Book Review: Starflight by Melissa Landers

Starflight (Starflight #1)
Author:  Melissa Landers
Publisher:  Disney-Hyperion, 358 pages
Publication Date:  February 2, 2016

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…

Review:

LOVED this one.  Reminded me of Firefly, which is a huge compliment.  It definitely had that whole ragtag colorful character crew thing going for it.

Loved the hate to love relationship between Solara and Doran.  So much tension!  

Sci-fi action, adventure, and romance, this was such a FUN read.

My only complaint is how much of a jerk Doran was.  I mean, really.  He grows, but it's hard to forget how truly mean he was to Solara.  And why?  Just because he was a shallow mean jerk.  After I finished the book, I read where the author says she pitched this as "Overboard" meets "Firefly" and that makes so much sense and makes me appreciate Doran's character growth even more.  But when I was reading the book I had a hard time loving his character even though I did love who he becomes.  Not sure how much sense that makes.

And the best part?  A complete story.  No cliffhanger.  The next book in the series is a companion novel focused on different characters.  I wish there were more of these!!

Posted by:  Pam