Starcrossed - Elizabeth C. Bunce

StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Starcrossed started out really, really slowly. It took half the book to set it up. The first 200 pages were 2 stars, and I almost quit a couple of times. The last 200 pages were 4 stars, so I'm going with 3 overall. It took a lot of patience to get through that first half, especially as I really struggled to like the main character, Digger, and it was just... boring. Nothing much happened, even when Digger was using her skills. A thief should not be boring!

But once Digger started to clue into what was going on, and started to change, I began to feel I could root for her. That's when the action and discoveries about what was going on started to come together as well, making for a much more interesting second half.

There is absolutely no romance in this high fantasy - so far - and not a lot of adventure either. There's a little bit of magic, but it doesn't make much of an appearance until later in the book. So what there is, is a lot of political intrigue, but you're in the dark about it for quite a while. You know that Digger is working for the wrong side, whatever side that is, and that you don't want her to succeed.

Digger is a thief who actually acts like a thief, and is ignorant about anything beyond her own survival. She does not have any trouble betraying those who have helped her because her vision is so narrow. She does start to think about further reaching consequences of her actions at some point. And finally she steps up and becomes the kind of heroine I want to read about.

By the end, I found myself wanting to read the sequel, which is surprising for a book that I almost didn't finish. I don't plan to read it until there's some resolution on the final book in the trilogy being published, though. The publisher dropped this series, and I've heard there's quite a cliffhanger at the end of book two. This book ended with things open, but not hanging. I'll stop here for now, but it's a shame. I hope the third book gets published some day, or that the author will consider self-publishing to give some closure to her readers.