8 July 2015

Review #266: Justice Buried (Starbright, #1) by Hilary Thompson



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” 


----William Shakespeare


Hilary Thompson, an American author, has penned an extremely compelling YA dystopian book, Justice Buried which is the first book in the Starbright series and one look at the Goodreads page of this book makes me wonder, why isn't more number of YA readers are reading this thoroughly gripping YA science fiction dystopian that is mixed with astrology and lots of mythology, featuring our world, not so far away from the current day, where everything is ruled by prophecy or zodiac and people believed their fates in the stars.



Synopsis:

The people need Justice, but she's not listening. One hundred years before, the Great Sickness reduced the world to three cities. Now the community of Asphodel is trapped underground, waiting for the prophesied maiden of Justice to return and save them from their Fates. Sixteen-year-old Astrea is supposed to be this savior - too bad for them she isn't a believer. Trea fights against her false destiny: she rebels against her family and friends, then refuses her arranged marriage to the charming but deceitful Lexan. Learning her life is in danger, Trea is forced to trust Lexan - until she discovers a power she never knew she had, and one he already knew he did. As betrayal closes every door, Trea decides she must submit to her stars and accept her fate. Then a handsome stranger offers her an unexpected escape and the chance to create her own destiny.


Firstly let's talk and swoon over that gorgeous eye-catching book cover featuring a girl with a red hair posed towards the night sky, that is ruled by the constellations. In one words, simply mesmerizing and holds a lot of inner meaning with respect to the storyline.

The world that the author has created is post-apocalyptic where everything has been ruined by The Disease, that forced the humans of this planet to flee underground, that is come to be called, the city of Asphodel. Now the city folks of Asphodel believes that when the world got affected by The Disease, it got divided into three cities- two above ground and one underground, the fate of which has been sealed by a prophecy involving two different equinoxes- spring and autumn stating that there will be two teenagers born from two different equinoxes will be responsible to start a new city above the ground. Moreover, each and every human being from this city are quite whimsical and this effect is evident in everything that they do.

So in one world the author have created an enchanting city in our planet in the year of 2068, which the author have painted with the help of lots of realism mixed with lots of coming-of-age emotions and issues. Moreover, the world building happens with a gradual pace and not at once I felt disconnected to the world building which has been skillfully planted into the storyline.

Astrea is 17 and is time to lead her life according to the age-old prophecy which has been set when her city was built. Unfortunately for Astrea, she is not up for all these prophecy things and want to lead her own life by her own rules and especially to not to be dictated by any of her own people. Lexan is too 17 who is another human chosen to follow his destiny ruled out by that prophecy, and in order to follow the prophecy, both Astrea and Lexan have to get married. There are some who believes that there is life above their city whereas others who believe that there is no life and some even try to stop Astrea and Lexan. That is when Stian, a young teenager, arrives in their city from the city above ground and things get bit confusing and edgy when Astrea have to make a correct choice by either trusting or by following the rules by the book.

Not being a much fan of the dystopian genre, and after reading a horrible dystopian series, The Selection by Kiera Cass, I think, I'll mark Starbright as one of my favorite dystopian series, and I really request all the YA lovers to give this book a chance, because you won't be disappointed, where there is appropriate action, reasoning, world-building and not to mention, an extremely irresistible love triangle.

The author's writing style fascinated me which has been layered with emotions, the author's imaginative power and lots of strong logic to build a strong and believable world. But there are lots of unanswered questions and I'd request the readers to have patience since this is a series and if every question and secret is revealed in this book, then there will be no option for a second book. The prose is articulate with fast-paced plot. The narrative is fine not too exciting or engaging, but what I loved the most is the way the story progressed and the way the author have unfolded the story with a bit of compassion and a lots of untold mysteries.

The characterization is strongly done and the well-developed characters leave an impressionistic mark upon the readers mind, especially Lexan and Astrea, but unfortunately I couldn't connect well with Stian. Some might get annoyed with Astrea's demeanor who is a bit of a rebel and impulsive and immature in nature, but trust me, this attitude of Astrea matches perfectly with the story whereas Lexan is a great dude with delicious looks and with a villainous mind-set, and I felt completely allured towards Lexan and his ways. Stian, on the other hand, is dark, mysterious and not have much to reveal his intentions and also I think the author could have sketched him with a bit of compassion.

If you're not a big fan of love triangles, then do not read this book, since, it'll annoy you. And for those who like it, I will say that simply go for the book, which the author have portrayed with lots of heat, intense and passion that makes the love triangle justified to the plot. The inevitable chemistry between Stian and Astrea and Astrea and Lexan will will make the readers to keep wanting more of these two pairs.

Anyways there is lot of mystery to look out for and quite a bit of action to keep the readers on their edges, overall, this is an entertaining book and Justice Buried gives a promising start to the Starbright series.

Verdict: Highly recommended to all the YA dystopian lovers.

Courtesy: Thanks to YA Bound Book Tours for the review copy! 
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Author Info:
Hilary Thompson was born to parents who made a habit of taking roads less traveled. But she was also a first child, and an independent, willful child, so she has made a habit of taking a few roads on her own.
After trying on hats made for artists, architects, restaurant and retail workers, landscape designers, legal secretaries, and professional students, she retreated back to her first loves of education and writing.
Hilary now teaches high school full time, writes whenever and wherever she can, and reads as much as her eyes can handle. She also tries not to spoil her own independent, willful children or neglect her wonderful soul-mate of a husband too much. She tends to ignore laundry baskets and dirty dishes.

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