With plenty of thrilling conflict and heartfelt emotion, Seize the Stars brings Mary Fan's mesmerizing YA science fiction trilogy to a stunning conclusion that will linger in my mind for a very long time.
I waited a long time to read this one, then somehow got caught up with way to many other things and let more than a year lapse before finally getting to this. I actually ended up listening to most of this on audio in between sporadic kindle reading, and the audio narration is fantastic. How can it not be when it's narrated by the incredibly talented Emily Woo Zeller?
Seize the Stars opens with Iris and her friends in the immediate aftermath of what happened in Wayward Stars. There's a lot going on and a bunch of players involved, each with their own motivations and desires which, while sometimes aligned in theory, often conflict in actual practice. Iris' role becomes even more significant as she is the face of this revolution, and each side wants her to go along with what they're doing, forcing her to really evaluate what she wants and what she's willing to do to get it. The author balances her cast well, and even though there are a lot of people to keep track of, some new and some old, it was easy to follow along and get a sense for the many nuances of various questions and situations that arise in the book.
Iris and Damiul are as precious as ever. The romance does take a bit of a back seat with so much going on in the world around them, but that only made the stolen quiet moments between them all the more beautiful. I especially enjoyed Damiul's character arc here. He's gone through a lot and continues to go through some difficult experiences in this book, and the author does a great job of showing how he navigates those situations (especially wihth his family). I also appreciated the family subplot woven in for Iris in this book, and those scenes were often the ones that had the strongest emotional impact for me.
Speaking of emotional impact, I can't end this review without talking about the book's ending. No spoilers here, but WOW! What an ending! I love a good bittersweet ending, and seeing how everything played out for the characters after these three books was just so, so satisfying. I was in tears--sad tears, happy tears, all the tears. I love these characters so much and could not have thought of a better, more appropriate ending for them. I'm a little sad the series is over, but it was such a great ride and a series I can definitely see myself rereading someday.