Starflight

Starflight #1

by Melissa Landers

Fast-paced adventure, found family, intrigue, and enemies-to-lovers romance combine in an action-packed young adult novel for fans of Firefly.Solara Brooks needs a fresh start, someplace where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. Still, off-world travel doesn't come cheap, and Solara is left with no choice but to indenture herself in exchange for passage to the outer realm. She just wishes it could have been to anyone besides Doran Spaulding, the rich, pretty-boy quarterback who made her life miserable in school. The tables suddenly turn when Doran is framed for conspiracy on Earth, and Solara cons him into playing the role of her servant on board the Banshee. Given the price on both Doran and Solara's heads, it may just be the safest place in the universe. It's been a long time since Solara has believed in anyone, and Doran is the last person she expected to trust. But when the Banshee's dangerous enemies catch up with them, Solara and Doran must come together to protect the ship that has become their home—and the eccentric crew that feels like family.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Space, Adventure, Audiobook

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 2, 2016

About the author

**Receive news, updates, and exclusive excerpts from Melissa by subscribing to her e-newsletter!**

Melissa Landers writes science fiction for teens and the young at heart. The Alienated trilogy (ALIENATED, INVADED, UNITED) and the Starflight duology (STARFLIGHT, STARFALL) are complete! Look for Melissa's middle grade debut BLASTAWAY, now available from Disney-Hyperion.

**IMPORTANT** Please do not request an ARC through Goodreads. All review copies are distributed by the publisher.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I guess we're stuck with each other."
"Guess so," she said. "Too bad you make lousy tea."

3 1/2 stars. Out of all the 2016 releases promising exciting things, lots of action, thrills aplenty and badass pirates, Starflight might have been the one I expected the least from. I heard bad things about Landers' Alienated and the blurb doesn't even try to hide the romance (including, it would seem, a bunch of cliches).

The only thing drawing me in was the comparison to Firefly. And, you know what? It was pretty spot on.

Somehow nearly every sci-fi/pirates/action book I've read this year has managed to be drowned by romance or tediousness (Passenger, The Girl from Everywhere, Blackhearts) and yet this book - that is sold as a light, romantic space opera - is packed with action, interesting characters and dynamics, and a sense of love that goes way beyond the romantic, putting friendship and loyalty first.

Oh, and it's often hilarious too.

Solara is a tough heroine who is not afraid to break the rules to get what she wants. She's living in a hard world and her options are limited, so who cares if that douchey rich guy gets caught up in her plans? He deserved it anyway.

Her criminal antics land her on a spaceship with a strange assortment of characters - a kleptomaniac, an impossible flirt, a grumpy but lovable captain, and a girl with secrets - and she soon gets caught up in way more than she bargained for.

The relationship between Solara and Doran Spaulding is not surprising; what is surprising is how well it actually works. Because my first impression of Doran was "this guy is an asshole" and I found it really hard to believe I would come to like him. BUT, as it turns out, there's nothing like a bit of love/hate comedy, memory loss and vengeful pirates to change your mind about someone.

I doubt anyone will gain new perspective from this book, but it is an enjoyable story about a bunch of unlikely companions coming to trust one another. Light on science, but full of drama, humour and warmth.

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[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 4 out of 5]

With her back turned, she loosened each plait until her hair hung in waves that curled around her waist. Then she spun to face him and puffed a sigh.
“Fine. You caught me. I guess there’s no use pretending anymore.”
Doran settled in and waited for the punch line.
“I lured you onto this ship,” she said, “because I couldn’t get enough of your scintillating personality.”
There it was.
“Kiss me, Doran,” she cried, flopping onto the mattress with one arm slung over her eyes and the other clutched to her breast. “I burn for you, hotter than a thousand hells.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I think there’s an ointment for that.”

BWAHAHAHAHAHA

This book was so much fun. There are a multitude of YA quasi-sci-fi out there that claim to be for Firefly fans. This book made so such claims, yet it's the closest to the fun-filled, energetic spirit of Firefly that I've read.

To be honest, I had reservations about this book. I wasn't too fond of Landers' previous book, Alienated. Luckily, this book was fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable.

Solara is an orphan with a questionable (possibly criminal) past and nowhere to go. Doran is the futuristic equivalent of an asshole trust fund frat boy. When these two paths collide into a fairly disreputable ship with an even more dubious crew, adventure and hilarity ensues.

I fucking loved the characters. Solara is deadpan, hysterically funny at times. She's a tough girl, she's self-sufficient, no damsel in distress here. Her social status is bottom of the ladder. In the beginning of the book, Solara is trying to sell herself off as an indentured servant, for god's sakes. There is no better future for her, if you can imagine that. But she is so resilient, and despite her servile status, her spirit never diminishes.

“I might have dirt under my fingernails and tattoos across my knuckles,” she told him, “but I can fix that with a hot bath and a visit to the flesh forger. You’re dirty in a place that can’t be washed. You’ll never change, and you’ll never make a difference. When you die, no one will miss you, because your life won’t matter.” She followed him down the stairs until they stood nose-to-nose at the base. “You don’t matter.”

Doran is set up as an arrogant asshole, but I never hated him. He's set up as a playboy initially, but even then, I felt like there was something more to him. He's just naturally charming, he was born with it (or maybe it's Maybelline).

A minute ago she wanted to break his jaw, and now she had to fight the urge to pat him on the head and give him a cookie. That had to be some kind of superpower. She finally understood how he got everything he wanted in life.

The relationship between Doran and Solara was fantastic. They're not lovey-dovey at all, in fact, they get together like chalk and cheese. It's a master-servant relationship turned into mutual dependency out of pure necessity. They're allies because they have to be. They don't like each other at all. Solara made a mistake before, she's not likely to do so again.

The captain grunted in understanding. “Ah, yes. Love—the great equalizer. It makes all of us stupid.”
A familiar ache opened up behind Solara’s breast, but she forced it down. She hated that Jace still had the power to hurt her from halfway across the galaxy. She hated even more that she’d given him that power—dropped her heart right into his waiting hands in exchange for a few sweaty fumblings and some pretty words.
“It’ll never happen again,” she insisted. “I’m smarter now.”

Solara and Doran's relationship slowly develops throughout the story. It was very, very well done.

The story was awesome, filled with adventure and camaraderie, twists and turns. This is a true space opera.

...these were her people and this was their journey together—messy and wild and wonderful. She had no idea what the future would hold for any of them, beyond possibilities as infinite as the stars.
And really, that was enough.

[Jesse (JesseTheReader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5)

This was a really entertaining read! I mean, there's SPACE PIRATES in this book. How can it have space pirates and not be a fun read?! This book also reminded me a bit of the Lunar Chronicles, but it's obviously VERY different, it just had a similar vibe to it.

My main problem with this book comes from one of the characters & his character development. It just felt a bit out of place and sudden. But other than that this was a super fun read and I'm glad I took the time to read it. I'll definitely be checking out the sequel!

[Melissa Landers]

Woohoo! Starflight is here! But I keep hearing my characters' names mispronounced, so here's a quick phonetic guide. It's Doran (DOOR-IN) *not* Dorian, and Solara (SO-LAW-RUH). Hope you guys enjoy their story. :)

Let's talk about Starflight!

Like my other books, Starflight is a light sci-fi romance, but there are no aliens this time, only humans. (Sorry, Aelyx.) This story involves westward expansion on a galactic scale, and I pitched it to my editor as "Overboard" (one of my favorite romantic comedies EVER) meets "Firefly" (an amazing sci-fi series that was tragically cancelled after one season). The good news: Starflight is a stand-alone novel with a full plot/character arc, a satisfying conclusion, and no open threads at the end. Even better news: There's going to be a companion novel featuring Cassia and Kane, a pair of secondary characters from the first book. This way, you get all the benefits of a series without the cliffhangers. :)

Our first main character in Starflight is Solara Brooks: a penniless orphan (and convicted felon) who wants to start over on a newly terraformed planet at the outer realm of the galaxy. She has a job lined up, but offworld travel is expensive, and she can't afford a ticket for the five-month voyage. Which brings us to our second main character, Doran Spaulding: the filthy rich a-hole who tormented Solara all through high school. He's embarking on a trip of his own, and when Solara crosses paths with him at the ticketing station, she agrees to indenture herself to Doran as his valet in exchange for passage on the luxury spaceliner Zenith.

