Review
E. L. Starling delivers an entertaining space adventure with YA sci-fi form with Bound by Stars. The Titanic-in-Space concept was a lot of fun to read, and I’m not sure why I haven’t come across this idea before. Besides the adorable love story, the characters struggle with real-world classism that the stars from the epic love story in the movie face.
As an Earther, Weslie has the chance of a lifetime at a better life for her and her mom. But she sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the other first-class passengers and Big Six classmates – including several heirs to the corporations on Mars that control various facets of life on Earth. And one in particular, Jupiter, insists on showing her that he’s more than just a rich prince who gets everything on a silver platter. Slowly but surely they begin to fall for each other and have to decide just how much their future together is worth when the system insists it can’t happen.
My favorite character is Weslie’s AI robot companion and contest winner ILSA. Like a true AI, the bot verbalizes Weslie’s change in physiological responses and inopportune moments – particularly when she’s around Jupiter. The author also gets points for misdirection for readers suspecting who is behind the attempts on Weslie’s life and dangerous rebel activity happening on the ship.
If Bound by Stars is meant to be a standalone novel, then plot holes and unexplained mysteries surrounding Weslie’s true background is a problem. However, if a sequel is planned, then the missing pieces are likely intentional. And I’ll definitely be on the lookout for it.
Bound by Stars is available now.
Book
A Love That Defies Gravity…and Fate
She never belonged in his world. He never thought he’d leave it.
When Weslie Fleet wins a golden ticket aboard the Boundless, humanity’s most opulent starliner, it’s a dream―and a danger. Raised in the dust-ridden ruins of Earth, she is thrust into the gleaming luxury of Mars’s elite, where every whispered word carries weight and every glance is a silent judgment. And none watch her closer than Jupiter, the golden boy of Mars’s high society, bound by duty, legacy, and a future he never chose.
Their reluctant partnership was supposed to be a one-off assignment. Instead, it becomes a battle of wills, a spark that ignites, and a love neither of them anticipated. But fate is as cruel as it is unpredictable, and when the Boundless veers off course, love won’t be enough to save them.
The ship is failing. The odds are impossible. And in the darkness of space, survival is the only thing that matters.
But some loves are worth defying the stars for.
