Name: Danny Werhane's review of Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
Item: Defy the Stars
Rating: 5
Author: Danny Werhane

Claudia Gray

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Lost Stars and Bloodline comes a thrilling sci-fi adventure that Kass Morgan, bestselling author of The 100 series, calls "startlingly original and achingly romantic...nothing short of masterful." She's a soldier -- Noemi Vidal is willing to risk anything to protect her planet, Genesis, 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's advanced programming has 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. An epic and romantic adventure, perfect for fans of The Lunar Chronicles and Illuminae.

Defy the Stars

Danny Werhane

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Lost Stars and Bloodline comes a thrilling sci-fi adventure that Kass Morgan, bestselling author of The 100 series, calls "startlingly original and achingly romantic...nothing short of masterful." She's a soldier--Noemi Vidal is willing to risk anything to protect her planet, Genesis, 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's advanced programming has 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. An epic and romantic adventure, perfect for fans of The Lunar Chronicles and Illuminae.

AHNA

Ah, I feel so good after finish reading this. I love Noemi and Abel so much, they are precious!

The stunning finale to the Defy the Stars trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Lost Stars and Bloodline. Hunted and desperate. Abel only has one mission left that matters: save the life of Noemi Vidal. To do that, he not only has to escape the Genesis authorities, he also must face the one person in the galaxy who still has the means to destroy him. Burton Mansfield's consciousness lives on, desperate for a home, and Abel's own body is his last bargaining chip. Alone in the universe. Brought back from the brink of death, Noemi Vidal finds Abel has not only saved her life, but he's made her into something else, something more. Not quite mech, yet not quite human any longer, Noemi must find her place in a universe where she is utterly unique, all while trying to create a world where anyone--even a mech--can be free. The final battle between Earth and the colony planets is here, and there's no lengths to which Earth won't go to preserve its domination over all humanity. But together, the universe's most advanced mech and its first human-mech hybrid might have the power to change the galaxy for good.

Defy the Fates

On this final book, I am adopting Virginia Redburn as one of my babies. I will treat her as precious as I treat Noemi and Abel.

😂😂😂

Okay, now we're getting serious. I really like this series as a whole and after the second book, I am blown away by it. I rated the second book five stars and I was coming with the third book full of expectations. Well, that didn't work really well.

The first half of the book, I can't get into the characters or the moments that they're in. I do care about the characters, but I don't feel the ‘pull’ as strong as the first and the second book. I feel like some of the times, the characters are behaving out of their usual, so it feels weird. It's like I'm coming to a new book and a new people. Especially their miscommunication, that really frustrates me as we have talked about this for over and over. Reading the first half,I wouldn't expect to rate it any higher than three stars.

Thank God the second half of the book saved me. This makes me realize that I am drawn whenever their onto some actions. And even tho the first half of the book didn't really interest me, the second half of the book is a lot stronger. I ended up rating it four stars, to appreciate this series as it's one of my favorites and just because all the good feelings that left me after finishing this book. I do feel however that some of the problems in this book feels rushed and therefore doesn't really impact me as much as the first and the second book.

Still, I would declare it as one of my favorites. And let me just sit in the corner and cry for the way the third book executed and for the knowledge that I'm leaving my babies 😭❤️

This is the thrilling and romantic sequel to Defy the Stars from the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Lost Stars and Bloodline. An outcast from her home -- Shunned after a trip through the galaxy with Abel, the most advanced cybernetic man ever created, Noemi Vidal dreams of traveling through the stars one more time. And when a deadly plague arrives on Genesis, Noemi gets her chance. As the only soldier to have ever left the planet, it will be up to her to save its people...if only she wasn't flying straight into a trap. A fugitive from his fate -- On the run to avoid his depraved creator's clutches, Abel believes he's said good-bye to Noemi for the last time. After all, the entire universe stands between them...or so he thinks. When word reaches him of Noemi's capture by the very person he's trying to escape, Abel knows he must go to her, no matter the cost. But capturing Noemi was only part of Burton Mansfield's master plan. In a race against time, Abel and Noemi will come together once more to discover a secret that could save the known worlds, or destroy them all. In this thrilling and romantic sequel to Defy the Stars, bestselling author Claudia Gray asks us all to consider where--and with whom--we truly belong.

