Under Different Stars

Under Different Stars by Amy A. Bartol
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

That cover and that title. It promises a great story and boy does it deliver.

This really was a cover buy for me. I couldn't resist it when I met the author and had her sign the book. I put it on my shelf, thinking 'oh, she's a self-published author and it might be good and might not, likely not.' Nine months later when I saw that it was out on audio and narrated by Kate Rudd, I decided I'd give it a go. Kate Rudd is a well-known, experienced voice actor. There was no amateur narrating here.

What a surprise! I find self-published authors to be rather hit and miss - and this is a bullseye. It ranks right up there with all the great urban fantasies from the big publishing houses. In fact, they're foolish to have passed on this one.

This is the story of Kricket. She's a runaway foster kid, having been orphaned at age six and shuffled from one home to the next. At sixteen she got fed up with the system and struck out on her own. We meet her at her job as a janitor. She has a dependable, good group of friends and a roommate who works at a bar. Because she's underage, the bar pays her (under the table) to clean up and run supplies up and down from the basement. She's got a fairly good gig going and soon, when she's eighteen, she can stop hiding from Social Services and move on with her life.

And she's got an uncanny knack of knowing when people are lying. It works every time.

While on the train going home from work, some wealthy guys in trench coats find her. They insist she come with them and she's having none of it, lying about her name and where she's from. As she's technically a runaway, she's not about to own up to who she really for fear of being put back into the system. Later that night she's approached by another guy in a dark coat and she runs again, right into the arms of the first guy. He kidnaps her and the story goes from there.

Kricket is established from the start as a capable, strong character. She's independent and feisty and smart. She's easy to like. She doesn't take foolish chances or make dumb mistakes, which is refreshing. Oftentimes an author will write a character like Kricket but then have her behave in short-sighted, idiot ways that endanger herself and others. Not so here. She gets hurt in real-life ways that disable her - she doesn't just keep going for some ridiculous "oh I can't give up" reason. She's tough but is willing to admit when she's had enough. When she faints or gets tired, it isn't overly dramatic. There is depth to her without all the damsel-in-distress rescues. Bartol also initially gives us a physical description of Kricket as a tall girl, 5'10", with blonde hair. She's not devastatingly gorgeous, just average, moderately pretty. But when she gets to Ethar, it's like she's gone to giant land. Everyone is taller and as the gravity is less, they're stronger on the whole - and of course they're all exceptionally beautiful while she's just ok. Kricket becomes the small girl that everyone wants to rescue. It's a fun change because Bartol plays that standard YA heroine both ways.

Trey, the other main character and love interest, is a soldier. He's confident, in charge, quick to action. He has a mission to collect Kricket and bring her back to his home world, Ethar. It's pretty clear from the outset that he likes her. But Bartol was smart to make this character a soldier; oddly, it alleviates most of the hero-rescuing-the-damsel problem. It's in his military interests to keep her safe, so whenever she isn't, he makes sure she is. From the outset he's a competent leader of a small band of soldiers. He delegates much of the saving of Kricket to them; he knows she's valuable and he's got a mission to accomplish. Getting her there in one piece is important but he's focused more on the getting there than having her in one piece.

But don't get me wrong, there's clearly a romance developing here. It progresses at a nice pace, neither rushed or needlessly protracted. The fact that Trey's a focused, disciplined Army Major just makes him more appealing. It's fun to see the interplay of his impatience with Kricket and his more than obvious attraction to her.

The secondary characters of Jax and Wayra are very entertaining. They add a wit and charm to the story that just enhances the action. Although Kricket gets a translator injected, much of the language the guys use is foreign. The way they explain things and the vernacular they use are just funny most of the time, especially because they talk and joke like typical men who are soldiers.

The bad guy is painted rather grey; we don't like him but he does have his merits. Kricket gets caught in the middle of a lot of political maneuvering and is forced to make difficult choices. Soon the villain, although clearly a villain, becomes just one of a few villains. The complication makes things lively.

The ending is a good one, satisfying while readying things for the next book in the series. It certainly was enough to whet my appetite for the next book. The audio is so well done, only enhancing the action. Since I have the print book I went back a few times and just re-read what I'd heard. As a person who primarily listens to books rather than read the print, I found this to be better on audio. Kate Rudd is able to put us right in the middle of the action, distinguishing each character's voice. What a pleasure this was.

I hope this series gets more hype, because it really does deserve it. It's a great story, well-written and more people should be enjoying it. If indeed it was pitched to a publisher and they turned it down, it was their loss.




View all my reviews