Review: Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis

I received this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis
Published by Disney-Hyperion on 2015-10-06
Length: 336 pages
Reviewing eARC from Netgalley
Rating:

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?

Haunting and mesmerizing, this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wild Swans strings the heart of the classic with a stunning, imaginative world as a star-crossed family fights for survival in this companion to Stitching Snow.

Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis is interesting twist on an old classic. Taking The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson and creating a wholly unique sci-fi adventure, R.C. Lewis has a must read book! Liddi Jantzen is in danger, her brothers are missing, and her only help is on another planet she thought was a myth. With her ability to speak ripped from her, Liddi must find a new way to communicate and get the help she needs. Her brothers’ lives depend on it.

I liked Liddi. Here she is, a sixteen-year-old thrust into the limelight at birth, and yet she retains her own sense of self. She doesn’t let the stardom go to her head. She’s fiercely loyal to her brothers (her only living family) and has no use for those that seek to use her for her fame. As I said I like her! When someone close to her betrays her, taking her voice and trapping her brothers, Liddi doesn’t let it stop her. She fights, she adapts, and she will stop at nothing until her brothers are saved.

Tiav *swoon* is one of those book boyfriends that everyone wishes they had in real life 😉 He is the son of a high official on his planet. He’s kind, sweet, extremely intelligent, and has no clue who Liddi is or where she came from. He’s kind of perfect in Liddi’s eyes as he sees her as no one ever has. He sees her without the fame. To him, she’s just Liddi.

Ok….so the plot. It’s complicated to say the least. Liddi is from the Seven Points — seven planets connected by conduits/portals. Each planet serves a purpose to society. Liddi’s planet is based in technology. When someone close to her discovers that the conduits are failing, this person traps Liddi’s brothers in the conduits in order to “save” them and implants a small device in Liddi’s neck. If Liddi speaks, her brothers die. It’s that simple. Liddi escapes through a portal to another planet, one thought to not exist. Here she meets Tiav and discovers the origins of the portals, the Seven Points’ conduits and what this all really means for her brothers who are trapped.

Overall I enjoyed the book. I’ll admit that I did have a hard time following it at first. It’s told from Liddi’s perspective and there are a LOT of characters. I had a hard time keeping them straight. Also the world-building was a little shaky at first. About 25% in to the book, I finally started to understand and was able to follow the plot but there were times in the beginning that I thought I’d skipped pages because of plot holes. This is why it lost a star for me. If you enjoy young adult, science fiction, or your looking for a fast-paced read, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of this book!

Final Conclusion:

 

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