But nothing goes according to plan, of course.

A twist of fate lands them on board the Banshee, a small ship manned by fugitives, and then INTERGALACTIC SHENANIGANS ensue. Oh, and plenty of romance. Would you expect anything less from me?

This book was a total blast to write, and I hope you love it!

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just thought I would take a little detour from my currently reading and pulled this little gem off one of my tbr bookcases. I'm so glad I did because I loved it! It felt so good to just pick something, read it and love it!!! ❤






So, Solara is trying to get across the galaxy and start a new life because she was set up my her so called jerk boyfriend. She got in trouble, he didn't, she got the tattoo's to prove it, he didn't. Now no one wants anything to do with her.

She gets kicked out of the home when she's eighteen so she's trying to get someone to pay her passage out of there. She has no money and it costs to travel the galaxy.

She ends up getting taken on board a ship by a bully from school named Doran. He is a major jerk to Solara but later on in the book some stuff happens with him and they become friends and STUFF =)

They end up on another ship called the Banshee with a ragtag crew and OMG, I loved them all! And little Acorn the sugar glider :-) ❤

They have so many close calls in the book I was getting nervous! They have a run in with all kinds of people after them. Turns out there are two people on board that are wanted! And someone I love dies =-(

They end up finding out all kinds of things that Doran's father did. They are rich because of their fuel company. And then some stuff and some other stuff and a revelation all happens and Lord have mercy! I felt sorry for them all for reasons. And there are evil pirates but it worked out nicely. Heh!

It was just a feel-good book with galaxy action and all of the places they stopped and things and people. I am so loving space opera's - whatever you want to call them. It made me feel so happy. And when Solara felt like she finally found a family it brought a tear to my eye. You can actually read this excerpt on the back of the book but I have to add it.

FAMILY.
She hadn't realized it until now, but that's what the people on this ship were to her. At some point during this haphazard journey, she'd fallen in love with a bespectacled kleptomaniac, a star-crossed seducer and his displaced princess, and most of all, an infuriating blue blood who used to call her Rattail. She'd learned that home was a fluid thing, and whether on a planet, on a satellite, or on a rusted bucket of a ship, this crew was her home.

*sob*

For me, all the stars!



I look forward to the next book in this dualogy that are about two of the other crew members.

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I’m loving your criminal mind right now.”
“Careful, you’re speaking Jackass again.”

This book, you guys, this damn book is so fun! I am someone who doesn't even usually enjoy cute books. I prefer darker plots with heartless sadistic characters. Starflight couldn't be more opposite. I want to say this was my first Sci-Fi (that took place in space). I read this last year, loved it, then forgot about it . . that is till i heard about Starfall a few days go. I am sorry, how the hell did this escape me that it's a series?!



It doesn't involve the most original elements.
See, it could be done. It's totally possible for a book that's full of cliches to be highly enjoyable, just don't ask me to take it seriously. Sell it for what it is.

The plot is fairly foreseeable.
Though, there were some things i didn't see coming.

Characters are somewhat predictable, nothing too complex here, yet It doesn't make me love them any less. I mean, even Gemina didn't have space pirates.

Writing is simple.
I liked that Melissa landers didn't waste time rambling, we jumped right into the good stuff.

Since it's not a very convoluted scenario, i don't want to do a detailed review. The less you know the better.

[Reynita ★ The Night Reader ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second Read Review :

THE REVIEW IS POSTED

3,7 STARS

"Most people
don't need a reason to be decent. I'm one of those people. You
could be, too, if you made an effort."

I read this book for the first time years ago and I remember that I liked it so much. I even cried over this book and I thought the book was amazing. So I decided to reread it because I loved it years ago and I wanted to see whether I still loved it or not. When I finished reading it, I just thought that the book was fine. It was funny and quite good but I didn't love it. There are also some reasons why I gave this book 3,7 stars and here are the reasons :

The Plot

In my opinion, the plot was slow and so many things happened and there were many information. But the strange thing was that I didn't feel bored reading it. I knew and I felt the pace of the book was too slow and many things happened but the book was really good at keeping my attention. I could read the book for hours and I would just feel like I merely read the book for only minutes. But the problem was that I was overwhelmed with all the problems. It wasn't confusing but I felt like all the problems crammed inside of my head and overwhelmed me. There was also a time where I would just stare at a wall and think about all the problems. Like wow so many problems.

The Writing Style

The writing style was one of the reasons the book didn't make me bored. It was good and funny! I rarely laugh when I read but this book made me laugh several times and clapped my hands in delight. So the book was pretty fun and even though there were many problems in the book and I got overwhelmed by those problems, I still enjoyed reading it and the writing style was one of the reasons why I liked this book.

The Characters

Solara was a unique character for me and I rarely read a character like her. It was ... refreshing? or something. So she wasn't good at weapons and this felt different and so refreshing for me. Like how many times have I read a character like her? I don't know and I don't even remember. I was pretty shocked but then I got excited and grinned so wide.

A black hol-
ster hung low on her hips, complete with two pulse pistols she
had no clue how to use. The outside of her thigh showcased
a sheated blade. Its curved edge screamed menace, but she'd
probably sever her own artery trying to draw it.

isn't that amazing?! A character that isn't good at weapons. For me, it's amazing. She's definitely a character that I rarely read and it's sooo refreshing and she's also a kind person. I mean, she and Doran fought a lot but she wasn't mean toward him. Well maybe they annoyed each other but she wasn't mean toward Doran, even though she didn't like him at first. In real life, if she were real, we definitely would be friends and I would be so happy to be her friend. She was just a really nice person. On the other hand, Dorian was just ... fine. He made me laugh and smile sometimes but I didn't like him that much. He was just an okay character.

KANE AND CASSIA. OMG. THESE CHARACTERS. THEY WERE SO PRECIOUS. I liked them a lot. They were also the reason I laughed when I read it. The way they bickered was just so funny and pleasing hahahahaha, I felt like I wanted to get a popcorn and watch them bicker. They were just really funny! like there was this scene where they bickered and then the next moment they were just really excited together about something and I who read it was like shaking my head and laughed at them. They were just such great characters. I liked them so much! and about the other characters, well they were also good but not my favorite.

The Romance

The romance was the kind of romance that I love. It was enemies to lover kind of romance and it was done quite well. The romance was not actually my favorite thing from this book, which was surprising because I used to adore the romance very much but now I just think the romance was pretty good. It wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing either. But in my opinion, it was also done well because of the slow-paced of the book. So the pace of the book matched with the relationship between Solara and the other characters. The romantic relationship with the love interest and the friendship she built with the other characters.

I didn't give it 4 stars because the book didn't play with my emotions or my heart and I LOVE books that play with my heart and the romance was just okay for me.

Overall, this book was just a quite fun read and it was also funny. It was a pretty good book to spend my time with. Even though I didn't love it in the end, I didn't regret reading it.

Thank you for reading and liking this review. I appreciate it so much and I hope you all have an amazing day! ❤❤


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REVIEW TO COME TODAY!

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One of my fears is rereading a book that I liked years ago and that's what I am doing right now. *bites nails*

I remember I liked this book so much years ago and I barely remember anything about it. So I'm rereading it and hopefully, I'll like this book. *cross fingers*



•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

First Read Review :

rounded down to 4.5 stars

this book tells us about an 18 years old girl named Solara Brooks. She lives in orphanage for 18 years.
She has a plan. Her plan is to go the outer realm to start a new life.
and that plan cause her to meet an 18 years old boy named Doran Spaulding, who bullied her all through high school.
but Solara has no money to go to the outer realm so when she meets Doran and he's the only person that can "help" her because no one else wants to hire her as servant because of her knuckles tattoes.
and Doran hires her to become his servant in exchange for a ticket on his ship and their wonderful journey begin when they meet each other.

why did I give this book 5 beautiful stars 4.5 stars
because :

My Opinion
this book is so wonderful and I really really felt the friendship between all the Banshee's(it's a wonderful cargo ship) crews.
only 3 books that made me feel like this, they are under the never sky series, the lunar chronicles series and this book.
I only feel like this toward wonderful books

The Romance
the romance in this book is very very sweet and it's slow burning love without love triangle from the beginning till the ending.

