Representation: Black, Asian and biracial (half Latina and half Pacific Islander) characters
Trigger warnings: Terrorism and pandemic mentioned, physical illness, hospitalisation and death of a child, sibling, parents and friend, grief and loss depiction, explosions, military violence and war themes, near-death experience
Score: Seven points out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

I wanted to read this for a while but I never got around to doing so until now. When I finally got the opportunity to read this novel I seized it, then I picked it up and read it. When I finished it, I enjoyed it but I can understand why others wouldn't. Romance readers would be disappointed. Sci-fi lovers wouldn't be.

It starts with the first character I see, Noemi Vidal, fighting for her planet Genesis in the rebellion against Earth. She meets a mech, Abel, in an abandoned ship while trying to save her friend, Esther.
Unfortunately for Noemi, Esther dies since the latter refused treatment, leaving only Noemi and Abel. To add salt to the wound, Noemi's planet needs help so she asks Abel to make a plan, and that is to get a device that can destroy the gate, stopping fighters from travelling there. So begins the long adventure Noemi and Abel take only to find one part. Defy the Stars shines in its immersion and captivating worldbuilding because I could never put it down, there's an explanation for everything and nothing is nonsensical. I enjoyed the character development also.

I could see the worlds when reading this and appreciated how they were distinct (e.g., Stronghold is a mining planet, Genesis is fairly new, Kismet is a tourist attraction, Cray is arid and Earth is Earth.) However, Defy the Stars is not without its flaws. The romance is barely there for a story the publisher marketed as one third romance. Yeah right. It's more like one percent. It rubs me the wrong way when authors make the cast diverse only to tick off boxes. Black? Check. Asian? Check. You get the idea. It's more superficial and tokenistic than anything significant. If all the people were white, it wouldn't make a difference. The conclusion is action-packed and finishes on a cliffhanger. I'll still get the second instalment, but I'll wait until I have time. ( )

HATERS TO THE BACK I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Look Gray's writing in general matches my happy place for reading. Her heroines are snappy, her heroes are swoony and her stories are fast paced and engaging. Also her villains make me see red.

Like I said, happy place.

The Firebird books cemented this in my mind. While I still have lingering...problems with certain aspects, largely I was pleased.

This Constellation series just upped the ante.

My poor darling Abel. You are the puppy of the Universe dude. While not the same kind of fervor as my love of Russian Paul, watching Abel's pure joy in his growth as a "person" made me happy.

When Mansfield made him, he either programmed him to be the pettiest of Aunties ever or Abel learned that all himself because he is a DELIGHT in the beginning when he's passive aggressively undermining Noemi.

And that's where I'll stop. Tasch is reading this as well, so look forward to a joint review! ( )

Okay wOw this book is amazing, wish I could give it more stars. Very unique, gripping and fluid, finally a book I didn’t get bored of or find predictable. Characters with depth that I learnt to love (though the take on death/loss was shallow and unrealistic to me, but not too obviously/much of a complaint really. This did feel like a standalone so I’m both excited and nervous to see whether the next book holds up since I can’t see where it’s going ( )

This was really quite good! Noemi is from the planet Genesis and is on a mission when she ends up on an abandoned ship hoping to save her friend. There she finds Abel. Abel is a one-of-a-kind robot, known as a merc. He has been alone on that ship for the past 30 years and has evolved into something more during that time. They learn to work together and are able to form a bond. It doesn’t take long for Noemi to discover that Abel is more than a machine.

This story was incredibly exciting and I was really curious how things would work out. The characters were fantastic and I am still somewhat amazed by how much I loved a robot. I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrators did a great job with the story which only added to my enjoyment.

I received a digital review copy of this book from the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library. ( )

Totally enjoyed this sci fi book. The sci fi was very strong. I liked the set up with the loop of 5 planets. The only small quibble I might have was I'm not sure that there was really anyway for the vagabonds to exist. There were 3 planets that you couldn't even freely go to. That left Earth and the pleasure planet. What were these people doing for money to pay for power and food? Oh well that was minor.

Liked both characters especially Abel. The becoming more and more sentient thing was well handled. Looking forward to the next installment. ( )