime, they are young adults struggling to figure out their feelings for each other as well.

I thought this novel went deeper into characters and emotions than many other Star Wars stories that I have read, which made it much more enjoyable for me. We have enough shallow 'the good guys won again' action stories. This book points out what we always knew had to be true - the good guys are everywhere trying to do the best they can with what they've been given.

I may be addicted again.

3.5 stars.... so, Queen of Lost Stars was a good read. I mainly read it for a theme that the author used isn't always found in historical romances (hinted in the blurb). I wanted to check it out to see how it worked here. TBH I had no problems with it, but if you're squeamish and find this "not ok", then I won't recommend this book to you. I can only tell you that the reasons behind it seemed valid and there was nothing titillating or taboo about how the whole relationship between Madelayne and Kaspian was portrayed. It was a love story, that simple. It doesn't even have that many sex scenes so I won't even categorize this story under erotica.

There were some OTT moments, especially in the end but I largely enjoyed it. The title of the story has a significance which is explained as you read it. Recommended if you're looking for something slightly predictable but a good medieval romance read.

My first book by Kathryn Le Veque and it won't be my last. I mean to check out this whole Dragonblade/St. Haver family series to know more about Kaspian's family and ancestors.

 

PS: did I mention I thought the cover was really nice too? :D