"my reason is totally selfish- I need you. Wherever you are is where I want to be."

this was my reaction when I read those words.



because I've waited for about 2 days to hear him saying something like that to Solara and I just wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

this is a wonderful book and you won't regret it once you read it.
I cried and laugh so much because of this book, and thank you so much Melissa Landers for making such a beautiful story <3 <3 and I don't know what else should I write on this review because I'm speechless right now.
this book is very very very wonderful and made me forget about time when I read it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading science fiction & fantasy with slow burning love.
thank you so much for reading my review, guys!!

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may have lacked depth and been cheesy at times, but boy was it a bucket of fun.

[Simona B · Rating 4 out of 5]

"She’d learned that home was a fluid thing and whether on a planet, a satellite, or a rusted bucket of a ship, this crew was her home."

•Therefore, obviously, the first and loveliest thing this book has to offer is a gigantic ton of camaraderie. The assortment of our crew is superb: in addition to the main character, Solara Brooks, at only eighteen already orphan, mechanic and convicted felon, we have "a bespectacled kleptomaniac, a star-crossed seducer and his displaced princess, and an infuriating blue blood". Add to the mix an old spaceship that seems to spend three quarters of its time falling apart instead of flying, pirates, a captain with a wooden (metallic? Whatever) leg who seem to be even oldest of said ship, angry pirates, intergalactic conspiracies, on-the-warpath pirates, domestic conspiracies, just a splash of Crystalline, and voilà! A lifetime supply of fun. You'll forget what boredom is.

(And if you're wondering what's the utility of Crystalline...

“Let’s get matching tattoos, so we never, ever, forget this day.”
Her lips parted in a gasp of delight. “That’s a great idea!”
“Really? So you’ll come with me?”
“Of course I will,” she said. “Let’s hurry before we change our minds.”

Here's a hint: they really did it. And deeply regretted it the following morning.)

•The romance reaches unimaginable levels of cuteness. Doran's and Lara's relationship is definitely a love-hate relationship, and since I have a thing for those to begin with, it wasn't difficult for me to ship them since the very first page, although, at the beginning, they treat each other really despicably, which may bother some readers: insults and cruelties are par for the course for them. They seem to be totally unable to interact in any other way. But when the ice begins to melt, you can bet, it melts.

•As much as the book made me relax and throw my rationality and objectiveness out of the window, I couldn't turn a blind eye on Doran's unrealistic behaviour at the end of the book: while I see why it was completely within hid rights to hold a grudge against his father (after what he did, I would have been surprised if he didn't), it seems to me quite a stretch than he doesn't even care that he's now in jail, especially since they appeared to have a rather strong relationship before everything happened. Even if the man had wronged him, I'm not sure a decent humann being and a decent son would turn his back on his own father that easily. My suspicion is that at that point Landers was a little in a rush to finish the book, and so let the issue go by unnoticed, or tried to.

•Apart from this last (though pretty big, since it ruins a character) oversight, I loved pretty much everything, in case that wasn't clear yet. Sometimes the story felt a bit too "light", and I think I expected something more, generally speaking, even though I can't exactly put my finger on what could have been improved.
I know, that doesn't make much sense.

➽ The first thought I had right after turning the last page was, Can we do this again? The fact that I wanted to go back to the beginning and start the book all over again, I think, speaks for itself. Starflight is dangerously addictive, and so are its characters. I couldn't be more excited for Starfall, the companion novel about Kane and Cassia, and since I often am too difficult to get attached to secondary characters, such excitement on my part says a lot as well.
My advice?

"Rise and shine, you crazy kids."

Pick this up.

PS Thanks to all the people who showed me the way when I wavered between three and four stars. Of course it's four. Any less would be a crime.

[sreeja · Rating 4 out of 5]

starflight is one of those really fast-paced and fun novels that you need to read to see how amazing it is. I've put off reviewing this sooooo long because honestly i have 0 clue about what i should say about this.

reasons why you just gotta read it:

-There is a really strong female mc who isn't afraid to do whatever it takes to get whatever the heck she wants. She has a reallyyy great set of skills and at heart she is loyal and kind and she gave me serious Rey vibes (which is great because i love rey)


-There is no love triangle whatsoever and it just makes me so happy i swear

-Basically you just have to read it for the character of Doran Spaulding (yes he will seem kind of cliched at first but just give him a shot and you will be surprised) he is so funny omg i really like him <3 doran is adorable


-One of the main themes was friendship between the characters and it was pulled off so well and the interactions that everyone had felt so authentic and real, it was just beautiful :')

-The relationships in this book and the romance was so well written about! It was so goooood. If you're looking for a slow build-up, this is it! IT WAS HONESTLY THE CUTEST.


-OKAY now the main reason why i loved it so much was because it was so adventurous and fast-paced! It has space pirates for heavens sake, obviously it will be amazing *shoves book into your hands* ALSO since its set in space its pretty <3 HAHA



if i could, i would kidnap melissa landers and make her keep writing about this series and the main characters because OMG this book was amazing
i'm not that big of a sci-fi person but guess who's gonna pick up more sci-fi now

[☆☽Erica☾☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very charming and enjoyable.



It started out kind of rough, as indicated by my updates, and had a bunch of quotes that were just like ???? Like at one point the bitchy girl told Solara to pick up her dog's poop and was like "you'll recognize it cause it's the color of your hair." I'm paraphrasing but ???? Um brown? Like the most common hair color? Like mean girl DYES her hair pink, but other than her, it seems that normal genetics and hair colors are still happening here...soooooo......



Once the story picked up, I found it all very entertaining. The main character is Solara, a semi-hardened attractive but self-deprecating "criminal," who is also an orphaned 18-year-old, mechanical engineer who is poor. Criminal is in quotes because, of course, her crime allows her to be a victim so the reader can relate better. The main guy, Doran, is a rich, hot, popular, billionaire, badboy 18-year-old who was in school with Solara and picked on her relentlessly because he felt intimidated by her and also because she has a small birthmark on her neck ...????



So they know each other and board the same spaceship flight (this is an alternate world with space travel obviously) except Solara is employed as Doran's servant per-se and he is constantly a dick to her. Like he always has been. I knew from the beginning that this was gonna be a story about a stereotype boy who does awful things to the female mc and redeems himself by becoming nice and less of a stereotype. I was totally right.

Anyways, he threatens to kick her off the ship when he discovers she is a criminal and instead of leaving she stun-guns him and he conveniently forgets everything for a few days so she can re-maneuver the situation and get them on another ship. They go on a space adventure with a bunch of criminals and there are space pirates. :D Who doesn't love pirates. and pirates + space= yay.

This book didn't blow me away by any means, but I was really enchanted by it most of the story. The side characters were somewhat underdeveloped and lame, but they suited the story and that's okay.

The romance was slow-burn and delightful. We see a genuine build in Solara and Doran's relationship and can feel the electricity between them. Some parts were actually really sexy as well. YA surprising me with sexiness!



Who wudda thunk it.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Starflight by Melissa Landers
Book One of the Starflight series
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: February 2, 2016
Rating: 5 stars
Source: ARC won from a giveaway

Summary (from Goodreads):

Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She's so desperate to reach the realm that she's willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.

When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he's been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world--and each other--the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe...

What I Liked:

Fiction set in SPACE - I love it! Maybe I'm swept up by the Star Wars craze (cannot wait to see The Force Awakens!) but this book gave me Star Wars vibes - in a good way! A ragtag crew of fugitives and criminals, bounties on heads, pirate bosses, crazy schemes, a little thievery here and there - this book was so fun. This book reminded me of Mindee Arnett's Avalon duology, in a way. I'm really loving these space-y books!

