Lilac LaRoux is the daughter of the richest man in the galaxy. Tarver Merendsen is a decorated soldier who has risen up through the ranks to become a war hero. They never should have crossed paths. Not under ordinary circumstances. 
 But when the spaceliner they are both traveling on is torn from hyperspace and crash lands on the nearest planet, social convention changes. Tarver saves Lilac from plummeting over a railing while the Icarus is beginning to fall, and the two of them get to an escape pod that's supposed to disconnect from the ship. When it doesn't, snotty Lilac shows she is actually good for something and is able to effectively hotwire the escape pod and they are able to launch off the ship. They are the only ones who do. 
 Tarver and Lilac need to learn to trust each other and work together while they wait to be rescued. Tarver really is a hero - he is strong, smart and works hard. Lilac is pretty useless unless it comes to electronics - otherwise all she does is complain and try to walk across rugged terrain in her high heels. She is frustrating to read about at first, and I couldn't stand her voice. However, her character development along the course of the story makes her more likeable. Her selfless acts, thinking only of Tarver, proved how far she had come. (view spoiler)[But her death, while I now understand was necessary in order to understand exactly what had happened on that planet, I thought in that setting could have been avoidable. Had she taken a little more care, a little more time, such an accident wouldn't have happened. But I told you she wasn't particularly smart. (hide spoiler)] 
 The authors pick you up and dump you into the not so distant future, where other planets have been colonised and space travel is common. There isn't a lot of information about this world offered straight up, but we are led to understand more and more as the novel progresses. We are given glimpses of war and the division of class, but I need more information. I still have a lot of questions. Hopefully they will be answered further into the trilogy. I'm intrigued by this world and by Tarver, and what has happened to Lilac (view spoiler)[(How does that work? She has two bodies now?) (hide spoiler)]. I want to know more and will be looking forward to the next installment in the trilogy.