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Review: The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill

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The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill

The Stars Between Us
Cristin Terrill
Wednesday Books
August 2, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Stars Between Us

There’s always been a mystery to Vika Hale’s life. Ever since she was a child, she’s had an unknown benefactor providing for her and her family, making sure that Vika and her sister received the best education they could. Now, Vika longs for a bigger life than one as a poor barmaid on a struggling planet, but those dreams feel out of reach. Until one day Vika learns that her benefactor was a billionaire magnate who recently died under suspicious circumstances, and Vika has shockingly been included in his will. Invited to live on a glittering neighboring planet, Vika steps into a world she can hardly believe is real.

The only blight on Vika’s lavish new life is the constant presence of Sky Foster, a mysterious young man from Vika’s past who works for her benefactors. She doesn’t like or trust Sky, but when she narrowly escapes an explosion and realizes someone is targeting the will’s heirs, Vika knows Sky is the only one who can help her discover the identity of the bomber before she becomes their next victim. As Vika and Sky delve into the truth of the attacks, they uncover a web of secrets, murder, and an underground rebellion who may hold the answers they’ve been looking for. But Sky isn’t who he seems to be, and Vika may not escape this new life unscathed.

In THE STARS BETWEEN US, Cristin Terrill sweeps readers away to a Dickensian-inspired world where secrets are currency and love is the most dangerous risk of all.

My Review

I’ve read both of Cristin Terrill’s other books, and I enjoyed them both– her debut more than the second book, but both still good. So, when I saw she had a new book coming out, I knew I needed to read it. I loved the sci-fi elements of her first book, and the suspense/mystery elements of the second book, and THE STARS BETWEEN US looked to combine them both. Seemed like a sure win to me! Plus, I admit, the description “Dickensian” definitely left me intrigued.

I think my favorite thing about the book is that I felt like Cristin Terrill wasn’t afraid to play around with the usual stereotypes and push them further. We’ve all seen the strong-willed, pushy heroines, and the lovestruck heroes.

In THE STARS BETWEEN US, Vika is not only pushy and driven. Sometimes she’s straight up unkind. In the moment, she feels sure of her accusations and her words. Later, she often realizes how her words sounded and the ways she may have been wrong.

I loved that Sky was unapologetic about his feelings for Vika. Sometimes he seemed embarrassed or afraid, but he never apologized for loving her, and I loved that. He tried to do what she asked, not assume that he knew more than she did or that he could do something else and she’d understand later. He gave her space. I liked that.

The plot of the story kept me hooked all the way through. I had a list of suspects and really enjoyed the back and forth game of trying to figure out who the saboteur was and why.

All in all, I’d call this my favorite of Cristin Terrill’s books so far. I think fans of STARFLIGHT by Melissa Landers or ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA by Diana Peterfreund will really enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity and pseudo profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Explosions. One boy attacks another.

Drug Content
Alcohol is served at fancy dinners and parties.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE STARS BETWEEN US in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Here Lies Daniel Tate by Cristin Terrill

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Here Lies Daniel Tate
Cristin Terrill
Simon & Schuster
Published on June 6, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Here Lies Daniel Tate
When ten-year-old Daniel Tate went missing from one of California’s most elite communities, he left no trace. He simply vanished.

Six years later, when he resurfaces on a snowy street in Vancouver, he’s no longer the same boy. His sandy hair is darker, the freckles are gone, and he’s initially too traumatized to speak, but he’s alive. His overjoyed family brings him home to a world of luxury and comfort he can barely remember. In time, they assure him, he’ll recover his memories; all that matters now is they’re together again.

It’s perfect. A miracle. Except for one thing.

He isn’t Daniel Tate.

He’s a petty con artist who accidentally stumbled into the scam of a lifetime, and he soon learns he’s not the only one in the Tate household with something to hide. The family has as many secrets as they have millions in the bank, and one of them might be ready to kill to keep the worst one buried.

My Review
The premise of this book pretty much hooked me before I even had a chance to read a word. I’d read another book a little bit like this, but not from the point-of-view of the kidnapping victim, so I was really interested to see a story told from inside that person’s mind, as Daniel’s is.

Daniel warns us right off the bat that he’s a liar, and yet I kept getting sucked into believing everything he said. I felt like the tug-of-war balance between those two ideas made this one of the most unique books I’ve ever read. I love unreliable narrators, but I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything where the narrator leads so point-blank with the fact that he’s a liar.

I liked the way the story messed with his emotions, too. In the beginning, he only wants to survive, but as he gets to know the family, he finds himself invested in relationships with them and even contemplating staying long-term and living as Daniel.

