Book Review: The Crystal Key (Starjumper Legacy #1) by Christopher Bailey

The Crystal Key fell right in the middle for me.

The Crystal Key is the first in a series that follows the story of Allie Bennett. She receives this mysterious gift from her adoptive mother. Her best friend (who also is her secret crush), Dav, and his brother seem to also know more than they let on. Unbeknownst to Allie, she holds the gift that will introduce her to a whole other world more intricate and complex than she could ever imagine.

This beginning novel of Bailey's series wasn't amazing, but not bad either. For me, the pros and cons equaled each other out. The main character, Allie, was only thirteen in this novel, so she came out more juvenile than I normally read. She complained about a lot more trivial things than I anticipated and focused more on her issues than the whole entire galaxy. There was this one scene where Allie puts her needs before literally everyone else's in the galaxy, and I just couldn't believe that she would do that. I guess her self preservation instinct is more prevalent than mine?

However, there were some scenes that made me want to keep on reading! The last half of the novel was much more stronger than the first half. There were some major battle like scenes that took place that kept me on the edge of my seat. One of my favorite things about the novel was the diversity in character personalities and types of being.

Being in astronomy class right now, there were several times where I was just geeking out about stuff. Vehicles moving faster than the speed of light? Wormholes? Other planets that humans could live on? Other sentient life? My inner (it's not so inner) geek was freaking out. I just kept thinking, "This would be so amazing if we had this!"

My biggest complaint is that I just didn't connect to the characters that much. I found them to be a bit 'blah' most of the time and the only thing I was semi-passionate about was the budding realtionship between Dev and Allie. I don't necessarily know if it was just me as a reader, or the book in general.

I'm still on the fence with continuing this series. I am interested in seeing where the plot goes, but the question that remains is how am I going to get the book.

With that, I give this book

3 out of 5 Stars!

Favorite Quote

"He promptly decided that humans had no right to judge another person based on skin coloring until they had seen someone walk by with infrared skin and ultraviolet hair so bright that it was physically painful to directly look at."

Have you guys heard of this book? What are some of your favorite books set in space?

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

Want to read a little bit of The Crystal Key? Check out the little blurb I featured in my Friday 56 post a week or so back! 

The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings) No. 2

Hey guys and welcome back to my blog! Today I am going to be participating in the weekly meme the Friday 56. The rules are pretty simlple, pick a book, go to page 56 or 56% of your ebook, and highlight a portion of that page here!  Book Beginnings is another weekly meme where you highlight a book as well where you feature the first couple sentences!

Friday 56 is hosted by Freda over at Freda's Voice. Rose City reader hosts Book Beginnings over at her blog! Be sure to check both of these lovely ladies out! :)

Friday 56 - The Crystal Key (Starjumper Legacy #1) by Christopher Bailey

"Allie took a moment to wonder why he was so curious, but decided he just wanted to help her reconnect with her own mother, maybe in some way to connect with his own through hers. They had no idea where his mother was either, but he had always firmly refused to talk about it so she had stopped asking a long time ago."

Okay, so The Crystal Key is my current read. By current read, I mean I opened it on my phone and read one page before deciding to go to sleep instead. I wasn't in the reading mood at the time, but the plot seems interesting enough. Both this and Illuminae are science fiction reads, and I want to finish both my the time the month ends! I have high hopes, but who knows? I'm on break right now from school! This passage gives me insight to both characters. Obviously, they have both lost their mothers, but the 'he' in the passage makes me cautious. Why is he so curious? Or maybe this is my paranoia setting in... haha! 

Book Beginnings - Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

"So here's the file that almost killed me, Director.

I won't bore you with the tally of databases plundered, light years jumped, or cute, sniffling orphans created in its compilation - our fee already reflects Level of Difficulty. But this dirt is out there, if you know where to look. Seems your clean up crews weren't quite as thorough as you'd like, and your little corporate war isn't quite as secret as you hoped."

Talk about an intriguing opening! I haven't started this book yet, but it is the next one I am going to after finishing my current read! Just reading that part of the book makes me want to pick up Illuminae. I completely love the intrigue of this story and the first two paragraphs keep me intrigued. Corporate war? Count me in! Also, this passage has me riddled with questions already. Who was this sent to and who is the Director? Why is there a corporate war and why must it be kept hidden? All answers I'm looking forward to getting when I read this novel!


That's it for my post today guys! Have you read any of these two books? If so, what did you think of them?

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you guys soon with another post!

Happy Reading! 

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!