Their Fractured Light Review

Distiller: Hikari Loftus
4/5 Stars



Their Fractured Light (Starbound #3)
by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Disney-Hyperion (December 1, 2015)
432 pages

This book has been one of my TOP anticipated reads since I first picked up “These Broken Stars” and “This Shattered World” last February.

(If you’re not familiar with the Starbound Trilogy, each book tells the story of different characters, yet all are caught up together in the same, overarching plot.)

If anyone asked me to name some of my top favorite series, those two were enough for me to recommend and gush over the Starbound trilogy (even unfinished) every single time. I loved their story lines, I loved the developed romance/relationships, I loved how Kaufman and Spooner never took the cop out road in high stakes situations, and the eerie and mysterious thread that connected all the characters intrigued me. (Seriously, don’t let the stunningly beautiful covers fool you. These books have a bit of edge and creepy in them that make them thrilling, but can also leave you uneasy in the coolest way.)

So I’m saying that I came into TFL with super high expectations and, from previous experience, fully intended them to be met.

Things started off excellent for me. I enjoyed getting into Sofia and Gideon’s story. I almost ALMOST like them better than Tarver and Lilac. (But honestly, no one beats Tarver and Lilac) I feel like this is not a spoiler, but an obvious given, that at this point, all the characters from these books must collide. And when they do, I loved it. I loved that this gang of characters that I have come to know and love so well were all finally together. (Seriously gleeful over it)

But then things have to get real. The moment of truth. The final show down. And I was dying to know how Kaufman and Spooner would pull it off, since they have always pulled off their endings in ways that lived up to the high stakes they create.

And I admit I was kind of disappointed in the last 50 pages. After riding this huge high for nearly the entire series and final book, I felt like everything that they had created in these three books (high tension, creepy mystery, questions of fate) dissolved into one giant moral, and it kind of threw the story off track for me. 

This story ultimately considers what makes us human. We can be horrible. We can be kind. We can forgive. We are vengeful. We are what we choose.

I loved “Their Fractured Light” but, for a reason I can’t quite name yet, the final pages left me a bit wanting and I felt like I wanted some things resolved a little more directly.

I’m still calling this one of my favorite series, and I’ll always recommend it. It’s intricate. It’s brilliant. It’s awesome reading. I’m curious to know what other Starbound lovers thought of this series conclusion.