Enjoyed this book immensely and will patiently (not really, when is book 2 due out????) wait for the continuing adventures of Abel & Noemi.

There were a few minor quibbles that caused the loss of the one star; while the book itself isn't overly religious there were a lot more God, faith, etc moments then I normally like in my fiction. The 'romance' angle sort of came out of nowhere for me especially considering how the book to that point had been proceeding. Otherwise very enjoyable and I adore Abel.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the new Sci/Fi thriller, Defy the Stars, Earth has used up all its resources and is attempting to take over planets that are connected to it by Gates between the worlds. Noemi is a teen soldier from the pristine planet of Genesis She is on a practice run before a suicide mission to destroy the Gate and stave off an attack by Earth, when she discovers an Earth ship abandoned during the last war. Abel, an intelligent robot who seems human, has been waiting there alone for 30 years, hoping to find a way to return to his creator on Earth. When Noemi rescues him, she finds he has been programmed to recognize any human as his new superior and he knows a way to destroy the Gate. Enlisting his help, they travel throughout the universe, hoping to recruit other worlds in their mission to destroy the Gate and end Earth's imperialistic wars. Although Abel thinks he must obey Ruby, his passive aggressive behavior toward her adds a great deal of humor to the story. As the book progresses Noemi finds herself more and more drawn to this android who ultimately overcomes his programming to help her put an end to the wars. This thought-provoking adventure is filled with philosophical explorations of religion, terrorism and what it means to be human.

Stylistically Speaking...
I'm usually not a stickler when it comes to writing because every author has a different writing style, but I did not like the style of this book. The writing is sub-par and a little too technical to make the story really come to life. Even when written from the human's POV, there was very little emotion or flavor the writing, leaving everything feeling just a little bland. It made it hard to get into the book and care about what was going on.

Mech, not Human
I understand the premise of this book is that mechs are robots capable of doings as well as or better than humans. However, it was because of this particular aspect that sections of the book felt too unrealistic. Things worked out too well for the characters. Yes, they had struggles, but they came out unscathed and unharmed and never really felt like they were in any real trouble. So, the tension just wasn't there.

Bare Bones
I liked the overall build of the world, but the actual individual builds of the worlds was limited. Understandably so. After all, only pieces that are required for the story should be shown, but I felt myself wanting to know more about each of the worlds visited by the main characters. I saw so little of them in the story that I didn't really feel like they were real or unique and I would have liked more.

That Ending, though
I'm not going to spoil anything, but the ending was too clean. It wrapped itself up into a nice little package with a beautiful little bow and took away every last drop of mystery there was. I did not like this. I think the story would have been better off if certain pieces were left to the unknown, to the imagination of the reader, but they weren't and I actually was left unsatisfied because of it.

What a deliciously written, skillfully paced novel! Readers are blessed with two leads that are absolutely beyond compelling and the plot sticks with you even after you're finished. Will be reading again!

DNF at 25%

I am quite disappointed with this book. I really love all of Claudia Gray's other novels, however this one was hard to get into. The whole plot was very hard to follow and confusing. It looks as though there are many others who have enjoyed this one, but this story is just not for me.

YES! Defy the Stars has it all! Amazing futuristic sci-fi technology, outstanding world building, the themes of politics, environmentalism, faith and humanity are explored. I could not get enough of the world Claudia Gray created. This is the story of a girl and a robot. Only that robot is pushing the boundaries of humanity. And he is supposed to be her enemy. Filled with action and adventure, Defy the Stars was everything I wanted Empress of a Thousand Skies to be. Where that one was a disappointment, Gray's series had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I'll be recommending to all YA readers.

DEFY THE STARS by Claudia Gray has starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and generally positive reviews elsewhere, including one from Beth Revis. I was SO looking forward to reading the advance copy, but for some reason, I did not realize that the download date for this title was moved to being weeks ahead of the publishing date. Since I can no longer access it, I will give it a neutral review for now. At 500+ pages, it's an ambitious selection, but I know several sci-fi fans who are eagerly awaiting publication.

From the publisher:

She's a soldier. Noemi Vidal is 17 and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything - including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel. He's a machine. Abandoned for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he's an abomination.

They are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but not without sacrifice. The more time they spend together, the more they're forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

Defy the Stars had me from page 1. The plot plunges right into action, with interesting characters and world building. I’m not a huge fan of the robot (or whatever) who wants to become “real,” but the author does a good job with this particular plot device and I bought into it.

