Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

Summary from Goodreads:

All her life, Spensa's dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she's a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing. The rumors of his cowardice are true—he deserted his flight during battle against the Krell. Worse, though, he turned against his team and attacked them.

Spensa is sure that there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars—and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.

But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself—and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.

Review:

First off, the summary for the book is basically a recap of book 1 and gives absolutely nothing away of book 2…that should have been a huge clue to me that book 2 would be nothing all like 1 and everything would change drastically. Nope. I was shocked, surprised, and at the edge of my seat the whole time. Wow. And I’m kind of debating how on earth I’m going to talk about this second installment because I’d like to keep the world in suspense…It’s fun not knowing where this book goes. I don’t want to spoil it or anyone.

I just read a couple of other reviews on Goodreads, and I’m happy to report that so far everyone else is keeping mums the word too. But, others seem to think the sequel was slow. I think it was maybe 3 or 4 times faster than the first book. I might have even liked it more. From the first page, there is action. And there’s the kind of reveal that takes me back to The Maze Runner when literally everything got turned upside down for me.

The book is loaded with action, spy missions, tons of flying, lots of interesting new characters (though don’t worry –the old ones are there too), political intrigue, strategy, and some of the most impressive and creative world building I’ve ever read. I’m not kidding. The world Sanderson writes is insane. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s both fantastical and believable at the same time. I wish I had a fraction of this author’s world building capabilities.

I also loved watching Spensa’s growth through this novel. She has so much to learn about herself and about perception. She hated how everyone perceived her and her father in book 1, but she has so much to learn about perceiving others. Watching her become more open-minded though is so hopeful and promising. She becomes more of a leader because of this. She ends up bringing people together in a unique way and it’s so cool to watch.

This book ends with such a cliffhanger. Literally, my jaw dropped…several inches…and I loudly whispered, “No….” because it was the middle of the night I didn’t want to wake Nick up. But, I need the next book now. Waiting for it will be painful. I guess Sanderson excels at writing cliffhangers as much as he does world building. I can’t wait to see where the series goes and how everything ends. I give this one a 9/10.