Solara is off to the fringe, the outer realm, to a newly terra-formed settlement called Vega. Problem is, she has no money to get there. She takes on an indenture with one of the riches heirs in the universe, Doran Spaulding, who relishes in making her wait on him hand and foot. But as circumstance would have it, both Doran and Solara need to leave the ship and board another, fleeing for different reasons. And while they loathe the idea of relying on each, it might be the only way to survive the journey.

I LOVE this kind of science fiction. Space is a big open place that we know little about, even with all the advances and missions and telescopes that we've had and done. I love how Landers paints the picture of a spacecraft for transport, of each outpost and settlement, of how life is on Earth, in the shuttle, and so on. It's a unique system, and life in this particular world is very different from what we are used to. As always, Landers sets up the world of her story impeccably.

This book is told from both Solara's and Doran's POV - third person for both. Personally, this is my favorite type of narration, in which we get to experience both the male and female protagonist exclusively, but not in first person. Landers does this well! It's clear that she's very comfortable writing in such narration, and I really enjoyed it. Solara and Doran both grow a great deal in this book, and the characterization is so well-written.

Solara is the first of the two that we meet. She's always been poor, but she's also really smart, a hard worker, and very clever. She's got street smarts... and she has a record. Technically, she's a criminal. But her story is so heartbreaking, the reason for her record. Solara is tough and interesting and a decent person.

When we first meet Doran, he is such a jerk. He's rich and entitled and he flaunts what he has. He's dating a rich and spoiled girl who is accompanying him on his vacation to the outer realm (which is how/why he indentured Solara). He's such a d**k (starring that word out because apparently Amazon hates it). But when he and Solara are running for their lives, he starts to change. He doesn't seem like a rich pampered prince, so much as a lost and angry but focused young man. He's determined to reach the Obsidian Beaches (which is what he was supposed to do all along) and find out why he needs to be there. I liked Doran, though at first I will admit that he was a jerk. He's a sensitive and deep guy, and he fights for Solara and the crew's trust.

I HAVE to talk about the crew. The captain is super old and in bent-up shape. He's like the patriarch though, and so everyone loves his eccentricities. Renny is the first mate, and he's a master pickpocket. He's a calm guy, good first mate. The ship hands, Cassia and Kane, are always bickering and fighting. They've known each other for years, but you KNOW there was to be some unspoken feelings between them. I ship them!

This book is full of nonstop, high stakes action that will have you turning pages as quickly as you can. It's kind of hard to tell what the Big Issue of the book will be, because most of the time you're more worried about if Solara and Doran will come out of whatever skirmish alive and unscathed. But Landers cleverly and slowly builds to the Big Issue (involving Planet Z, which is mentioned in the synopsis), and everything is connected. Why people are after the Banshee, and after Doran, things from Doran's past, the location at Obsidian... it all comes together in the climax.

ROMANCE! How could I forget (I didn't). I LOVE the romance in this book - it's my favorite type of romance. Hate-to-love relationships are so fun! And in this book, the "hate" part is so real. Doran goes out of his way to make Solara miserable - since they were young, attending school together, but especially when she becomes indentured to him. I love seeing the two of them simmer and burn, and to the point where it's not that they want to kill each other. Doran and Solara have got to be one of my favorite couples of books I've read in 2015! There is so much tension and passion between them - it was so fun to read! No love triangle (not a drop), and no cruel ending, in terms of romance.

Speaking of the ending...I think Landers had originally sold only one book, so this was supposed to be a standalone. Disney bought more recently, because I do see that Landers is writing a companion sequel (YAY). While this book ends really well, I can see how Landers subtly left some things open, and how she gave herself room to pick up the story. I definitely want to read more from this world! A sequel is much wanted - and a companion sequel is even better. Overall, Starflight was EXCELLENT!

What I Did Not Like:

Hmm. I don't think I really have a complaint about this book. I think there were a few things that bothered me but I get the feeling that Landers left those things unresolved on purpose - for the companion sequel. Which is fine! I wanted to know more about Infinium, and have more resolution about Doran's father and the people after Doran and if the reasons why they were after him were resolved/would be resolved. Hopefully in the next book!

Would I Recommend It:

I highly recommend this novel. People who like Star Wars, or Mindee Arnett's Avalon duology, or These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner - definitely try this book. It's different from Landers' Alienated and Invaded, yet just as addicting and engrossing. Wonderful science fiction, very developed characters, passionate romance - this book is a winner!

Rating:

4.5 stars -> rounded up to 5 stars. I loved Alienated and it got five stars from me (I loved Invaded too but not as much - it got four stars), but I'm thinking that this book is my favorite Landers book. I can't wait to read the sequel!



***I changed my rating from 4.5 stars -> 4 stars to 4.5 stars -> 5 stars! It's definitely a favorite of the year.***

I see the cover has changed slightly, in terms of the font. See HERE.


Sadly, I MUCH prefer the original cover's font (below):

[Andie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Science Fiction books are usually a hit or miss with me but I love the genre so much that I'm constantly keeping my eyes and ears open for the next great read. And guess what? STARFLIGHT was a HIT!!! Oh my goodness did I love this book. It had a little bit of everything; space adventure, strong characters, fun and witty banter, slow burn romance, and space pirates. That's right, space pirates!

18 year old Solara Brooks, fresh out of the orphanage, is off to the fringe for a fresh start where she won't be judged by the felony tats on her knuckles. Desperate for a new life but no money and no means of getting to the outer realms, Solara indentures herself to none other than Doran Spaulding in exchange for transportation. Doran is the spoiled rich boy and heir to Spaulding Fuel. He has held a grudge against Solara for years and it's been his goal to make her life as miserable as possible at every chance he gets, this trip will be no exception.

Doran gets his kicks mistreating Solara and tasking her with the most ridiculous chores but not long into their trip, a flip of the scales comes about and Doran will find himself indentured to Solara instead. With their switch of identities, Solara hires a suspicious looking ship named the Banshee and has her own fun with Doran. The charade doesn't last though and when Doran learns that there is a warrant for his arrest on Earth, Solara and Doran have to learn to rely on each other and their new rag tag crew to escape the law.

Solara is the type of female lead that I love to read about. She's smart, resilient, hard working, and doesn't spend too much time whining about the injustice of the world. While her life has been rough, she's not going to let it hold her back. Doran starts off being exactly what you're thinking; a spoiled, rich, entitled, pompous, jackass. But his character growth was one of my favorite things about this book. While on the run this lost boy transforms before our eyes. He becomes confidant and helpful and starts to find himself. I admit, in the beginning I couldn't see myself going anywhere close to liking Doran but how very wrong I was! His and Solara's romance is the best kind of love/hate relationship with so many laughs along the way and some seriously swoony moments.

STARFLIGHT is full of action, twists and turns (some you will see coming and some you will not), and fantastic side characters that will keep those pages turning. And did I mention this book was fun?! While the plot keeps you engaged and on your toes, this band of characters will charm your socks off. Definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun and light sci-fi romance.

*Thank you to Melissa Landers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.*

[Nastassja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buddy-read with my amazing shipmateKaterina *wishers* let's hijack Starflight ship, get Doran and Rhy on the board and serf the universe together :D

Actual rating: 4.5

...flies a small ship Banshee manned by fugitives: a captain with a sugar bear pet; a bespectacled kleptomaniac; a star-crossed seducer; a mysterious girl with a shady past; a convicted felon; an heir to Spaulding empire. They are on the run from ruthless chief of Brethren pirates and his crew. But pirates are the least of problems for a fearless (um, a figure of speech, of course) team of rebels: there's also Daeva - emotionless, modified space assassins who will stop at nothing until they catch and torture the needed information out of our heroes. The last but not the least in pursuit is the Solar League government: they too need something very valuable that can change the course of the whole universe. You are probably asking yourself: how these intergalactic shenanigans happened in the first place? Well, let me enlighten you.