The end was strange. I won’t give it away, and I feel like considering the premise, I shouldn’t have been as surprised by it. I don’t know. I liked that it left a lot of questions unanswered—Daniel’s character seemed incapable of anything else—but it also confused me. Did the family ever get any kind of justice? It seemed like the party most responsible kind of got off without consequence.

On the whole, I’m really glad I read the book. I loved Terrill’s debut, All Our Yesterdays, and was really excited about another suspenseful story from her. I got a lot of what I hoped for, even if the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I wished for.

If you liked The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride or Lost and Found by Cat Clarke, you will want to grab a copy of Here Lies Daniel Tate.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Daniel and his family are a white, upper class group. He meets and is attracted to an Asian girl at school named Ren. Daniel’s brother Nicholas is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently. I think because of the emotional intensity of some of the scenes, the swearing feels a little more prevalent than it actually is.

Romance/Sexual Content
A couple instances of kissing between a boy and girl. In one scene it’s unclear how far the romance progresses—it begins with kissing and jumps to later, when the couple is curled in bed watching a movie (apparently still clothed).

A couple scenes show Nicholas and his boyfriend briefly kiss on the mouth.

A reference to an incest relationship.

Spiritual Content
The closest instance is the fact that the protagonist, who poses as Daniel, sometimes feels guilty thinking about how the actual Daniel, who is likely dead, might feel about the imposter taking over his life.

Violent Content
Daniel learns that one member of his family has a violent past. He ends up in a violent altercation with one family member. Someone is shot, perhaps fatally.

Drug Content
Jessica Tate is an alcoholic who sometimes drives drunk. Lex drinks wine and has a history of addiction to pills. Ren tells Daniel about her cousin’s pot-smoking habit. He also hears rumors that Patrick used to sell pot at school.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

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All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Disney Hyperion

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

The walls of her tiny prison cell and the soothing voice of the boy in the cell next to hers make up Em’s world. She waits, dreading the moment the doctor will come again, because she knows he’ll use whatever means necessary to force her to reveal the location of coveted documents. When Em finds a message hidden in the cell’s drain, she knows following the instructions are the only way she can be free. She must find a way to kill the doctor and prevent the creation of the time machine that will destroy the world as she knows it.

As Marina prepares to attend a prestigious political dinner with her best friend James, all she can think about is finding a moment alone with him to reveal her feelings for him. Before she has a chance, an assassin’s attack throws the evening into chaos and threatens the life of the person James holds most dear. Determined to protect James, Marina and James’s best friend Finn launch their own investigation into the identity of the assassin. What she uncovers forces her to reevaluate everything she knows about the one she loves most. Marina’s investigation and Em’s mission collide in a desperate struggle that could destroy everything.

Because it’s a story about time travel, many characters appear more than once as different versions of themselves. Terrill handles this really well, allowing the readers to experience through these different character versions the effects of disillusionment, torture and desperation on once innocent, ordinary teens. Finn is probably my favorite character. I loved the banter between him and Marina, and the way that his relationships with other characters unfolded.

In this story, Time is sentient and can take action to keep the universe from totally unraveling as a result of changes made during various trips back and forth through time. While I loved this concept of Time being almost a character in its own right, I wanted more. I kind of wanted Time itself to play a role in the resolution of the story, so I was a little disappointed when the concept wasn’t developed to play a more important role. Still, this was one plot that kept me guessing. I kept making predictions about what the characters were going to do to restore some kind of order to their future lives, and often I was wrong about how that was going to come about.

The ending was a little bit jarring – there’s kind of a disconnect at one point where things sort of jolt forward or reset and I felt like it was a little bit of a weak transition. I think we’re meant to assume that Time has taken action to protect itself, but that seemed like a bit of a stretch to me in this instance. I’d have liked to see that transition more smoothly and would have liked some of the gaps to have better explanations. Overall, though, I still really enjoyed the story and totally fell in love with the characters.

At one time this book was intended to have a sequel. Since then the author has issued a statement saying that All Our Yesterdays will remain a stand-alone novel. While I am curious what happened next for the characters, I think that was probably a smart move. All Our Yesterdays is a stronger story on its own. Fans will be pleased to know that Terrill has released a short story taking place several months after the end of the story on her web site.

Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Sexual Content
During some pretty intense kissing, Marina removes her shirt. Things break up and go no further. Em and Finn have a romantic relationship and share kisses and sleep together. No details.

Spiritual Content
In this story, Time is sentient and capable of self-preservation.

Violence
Em and Finn are tortured for information regarding missing papers. An assassin tries to kill James and his brother. Torture scenes are brief but intense. The assassin uses a gun.

Drug Content
None.