Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Digger is a thief in a world on the precipice of possible rebellion. After running away from the convent at a young age she learned her gift: stealing things. One night while on a job to steal some letters she and her friend are caught. She gets away. He is not so lucky. On the run from authorities, Digger decides to leave the city and a couple of young teens are there to help her. So she dons the persona of Celyn and works her way into the children of lords. After befriending Merista, the heir to Bryn Shaer, she is invited to become a lady-in-waiting at the mountain fortress. Digger’s instincts tell her that something mysterious is going on. And when she is blackmailed into doing some stealing and snooping, something she does well, she is not prepared for what she finds. In the isolated castle, Digger discover that the guests are keeping secrets. Secrets that could get them killed.

The Good: This book is my new favorite fantasy book. It was so so good. Even through the paranormal phase YA is going through right now I think fantasy will always be my favorite genre. I have loved the kings and castles and magic. Especially the stories where the heroine completely kicks butt, specifically boy/man butt. Star Crossed is one of these stories. Digger is such a curious, witty teenager. I loved how she viewed everything and everyone as something to steal or someone who has secrets. Her sense of intuitiveness was so much fun. Every time I picked up the book I was like, “What the heck is she going to get into now?” The world that Digger lives in is so real, like it really could have existed. It was so intricate that it actually seemed like some thought went in to creating it. And the idea of 7 moons sounded very cool. While the beginning was a bit slow by page 100 it got good and by page 150 I didn’t want to put it down. EVER. I cannot wait for the sequel!

The Bad: With an intricate setting and very detailed back-story it was super confusing. Star Crossed takes place on a completely different world than Earth. There were different islands and countries with different cities in different sections of the countries and paths and waterways. It was like setting over-load. And as much as I loved all the detail the lack of a map made it way too confusing. In addition to the detailed setting, their was a detailed back-story with religions and wars and the relationship between the lords and the king. This thankfully had a reference: the lexicon dictionary at the back of the book. Use It! Unfortunately I didn’t find it till about page 50 and before that I was completely and utterly lost. I gathered that Digger was a thief and that’s about it. So use the dictionary, which does have the names of locations to give you some what of a reference for the setting, and it will be a lot less confusing. Overall by about page 150 I started to remember all the different moons and gods and places and it didn’t draw away from the story any more.

Ugly Updates: Bunce has written another YA book entitled A Curse as Dark as Gold. I will definitely be checking this one out. I cannot find a publication date for the sequel, Liar's Moon but I would assume around Fall 2011. Check of Bunce's site, Facebook, and blog. And Buy Star Crossed via Amazon here. Also Goodreads is giving away a copy of the book. You must have a Goodreads account (It's free though!) Check that out here. Ends November 26, 2010.

Overall: A

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