Dec 21, 2023
Title: Star Splitter | Author: Matthew J. Kirby | Publisher: Dutton Books (2023)
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Title: Star Splitter | Author: Matthew J. Kirby | Publisher: Dutton Books (2023)
OMG OMG OMG OMG
Finished Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby
AND AHHHHHH
I’m like out of words
I can’t describe it
This is prob one of my fav sci-fi alien books ever
It’s amazing
I was in a reading slump and this
This has changed me
I’m in shock. I’m absolutely amazed
I want to reread it but I’ll never have the same feeling of reading it for the first time
DOES ANYONE have a recommendation for smth like this?!!!?!!?!
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Star Splitter Book Review
Star Splitter
Author: Matthew J. Kirby
Description: Crash-landed on a desolate planet lightyears from Earth, sixteen-year-old Jessica Mathers must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her--and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger.
For Jessica Mathers, teleportation and planetary colonization in deep space aren't just hypotheticals--they're real. They're also the very real reason her scientist parents left her behind six years ago. Now she is about to be reunited with them, forced to leave behind everyone she knows and loves, to join their research assignment on Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet almost 14 lightyears from Earth.
Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Review: Star Splitter is the book to read if you’re easing your way into the sci-fi genre.
Matthew J. Kirby’s writing is fantastic, bringing forth a level of vividness that reads like a movie — words blossoming into images on their own. It’s not convoluted scientific jargon, and neither is it dumbed-down explanations. It’s the sweet spot right between the two. Especially taken into account the visionary storyline and its genre, it’s utterly gratifying to read. The mere interpolation of the second point of view into the story, and how well executed the idea was, brings me awe and admiration for Kirby’s ingeniousness.
However, though the book was filled with intriguing secondary plot-lines and strange incidents, not enough of them were expanded on. It’s a dreadful miss to leave so many hanging threads laying around, with no explanation nor pay-off.
Additionally, though this is more of a personal preference, another downside was the small amount of spotlight given to Duncan. The character brought forth so much charm and dimension to contrast with Jessica. It made the dialogue entertaining, and it gave a different perspective to the events that neither Jessica could provide. It’s a shame the character was under-utilised.
For all it’s worth, Star Splitter reads as a stand-alone, but I would be lying if I wasn’t desperate for a sequel.
Book Review #108 of 2023--
Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby. Rating: 2.75 stars.
Read from August 24th to 26th.
I'm going to keep this review short if I can because this book didn't do a lot for me. (Also, I finished the book this morning and forgot to write a review when I got home from work so we're getting the tired and ready for bed me. YAY.) I had heard of this book from BookTube. I can't remember whose video I saw it on, but it seemed like everything I love. It was a SciFi/Horror genre mashup novel which is my jam. I love SciFi and James S.A. Corey's Expanse novels will live in my heart forever. But I can't even begin to explain my love for SciFi when it comes with a darkness, with a twist that kicks you in the teeth, when all you have to protect yourself are your own wits. This was pitched as a girl having to work on research of a new planet with her parents when all she really wants is to stay at home with her grandparents and the girl she might eventually have a romantic thing with. And when they get to the planet, not everything is as advertised. There are underground cities that definitely shouldn't exist. There are creatures that shouldn't exist. But maybe worst of all is someone who definitely shouldn't exist.
Let's start with the main problem: it doesn't go there, it doesn't get dark enough, creepy enough, scary enough. For some reason this author decided to pull his punches with the twist and it actually made me mad. We spent the whole time foreshadowing something that would be absolutely gut wrenching and something that would have been awful...but, as a reader, I would have loved it. And then at the last second it seems like the author changed his mind. Or maybe he was never intending to go where he was foreshadowing and it was just something that he needed to put in in order to make it feel more ominous. But it made me mad at the end. For the last 50 pages, I felt like I was lied to and everything that happened after felt hollow. We also have this issue where there are too many unanswered questions. That underground city I mentioned? We see a character go through some stuff in that city and then it's never used as a plot point again. It's mentioned in passing from one character to another, but that's it. Which is a shame because it was one of the most interesting parts of the story. We have some issues at the end that could have been resolved in a few ways and by the end we don't really know which avenue was taken. I don't like open endings. I think they're sloppy and that they're a sign that the author cannot commit to the story. Maybe it could be argued that it can be used in Mystery/Thriller/Horror novels as a device to keep a reader engaged even after the story is over. Maybe thinking of all the things that could have happened will prolong the sense of dread. But that doesn't make sense for this story because it doesn't go to a dark enough space to give me that sense of dread in the first place.
I DO, however, feel like the author does a good job with the SciFi aspect of the story. They even do a good job presenting a philosophical argument about this new technology and how it's used later in the novel which was fun to see debated. I just think the author spent too much time trying to understand and show these SciFi aspects of the story and too little time on the plot and the resolution of the story. I think in the proper hands this could have easily been a five star read for me. But in the hands of this author? Not so much.
New Book Release: Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby
Blurb: Crash-landed on a desolate planet lightyears from Earth, sixteen-year-old Jessica Mathers must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her–and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger. Pulse-pounding YA science fiction from award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby. For Jessica Mathers, teleportation and planetary colonization in deep space aren’t just…
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Excerpt from The Star-Splitter, by Robert Frost
He burned his house down for the fire insurance
And spent the proceeds on a telescope
To satisfy a life-long curiousity
About our place among the infinities.
"What do you want with one of those blame things?"
I asked him well beforehand. "Don't you get one!"
"Don't call me blamed; there isn't anything
More blameless in the sense of being less
A weapon in our human flight," he said.