Titan of the Stars / E.K. Johnston / Book Review

TITAN OF THE STARS

Titan is the most advanced, most deluxe space cruiser to ever exist, and Celeste knows every inch of it. She's put in the work, after all. And she and the rest of the crew are set to launch this ship into the stars for Titan's maiden voyage from Earth to Mars where Celeste will finally have the opportunities (and the credentials, thanks to working as an apprentice on the Titan) to reach for the life she's always wanted. She can't wait to leave Earth and all its problems behind.

For Dominic, this voyage looks a little... less optimistic. Sure, he's not stuck in crew quarters (or worse). Sure, he's got all the luxury of the Titan at his disposal. But he's stuck here with his overbearing father, with the boyfriend he doesn't exactly want anymore, and with a life on Mars devoid of the art school future he longed for back on Earth. So things aren't really going his way, all things considered.

What neither Celeste nor Dominic knows is that this ship is carrying precious cargo. Cargo more precious than all the luxuries the passengers are lugging with them (and more important that a cargo hold full of indentures bound for the mines on Mars). The Titan carries with it the first evidence of alien life, stored in special cryo chambers to preserve these specimen just as they were found in the permafrost on Earth. Until, well, an act of sabotage...

THOUGHTS

I loved everything about this book! I just didn't get enough of it. I know it's going to be a series, but there was so much potential already here in this first one that I would have liked to see develop. I wanted more, which is only a good thing.

PROS

Memorable FMC	I really liked Celeste as a main character. I like that she's a bit standoffish. I like that she's an engineer, all technical expertise, and that she comes with a healthy anti-capitalist sentiment as well. She plays by the rules as far as it keeps her afloat while recognizing that this is a world not designed for her personal well-being. I liked her. She stands out, in a market saturated with female-led stories that start to blend together.
Soft MMC	I also liked the contrast Dominic gives to Celeste. He's a much softer character than she is. He's had luxury as an everyday part of his life. He isn't as fit for life on this ship as she is, not after things go wrong. He isn't physically capable of what she is, what her life has prepared her for, and he doesn't have the technical know-how to be as useful. But he's willing to help wherever he can. He's just limited, and I like that sort of role-reversal between the sexes.
Incredible Cast	On top of the two main characters complementing each other really well, the whole cast of characters were great. I loved Ren, Celeste's best friend, because not enough YA main characters have active friends in their life. Especially not loner MCs like Celeste. And I liked all the other characters we got, too. They made a great cast of background characters, characters that felt fleshed-out and thought-through. The characters really are the star of this book.

CONS

Though Dominic and Celeste contrast each other, and complement each other, very well as characters, their perspective voices do start to blend together. Especially toward the end, when they are doing the same thing (and not living vastly different lives), it can be a bit disorienting to have to flip back to the chapter head to see whose perspective we're in. They can't always be distinguished by voice alone, and that's a missed opportunity (though an unfortunately common flaw of a lot of first-person POV books, alas).	Blending Voices
The biggest downfall of this book is that it's just too short. I loved the background characters and how vibrant they make this book. And I absolutely wanted more of them. There's just not enough time in these pages to develop all of these characters, and I wanted all of these characters developed. I wanted to spend more time here, to immerse myself into this world. I think another hundred pages (or more) would have been well worth it just to see how well Johnston could develop these characters, develop this world if given the chance. But I didn't get that.	Too Quick
This book does a really good job of setting everything up, but at the same time, given how short it is, it does take a disproportionate amount of the book to have something actually happen. I think it takes almost 3/4 of the book before we really reach a tipping point, which is an indication that this book isn't plotted well (at least not for a book of its size). It will be a series, so there's more to come, but I wish this book had been better balanced within itself, because things do otherwise conclude well enough in this one volume. Or, even better, I wish this book had been longer to actually see what we're working with here (in, you know, an ideal world). It's too short. Have I said that already? Well, here it is again: this book is too short.	Not Enough Time

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7/10

Fans of the classic 1979 film Alien will love diving into this voyage with unexpected passengers. Those who loved Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation will like seeing what happens when there are (already) aliens among us.

Details Publisher: Tundra Books Date: May 27, 2025 Series: N/A Add to Goodreads Buy it HERE

Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.