Earth is approaching collapse after years of environmental destruction. The people of Earth have created “gates” that allow them to visit other solar systems, and they have chosen four planets as replacements for Earth. However, the people still living on Earth have learned nothing about good stewardship. The settlers on the planet Genesis have taken the mistakes made on Earth to heart and are trying to keep their planet healthy. They are fighting to keep the people of Earth from ruining Genesis as well.

Noemi is a Genesis soldier. She has volunteered to go on a suicide mission with other volunteers. I would have preferred that Noemi be a little older – maybe 21 or 22 rather than 17 - but this book is aimed at young adults and so she is a teenager.

Noemi and Abel, the “mech” (aka robot) that she finds on an abandoned Earth ship, are both strong but flawed. I liked them both and enjoyed the alternating points of view. Noemi and Abel embark on a mission Noemi hopes will end the war between Genesis and Earth. This takes them to each of the other planets and to Earth. The best part of the book by far for me was the descriptions of the four colonized planets, all very different and with very different inhabitants. Some of the people they meet get caught up in their plans and have their own moments to shine. (Oddly, one character is mentioned multiple times throughout the book but never actually appears. Perhaps he will appear in the sequel.)

Let’s face it, the plot is not particularly original, but I enjoyed the ride all the same. There is a fair amount about faith and God, which surprised me, but I didn’t find it heavy handed. I look forward to reading the sequel some day.

Defy the Stars will appeal to fans of the Starbound series by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. I read an advance reader copy of Defy the Stars. It is scheduled to be published in April 2017 and will be available at the Galesburg Public Library.

**My review of this book will post to my blog at www.myinterdimensionalchaos.blogspot.com on April 4th. It has already posted to Goodreads.com. I will add a link to the actual blog post once it goes live on April 4th.**

The planet Genesis was once an Earth colony. But its people have been fighting a decades long war for independence from Earth. It's difficult to defeat the armies of mechs that Earth sends through the space gate near Genesis, forcing the planet's leadership to form a desperate plan to give them a window of time to rebuild their ravaged forces and attempt to finally put an end to the war. At 17, Noemi Vidal is a soldier ready to give her life to aid her planet. When her only friend is injured in a surprise attack, Noemi finds herself on a long-abandoned ship near the space gate. Its only other occupant is a mech named Abel who is more advanced and intelligent than any mech Noemi has encountered before. Through strange circumstances, they end up working together to attempt to destroy the space gate. During their journey, Noemi learns that Abel is more than a machine. And Abel discovers he can form an attachment to a human that is so much more than just his programming. Can these two mis-matched warriors save a planet?

I loved this book! Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. Although the plot has been done before in various ways, I found this story engaging, emotional and interesting. I liked Noemi for her independence and strength. And Abel was so desperate to experience new things and develop his mind and emotions much further than his basic programming. When forced to make certain moral decisions, he learned to not just follow his programming but to discern the right thing to do. It was so interesting how his character developed throughout the book. The rag-tag bunch of supporting characters were not as well-developed, but still likable and integral to the plot.

The ending hinted at a continuing series. I can't wait to find out what the future has in store for both Noemi and Abel.

Claudia Gray is the author of several Young Adult books including the Firebird and Evernight series. To find out more about the author and her books, check out her website at www.claudiagray.com

**I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Little Brown Books via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.**

DNF at 25 %

My blog will have my review posted on March 13, 2017 for my full review of this ARC. A big thank to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing this ARC in exchange for review. Link will be posted on this feedback on March 10th.

When I first saw this book, I thought great...another dystopian novel with earth having a bleak future. I didn't think I would become completely captivated by the characters.

Noemi is 17 & has volunteered for the suicide mission (flying plane to blow up a target) to give Genesis (her planet) time or as she sees it giving her life for her best friend, Esther, whose parents took her in when she was orphaned at 8

Genesis has been at war with earth for 2 years (thought peaceful 3 years ago & been conserving resources/not making new)

Enemy (Earth) has mech soldiers/robots that are shaped like humans but don't have human feelings

Abel- mech stuck on Daedalus ship for 30 years. This has caused him to start to have "feelings" like hope for rescue. He's not sure what to think of this.

