Starsight

"A great follow-up to the first one!"

"And here we are again at another top gun school, and I'm here for it. Man the character development is real in this series, and the themes are deep. Great for both teens and adults, especially when it comes to themes of war and empathizing with others. And man that cliffhanger, all the feels. 9/10."

"3 or 2 star.. not great in my opinion"

"While an enjoyable middle grade read, this installment felt much more thrown together than its predecessor. Believability was stretched as first plot and then details were glossed over for the sake of a feel-good moral that, nonetheless, culminated in a decently satisfying ending. Despite its weaknesses, I would definitely recommend the series. The first book is excellent, and the two together are perfect for those looking for a clean, young adult read."

"A solid follow up to the first book. I appreciate the expansion in world-building for this universe, a specialty of Sanderson's. I am glad people didn't blush as much in this book, and he even used "flushed" a few times. The tedious word thing this time is characters saying, "MY, my!" as an interjection, though I think it's supposed to be annoying. <br/>I think Sanderson writes a lot of strong narratives about liberation when a character is an underdog, but I think the plots and where he's going with their ethical quandaries and consistent, believable motivations get a little muddy when they're not punching upward or fighting for their freedom anymore. <br/>This is just my opinion, but I would like to see a bit more of his characters rising up and dismantling the machine at all levels rather than being exceptional and reaching the top despite adversity, and taking apart only the little bits that impacted them."

"Probably any part where Spensa and Jorgen interact cytonically. I think they’re just so cute together :)"

"1.5⭐️<br/><br/>I think I’ve been overly generous to this series. I wanted to DNF this book, though I refused because I had already started it and I can’t have that messing up my flow.<br/><br/>This series feels like a low blow. A kick to the stomach.<br/><br/><b>1. Intent/writing</b><br/><br/>Though I have not read any other Brandon Sanderson book besides book 1 and 2, I feel like he is stooping low to catch the young YA audience, using a weird writing style and dumbed down terms. I don’t have high hopes for the rest of this series.<br/><br/>Just based on this, it doesn’t even seem that Sanderson wrote the books with a plan in mind. The characters aren’t developed. The pacing is off and characters spend too much time whining than actually having any action or drama.<br/><br/><b>2. Plot</b><br/><br/>I don’t think this story had a lot of thought put into it. Book 2 seems like a goose hunt for information that Spensa is never going to get. It goes on forever.<br/><br/><b>3. Characters</b><br/><br/>Speaking of characters, these characters are the worst. Spensa is inconsistently a friend, spy, and impulsive teenager. M-Bot is even worse, wanting to be “alive”, whatever that means for an AI (which btw is a whole other questionable choice on the author’s part and feels like a way to “teach the young people a life lesson”).<br/><br/>Not to mention, Sanderson introduces a plethora of new characters of different species that aren’t even fully developed. New species? Just compare it to an old-earth animal that Spensa probably hasn’t seen.<br/><br/>Spensa isn’t even developed in this book. If anything M-Bot had more development and goals to strive for than the main character.<br/><br/>No, I don’t think that Spensa is a bad character. I just think if Sanderson put her in the oven for a while longer, she could’ve become less annoying and fleshed out.<br/><br/><b>4. Inconsistencies</b><br/><br/>*This is something that has bugged me since the first mention of it in book 1. <br/><br/>Though this current timeline of the book takes place probably centuries in the future as Earth aims it’s sights to the sky. How does Spensa know about historical figures (who are ancient to us now) or take a biology class about a planet that multiple generations of humans haven’t visited/seen. For god’s sake, the youngest people who can even remember life before landing on this random planet are now on their death bed. Did they bring down some books before they burrowed underground 70+ years ago, or are those 80 year old engineers just that smart to remember??<br/><br/><b>5. Overall</b><br/><br/>Less than 40% through and I already wanted to wipe the book from my mind. A complete waste of time.<br/><br/>I think I will try to read a different Brandon Sanderson book in the future. If you have any Sanderson stand-alone (if there even are any) recommendations to fill the time until I read a series, that would be appreciated."

"Anything Sanderson writes you should add to your list. This is a YA book so it's pretty good but have you read any of his adult books? I.E. the stormlight archives, mistborn trilogy, or war breaker? I suppose that depends on your age. The stormlight archive is the best series I've ever read and I read quite alot"

"An amazing YA Sci-fi with an intresting cast of characters "

"👍 Make sure you read Skyward first, that’s the first book in the series."