Our MC Solara aka Lacy Vanderbilt, a vacationing socialite with a busted ankle (don't ask), was in dire need of transportation to an outer realms (some kind of a westward expansion on a galactic scale), where she wanted to start from the fresh page. By chance (or curse) she meets her former classmate Doran Spaulding aka Daro the Red/foot fetishist (don't ask). To say these two have a very strained relationship is to say nothing: they hate each other to the moon and back. After a few insults (mostly from Doran the dick) they decide to travel together: Solara as a servant girl and Doran as her master ( why does it feel like a line from BDSM?!). Doran is abominable toward Solara during the trip, and when his latest trick lands her outside the ship penniless and without any prospects, unless she wants to start selling her body for meal, Solara decides to take extreme measures. She stuns Doran (oops) and reverses their roles: now Doran is her slave and she is the master. Before:

“Let’s get something straight, Rattail. If I agree to finance your passage, the only words that will leave your mouth for the next five months are Yes, Mr. Spaulding. If you disappoint me in any way—if my every wish is not brought to fruition—I’ll drop your carcass at the first outpost. Do you understand?”

After:

“Our relationship is simple,” she told him. “I say ‘Jump,’ and you say ‘Through which window, Miss Brooks?’ You don’t make demands of me. Are we clear?”

Go, go, girl! Trust me, after all the shit Solara went through because of Doran, she deserved her sweet, sweet revenge.

After the switch of identities, Solara hires a suspicious looking crew of an old rusty spaceship Banshee to deliver Solara to her new home. And somewhere on her way she plans to drop Doran off her person. But, of course, a twist of fate interferes with her plans and soon... well, what happens next you know from the beginning of my tale. And to know what happens after, you'll have to read the book. Let's better talk about characters and their relationships. As you already noticed Doran is a spoiled brat in the beginning. When I say he is spoiled I kidding you not. I wanted to smack and kick him in the balls all the time in the beginning, and the way he treated Solara for no serious reason, was the highest level of jackassary:

“I came to your suite in the middle of the night to bring you a glass of water when you were too lazy to walk to the bathroom. I cleaned your girlfriend’s vomit off the sofa cushions.” Solara’s voice raised a pitch. “For God’s sake, I even fetched her panties when you two left them in the elevator! I wanted to amputate my own hand after that!”

But Solara is not a simple girl you can throw away like garbage. She knows how to cut deep with her words too:

You’re dirty in a place that can’t be washed. You’ll never change, and you’ll never make a difference. When you die, no one will miss you, because your life won’t matter.” She followed him down the stairs until they stood nose-to-nose at the base. “You don’t matter.”

Did I already say this girl is amazing? Well, she is and you will enjoy being in her head during the book. But stop giving up on Doran yet, you will love being in his head too *gasp* Yes, I know he is a jerk now, but soon he'll change. You will love him as a hero and his transformation will make your toes curl. He will become a real hero ready to sacrifice his life for people he cares about.

In a few moths our haughty Doran from a rich spoiled brat will transform into a man who:

a) is a fugitive with the following charges: conspiracy to defraud the government, theft, industrial espionage, obstruction of justice, resisting arrest *whistles* nice list, chap;

b) challenges a pirate chief to a fight for a girl's honor (say hi to Daro the Red);

c) lets a retired accountant, who took up body art last month, make a tattoo of a pirate symbol on his wrist (try to explain this on the next meeting of shareholders);

d) turns into a maniac who catches high from troubles (18 years of boring rich life will do this to you)

The list is long, I just wanted to give you a glimpse into Doran 2.0.

And his relationship with Solara will grow into friendship and then into something even more precious:

His heart ticked to a new rhythm, one that warned he was in trouble. Because this girl had left a mark on him, deep down where time wouldn’t erase it.

“You’ll come home with me, when all this is over?” She nodded against the pillow, breathing in the scents of soap and oil vapors that their joined bodies had made. It was unique to them, and sweeter than any perfume implant in creation. “I’ll go anywhere with you.”

Sweet young love *sigh* How much I loved Doran and Solara together , I can't even express with words. They are fantastic, funny, reckless, caring - a real team of two!

He had plenty of skills, just different from hers. That was what made them such an effective team.

The juiciest moments between them are waiting for you in the book *wink*

The rest of the team is no less wonderful than our MCs. They all have secrets and reasons to hide from the government. Cassia and Kane will get their own story in a companion novel, but already we see that there's something between these two:

“You seem to care an awful lot about my love life,” Kane told her, snatching the nuts. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”
Cassia drew a breath loud enough to tell anyone within listening distance that Kane had plucked a nerve. “Not in your most twisted fantasies!”
Kane leaned down until their eyes met. “My fantasies aren’t all twisted. I’ll tell you about them if you ask nicely.”

Renny, a quite kleptomaniac, whose disease made him an outcast; captain Rossi, who is like a father to the crew, and even a little sugar bear Acorn has her own agendas. This book is about finding your true family in a place you least expected.

Family.
She hadn’t realized it until that moment, but that’s what the people on this ship were to her <...> She’d learned that home was a fluid thing, and whether on a planet, on a satellite, or on a rusted bucket of a ship,this crew was her home.

Also this book has tons of fun, I think I haven't enjoyed posting status updates that much in a long, long time. I was super excited while reading and wanted to share my excitement with the rest of the world!

Starflight is a light sci-fi with romance and Melissa Landers writing advances the story to a new scale of levity. This book is so easy and enjoyable to read that I couldn't even find any flaws in the story, or even if I could, I just pushed them aside and continued my acquaintance with the book. Aside from my excitement with characters and language, the world-building is also detailed and well-thought through. Because Solara is a mechanic, we deal with lots of tech terms, but author manage to give all this information in a way that makes it interesting to read and explore. I am not a fan of boring detailed descriptions and in this book you will find none. Also the events of the book take place in a world without aliens. Some people will find it boring, maybe, because what interest to read about universe without other species but people? But I didn't find this element boring, it's like reading a book about globalization only on a universal scale and players have to fight for more space (literally and figuratively).

She recognized the Solar Territories from interstellar geography class. The Milky Way was divided like a dartboard into four sectors with Earth as the bull’s-eye and five rings moving out from it. The tourist rings were the closest, then came the colony planets, ore mines, and prison settlements, in that order. The Solar League headquarters were on Earth, along with most of the galaxy’s industry and wealth, so the farther away you traveled, the more rustic the surroundings. The fifth ring was the fringe, or the outer realm, which the government hadn’t annexed yet.

As you can see, it's quit an interesting world we've got here.

I highly recommend to read this book if you are looking for something light and funny, and once you start reading, you'll find yourself on the board of Starflight: with no boundaries and the whole universe to find your own adventure.

[Katerina Kondrenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

9.5 out of 10

Ревью в моем блоге/This review on my blog
Living A Thousand Lives (please use Chrome/Yandex browser or Android/IOS to see the page; otherwise, spoiler-tags I use to make my post compact may not work)

Short-Soundtrack:
Icon For Hire – Sorry About Your Parents
Broods - Taking You There
ZZ Ward – Home

Genre: sci-fi, fantasy, upper-YA
Stuff: space, pirates, adventures
Fail: convenient circumstances
WOW: pacing, characters, humor, romance
POV: 3rd-person, she/he
Love-Geometry: zero

Quote-Core:

 “Cheating death was exhausting.” 

Guys, have a seat. I'm going to tell you a secret. I wasn't sure whether to read Starflight or let it be without my assistance until... it was released and read by other people. Then I saw a praising review by my friend (Hello Glory! ) and decided to give it a try. Thus we, me and Nastassja (my loyal and brave book-taster/tester), decided to read it ASAP. We were told there are awesome adventures with humor and swoon-worthy romance. Who can resist such a thing?

So, what do we have in Starflight? . Potential future. People had learned how to terraform other planets and now we live everywhere within discovered space: there are plantations, colonies, kingdoms, stations, resorts... All you need is fuel, fuel-coins are more valuable than money.

One of our MCs is a son of a business-magnate and a heir of the biggest fuel-corporation. His name is Doran Spaulding.

“Doran set it in front of her with a grin that made her want to slap him so hard his grandkids would feel it.”

He's handsome, smart and spoiled. There was a girl at his privilege school, she proved herself smarter a few times and broke his hand once, so Doran was glad to make her life miserable back then.