While doing a practice run for the mission, the Genesis soldiers are attacked. Noemi sees Esther get attacked. She saves her & they end up on Daedalus. First Able tries to kill her then she becomes his commander (it's in his programming). He helps her with Esther, but Esther dies.

Noemi & Abel end up going through the galaxy to other planets to try & find another way to save Genesis other than the suicide mission.

Read this book if you want to have a seriously fun & creative adventure. Highly recommend!!

"<i>Unless and until I have another commander, I will protect you no matter what. That means keeping you out of jail. That means fulfilling your mission. That means making sure you have enough to eat. Everything. Anything. <b>I protect you</b></i>."

DEFY THE STARS completely defied my expectations. Not going to lie, I didn't know much about this beyond the fact that it was Gray and it was sci-fi and also YA. I can be pretty easy to please sometimes. At least in the abstract sense.. but to see it all come together and be wow'd like I was, to find it so funny and be left heartbroken and pleased and delighted and surprised.. yeah, you're going to want to read this one.

"<i>Do you really believe that?</i>"
"<b>I generally do not <i>believe</i> things. I know facts, or I do not. But yes. I believe in you.</b>"

This has so much going for it that when I break it down it's going to sound ridiculous. Also unlikely. And maybe overwhelming. But it works. DEFY THE STARS isn't just fun hijinks in space and an unlikely partnership between a girl willing to die for a cause and a boy who is more robot than human. I mean, it <b>is</b> that, sorta. But it also weaves in philosophy and environmentalism and politics and faith and terrorism and altruism and love and belief and sacrifice and identity. Also it has a super pretty cover (which now makes <b>so much</b> more sense to me). Yet these ideals and concepts aren't just tossed into a blender and handed over for us to sift through and parse and check off on a checklist. Gray makes them all so.. elemental to the story, so natural, that you are swept up in it all. Even as you're experiencing all of these things with and through her characters.

"<i>We'll have to devise another means of income.</i>"
"<b>How?</b>"
"<i>At this point, our swiftest and more reliable means of making money is prostitution.</i>"
"<b>You--you didn't just say-- you think I should become a <i>prostitute</i></b>?"
"<i>Of course not. You're my commander. I serve you. Therefore, I would be the more logical choice to take on sex work.</i>"

Oh, and you'll probably laugh your ass off a time or two.

"<b>Abel, I can't let you.. sell your body.</b>"
"<i>The transaction is closer to a rental.</i>"

As far as the Noemi and Abel go.. I don't even know how to begin with these two.

<i>She's all rough edges and sharp elbows, her heart hidden so well by a quick temper that almost nobody ever recognized she has one.</i>

I loved Noemi. I loved everything about her. Her commitment to how she feels she's perceived by others, her selflessness, her doubts, her wonderings, and her loyalty. Her character grows so spectacularly over the course of the story but, like everything else in this book, is so natural and.. not reactionary but is instead appropriate to the circumstances she experiences, and the people she meets, after leaving her home world.

And as for Abel..

<i>Abel's tone is so mild that it takes Noemi a moment to recognize the insult. But that's stupid. She's anthropomorphizing a mech-- a recruit's mistake, one she should be past. Apparently this prototype's innovations don't include tact.</i>

Abel was just everything. The prototype mech, abandoned, discovered, needing someone to need him, a purpose. All of his malfunctioning bits. All <b>his</b> evolution. And the ending.. oh man, that ending.

<i>Taking into account the fact that he attacked and very nearly killed her not half an hour before, her decision to space him appears more reasonable. Almost logical. That doesn't make him feel any better about it.</i>

Seriously, if there isn't a sequel to this, I'll lose my mind.

There is a plot point or two that I definitely predicted but to be honest I'm not sure it was supposed to be a big mystery shrouded in more mystery. It's definitely not a mark against the story by any means because I was just along for the ride in every other sense and loving every moment of it. I loved the almost HUNGER GAMES-like style of the planets in the Loop (you'll understand what I mean when you read it), I loved the secondary characters (with exception to one who we just didn't get time to know better), I loved the banter, I loved the feels, I loved all the messages within the text that never felt like messages at all.. and seriously, that ending. Yes. Please. I love it. But I want more.

