Starflight

By: Melissa Landers

Narrated by: Amanda Dolan

Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

Solara Brooks needs a fresh start, someplace where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. The outer realm may be lawless, but it's not like the law has ever been on her side. Still, off-world travel doesn't come cheap; Solara is left with no choice but to indenture herself in exchange for passage to the outer realm. She just wishes it could have been to anyone besides Doran Spaulding, the rich, pretty-boy quarterback who made her life miserable in school.

The tables suddenly turn, though, when Doran is framed for conspiracy on Earth, and Solara cons him into playing the role of her servant onboard the Banshee, a ship manned by an eccentric crew with their own secrets. It's been a long time since Solara has believed in anyone, and Doran is the last person she expected to trust. But when the Banshee's dangerous enemies catch up with them, Solara and Doran must come together to protect the ship that has become their home and the crew that feels like family.

©2016 Melissa Landers (P)2016 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"A great choice for fans of raw sci-fi action...." ( School Library Journal)

Better than expected

I'm pretty new to audio books, and this was my second attempt at having a book read to me. I was skeptical as the first book I tried had an awful narrator who over exaggerated male voices to the point of distraction. This time I was pleasantly surprised, and have officially become hooked :)
Wonderful story that doesn't go at all where you think it will in the beginning. Enjoyable characters that come into their own are made even more enjoyable by the author not throwing in useless drama (like love triangles- ick). Fun to listen to and by the almost end I was emotionally attached enough to cry at a very sad part of the book.
Worth the read- or listen.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Simple but stellar read

The blurb sums it up nicely and delivers. It's not an intellectual read but it's not your usual over dramatic YA. It's a cute story, with a good cast of characters, and makes for light entertainment.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Enjoyed characters

I really like the story, but dissapointed in the ending. I'm hoping there might be a second book because I enjoyed the character so much I want more.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

not bad, but not great

If you're looking for a straightforward read that's ok, but not great then this is the book for you.

There's nothing special here, but it's a nice story with some romance and action.

I felt like some of the twists were forced and poorly set up, but it was ok.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Good story, so-so narrator

I thought this was a cute story with a fairly good plot. Nothing spectacular but still entertaining. My biggest gripe was how the narrator voiced Doran. She made him sound kind of weak and soft the entire book... he doesn't sound arrogant when he should or strong when he should or anything else. it was a bummer. Maybe part of the issue is also that Amanda Dolan has an audible lisp... I'm not sure.

nice little chick flic

Starts off as Overboard, then switches to the Taming of the Shrew (except it's not necessarily the woman who's the shrew), then ends sort of predictably, but with promise for the sequel. There are some good characters and some good action, even if comical. The narration is okay, needing help on the men's voices.

A great space adventure

filled with action, romance, shifty characters and a humdinger of an ending. Can't wait to start the next one.

annoying narrator

Story is ok but could be better. Dialog seems childish sometimes and the bickering between characters is more annoying than anything, but perhaps it could be the narrators delivery of the lines. I think a lot of books have terrible narrators/voices and it ruins it for me.

Enjoyable YA Sci-Fi

What made the experience of listening to Starflight the most enjoyable?

It harkens back to sci fi like Firefly or Star Wars. A rag tag band of outlaws that see their share of adventure, with the usual YA love story woven in. The story isn't as good as Firefly or Star Wars, but it's enjoyable for what it is, and I would recommend it to anyone into this kind of story.

Cheesey

I struggled to finish this one. It was just over the top cheesey for me.

I want to be fair to the author--I listened to, rather than read, the book, and I think a lot of the problem (at least for me) was the narrator. She was extremely mellow dramatic in her voice influxuations and I pretty much eye-rolled my way through the last half of the book.

But it wasn't JUST the narrator.

There was a lot of telling in the book, and WAY too many bodily descriptions (stomach clenching, heart pounding, blah blah blah). Indeed, the main character did enough nervous lip chewing to gnaw through her bottom lip completely. You can get away with sloppy repeats like that in print, because people tend to skim over things while they read. But when listening to a book everything is under a microscope.

In the end, I'm not sure Melissa Landers is an author for me. I've tried a few of her books now, and have only really liked one, so hey, maybe it's me. Many others seem to like her, so... who knows. Maybe you'll still like it.