Defy the Stars, Claudia Gray

Netgalley copy in exchange for an honest review. 

The Blurb 

She’s a soldier.

Noemi Vidal is a seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.

He’s a machine.

Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.

Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

My Thoughts 

Everyone who knows me a little knows I will never not pick up a book when it is about robots, space, science fiction or all that together. So I was beyond excited to start this one. 

Welcome to a world where robots can be kind and where you can bury your loved ones in stars. The world-building in this story was incredibly, and truly immersing. It was intense, action-packed and filled with details that made me want to jump in a space ship and travel the galaxy with the characters.

Those, by the way, I loved. The story is told from two perspectives: one is Abel’s, a robot that has been abandoned in his ship, and the other is Noemi, a fighter from the planet Genesis. Both were very interesting, flawed and endearing to me. I loved Noemi’s strength and her pure loyalty to her home and her loved ones. I loved Abel’s struggle to understand humanity and to express his thoughts. I also loved how they evolve together, with things moving fast but not too fast. 

Overall, Defy the Stars was easy to read, with short chapters and a compelling style, as well as great dialogues and a lot of action. As I said earlier, I love stories about robots, and I could not help sensing the Asimov’s vibes coming from this novel, especially when it comes to the rules put on robots and mechs, which is an aspect that I enjoyed, being such a big fan of his. 

Defy the Stars is a tale of humanity, survival and trust. It was intense, very raw at times, heart-breaking too, and bittersweet. And I really enjoyed reading it. 

★★★★

Links 

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Author's website 
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