When Planets Fall by Abby J. Reed (Review)

When Planets Fall
(Stars Fall Circle #1)
by Abby J. Reed
YA SciFi
Paperback & ebook, 420 Pages
April 12th 2017 by Soul Mate Publishing

Summary

On a planet where the only difference between three tribes is their blood color, war is on the horizon. Breaker, an amputee, wants peace for his family and home. Malani, a kidnapped POW, wants to return home. Luka wants justice for his home. All three teens come together when Breaker is given seven days to fix a wrecked enemy starship or their home, and peace, is forfeit..

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Praise for the Book

"In this richly imagined start to a new sci-fi series, Reed brings optimism to the goal of solving entrenched violence in a galaxy far, far away . . . A propulsive, sharply crafted tale about a planetary war." - Kirkus Reviews

My Review

WHEN PLANETS FALL was a very unique SciFi story set on a planet where humans exist alongside two other races, all three possessing different colors of blood and some different characteristics. Strong world-building and interesting characters whose points of view are alternately told easily draw in the reader. An overall entertaining read for SciFi readers. 

What I liked:
- I liked the blunt voice of Breaker and how his mind worked much of the time. He's interesting, quite talented, and has overcome much in losing his leg and figuring out how to survive in spite of it.
- I also really liked Malani. She has quite a tortured past, but it has formed her into what she is, both her vulnerability and her strength. She also quite an interesting character.
- Luka is a whole other breed from the other two main characters. I feel like his story will unfold quite a bit more in the next book. I'm hoping that he'll grow on me more.
- I liked the chemistry and kind of give and take of friction between Breaker and Malani.
- I really liked the world building. I thought it was interesting how the different peoples coexisted or maybe clashed is a better word. 
- I really liked the plot and how it grows steadily through the story as the characters figure out different things that piece together what their past really is and the possibilities their futures hold.

What I didn't like:
- I didn't like the repeating of certain words in the dialogue. I'm sure it was a part of developing the language, but it was more distracting than anything especially as it was hard to figure out the pattern for it.
- It was also weird that some characters who you'd think wouldn't talk the same as other groups actually did, so there wasn't a clean difference between the different voices all the time.
- I can handle innuendo, but there were parts where it was way more descriptive and crude that I like it to be and that kind of grossed me out. Also some of it (like specifying a character wasn't wearing underwear) just felt unnecessary. 
- There were a few places where the violence really bothered me, one instance involving a child specifically and then some torture that was fairly strong.

In the end, was it what I wished for? Yes and no. It was a decent story overall, but I also had some hangups. I will say the writing was fairly well done as were the characterizations and the plot. It also made sense to me, particularly in the behavior of most of the characters and people

Content: Innuendo, crude comments, and violence.

Source: I received a complimentary copy through Rockstar Book Tours, which did not require a review nor affect it in any way.


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