Lost Stars is a rather solid entry in the Star Wars canon, although I personally found the YA romance tropes to be a bit strange within the Star Wars universe. My prudish tendencies aside, I found the intertwining stories of villager Ciena Ree and upper class Thane Kyrell both from the Outer Rim planet Jelucian to be rather engaging. The pair are brought together by a chance childhood encounter and bond over their shared dream of being Imperial pilots. The novel chronicles their training in the galactic capital but it is when they graduate and witness one of the Empire's most despicable acts, that the novel kicks in to gear. This act prompts very different reactions from Ciena and Thane, as one gradually loses faith in its totalitarian governance of the Emprie and other rationalizes the effort to bring a decisive end to Galactic Civil War. Taking place over the course of the original trilogy, the climax of the book happens during the battle of Jakku, bringing us slight insight into the new era of The First Order vs. The Resistance.

Reading this book will forever challenge how one views the original Star Wars trilogy because Gray's novel gives us more insight into the suffering that many endured (including those fighting for the cause of the Empire) for the sake of restoring justice and peace within the galaxy. ( )

A sprawling epic that follows the relationship of a boy and girl who find themselves on opposite sides of an intergalactic war. I'm kind of a Star Wars baby, I didn't become interested in the series until I saw The Force Awakens. Now I find myself eating up anything Star Wars! Lost Stars covers a lot of ground and thus moves pretty quickly, sometimes only providing surface-level details, but I found it to have a cinematic pace and tone overall. The lead characters, Ciena and Thane, and their romance are captivating. The story starts in their childhood and shows us an alternate view of the original Star Wars trilogy, focusing on the characters who circle around the main iconic cast.

The story deals heavily with the nature of right and wrong, loyalty, and the challenge of serving a cause you don't have complete faith in. It was interesting to end up reading this book at a time when our own society is so full of political strife. All in all, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading Gray's other titles. ( )

This was a great book. It wasn't deeply complex and have multiple faceted storylines interweaved throughout. No, it was fairly straight forward, easy to read/listen and had a few surprises along the way. No significant new facts or twists to the overall Star Wars universe. But the story itself, the characters and various backgrounds in which it all plays out simply worked for me.
The story takes place in the very familiar Star Wars universe with the major events that we all know serving as background settings. But this story is a love story STOP.
Yes, a love story. Not one of those juicy, provocative and adult type of love stories. You see, this book is classified as a YA (young adult) book. I don't think I could define what that means but I will say it is a category that does not scare me off. Many great books/movies are born as YA books.
Anyway, even though it is a love story I will say I loved it. Yes there is some corny places but it made me smile more than grimace. If you love Star Wars then I would certainly recommend this one.
So, on to the next book for me. Will it be yet another Star Wars? We shall see. ( )

Yes, simply being Star Wars makes this better than most teen books. The snapshots of Imperial life before the Rebellion are quite interesting. ( )

"That was how evil magnified itself: it took root in the young and grew along with them. Each generation provided the next level of abuse."
When YA meets Star Wars... I'm won. This book answers the old-age question: but how could somebody just follow [insert tyrannical government]?
Watching Ciena struggle with her grooming (as much as she annoyed me through the entire ordeal) and Thane's journey into taking a stand shows us just how intricate the Empire really was, how these systems of power maintain themselves, and sheds a complete new light on the Original Trilogy.
If I had to pick one Star Wars book to recommend, it would be this one. ( )