Review: Fractured Stars by Lindsay Buroker

Fractured Stars (Fractured Stars #1)
by Lindsay Buroker

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
McCall Richter finds criminals, con men, and deadbeats better than anyone else in the empire.

She’s proud of her success and that she owns her own spaceship, especially since she struggles to understand human motivations, can’t tell when people are lying to her, and is horrible at recognizing faces. Being autistic in the empire is frowned upon—and there’s a handy normalization surgery to correct it—but she’s managed to prove her worth and avoid irking the tyrannical regime.

Except for one thing.

Two years ago, she liberated the android, Scipio, from an imperial research facility where he was treated worse than a slave. He’s become her business partner and best friend, but if the empire finds out she has him, a “normalization” surgery will be the least of her worries.

When her ship is confiscated by a cyborg law enforcer needing to transport prisoners, McCall knows she and Scipio are in trouble. Worse, the enforcer’s pilot is a former bounty hunter and business competitor she beat to the prize many times in the past.

Soon, he’s snooping all over her ship and questioning her about her past.

And there’s something strange about him. He knows far more about what she’s thinking than any human should.

It’ll only be a matter of time before he discovers her secret. And then what?

My Review

After seeing this one a blog and hearing good things about it I bought it. I first read the novella Junkyard and enjoyed that one so much I dived right into Fractured Stars afterwards. This has been a great introduction for me to Lindsya Buroker’s work as I really enjoyed this book.

The story is told from dual point of view form dash and McCall their point of views. McCall is a skip tracer and just going about her normal day when she gets hailed by a ship from a law enforcer whose ship got damaged and they need hers to transport the prisoners. McCall has a liberated/ stolen android aboard her ship and she’s afraid he will be discovered. Dash is undercover on that ship as a pilot for the law enforcer, but instead he works for the alliance and hopes to free the prisoners. He used to be a bounty hunter and McCall caught his targets before him a few times, so he is all too happy to find out what she’s hiding to direct the law enforcer’s attention to her instead of him.

McCall is such a likeable character. I really enjoyed reading about her and how she handled things in a smart way, she might not be as handy with people at times, but I think she handled herself just fine. Her autism adds an unique flavor to her personality and I thought it was interesting to see with which things she struggled, but mostly she just seemed like a human with some quirks. I also liked how much she cares about those she has grown close to like the android Scipio and her dog Junkyard.

I have to admit I hadn’t expected the direction the story took, instead of a normal job like in the novella Junkyard, instead she lands in some trouble in this book. Even tough it wasn’t what I had expected and at first I wasn’t sure what to think of the direction the story took, I ended up enjoying it. The epilogue is well done and I am curious to see what is next for McCall and the rest of the characters.

I am a bit sad we don’t see as much of Scipio and Junkyard in this book due to circumstances. I loved both in the novella and felt that the novella almost gave me a better feel for both than this book did and I am glad I read that first as I liked having that bit of background.

There is a bit of a slow build romance, which was pretty well done. I liked the slow build and how they get to know each other better, it felt very natural how things developed. They don’t get off on the right foot, but I liked how they worked things out. I felt the pace of the romance worked for this story and how it stayed a side line plot. I liked seeing the romance develop. There were multiple scenes were it was clear they cared for each other with some thoughtful moments and some fun banter.

Besides a good story and a great slow build romance, there is some action as well. And a bit about getting to know the world with the empire and the alliance. I liked getting to know a bit about the world, it was enough to get a feel for it, but I also wouldn’t minded a bit more. I am happy to see it will be a series as I am looking forward to more adventures with these characters!

To summarize: I enjoyed this well paced science fiction novel with a well done slow burn romance. I liked the writing style of the author and this was a great read. McCall made for a great main character and her autism gave her an unique touch and felt realistically done. I liked the side characters, although i am a bit sad we don’t see more of Scipio and Junkyard in this book. The romance was a well done slow burn and it was clear these two cared for each other, there are some great scenes with these two and some fun banter. The world building was done well too, with little pieces here and there to give a feel for the world. I enjoyed this book and plan to check out more books by this author.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads, Bookbub and Amazon.

What’s the last book you read that had a dog as side character?