Sci-Fi

Under Different Stars (Kricket Book 1) by Amy A. Bartol

Cybil Solyn
under different stars
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“You cannot thrive under the wrong stars, Kricket… the stars here are in opposition to you… can’t you feel it?… Let us take you home.”
– Amy A. Bartol, Under Different Stars

Grade: 4.0

I find myself in a conundrum on what to say about this book. On the one hand I loved it. The world was fascinating, original, and the writing compelling. On the other the writing was trite, the plot obvious and juvenile, and the love story over the top. But dammit the author had me laughing out loud, and turning pages well past my bed time because I just couldn’t put this book down!

Kricket is on the run from the foster care system in NYC and has just a few more weeks before she’s 18 years old and free of them forever. But hiding from them has always been hard.  Kricket  is different. She’s model beautiful with amazon height and white blonde hair that when cut off grows right back. She’s kind of a freak and has spent years just trying to fly under the radar. So when two different warring groups of men try and kidnap her and take her back to her true home of Ethar, explaining that her mother and father were war criminals hiding on Earth and she must return to her home planet of Ethar she tries to hide from all of them. She is unsuccessful and ends up being captured by Trey and his team. After she is captured Kricket is brought back to Ethar, but Trey and his team start having doubts about their mission and this is when the real story starts.

So what’s great about this book?

The world building. In a time where we don’t get to read about new worlds and it’s just the same crap rehashed over and over again, I love to read new and exciting worlds. I also adore well crafted worlds, which Bartol has done in this book. I especially love the language in it. So much awesome slang. I want to live in Ethar’s urban dictionary.

The HOT men. Damn the men are hot. The writing of the men is equally hot. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife! Good stuff.

The humor. I LOLed while I read. I respect an author who can make me do this – especially more than once.

The strength of Kricket but also her flaws. I really LIKE Kricket. I like how she’s a nuanced character who I can’t wait to learn more about.

So what’s wrong with this book?

Ugh – the goosebumps. I kept waiting for the goosebumps to be part of her powers or something, but I guess she just gets cold a lot. These goosebumps show a real problem in the writing – it’s kind of juvenile. Bartol needs to level up her skills. She has the talent to be a great writer so when I see crap like this it irks me.

So much love triangle. We all know it’s coming right? Barf.

Super predictable plot. To be honest I don’t care much about this, but I keep hoping she’ll throw me for a loop and surprise me as we go along.

Bottom Line: This book is strangely compelling. It’s like trying to eat just one potato chip – IMPOSSIBLE! I dare you not to zoom through it and crave the next one. I know I am.

Audible Review:  In general I don’t like female readers but this one did a great job with the voices and making the action come to life. She also made the very cheesy lines seem less so. I’ll be watching for more from her.

Cybil Solyn

Except for a five year hiatus in my youth when I thought all "adult" books were mystery novels I've been an avid reader. Thank goodness my grandmother saved me by handing me a Regency Romance and telling me that this one was different. My favorite genre was discovered. Thanks Gramz!

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