popthebutterfly's profile picture

popthebutterfly 's review for:

Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti
5.0
adventurous emotional informative inspiring medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher for the purposes of a book tour. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Across a Field of Starlight

Author: Blue Delliquanti

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Black Plus Size non-binary MC, POC Non-Binary MC, POC characters, non-binary character, non-binary romance

Recommended For...: young adult readers, sci-fi, graphic novel, epic sci-fi, 2SLGBT+, romance

Publication Date: February 8, 2022

Genre: YA Sci-Fi Graphic Novel

Age Relevance: 13+ (violence, gore, dead animals shown, terrorism, parental death, mass attempted murder, romance)

Explanation of Above: There is violence and some very slight gore in this book as the book is set during a rebellion period between two sides: an empire and a rebel army. There is also a scene of attempted mass murder shown and acts of terrorism shown. There is parental death mentioned as well and very slight romance.

Publisher: Random House Graphic

Pages: 352

Synopsis: When they were kids, Fassen's fighter spaceship crash-landed on a planet that Lu's survey force was exploring. It was a forbidden meeting between a kid from a war-focused resistance movement and a kid whose community and planet are dedicated to peace and secrecy.

Lu and Fassen are from different worlds and separate solar systems. But their friendship keeps them in each other's orbit as they grow up. They stay in contact in secret as their communities are increasingly threatened by the omnipresent, ever-expanding empire.

As the empire begins a new attack against Fassen's people--and discovers Lu's in the process--the two of them have the chance to reunite at last. They finally are able to be together...but at what cost?

This beautifully illustrated graphic novel is an epic science fiction romance between two non-binary characters as they find one another through time, distance, and war.

Review: I really loved this graphic novel! I loved the story and I really liked the Star Wars feel of the book. The book had a great story with a great pen-pal friendship turned relationship at the core of it between two non-binary characters and I loved seeing how the universe was developed and how people could live happily without constant war. I loved seeing all of the POC and/or 2SLGBT+ characters and I loved seeing the diverse bodies, including the plus size MC and female characters with body hair. The characters were well developed and the world building was amazing. The illustrations were also well done and overall the book is well plotted and storied.

The only issue I had with the book is that it presents a lot of technical terms in it and I had some issue following along, but the book did a great job to give context clues as to what was happening.

Verdict: Highly recommend! I loved it!