Our story begins with him hiring her as his valet for a long trip to the Obsidian Beaches. The girl's name is Solara Brooks.

"A sweet, young felon. Cute but combative. Oh yeah. Demarkus would love her to pieces."

She's a ward and convict with certain tattoos on her knuckles. She has no home and no possibilities on Earth, so she decided to run to the outer realm, where her skills (she's a talented mechanic, hello Cinder!) would be needed and no one would judge her past. But, of course, she can't buy a ticket for a cosmic-ride by herself, she needs to find a master or mistress, who would sponsor her trip and she would serve him or her during their flight. And it turned out that Solara's only chance to leave the Earth now and not in a year from now is Doran. Life on the streets or a few months as his servant? She's eager to fly away. She agrees.

Can I just say that their journey won't go according to plans? Can I add that somehow Doran would serve Solara? That he would beg her not to leave him alone?

“Please.” He swallowed hard and begged with those big blue eyes. “Please don’t leave me here.”
All the air trickled out of her lungs.
“Take me to the beaches,” he said, blinking down at her. “I won’t cause any trouble.”
How did he do that?
A minute ago she wanted to break his jaw, and now she had to fight the urge to pat him on the head and give him a cookie. That had to be some kind of superpower. She finally understood how he got everything he wanted in life.” 

And can I introduce you to the awesome crew of a spaceship Banshee (note: it's not the same ship our MCs chose to reach their destinations, but this is the ship they would end on)?

Let's see. Here's  Captain Rossi (I can't help but think about David Rossi from Criminal Minds xD), an old-schooled and simply old man, wise, fair, honorable, with secrets. His first mate's name is Renni, he's about 30, has a nice sense of humor, cleptomania and secrets. There are two more hands-on the ship: Kane and Cassia, they look alike with their blond dreadlocks, but they aren't siblings. Kane is funny and a prof seducer, Cassia is a hot-blood girl and has a sharp-tongue. Both blonds are young adults (around 20, while our MCs are 18-year-old) and both have, yes, secrets. I forgot about Acorn, a pocket sugar bear which is more like a flying squirrel, which consider Cap Rossi as its mother. Acorn has no secrets... aside from its parentage I guess xD Oh, and remember, Banshee has enemies. Very serious ones.

Doran and Solara would be through a looot and from haters they would become lovers. But when you read the beginning of Starflight you'd think HOW THE FUCK IT MAY HAPPEN? I wondered too. And I was super pleased with how the fuck it did happen. Reasonable slow-burning romance is what I crave in books. And this particular story has it. Moreover, there are two POV's (Solara's and Doran's), so you'd see things (and feeeelings) from both perspectives and won't stand a chance not to fall for the guy. I mean it. He was acting asshole-ish at first, but it's not what he really is. After all, Doran now is one of my favorite male-leads ever. And Solara is great too. She's average (not a Miss Universe, but has her charm), clever, not whiny, has flaws, strengths, and beautiful toes (Doran's observation, not mine). Both characters are snarky and witty, that's why their couple was such an exciting topic to read about. I rarely have a connection with both MCs, but when I do... it's firework-ish.

“She glanced at their fused bodies and told him, “The nuns would say we’re not leaving enough room for the Holy Spirit.”  It took a second for Doran to find his breath because she’d stolen it. “That’s all right. The Holy Spirit doesn’t belong here. He would just get in the way.”

Also, the book is bursting with comical situations and funny dialogues.

“Hey, slow breaths,” Cassia said.  Solara hadn’t realized she was gasping. “Right. Sorry.” 
“If you faint among pirates, don’t bother waking up.”  Oh god. That was not helpful.” 

I was laughing out loud and couldn't stop telling Nastassja how awesome the book is (it was our mutual opinion, by the by).

But you know what makes a hilarious book even better? Bitter scent. Every story needs a hint of drama. And again, Starfligh has it. Moreover, seems like Starflight has it all. Adventures, love, interesting characters, fast pacing, humor, and pain. Just how I like it.

Another thing I did love: there was just enough sci-fi information: something about engines, something about terraforming and stuff, the end. You don't forget that the setting of the book is space, but you are comfortable and don't struggle with confusing details.

Aside from space pirates, assassins, new planets, and conspiracy, you'll find out that this story's about longing for home, family, desire to belong and be matter. And you'll see how our characters manage it.

The ending was a lot bit rushed, but it didn't bother my love for this book. I hope with you it would be the same.

Starflight has a sequel, but you should know that Doran and Solara would become secondary characters while Kane and Cassia would be the main ones. Dolara's story has its logical ending, but I'm eager to watch over their couple through Kane and Cassia's eyes.

Now I have only one thing to say: go and read it. The book is waiting for you.

Starflight (Звездный полет):

— Starflight (Звездный полет) #1/2
— Starfall (Звездное падение) #2/2

[♛ may · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like I’m the only person in the world who didn’t enjoy this book. That makes me sad and it makes me feel like I’ve been reading the wrong book

But I will be a positive muffin about this and channel all my sadness and disappointment into writing a review :)

See, everyone wins.

Cons
- The characters feel so monotone to me. It feels like solara’s only purpose is to hate on doran
- Doran himself is my biggest annoyance with this book. He is as fascinating as a piece of overcooked broccoli.
- The ship. Bloody hell, I feel NO chemistry, NO attraction, NO anything between these two yikes.
- I don’t say this often in regards to ships but
-
- This is the one time the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope crashed and burned before it could even sail
- Basically what im trying to say was that the author needs to stop forcing Doran/Solara on us and fricken dump Doran on the first loading dock never to be seen again
- He’s just a really genuine grade A a*shole
- Uhhh, what else? The writing is so dull. I really had a hard time getting through it
- The entire book feel so frivolous due to all the plot holes
- Like I’m trying to root for these characters to get a bloody thing done right but ~*things*~ keep conveniently happening and throwing everything into a very “planned” direction
- Plz that’s not how real life works
- I skimmed so hard not even sorry about it
- Also its supposed to be sci-fi but the only vibes im getting from it are ~boring~
- Cue the tragic backstories yo in which we forgive douchebag over here for all his sins
- I’m not one to claim ‘girl-hate’ anytime the mc has a difference of opinion with a girl, but this was more than just an aversion to Ava and was heavily bordering on slutshaming which is like COME ON, REALLY
- Obviously ava takes the role of the perfect b*tch with her perfect long legs and her dyed-more-than-seventeen-times-pink-hair and her squeaky voice like plz this is supposed to be the future why does girl hate still exist

Pros
- Takes place in space *heart eyes*
- I mean, im like 1 out of 4 people in the world who actually disliked it, so your chances of liking it are high


“She’d learned that home was a fluid thing and whether on a planet, a satellite, or a rusted bucket of a ship, this crew was her home.”

1.5 stars!!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

me: *rates the last 3 read books 4+ stars*
me: *starts this book in hope that i can continue the 4+ star streak*
the world:

[Mikee (ReadWithMikee) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

Starflight was a quick and light read for me. I certainly had lots of laughs and enjoyed each and every one of the characters but as much as I liked the story, I didn't really LOVE it.

There were lots of funny moments. Lots of adventures and even SPACE PIRATES, which I all enjoyed but nothing really stuck out to me or made this book memorable compared to anything else I've read. In fact, I just kind of skimmed the last 30 or so pages because I slowly began to lose interest in the story.

On a positive note though, the characters were my favorite part of the book. I loved the crew's bond and how everyone just looked out for one another. My favorites were definitely Renny, Cassia, and Kane!

There was nothing bad about Starflight overall. It just didn't awe me. I may or may not read the sequel but let's see when the time comes! I'm still really interested in finding out what happens to our characters.

[Fafa's Book Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review posted on Fafa's Book Corner !

Beware spoilers ahead!

This book was recommended to me by my GR friend Alyssa! I had heard about this book from Netgalley. Around the time Passenger was available for request. At the time I didn't think much of it. It sounded like some space book that I wouldn't enjoy. It wasn't until I read Alyssa's review that I was sold! I do like reading Sci-Fi books with a large focus on the characters. And I am happy to say that I did enjoy this one!

The book begins with Solara waiting and hoping for someone to choose her as an indenture. The first woman who Solara approaches denies her because Solara is a criminal. In this world criminals have to get tattoos on their knuckles. So that people can identify them as criminals.

Solara has been offered a job position on the Fringe. An Outer Realm that won't care about her tattoos or the crimes she's committed. There are no rules in the Fringe. Which is exactly why Solara is desperate to become an indenture. At this point she is the only indenture that it left. Solara sees a girl passing by and offers her services as a maid. The girl ignores her. The girl's boyfriend says that he'll definitely be interested in her services.

The girl's boyfriend turns out to be non-other than Doran Spaulding. The guy who made her high school life absolutely miserable. The two converse for a bit. Then Doran offers Solara to be his indenture. Seeing no other choice she agrees.

During the month Doran has mistreated Solara repeatedly. He sends her on the most ridiclous chores (get his clothes, fetch him water, etc.), and he doesn't allow her to get a full night's sleep. Solara does not say anything to him, because angering him means getting dumped off in the middle of nowhere.

That night Doran calls Solara to his room. He asks her to help him with some of his work. As she is starting up the tablet, Doran freezes and stares at her hands. Solara realizes that she forgot to put on her gloves. Doran tries to get her to explain what crime did she commit. But she doesn't tell him because she doesn't like to talk about it and it doesn't really concern him.

Out of nowhere he kicks her out of his room and resumes his work. Solara is shocked by this but decides to brush it off and go to bed. The next day she realizes that there is something definitely wrong. Doran hasn't called her for his morning snack and so forth. Then she receives an instruction for her to meet Doran outside.

She does so and he informs her that because she wasn't honest with him he's kicking her out. Solara explodes because he didn't have to know about the crime she committed and thus far she had been listening to his every command. She finally tells him everything she's wanted to tell him. They fight for a bit until it becomes clear to Solara that she's doomed.

Then an idea strikes her. Solara carried her taser with her just in case of dire emergencies. Once you taser someone they lose their memory temporarily. If she can taser him she may be able to steal some of his money so that she can pay for her own expenses. The idea doesn't sit well with Solara but it's either that or die. Solara pretends to make peace with Doran and tasers him. She makes a dash for the ship to transfer the money. But then realizes that she'll have to tag him around the entire way.

Doran wakes up with no memory of anything and feels like he's had a really bad hangover. Solara lies and tells him that he was indentured to her. And that they will need to do some shopping for supplies.

While in the mall Solara buys Doran some medicine and gets her supplies. The mall guards start yelling for Doran and she makes a mad dash for the ships that are set up. She chooses the Banshee and offers to pay them double the price if they could leave right away for the Fringe. The Captain agrees and they are whisked off.

I seriously did not except to like this book this much! I had a basic idea of what was going to happen but man am I impressed. I'm surprised I've never heard of this author until December 2015!

I liked how the author created the world. It was interesting and I was happy that it didn't confuse me as most Sci-Fi's do. The book switches back and forth between Solara and Daron, all in third person. The writing style is good and I enjoyed reading about Doran and Solara! The plot doesn't really show itself until much later in the book. The plot was always present it's just that our characters were kept out of the dark.

The characters are very complex and have a lot of layers to them. The minute you assume you know what they are like the book surprises you. When readers meet the crew of the Banshee there's more than meets the eye to every character on board.

Solara has been an orphan for as long as she can remember. She's been told by the Nuns who ran her group home, that because her parents couldn't afford her they left her in their care. Solara wasn't the best example of a student. She went to detention quite a bit. But she has an incredible talent with fixing machines. Thus she went to a private school run by Doran's father. Solara unlike Doran is more gifted at being a mechanic. Which is what started the feud between them. Solara didn't get to graduate from the academy because of the crime she committed. She didn't hurt anyone and she thought that she was doing a greater good by committing the crime.

Doran is extremely rich. His father runs this well known company and Doran works with him. Doran out of pure jealously of Solara started making her life miserable in high school. He lost some of his fathers respect when Solara won an award and Doran didn't. He does have a past but I'm not going to reveal it because that would spoil the whole book for you.

In the beginning Doran was not at all likable. He was awful and actually thought of himself like a God because of his status and his money. It isn't until his friends believe that he committed a crime that he starts to become appealing. Doran actually became one of my favourite characters! Solara is likable and hard-working. Circumstances have hit her hard she can't achieve everything she deserves. Renny is a very nice person but is also a kleptomaniac. He's an extremely gifted thief who almost never gets caught. Cassia spends most of her time yelling at Kane, but aside from that she's a good person and is an excellent healer. Kane is their resent cook. He's also a major flirt. Kane and Cassia remain mysterious for a majority of the book. Captain Rossi is like a father to all of them. They are one very weird but happy family.

The romance is really slow burn. Which was good considering how Doran treated Solara in the beginning. It was lovely to read about how they gradually became friends and something more! I'd have to say this is one of the most beautiful romances I have ever read.

The book also does have some important themes present. I liked how it focused on the regrets we have and working our way to make it up to the people we care about. Also the importance on acceptance and family was lovely!

I should add that this is light-hearted Sci-Fi. Meaning that there is more focus on the characters and relationships rather than the world. It didn't bother me at all because I like my Sci-Fi books like that. Also because the plot doesn't come until later on it's quite slow. Again I didn't have a problem with this because I knew that going into the book. As for my rating. While I thoroughly enjoyed this book I didn't love it. Hence the four star.

Overall this was a great book! I am looking forward to reading the sequel! I recommend it to everyone because there's something in here that I think everyone will like.

[Kells Next Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

People, People Starflight was is Fantastic.

I have absolutely no freaking regrets about reading this book. I love love love love everything about it. The leads, the minor characters the storyline and that build up, to one of the the most Awesomenesstic ( yes peeps, this book will cause you to make up words to describe how great it is ) relationship between our leads Doran and Solara.

Read this book. Get this book. Read this book when you get it. Then re- read it and then tell people to go read and repeat what you just did. Got It!!! Great!! *Waiting* *Finished* I know right, you too can't wait to get your hands on book two.

#Stillswooning #Dolara #BestSpaceCrew #Ijustfeeltomakeshituptodiscribethisbook

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread: December/January 2016
I did a reread of this with the audiobook version because I thought maybe my kids would enjoy it, and they did! Honestly it is sometimes a challenge finding a book they both like, so that was a huge win. Amanda Dolan did a great job with the narration. She has a lively intensity about her voice that added to the story, and her voice acting for various characters was subtle but effective.

Now we are all excited for the upcoming sequel, Starfall.

Read: June 2016
Solara is a talented young mechanic with a past and no money who dreams of making a new life for herself in the outer fringe. Doran is the son of a wealthy and influential man who knows Solara from school, where they had an unfriendly rivalry. The two of them end up together on a ship called the Banshee, a ship with a crew that has a mixed past and secrets of their own to keep. So begins a wildly adventurous space tale that includes space pirates, bounty hunters and, of course, a little bit of romance.

Starflight is old fashioned science fiction adventure, heavy on the adventure and ultra light on the science. The story and the characters are the important part here, and the interstellar setting is merely incidental. And it all works wonderfully.

Solara and Doran are both terrific characters. The relationship between the two starts out fractious and develops so naturally throughout the book that when Solara and Doran realize that they don't actually hate each other, it seems completely realistic. Solara could have been written as typically hard boiled and worn down by circumstances, instead, she's clearly still kind at heart. Doran could have been a two dimensional rich boy with everything to learn, instead he has complicated feelings of his own that he keeps guarded. Really what makes this story ultimately so readable is that there is a near perfect balance between story and character development. Given all the action in the story, the characters do a surprising amount of introspection and personal growth.

The book isn't perfect, of course, but that doesn't matter because it is a very satisfying read on so many levels. This is one of those books that just makes you want to enjoy it rather than spend a whole bunch of time picking it apart. That alone makes it worth a read.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Review to come

Oh wow!
This book is so much fun!
I loved this read so much!!!

Sad thing is, I hear that all the things I love about this book are missing in book two so now I'm a little worried :(

But .... it was awesome to be on such an epic, fun, cute space adventure!

[destini · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just can't do it anymore.

I kid you not, I got more entertainment out of these pole dancing animals than I did to Starflight.




I mean, look at that. It's so weirdly cute.

DNF 20%

[Melissa (Mel’s Bookshelf) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Oh this book was SO MUCH FUN! I know in a lot of reviews for this book they compare it to Firefly, and I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but it is definitely like the YA version of Firefly. It does have a lot of similarities, however I found it original enough to not care at all! Just so much fun!

Solara is looking for a new life on the outer realm. She has a piece of land with her name on it. She just has to get there. She must indenture herself to a wealthy traveller in order to pay for the 5 month passage. When her old school nemesis Dorin is the only one to offer her passage in exchange for her servitude - she RELUCTANTLY accepts. And when they find themselves stranded, the only opportunity they have to get there is to jump aboard the Banshee, a run down, ugly ship with an interesting and hilarious crew who have a lot of secrets.

I loved all the characters, they were all so funny and entertaining. And I ADORED the banter between Solaris and Dorin. A slow burning romance that was worth EVERY TORTUROUS SECOND!

I loved the bad guys, I loved the action and the story. I loved it all!

I listened to the audio book which was narrated by Amanda Dolan and I thought she was FANTASTIC! My main problem with a lot of female narrators I have listened to (sorry to be sexist), is their portrayal of male characters. So many times I have commented that they sound all the same and totally robotic and annoying. Not in this one my friends, Dolan does a great job making all the characters unique, and of course the writing helps with that too. I didn't get annoyed once at the portrayal ANY character, and that is saying something. Superb!

Would I recommend Starflight?

Yes, if you are a sci-fi fan with an addiction to the TV show Firefly like myself, you will absolutely enjoy this. If you haven't seen Firefly, if you area a fan of sarcastic humour, light-hearted comedy and space-action, with a splash of romance, give it a go!

I purchased the audio version of Starflight from audible.com at my own expense.

For more reviews check out my:

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[✨ Helena ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did! Interplanetary adventures. Space pirates. Criminal crews. Sass and humour. You truly can't go wrong with this book! Firefly meets Cinder in this sci-fi romp. :D

[Iulia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was.. underwhelming. The plot and characters are developed too quickly and at the expense of substance. It's like the author was going for the biggest trope to page count ratio. The romance, friendship, loyalty all come seemingly out of nowhere, with no foundation or build-up whatsoever. If you don't think too hard, Starflight could be described as mildly entertaining, especially if you are into
space shennanigans.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for Starflight (audiobook) by Melissa Landers read by Amanda Dolan.

This was a great hate to love romance set in space. There was lots of action and some wonderful characters. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of this and others on my blog My Friends Are Fiction

My Thoughts:
Starflight was so much fun to read- it had all the things that I love in a science-fiction novel- rag tag ship crew, hate to love relationship, space-pirates, lots of action with a dash of romance. This was more in line with the Firefly type of science fiction… no heavy science talk or theories to digest. The pacing was fast with equal amounts of action and witty dialog between the characters.

This story starts with the main character, Solara, needing to escape Earth and try to make it out to the outer realms to establish a new life for herself. Of course, as these things go, the only way for Solara to get out of her current situation was to rely on the one person she dislikes the most- Doran. It’s all fairly predictable how these two will slowly grow to respect each other but it’s still so much fun to watch them warm up to one another. Landers’ does an amazing job creating character chemistry through their dialog and actions. As the reader, you feel their attitudes mutate and grow into something more.

Though I fully felt the chemistry between the leads I did struggle a small amount with Doran’s character arc. He was such a jerk to Solara in the beginning and in their past it was a tiny bit hard to believe he’d change his general attitude that easily. Overall, I think that Landers did a decent job of presenting him in a manner that was believable. But, I would have liked a tiny bit more time taken to develop his transformation and to have seen him push back a bit more at the situation he found himself in. Regardless of this teeny tiny complaint I still fell easily in love with the relationship and story.

The side characters were really fun as well and added a lot to the story. You’ve got to have the rag-tag crew in this type of book and Landers provides. Each crew member has a story to tell and though we only get bits about their past it’s enough to create empathy and compassion for their character. I was fully invested in each crew member on the Banshee.

In this type of sci-fi there is something so right about space lawlessness and a bunch of criminal types creating their own law and order. I loved how Landers incorporated that with the outer realm as well as the pirate ship Solara finds herself on. These bits were so well done and fun to read. Though you could sort of see where the story was headed it never felt overly predictable and easily kept my interest. I wanted nothing more to be reading this book start to finish.

Final Thoughts:
Starflight was the type of book you want to completely lose yourself in and read start to finish in a sitting. With the fast pacing, character chemistry and witty dialog it was easy to love and left me wanting a follow up book. I’d love to read many more adventures with this cast of characters.

[Trina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't believe I had such low expectations because this blew me away! So much happened and the pacing was perfect.

[Jaime Arkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounding to 5!

I’m a huge fan of Melissa Landers and for good reason! She writes fun sci-fi YA that I just can’t seem to put down.

Starflight is the first in a new series for her and I was so excited when this finally arrived that I dropped everything to read it… and as I said above, it wasn’t even possible for me to put it down once I started.

Solara Brooks and Doran Spaulding are from two completely opposite ends of the life experience spectrum. Solara, who grew up in an orphanage, scrambles for everything she has but has a knack for mechanics and Doran, who’s never had to worry about food or money is being groomed to take over the family business and can’t seem to let go of a grudge he has with Solara to see the girl on the inside.

When Solara, desperate to get to the outer realm, a place where she won’t be judged by the tattoos that now grace her knuckles, has the opportunity to get on the last ship available for six months, even the prospect of working for Doran can’t keep her from saying yes.

To say friendship between these two appears impossible would be an understatement.

But then everything these two think they know comes crashing down around them. Suddenly they’re being chased around the universe by all kinds of people… For things they are struggling to understand. Doran now finds himself depending on people he never could have imagined.

Landers has created a fun and unique universe with characters that you’ll be desperate to know more about. I loved the secondary characters aboard the Banshee – From the Captain to Cassia, Kane & Renny, I’m excited to learn more about them in the next book. But the real draw here are our main characters and Landers spares nothing with them. I absolutely adore friendships and relationships that start where the two characters can’t stand each other and that is exactly what you get with Solara and Doran. There really is no other way to say it, but Doran is a total dick to Solara. But don’t fret… she gets some semblance of revenge on him… I can’t tell you at all about it, but you’ll kind of love it I promise! When these two start to look deeper and realize that the person they thought they were hating all that time really isn’t who they get when they are forced to spend time getting to know each other, I loved every second of it. Plus we get the start of a romance and if you’ve read Landers other books, it’s something she does incredibly well. There is absolutely NO insta-love here to worry about. This one is definitely a slow burn, and so totally fun to experience.

This book is also filled with action you guys, and a bit of mystery that will have you turning pages as fast as you can. From the crazy space pirates, to trying to get to the coordinates Doran’s father provided him with and wondering what exactly might be there when they finally do arrive, you’ll be on the edge of your seat! I had an inkling of what was coming, but I was still a bit surprised when it happened… I was expecting something but not exactly what it ended up being. HA and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

I can definitely see fans of the Starbound series by Megan Spooner & Amie Kaufman becoming big fans of this one. The Sci-Fi elements aren’t overwhelming and the characters are so incredibly well done that I buzzed through this book pretty quickly and I know you will too! If you’re looking for your next Sci-Fi series to obsess over this one should be on your list. I’m excited to get some answers in the second book but I know that this one will definitely be on my best of lists come the end of the year!

Thank you to Disney for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Хипер, мега яката книга! След "Гневът и зората" смятах, че скоро няма да попадна на книга, която да ми хареса също толкова много, още повече, че двете книги са различни колкото деня и нощта. Радвам се, че имах възможността да поема на един "звезден полет", макар и под логото на Дисни.