4.75 "she's not sure why Mansfield decided to give a mech the capacity for sarcasm" stars

A interesting sci-if read about a planet in the galaxy that is fighting with earth. Noemi is a pilot who is fighting mechs or robots from earth when she lands on an old ship from earth and discovers an advanced mech who joins her on an adventure to save her planet. The characters were believable and likeable. The wolds were believable and the tech was fun. I would like to read a sequel.

You ever read a book and when you finally put it down you feel like something about this particular book has just changed you in some way? Well that’s how I feel about this book. This book is equal parts enchanting and challenging, thrilling and heartbreaking, in all the best ways. I’m going to try and not give too much away because honestly I think this is one of those rare books you just need to read and form your own opinion on, but I just want to mention a few things that made me love this book so much.

Let’s start with the characters. Noemi and Abel are two of the most well developed characters I have read in a long time. The way that the author was able to make me fall in love with both of them individually is just amazing. By the end of the book I was rooting for both of them, completely separate of their romance together. Which, I was also rooting for by the way. The romance of these two is definitely a slow burner but in the best possible ways. We as readers get to know Noemi and Abel as separate people first and understanding how they interact with each other and how they relate to the conflicts of their world is so important to their overall relationship. This is probably one of my favorite book romances right now, it was just so well executed.

The impressive thing about the characters in this book is that it’s not just the main characters that get personalities and characters arcs. The secondary characters feel just as important and fleshed out in the narrative as the main ones do. I personally can’t wait to see more from Ephraim, the quote at the top is from him.

The world-building is great, of course it is still set in our world, just in a super distant future. But that’s what makes it great, I enjoy books where I can actually envision everything that’s happening and this book makes this so easy. The technology and advancements described make sense, no matter how disturbing. Having things like the creation of artificial life to prolong our own and space travel to colonize other planets because we’ve destroyed ours are very current topics so the author was smart to use those as themes/plot points in the book.

What really helped was the almost third person narrative that switched between Abel and Noemi. It kept the pace flowing but gave glimpses into how the two characters saw things differently and especially how Abel was changing as the novel progressed. Every time they would do something in the novel I never felt like I was missing a piece of the story, all the details felt complete, from how the characters felt to where they were located to the accuracy of how the ships were being flown. I particularly enjoyed the space travel aspect when it was just Abel and Noemi together in the craft visiting the different planets, I hope there’s more of that in the sequel.

I also want to point out that I wasn’t expecting this book to have religious elements but it definitely did. This wasn’t a religious book but I could completely see religious themes pervading the novel and I was more than delighted to find that when religion was brought up it was handled well, not forced, and written in a very honest way. And even though I disagree with the idea that a soul can be created artificially, especially in a world where God exists, I loved what the author presented in having humans be so disastrous and selfish at attempts with creating life because, let’s face it, that’s exactly what would happen.Truthfully that was probably what affected me most about the book, the way the author wove authentic faith messages into a secular science fiction book.

It takes a talented writer to make you come a away from a book feeling like you’ve learned something while still having fun, and Gray accomplished that for me with Defy the Stars. I may be reading too much into the book, and I still may have given too much away in this review when I didn’t want to, but I really want to encourage everyone to read it, believe me of many of the books I’ve read, this one will be worth your time.

I am a huge Claudia Gray fan and this book didn't disappoint. Did I understand all of the sci-fi space travel stuff? Not entirely. Did I understand the creation of Mech? Not entirely. Did it matter to the story? Not in the least! Full of great characters, driven by passion and duty to home and creator, this story was hard to put down and a delight to read. Noemi Vidal and Abel are unlikely friends, as Abel is Noemi's enemy, but time and sacrifice bond them together on this cross universe adventure. Both of them learn through their journey and the ending left me hoping for more more more of these two characters. Wonderful story!

4.5 stars. This was a great YA sci-fi! Author gets props for originality... Yes, I've seen AI-developing-feeling stories before, but this story was so different from the rest that it made the story type New to me. I loved the main male lead, Able. It was nice seeing his character growth; Naomi's too. Virginia's character was also fun to read. The ending left me shocked and needing to get book two (please tell me there's book two!).

Leaving review on Goodreads, twitter and Amazon

Gray, Claudia Defy the Stars, 512 pages. Little Brown, APRIL 2017. $18. Language: G; Violence: PG; Mature Content: PG-13.

