Review--Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

 

This smoldering enemies-to-lovers novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu puts a superstar global phenomenon and a hotshot young spy on a collision course with danger – and Cupid’s arrow – in an electric new series perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Ally Carter.

Meet Winter Young – International pop sensation, with a voice like velvet and looks that could kill. His star power has smashed records, selling out stadiums from LA to London. His rabid fans would move heaven and earth for even a glimpse of him – just imagine what they’d do to become his latest fling.

Meet Sydney Cossette – Part of an elite covert ops group, Sydney joined their ranks as their youngest spy with plans to become the best agent they’ve ever had. An ice queen with moves as dangerous as her comebacks, Sydney picks up languages just as quickly as she breaks hearts. She's fiery, no-nonsense, and has zero time for romance – especially with a shameless flirt more used to serving sass than taking orders.

When a major crime boss gifts his daughter a private concert with Winter for her birthday, Sydney and Winter's lives suddenly collide. Tasked with infiltrating the crime organization’s inner circle, Sydney is assigned as Winter's bodyguard with Winter tapped to join her on the mission of a lifetime as a new spy recruit. Sydney may be the only person alive impervious to Winter's charms, but as their mission brings them closer, she’s forced to admit that there's more to Winter Young than just a handsome face . . .

I finally picked up the Marie Lu's Stars and Smoke, the start of her latest YA series of the same name. It's a bit different than my normal kind of read as there's no sci-fi, no paranormal, no fantasy, just a bit of a mystery presented in action movie/secret agent style. Which I do find those movies entertaining every now and then.

The premise of this one was intriguing as well, a secret government organization recruits a popstar to help them get the evidence they need on a crime boss who plans to sell a very dangerous weapon to very dangerous people. Sydney, our secret agent is none too pleased to have to work with a popstar as she's suer, Winter, one of the most famous popstars in Hollywood, is more likely going to get them all killed then be able to help. The plan is for Sydney to act as his personal bodyguard when he gives a private performance to the crime boss, Eli Morrison's teenaged daughter, Penelope.

Everything was going according to plan until the moment it doesn't and the you-know-what hits the fan! Suddenly everything turns chaotic and Sydney and Winter find themselves in even deeper danger than before, which it was pretty dangerous before as it was!

This would definitely make an entertaining action movie, that's for sure. I guess for some reason, when it comes to stories like this, I can't full get into it. Yes, I knew what I was signing up for without a hint of the unordinary. But I get that with thrillers too, and there is still that danger the characters are in, where you don't know where the murderer is or who it is and the mystery is just greater. For the most part, we knew who the bad guy was, but that unexpected wrench that gets thrown in early into the mission definitely shook things up and is what kept me going.

Needless to say, the pacing to this one is pretty fast. It almost has to be, there were still moments of "downtime" where things slowed down a bit for character development. And then we have that romance. Because naturally, things start to heat up between Sydney and Winter. It was a gradual thing for sure, as there's too much going on for there to be much heat, but like with the movies, it was still fast and...well, maybe not hot, but definitely sweet! Lol.

The ending was a bit surprising. I guess I wasn't thinking much of the next culprit because when it got revealed, I was surprised. Not blown away, because afterwards, I was like yeah, the evidence is there, lol. But yeah, it just threw me for a bit before it all made sense now...lol.

Things concluded rather decently as well. No loose ends, sort of. I recalled Marie mentioning that each book would be something of a standalone, with a new mission each time with just a few little things carrying over, so it should be a good series to read with my sporadic schedule! Lol. 

All in all, Stars and Smoke was a fun and exciting read. While it didn't hook me in entirely, I was still well hooked. I just felt like there needed to be a bit more of an edge, or some added element of danger to really shake things up and rack up the tension. But I still enjoyed it and will definitely continue the series!

Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars