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A review by pinesandpages
Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu
3.25
I’m not sure how to feel about this one. I was drawn in by the premise and was HOOKED for the first 50%. It was so fun that a mega pop star was joining a covert spy mission to take down a baddie, with some added romance with his fellow spy who pretended to be his bodyguard. This had a lot going for it!
I think it’s set in this current world we’re in, but the tech they used seemed both unfeasibly sophisticated//not invented yet at some points and then weirdly simple at other points.
Again, the first 50% was riveting!! But after that, the twists escalated so intensely (I didn’t see them coming!) which was great but then at the end they unexpectedly wrapped up super fast, just like that. How?? One of the major complex twists with a very drawn out fight scene at the end just concluded easy peasy with no follow up ever again??
Also - I don’t get how their romance developed into LOVE?? They didn’t really talk much, and a lot of their discussions were mission-based. I was shocked when they confessed their love, esp knowing this is a series, I assumed their love would be a slow burn situation. And for Winter to compare almost losing Sydney at one point (whom he had known for maybe 1-2 months at this point) to the death of his BROTHER?? Where did this depth of feeling come from? I can’t.
I will be reading the second one bc I am curious about where this goes, and overall I did have an entertaining time, even if my criticisms continued to mount throughout. I will not rush to read it though.
I think it’s set in this current world we’re in, but the tech they used seemed both unfeasibly sophisticated//not invented yet at some points and then weirdly simple at other points.
Again, the first 50% was riveting!! But after that, the twists escalated so intensely (I didn’t see them coming!) which was great but then at the end they unexpectedly wrapped up super fast, just like that. How?? One of the major complex twists with a very drawn out fight scene at the end just concluded easy peasy with no follow up ever again??
Also - I don’t get how their romance developed into LOVE?? They didn’t really talk much, and a lot of their discussions were mission-based. I was shocked when they confessed their love, esp knowing this is a series, I assumed their love would be a slow burn situation. And for Winter to compare almost losing Sydney at one point (whom he had known for maybe 1-2 months at this point) to the death of his BROTHER?? Where did this depth of feeling come from? I can’t.
I will be reading the second one bc I am curious about where this goes, and overall I did have an entertaining time, even if my criticisms continued to mount throughout. I will not rush to read it though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Murder