Star-Crossed

By: Pintip Dunn

Narrated by: Catherine Ho

In a world where nutrition can be transferred via a pill, and society is split into Eaters and Non-Eaters, 17-year-old Princess Vela has a grave dilemma. Her father, the king, is dying, and only a transplant of organs from a healthy Non-Eater boy will save him. Vela is tasked with choosing a boy fit to die for the king, which is impossible enough. But then Carr, the boy she's loved all her life, emerges as the best candidate in the Bittersweet Trials. And he's determined to win, because by doing so, he can save the life of his Non-Eater sister. Refusing to accept losing the boy she loves, Vela bends the rules and cheats. But when someone begins to sabotage the Trials, Vela must reevaluate her own integrity - and learn the true sacrifice of becoming a ruler.

©2018 Pintip Dunn (P)2018 Recorded Books

Good story, great reader!

I found some of the things about food to be triggering, but it was a good story with a great narrator!

Unique story; a bit drawn out

An interesting idea for a story, but the vibe to the story, the slow pace, and Vela’s lack of common sense, kept me from loving this. People are stranded on a planet with limited food, so they’ve created a weird process to create nutrition pills to feed the masses. People are turned into Aegis; an Aegis gorges on real food and then somehow that food is turned into nutrition pills for others. Of course, there are those privileged individuals who get actual food and comforts. Princess Vela is an Aegis, who has broken the rules and given real food to her best friend. Now, her friend cannot tolerate the nutrition pills and needs real food to survive. Vela is caught trying to steal food, so she gets in trouble and the possibility of taking over for her father as ruler is in jeopardy. She is forced to run some games to find the fittest; the fittest will give his life, in order for the king to live a bit longer. All very horrible things that these people think is an honorable thing. When Vela’s crush and her best friend’s brother, Carr, joins the fittest contest to win the real food his sister need to survive. Vela freaks about this, and needs to decide if she’s willing to do whatever it takes to save him and her friend. She begins to question the status quo of things.

I love dystopians, but not really this type. There’s futuristic elements, but the story feels more medieval with how people’s ideals and way of life are. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters. Vela’s best friend just seems so unworthy of how much Vela has to deal with to help her; her friend’s action show that she definitely wouldn’t do half of what Vela does for her for Vela. So, right there, I was questioning Vela’s common sense. She’s really bad at reading people. Carr is a very honorable guy, but he too, puts himself out there for those that don’t really deserve it.

This review is getting long, so I’ll end by saying, the story is an unique one. Also, I listened to the audio version of the story, and the narrator did a great job, so I’d recommend the listen if you choose to read this story.