Defy the Worlds

What an emotional roller coaster ride 😭😭😭 At first, I wasn't sure I would rate this book a high star. I do like seeing how different they living their world now, but it's not enough. I think I just keep going because I hope there's going to be something that's about to happen. And damn I am right. As soon as the plot picks up about Abel's action to Noemi rescue, I was hook! Oh, no one warned me to prepare a heart, a soul, and a mental going through this ride. Now I'm warning you. Be careful. Your love for the characters will only destroy you. Thank you 😂❤️

A stunning blend of action-packed science fiction and love against the odds. Perfect for fans of the DIVERGENT series. Noemi Vidal dreams of travelling through the stars one more time - but she is now an outcast from her home planet of Genesis after a forbidden trip through the galaxy with Abel, the most advanced cybernetic man ever created. But when a deadly plague arrives on Genesis, Noemi gets her chance. As the only soldier to have ever left the planet, it will be up to her to save its people...if only she wasn't flying straight into a trap. On the run to avoid his depraved creator's clutches, Abel believes he's said goodbye to Noemi for the last time. After all, the entire universe stands between them...or so he thinks. When word reaches him of Noemi's capture by the very person he's trying to escape, Abel knows he must go to her, no matter the cost. But capturing Noemi was only part of Burton Mansfield's master plan. In a race against time, Abel and Noemi will come together once more to discover a secret that could save the known worlds, or destroy them all.

WHATTT? That ending. I don’t know if I liked this or the first book better. Predicted some of it and was more romance focused so probably about a 4.8

3/28/19 

After reading this again, I really do think I like it more then book one! The stakes feel so much higher. I can’t wait to see what book 3 holds

The synopsis of this book seems pretty clique and predictable , but the actual story is such a wild ride. The world building was original and well done, and some of the things that happen in this book are pretty relevant to the real world, like the religious aspects of the different planets. The characters where also extremely entertaining. Why has no one else read this book? I’m genuinely shook.

She's a soldier. Noemi Vidal is 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.

menna

why have you been all sleeping on this? this book is so great. it has amazing characters and they're really well developed and i fell in love with them so hard! it's predictable at times but i still enjoyed the story a lot and would definitely recommend.

[Completed my Astronomy exams for the OWLs Magical Readathon✨]

Rachel Kanyid

Enjoyed this, but didn't follow it as well as the first book. Excited to read the last book and finish out the series though.

Todd Luallen

An excellent book with plenty of thought-provoking themes to discuss along the way.

Unfortunately I wasn't taken with this second installment by Gray. I don't want to provide any spoilers, so suffice it to say I thought there were some characters that acted out of character or did things I thought were unbelievable. In addition, the male narrator in the audio version of the book made many of the characters seem to be pre-teens instead of adults. I know this is a YA novel, but the characterizations were too young in my opinion. As with all ongoing series there is a reason to continue, but I don't think I'll be going along. Claudia Gray won me over with her Star Wars novel, Lost Stars, but the last three novels I've read have unfortunately been less enjoyable. If you are a huge fan of Defy the Stars, this book may provide some entertainment, but it definitely suffers from the second book syndrome.

Nicole Dykeman

3.75 stars! This was a super quick, action-packed space adventure which I absolutely loved. Noemi and Abel are both great, well-developed characters, and I SO appreciate the fact that their romance is not rushed. They’re both mature and respectful of one another’s feelings and goals. I really felt for both of them. 

My biggest complaint about this is the lack of development of the side characters. Losing Esther at the beginning of the story didn’t have much of an emotional impact because I didn’t have time to get to know her, and though she is offhandedly mentioned once or twice more as Noemi grieves, I still felt like she was nothing more than a plot device. I loved Virgina; I wanted more of her though. Abel and Noemi bounced around the universe meeting these people and making connections, and I wish those relationships had more time to develop. Everything happened very quickly since the story never stayed in one place for very long. I’m hoping in future books we will get to know the side characters a bit more and delve into Noemi’s life on Genesis! I want to learn more about what she’s really fighting for.

courtney garrison

I never really get into sci-fi type books, it never really has been a genre I enjoyed. Claudia Gray had me with this one though, I read this in two days. I was hooked after just a few chapters. You have you two MC’s, Noemi and Abel. Noemi is a human from Genesis, Abel is a mech from Earth.

Earth is running out of resources and trying to colonize to other planets. Genesis is one of the few planets with enough resources and clean air to breathe and Earth is trying to take it from them. Noemi is part of a crew that is willing to sacrifice their lives by flying into the gate and essentially blowing themselves up. Giving Genesis time to regain military strength to defend Genesis from Earths forces.

The writing in this book is dual perspective, but you never get lost in it or confused with the story. You can easily follow along there incredible j journey of trying to save Genesis.

I really enjoyed this book and i found out it will be a series. I can not wait to see where the story goes and how this journey end. I have never read any Claudia Gray books, but I will definitely be checking out her other novels.