Noemi and the other pilots of the planet Genesis are desperate to stop Earth from commandeering and ruining their planet. While practicing for a last-ditch effort to cripple the gate between the worlds, things go awry and Noemi takes refuge in an abandoned spaceship, where she finds Abe, a highly advanced droid that was also abandoned thirty years earlier. First he tries to kill her and then he becomes her subject. The two have much to learn about each other as they scour the planets for a way to save Genesis. Along the way Noemi learns much more about Earth’s plans, about the other planets, and about the droid’s ultimate purpose.

While there is some romantic tones in Defy the Stars, they thankfully take a backseat most of the time to the science fiction and adventure. The painful part is Abe’s frank talk about the possibility of sex work as a means to obtain money; kind of like Data in Star Trek: TNG. Beyond, that, this is a page turner that will delight many and not just girls. I do wish I knew which cover is the final version, though.

MS – OPTIONAL, HS – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher

I read this book in two days! I could not put it down!

This is definitely a must-read for lovers of The 5th Wave and The Host.

You know how we are always talking about how bad our lives on Earth will be if we don't get control over global warming? Well, in this book, the people of Earth lost control and Earth is in trouble...it's dying. In our desperate attempt to survive in the future, we are colonizing other planets. One of the planets that we have discovered is called Genesis. It is perfect! The only problem is that people already live there are they will fight us to the death to keep us from coming there. (Can I just say that I really enjoyed the twist that we are the aliens who are taking over other planets?)

17 year old Noemi is one of Genesis's fighter pilots and she is willing to do anything to save her planet--even sacrifice her own life. During a battle with artificial intelligence (mechs) from Earth, Noemi's best friend is injured. Noemi lands on an abandoned Earth ship in an attempt to save her friend's life. Little does she know that the most advanced mech in the galaxy is lying in wait to kill her.

Can Noemi survive long enough to save her own planet? Or will the mech change her life forever? You HAVE to read this book to find out!

PS- Claudia Gray, there BETTER be a sequel!!!!

Claudia Gray, whose writing seems to get stronger with every book of hers I try, gives YA readers a far future (2295) world in which Earth has nearly destroyed itself, so it is desperate to reclaim its colonies--a "Loop" of planets connected through high tech "Gates"--that show signs of breaking away. One of them has, sparking a vicious war thirty years old: Genesis, the former colony, to keep Earth from polluting and ruining a world that its population is careful to preserve, and Earth desperate to take control again, because time is running out for the home planet.

Noemi is a seventeen year old soldier on a suicide mission. She ends up with her adoptive sister Esther who is a non-combatant, desperate to do her bit. When a routine war game practicing for a planned attack goes awry and Esther is hurt, Noemi is desperate to save her. When she discovers an anomaly, a space ship containing a single inhabitant--a mech, or robot--she breaks into that ship, and Abel the robot, made to look like a cute guy, defends the ship.

What happens after is a race against time as Noemi struggles to return to Genesis in time to help with the attack. She ends up having to traverse planets in the Loop, where she learns a lot about the world she's been born into. Also driving the plot is one of my favorite tropes, which adds to the story tension.

Characterization is strong. Noemi begins the book with singleminded focus on war and fighting, pretty much as you'd expect of a child warrior. But she learns, grows, reflects in interesting ways--along with her mech companion, who is unique, and begins to examine his programming in interesting ways.

The stakes ratchet steadily upward with every new thing Noemi and Abel learn, and each new friend they make. I am no scientist, but I thought the tech Gray sets up was cool, and the biological explanations seemed reasonable to me, as well as the quick explanations of relativity, surrounded as they are by emotional intensity. Despite sometimes dense discussions of scientific razzle-dazzle, I never got the "As You Know, Bob" feel of many SF novels that make me want to skip pages.

Occasionally the plot feels a bit directed, but I'm an adult, long-time reader of SF, and I don't think I would have noticed that as a young reader, to whom the book is aimed. My only other observation is that Gray might have done a bit more research into religious history, but at least Gray brings up interesting questions, and pretty much treats religious people of various faiths with respect, which is a breath of fresh air after so many SF novels in which all Christians are uniformly throwbacks to the worst of the Puritan era in the 1600s. As if any group of human beings of whatever persuasion have a single way of thinking.

There is enough resolution to be poignant, while setting up bigger questions for a sequel that I, for one, look forward to diving into as soon as it appears.