10. The world. The planet Dion is absolutely
breathtaking! Although my characters are confined to a small piece of land protected by
energy shields (the result of a terraforming experiment gone wrong), the outside planet is
characterized by brilliantly colored streams of water. As Vela says, “If a nebula broke off and
fell into the water, this is what it would look like.” In addition, when the rain falls on the energy
shields, the water explodes into different colors depending on the weight of the drop.
9. The food. Land is scarce, so there’s not enough food
to feed the colony. Enter the Aegis, who have accepted a genetic modification so that they
may convert food into energy more efficiently. The nutrition is then extracted from them via a
pill and distributed to the rest of the people. However, when eating becomes your duty, and
you must imbibe food all day long, it is no longer pleasurable. Thus, the food preppers’ task is
to produce the must luscious, mouth-watering spreads possible, in order to entice the Aegis
into taking one more bite.
8. The sacrifice. An Aegis may get to experience the
taste of real food, and they have the satisfaction of saving their people. However, the genetic
modification means that their lives will be cut short by sixty years.
7. The trials. Every five years, the King must receive a
transplant of organs from a healthy boy or girl in order to extend his life. Thus, the colony
holds the Fittest Trials in order to find the person who is most physically strong and morally fit.
The Fittest might have to die to save the King, but in exchange, his family will get to eat real
food — without the genetic modification.
6. The boy. Carr Silver is the brother of Vela’s best
friend — and Vela’s been in love with him most of her life. He’s super cute — caviar-black eyes
and a lean, ropey build. What’s more, he’s the most honorable boy that Vela has ever met. His
honor, unfortunately, might end up being the cause of his demise.
5. The swoon. Carr and Vela are perfect for each other,
in my humble opinion. They bring out the best in one another and is exactly what the other
person needs. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Carr shows his commitment to
Vela by tasting her tears. As Carr explains, “You have to understand how it feels not to have
food. It’s like one of our senses has been taken away. We crave taste, of any sort. And one of
the most intimate things you can give to another person is the taste of your emotions. The
taste of your tears.”
4. The sisters. Vela and Blanca are opposites. While
Vela acts from her heart, Blanca is cold and calculating. To be honest, I didn’t care much for
Blanca at first, but by the end of the story, the sisters reach an understanding, with the
tentative hope of building a stronger relationship in the future. I love their dynamic so much
that I’ll be exploring it further in SKY-KISSED, which stars Blanca as the heroine!
3. The friendship. Astana is the best friend we all wish
we had: true, steady, warm, loyal, and fun. While she and Vela have their differences, Astana
ultimately proves that her friendship transcends space and time.
2. The King. With the popularity of dystopians, we’ve
been seeing a lot of evil kings and bad rulers lately. This is not the case with my King. He is a
good leader and an even better father. Vela describes him as “the best, the most heroic man
I’ve ever known.” If you want to know how I really feel about him, all you have to do is check
out my dedication: “For my dad, Naronk, who is as wise and loving as a king.”
1. The dilemma. Finally, the #1 reason why you’ll
love STAR-CROSSED? Vela has to make an impossible, heart-wrenching moral choice. She’s s
been tasked with running The Fittest Trials, and she must select the boy most fit to die so that
her father, the King, may continue to live. Unfortunately, the best candidate turns out to be
Carr. As my tag line says, “Only one can survive...”
"Cleverly written, intriguing, and heart-wrenching." – New York Times bestselling author Jodi
Meadows
Princess Vela's people are starving.
Stranded on a planet that lacks food, Vela makes the ultimate sacrifice and becomes an Aegis
for her people. Accepting a genetic modification that takes sixty years off her life, she can
feed her colony via nutrition pills. But her best friend is still getting worse. And she's not the
only one.
Now the king is dying, too.
When the boy she's had a crush on since childhood volunteers to give
his life for her father's, Vela realizes her people need more than pills to survive. As tensions
rise between Aegis and colonists, secrets and
sabotage begin to threaten the future of the colony itself.
Unless Vela is brave enough to save them all…
Young
Adult Science Fiction [Entangled, On Sale: October 2,
2018, e-Book, ISBN: 9781633752429 / ]