Thirty years ago, Genesis started a Liberty War against Earth - they wanted to assert their autonomy against the destructive practices of Earth. Genesis's belief in using technology to its fullest extent before replacing it means they're working with outdated equipment compared to their enemies on Earth. Not only are the people of Earth sending newer ships, those ships are piloted by mechs, machines that look like humans. Earth has everything to gain and nothing to lose in their war against Genesis. Genesis, on the other hand, stands to lose the pristine environment of their planet as well as the values they hold dear if they lose. And so they create a reckless plan, the Masada Run, that could buy them some time to regroup against their enemies from Earth. 

Then Noemi Vidal, a warrior from Genesis, learns of another way to stop the war. A method that relies on the assistance of an advanced mech named Abel that she finds in the wreckage around the gate between Genesis and Earth. This new plan takes her and Abel around the Loop, the string of worlds that Earth has colonized, racing against the Masada Run timeline. In the process, Noemi learns more about her world, Earth, and the other planets in the Loop than she ever expected. Her view of the universe shifts with each new revelation, making her question whether the current direction of the Genesis military is the only or best solution to the war. 

Defy the Stars has a lot of star-crossed lovers motifs going on, which I am somewhat ambivalent about. I do, however, like the development of Abel as an autonomous being and Noemi's gradual realization that he is more than a machine. The final revelation about why Abel was built so much more advanced than was strictly legal skeezed me out so hard and gave me a lot of negative feelings about old people who just won't let go and let the next generation run things. 

This was a generally enjoyable book, but ultimately wasn't of great personal interest to me. Don't know if I'll bother to find the sequels to finish off the series.

Laura Kehoe

Actual rating is 3.5 stars

As many of you know, space is 100% my jam. So when I saw a spacey book written by an author I'd wanted to check out, of course I had to read it. And overall, I thought this was a pretty good book. I loved the concept, although I think the execution could have been a little better. But, yeah. I liked this book and I'd definitely recommend it.

It took me a little bit to get into the story. While there was plenty of action and excitement, I felt a little removed from the action. I think my problem was I still didn't really understand what was happening, so I was less invested in the story. Later on, once I had a better idea about what was happening, I stared caring a looot more for the characters. 

The characters themselves were okay. Abel was pretty awesome and I enjoyed watching his journey. But Noemi was just...eh. She wasn't a bad character by any means. But I kind of feel like I've already read her character a couple hundred times. There wasn't a whole lot that stood out about her. Although I did enjoy watching her learn more about the universe. That was pretty cool.

So, to sum it up, I liked this book. There were things I didn't care for, but I still had a really good time reading this. If it looks like something you'd like, I'd definitely say check it out! 

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown for providing this book in exchange for an honest review!

Sofie

I AM SO READY.

EDIT:

I love this series. Abel is such an amazing, complex character. Noemi is strong, capable, but shows so much growth from the first book. Their love story, and the story of their worlds and the discourse about what a soul is is riveting.

My only grievance with this second book is that so much of it is contained within one setting, whereas the first stretched across the stars. Still, a great sequel. I’m so so excited for the next book!

I am so so sad this series is over. Truly incredible. Amazing writing, story, characters, and world building. I can't get enough.

Hey Claudia... epilogue?

Story Eater

As far as sequels go, this book was one of the best sequels I've read in a long time. I like sequels that act as an extension of the first novel-as if the author plotted out a story that would take three books, or volumes, to write. 

The book also avoids what many young adult books of today run head first into-a preoccupation with sex, profanity, and melodrama. In Gray's two books, characters preoccupied with saving others and fulfilling their duty fill the pages. Their actions glamorize intelligence, loyalty, justice, and mercy. Villains accordingly show that their hearts are filled with selfishness, single-mindedness, advantage for themselves, overindulgence, and vitriol. There is no empathy for these characters and their ends, and their ends are not proclaimed by other characters as "they may have done such and such, but they certainly didn't deserve that." Villainous actions put them in certain situations, and they accordingly suffer the consequences of such actions. 

With that written up, the story felt like an engine that got going and sputtered here and there. The pace was incredibly inconsistent. With all the complexity of the narrative, much of the subplot overtook the main plot-and vice versa-with an effect that felt like rush-hour traffic. Nevertheless, I look forward to reading the conclusion as the world of Abel and Noemi grapple with personhood and who is considered worthy of life-based on actions or based on origin?

Jelke Lenaerts

Really, really enjoyed this but it wasn't really outstanding to me. This book is very technical so a little hard to get into, especially when tired 'cause you gotta keep your head in the game (yeah, that's an HSM reference and you know what, I don't care). Would recomend this though, especially if the concept sounds interesting to you.

full review: https://jelkelenaerts.blogspot.be/201...

