Title: Tin Star
Series: Tin Star #1
Author: Cecil Castellucci
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Pages: 240
Format: ARC
Received: For Review From Publisher (Thank You Macmillan!!)
Stars: 4/5
Published: February 25th 2014 from Roaring Brook Press
Book Description:
On their way to start a new life, Tula and her family travel on the Prairie Rose, a colony ship headed to a planet in the outer reaches of the galaxy. All is going well until the ship makes a stop at a remote space station, the Yertina Feray, and the colonist's leader, Brother Blue, beats Tula within an inch of her life. An alien, Heckleck, saves her and teaches her the ways of life on the space station.
When three humans crash land onto the station, Tula's desire for escape becomes irresistible, and her desire for companionship becomes unavoidable. But just as Tula begins to concoct a plan to get off the space station and kill Brother Blue, everything goes awry, and suddenly romance is the farthest thing from her mind.
Review:
Tin Star starts off with a bang. This book was definitely not what I was expecting it to be but I really enjoyed it anyway. Cecil Castellucci has created an entire galaxy and I think she did it spectacularly. Usually I find that really out there typed of alien creatures tend to not work well in books because of the visual but Castellucci's imagination captured me. I didn't know this was a series until now and I am so excited because that ending threw me for a loop. Tin Star is a fast read that will bring you into the far reaches of the galaxy.
Tula Bane is this darker heroine that we don't see very often in YA. Castellucci really captured that in Tula's voice through out the novel. She has her whole world turned up side down when she gets abandoned on a space station having to learn to survive. Tula Bane is a survivor and sometimes we get to see her make difficult choices. She is very goal oriented and determined to kill Brother Blue, the man who left her behind.
I think this story had some really great conflicts that were dealt with great. There were parts of this story though that were very predictable but then there were twists that I never saw coming. Tula does experience a bit of an insta-love but for me it was more of an insta-love because she hasn't seen another human being in years, I think it was a hormone thing. But what confused me was that out of the blue she made out with a girl, I have zero problem with what happened but it made no sense to the plot. They literally just started to kiss because one girl was trying to blackmail Tula. It was just an odd event because Tula had a boyfriend.
The entire book though I shipped Tula with an alien and the abrupt ending bothered me. It felt rushed and because I thought it was a standalone it had bothered me. But I am really glad that the conflicts will get fully resolved. I really want to see Tula grow into a better person. I also want to see the romance that I am dying for between her and an unexpected character for someone reading it.
I recommend this book to fans of Doctor Who.( I am on a Doctor Who binge I am at the middle of season 7) If you like out there science fiction with crazy aliens and lots of action, this is definitely the book for you. It is a quick read that will have you hooked.