A good conclusion to the series but not amazing. Sophie and GIdeon's relationship did not have the same oomphf of the previous two and the climax felt a bit stilted and philosophical; moreso than the rest of the entire series so that it left an oddly unsettled feel to the ending conflict and didn't feel as powerful as it could have.

That said it is still a lovely tale of love, and loss and choices. Definitely read if you've read the other two.

Where do I even start?

I really enjoyed These Broken Stars, and I’m pretty sure all of us can say that the first book in the Starbound series was definitely the best of the three. This Shattered World actually wasn’t that bad. I mean, it wasn’t as good as the first one, but whatever. I’ll get past that. The romance wasn’t bad, although the storyline seemed dragged out, I figured that you know, we don’t need to criticize, right?

And then this book came along.

I feel like this book was just too long. There was no need to have an addition of two new characters! Want to know why? Because even though the stories of Lilac-Tarver and Flynn-Jubilee were done, guess what happens? They were dragged in. And in this book, we had to witness watching everyone’s romance from a different perspective who we haven’t even connected with! (Talking about our new characters Sophia and Gideon)

The love story in this one was a tad bit too much, to be honest.

Spoiler

You’re telling me that after just sleeping together, Sophia and Gideon are true lovers?! Why would they even sleep with each other if they never trusted the other person?!

It felt too insta-lovey and that was just one difficult aspect.

Basically, everything meant to happen between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” was all shoved into this one book. I’m not really sure where to even go with this. The villain was extremely downplayed from the first book, and don’t even get me started on that whole Lilac phase.

I, personally, believe that books centering around the concept of destiny, can either be really well done, or just look plain sloppy. In my opinion, for Their Fractured Light, this just seemed like a way to wrap things up.

Hugely disappointed, and I found a lot more things I didn’t like in this book than what I did.

Beautiful ending.

Three stars. I got most of the way through the book and then I set it aside because I was going on vacation and I did not want to bring a big honking book on the plane with me. I wasn't able to get back into the flow of the book after that. My fault, not the book's fault.

#153 - 2021
Genre: YA Science Fiction

3.5 stars!!!!!!

Holy crap. Where do I even start.
That book THAT BOOK broke me in the best and most beautiful way possible. It was glorious and beautiful and heartbreaking and perfect.

Ok, so this instalment follows Gideon and Sofia. And can i just say first and foremost I FUCKING KNEW IT I KNEW IT AND NO ONE BELIEVED ME CHRIST WHY DOES NOBODY LISTEN TO ME! They spent way too much time exploring Sofia's character in This Shattered World for her to just be cast aside. And when Lilac mentioned the Knave I had a feeling he would make an appearance. And he kept on getting referred to by Lilac and Tarver that i was just like 'Yep. Alright. He's going to be the other main character.' AND I WAS RIGHT! YES!

But as previously mentioned in the previous book, Sofia Quinn is a friend of Flynn's on Avon. They grew up together. She harboured him as a fugitive when the military was hunting him down She Ra style. She then made a reappearance when Flynn and Jubilee were on the spaceship leaving Avon. She conned a soldier. And that's exactly who she is: a con artist.
Gideon is a famous hacker known by his alias 'The Knave of Hearts'. He'd been helping Lilac and Tarver keep their private life...you know...private.

Straight away when you meet these two the personality development gets underway. The winking, the seriousness, the phobias, and the daring escapes - it's all there in the first 50 pages. You get to delve into both these characters and who they are from the get-go, and i really liked that because i hate when author's fluff around with the characters.
Straight away when Gideon winks i knew i was going to love the cocky asshole. And as soon as Sofia said she wasn't buying into his BS i knew i was going to love her. They were probably the realest characters in the series for me (like don't get me wrong, Lilac and Tarver are my OTP 5ever and Jubilee and Flynn are the sexual chemistry tension buddies but these guys tho). They are flawed and they compulsively lie to one another and there is little to no trust in that relationship. But this is probably the fastest moving relationship out of the series. Lilac and Tarver didn't get their act together until three quarters of the way through, Lee and Flynn didn't get their act together until right at the very end - and THESE guys. Halfway through and they admit attraction and i was just sitting there smiling because they're both such dorks about it.

Every one of the books has a main antagonist along with the overarching plot.
TBS- Survival and everything trying to kill them.
TSW- The war between the military and the Fianna
and this book is no different but i was NOT expecting what happened

Spoiler

What the shit Lilac holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck. When she just gets up and Tarver's like 'Bae waht?' I knew shit was going to hit the fan ver ver soon, and i wasn't wrong

So here we have an antagonist that is srsly gonna kill everyone but we can't kill them because you know ???!!!!????!!???!
And I seriously felt so bad for Tarver like holy crap he was breaking my heart the whole time.

Spoiler

And when he was talking to sofia about committing suicide after Lilac died I was like NO NO NO NO NO and when he said that there was nothing stopping him now I was gross sobbing into the book I shit you not

All the relationships in here were perfect. Like, Lilac and Tarver were goals, and Flynn and Jubilee were the cutest people i had seen around. They were so much more comfortable around themselves and others than they were in TSW. It was so cute and endearing to watch them together.
But, alas, Tarver and Lilac were still my number one pair.

Spoiler

But christ Gideon and Sofia's sexy times were hella rad, like I was fanning myself while reading their make out sessions

AND HOLY CRAP CAN I MENTION

Spoiler

THAT GIDEON IS SIMON'S BROTHER!! WHAT!! WHO SAW THAT COMING! When Lilac saw Gideon and she whispered 'Simon', I almost started crying again. Thank god he wasn't Simon, though, because if it was him I would've revolted against the series. No one comes between my OTP.

The ending was amazing. Although the one thing i didn't understand is why Gideon and Sofia threw themselves into the rift. Like, it was cute and everything that they did that together and shit, but why? The explanation given was that everyone else did and it seemed to work so why not them and now. I dunno, but it didn't seem right.

I was gross sobbing by the final chapter, when Gideon and Sofia are eating Laksa while watching Lilac and Tarver on the screen.

Spoiler

AND HUSBAND EXCUSE YOU WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN I NEED TO READ IT SO I CAN CRY AGAIN

But basically that just ruined me.

In conclusion. Amazing Book. Amazing final hurrah with the characters. I'm seriously going to miss them all and probably still cry every time i think about them. And one day i'm hoping for more Novella's (or even a bind up, i ain't complaining fam) where we get to see them all happy and with children and married and christ i'm making myself emotional.

I really enjoyed this series - the perspective shift from two characters of the first book to the two characters of the second, then the two of the third, is wrapped up wonderfully. The storytelling is masterful, as is the ability to write in so many character voices. My only significant complaint is that the male character in this book spends way more time objectifying and thinking about the main female character in terms of how hot she is than I needed. But overall the sci fi themes and the human elements are just what I want — well-balanced and compelling.

Wow, a fabulous way to end the series. So many plot twist I never saw coming.

I love how all the stories were woven together! One particular connection took me by surprise. And the snippets in between chapters were much more interesting this book. Though I'll still always love the first one the best. :)