Erin Pitstra

I didn't quite love this one as much as the first 2, but I still really enjoyed this book! And overall I really loved this series! I really grew to love all the characters! I don't usually pick up sci-fi books that often, but I'm really glad I picked this series up!

I don't normally read a lot of science fiction, but I truly loved this book! I couldn't put the second half of the book down!

I loved this! I'm so glad I bought the 3rd book before finishing this one!

Jolie

Science fiction has been one of my favorite genres going back to my middle school years. I am a little hesitant to read science fiction because sometimes I have issues with the ships or the language or I just didn’t like the storyline. So, needless to say, I have started a lot of science fiction books and have DNF’d them. So I was happy to see Defy the Stars written as a YA science fiction book. I figured that there would too much teenage drama going on and that would distract me from any shortcomings.

Well, I was wrong. Not only was Defy the Stars a great science fiction book but the young adult sections of the book (well it was the whole book) was fantastic. Again, it isn’t often that you get a book that combines the two perfectly. This book did.

I really enjoyed that Earth was the bad guy in this book. It was a different and welcome change from Earth always being the good guy/underdog. Instead, in this book, Earth is evil. Earth is the instigator and Earth will not let go of the other planets under its control. It was a very refreshing change and I loved it!!

Noemi grew on me during the book. I can understand why she was so angry. Losing her family, being raised by a family that resented her and then being a child soldier in a war that shouldn’t have been going on for as long as it was. She was stressed out. She was trying to keep her best friend, Esther, alive and she was trying to not think about the suicide run on the gate that connected her solar system to others in her area. So she was a little testy and I was surprised that she didn’t have a breakdown when Esther died or when she realized that she was Abel’s commander. But, by the end of the book, she grew so much and changed so much that I actually liked her.

Abel came across, to me, as what a mech should act like. He analyzed everything, he really didn’t understand human emotion and he said some pretty weird things. But, he would protect Noemi with his life because she was his commander. By the end of the book, though, he was his own person and he made his own choices….even when faced with direct orders. He truly became his own master by the end of the book.

This will be the only time that I will say that I didn’t think that the romance element of the book wasn’t needed. There was so much going on that I think it was silly to have included it. Especially since Noemi was so prejudiced against mechs. While it was something I saw coming, I really wish that the book didn’t go there. It really didn’t add anything to the storyline.

The end of the book was very bittersweet. I am glad to see that everything turned out well for Abel and Noemi. I can’t wait to see what book 2 will bring!!

How many stars will I give Defy the Stars: 4

Why: A very well written science fiction/YA book. I was very engrossed with the story. The only thing that I didn’t like was the romance part of it. Weird, I know.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Young teen

Why: No sex (just one kissing scene), mild violence, no language.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

sanah

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩.“
I have no words for how horrible this book was and didn’t like this book at all, it’s harsh I know, but I really disliked it. I only have a few things to say: Noemi and Abel’s relationship was, to put it in a nice way, incredibly weird. 
Abel as a character was really lame and I didn’t take to him at all. His character didn’t call out to me at all.
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend it :((

Wren Hardwick

So I kind of thought this book was boring. 



And it might have been the narrators. The gentlemen, bless his heart, who did Abel's voice talked like a robot since Able was a robot. When anyone else talked, it was normal and you could tell that he was great at narrating. But my word.. when you talk like a robot for half a book, my brains want to melt away from you.

When I look back at all the things that happened, I realize that the book probably could have been a solid four star, maybe three, rating instead of two if not for the narrators. So know that a narration can make or break a book ladies and gentlemen. This one 100% broke it.

Abel, a prototype mech who is suppose to be the best of all the mechs, was abandoned thirty years ago. Noemi, in the attempt to rescue a friend, finds him and is automatically not okay with him because he is a product of Earth, the very planet she is fighting against. His programming makes him bound to protect her until someone with greater power comes along, so he ends up helping her and trying to stop the war that's gone on for way too long.

Plus, humanoid robots kind of freak me out.
minus Westworld, idk why but it was phenomenal. 

I have read a Claudia Gray book before and really enjoyed it. She has a way of writing sci-fi that keeps your attention and a way of writing characters that you relate to. But man, was this sci-fi thing just way over my head. I just got into Star Wars three years ago if that tells you anything. I am more of a fantasy (Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Game of Thrones) lover than sci-fi so; so really, it could just be that this isn't for me. 

Honestly I thought the world building was great and that there is a lot of potential with this series. Maybe I just won't do the audio-book for the next one, eh?

Danny Werhane &
Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

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