Actual rating 4.5 stars 
 Originally posted on my blog, Zach's YA Reviews (zachsyareviews.com) 
 Review: 
 Protagonists: Lilac LaRoux has a charmed life. After all she's the daughter of the most powerful man in the universe, but underneath she's hurting. Her father is intensely protective of her which leads him to acting rashly when he believes that his daughter is not getting the best of everything. Tarver Merendsen comes from the humblest of backgrounds and has become a great war hero. His new status however, gives him no right to talk to Lilac, let alone flirt with her, but when they're trapped on a strange planet flirting with the daughter of someone who could end him is the least of his worries. I really loved both these characters, Since there is a dual narration for most of the book it's hard not to yell at one character for not realizing something found out by reading the other's narration, but it's understandable. Both these characters are so complex and very well developed throughout the book which helps since for much of the book they're the only characters present. 
 Romance: The chemistry between Lilac and Tarver is electric! At first they seem to quickly develop a strong connection, but through some unfortunate events they take on the characteristics of characters who cannot stand each other. Their romance continues on at a slow burn which can be a bit frustrating at times since it's so obvious they have feelings they won't admit, but since the whole romance of this story is a only a medium to large subplot and doesn't drown out the main plot and in some instances even helps it develop even more. The building of the relationship is amazing, if a bit slow, for a "stand alone" story. 
 World-Building: This world is very much a sci-fi one. At first I thought maybe there would be some dytopian touched but not really. Now I'm all for sci-fi stories especially since I haven't read many of them, but towards the end of this book, when the sci-fi really starts to come into play it gets a bit confusing. There are things that happen, which are explained in a fairly complicated way and I wish that it was simplified a bit or at the very most explained as paranormal happenings, because I'm still fuzzy on how somethings could have even happened. However, sci-fi aside, the story is reminiscent of the movie Titanic and I'm sure that's where these authors drew some of their inspiration since the parallels are so prevalent. 
 Predictability: Holy crap! I can honestly say that I was thoroughly surprised about many of the things that happened in this book. Kaufman and Spooner definitely took risks as they wrote this book, and while they worked out there were many times where I was scared for the lives of our heroes. There were as always some moments were it was obvious what was or was not about to happen, but personally I'm not sure I would like a book where I couldn't see even one thing coming from a ways away. 
 Ending: There are so many emotions I went through near the ending of this book. In internet speak, I felt all the feels. However, it's the end where, like I said above, the sci-fi elements got a bit confusing and there are things that happened where I need a bit more explanations to understand how what the characters did helped each other. The last chapter was a very satisfying conclusion, and while I hope to see Lilac and Tarver, if only for a few scenes, in the subsequent installments, I feel that their story is complete enough that I won't be asking for another Lilac and Tarver book. 
 Rating: 
 So yes, I really enjoyed this book. It took me a while to complete because I kept having to read something else, but I always felt a pull to finish the story and find out what happens and I wasn't disappointed. At least, not entirely. Like I said the Sci-Fi elements got hard to understand near the end of the book, but since I understand their benefits to our heroes I'll stop asking questions.