Tuesday 26 May 2015

Book Review! From a Distant Star by Karen McQuestion

From a Distant Star by Karen McQuestion
Publication Date: May 19th, 2015
Genre: Romance, YA, Science Fiction
Seventeen-year-old Emma was the only one who hadn’t given up on her boyfriend, Lucas. Everyone else—his family, his friends, his doctors—was convinced that any moment could be his last. So when Lucas miraculously returns from the brink of death, Emma thinks her prayers have been answered.

As the surprised town rejoices, Emma begins to question whether Lucas is the same boy she’s always known. When she finds an unidentifiable object on his family’s farm—and government agents come to claim it—she begins to suspect that nothing is what it seems. Emma’s out-of-this-world discovery may be the key to setting things right, but only if she and Lucas can evade the agents who are after what they have. With all her hopes and dreams on the line, Emma sets out to save the boy she loves. And with a little help from a distant star, she might just have a chance at making those dreams come true.
Look at that gorgeous cover! I was so excited about this book and the cover and synopsis really sucked me in. I am so disheartened because after 29% I had to DNF. I found myself highlighting bit after bit and making notes about things that were bothering me whether that be about the characters or the situation. 

For starters, I disliked pretty much all of the characters. Emma seemed very bitter and stubborn and in one particular scene, when one of her boyfriend's nurses is checking him over, she gets unreasonably annoyed with said nurse and claims she doesn't know what she's doing. This woman has been a nurse for sixteen years, I think she's capable. The thing I hate about DNF'ing is that I can't see if the characters develop, if they grow as a person and drop all of these little things that bothered me in the beginning. From what I read, there was unfortunately no development.

Mrs Walker, Emma's boyfriend's mother, was just a major bitch. I can't think of a nicer word. This was not a fault of the author though. I assume Mrs Walker was written like this on purpose. I hated her. A lot. Of course she's going to be on edge, her son is comatose but her behavior was cruel and cold.

Another thing; as you can tell from the synopsis, Lucas makes a miraculous recovery BUT when he wakes up, if I remember correctly, he doesn't know how to speak our language. In a matter of days he's speaking in full sentences. I feel like if his speech was more stilted and choppy I'd believe the whole thing that little bit more.

Want to know what one of the first things Emma thinks about when Lucas recovers? Him getting back in shape before school starts up again. Now I understand wanting him to gain weight because that would be a sign of health but that's not what she's saying. "The Lucas I knew was bulky and strong. I remembered resting my head on his chest and feeling the solid rise and fall of his breathing and the beating of his heart. Now I could feel his bones through his arms. Such a change. I consoled myself by thinking he'd have time to gain weight and get back in shape before school started again in the fall."  It could just be that it was worded wrong but from that quote Emma seems very shallow.

The assumptions were unbelievable too. A foreign object lands in Emma's comatose boyfriend's yard and what does one character jump to? That it's from another planet or dimension. I mean, come ON. Yes, the material is nothing like you've ever seen before but that's a monster of an assumption. THEN the others just sort of accept that as a possibility. If someone came to me and told me the object I was holding was likely from outer space I'd be backing away slowly ready to turn and run for the hills.

As I said, I'm so sad I had to DNF because this one had so much potential. If you've read it let me know what you thought!

*This book was given to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion.


1 comment:

  1. I'm sad to see that you DNF'ed this one! I'm supposed to start reading it soon because I have a copy for review. Hopefully I'll enjoy it! Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts.
    Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian

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