Reader's Review: "Starstruck" by S. E. Anderson

Synopsis from Amazon: 

She could barely look after herself. Now, she's looking after the entire planet.

After an incident with a hot-air balloon causes college-dropout Sally Webber to lose her job, she sets off to find direction in her life. Crashing into a teleporting alien, however, is not on her to-do list.

Now she’s on the run from TV-drama-loving aliens, and things are just getting started. Zander won’t stop reeling her into life-or-death situations to save her planet, as he waits for his laser-wielding sister to search the universe for him. Though Sally isn’t quite sure if he wants to save Earth from annihilation, or just quell his curiosity of all things human.

Now she’s got to find lost alien emissaries, as well as a job, and stop the planet from getting incinerated in the process. But with Zander as her roommate, what could possibly go wrong?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My Review: 

Hoo boy! What a thrill!

I remember when I first heard of this book, it sounded equal parts fascinating and funky: an alien? An "average Jane" saving the universe? Things like this have been done before. The whole "I'm in love with a hot, hunky dude who is secretly an alien from a distant galaxy" is a trope that's been done over and over again. A lot of times, though, the female character manages to get so obsessed with her feelings for the alien that she hardly plays an active role in the story at all, except getting into these "impossible" or embarrassing situations that he has to rescue her from time and again with his suave coolness and superior pan-galactic knowledge, at which point they finally succeed in being able to confess their feelings with one another and she convinces him to settle down with her and they live happily ever after.

This is not that.

Anderson does a stellar job creating a REAL character in Sally--she's distracted by past trauma and a general sense of apathy, but she also seizes every opportunity to actively assess and rationalize everything that happens to her--even the irrational stuff. Yes, unexpected things do fall into her lap--or, as in the case of the mysterious hot-air balloon, land on top of her apartment building--but in the midst of those circumstances, she still fights to keep her wits about her and decide on a course of action with whatever she has in front of her.

But Sally isn't the only free and independent character with decisions to face here. Zander also faces choices and decisions, and sometimes we see his logic--but most of the time, Sally just gets treated to the outcome of whatever choice he's already made. Then there are characters like Marcy, Dany, Blayde, Matt, and several others who are named, described, and given lives and personalities all their own. There's awkward situations and unexpected "impossibilities" aplenty, but Sally is bound and determined to make sense of it all and give every ounce of her intellect to whatever changes happen, whether it's masquerading as an alien ambassador's infamous sister or finding out that, Men-In-Black style, a lot of the world's population are transient aliens masquerading as humans.

I loved the pacing and the thrilling plot twists throughout! Some parts I kind of expected what was coming because the blurb gave a warning, but there was a lot that happened that I definitely didn't see coming, and I nevertheless enjoyed it! I loved what Anderson did with the time-travel aspect, the way Zander could jump through both time and space, and the little ways it sort of "messed with" Sally a bit, when she had to come along with him in jumping through space--and the time she witnessed a bit of actual time travel.

I loved all the characters, especially Blayde, the character Sally has to impersonate at one point. Her absence is keenly felt, and she could have very well come off as this macho, "untouchable" kind of character, just over-arching everything and the "best of the best" in every way--and yet Sally gets only a few sentences summing up Blayde's character, and it kind of gave me the sense that perhaps Blayde, for all her bravado, and Sally, in spite of her own insecurities, are more similar that either of them realizes--which speaks volume for the character development of both ladies!

Needless to say, STARSTRUCK lives up to the hype, it's everything I hoped it would be, and I give this a full *****5 STAR***** rating, coupled with an Upstream Writer Certified TOTALLY RECOMMENDED endorsement. If you're looking for a space-alien adventure full of wacky fun, unique twists, and fresh ideas, look no further... and then prepare to be obsessed!

Further Reading: (Space Adventures/Strong Characters/Splendid Heroines)
-The Secret King: Letháo--Dawn Chapman
-The Arena--Santana Young
-Dissolution--Lee S. Hawke
-Countless As The Stars--Steve Trower
The Jill Andersen Series--J. D. Cunegan
       -Bounty 
       -Blood Ties 
       -Behind the Badge
The Vemreaux Trilogy--Mary E. Twomey
       -The Way 
       -The Truth 
       -The Lie

The Children of Dreki--N. R. Tupper
       -TYR 
The Chronicles of Lorrek--Kelly Blanchard
        -Someday I'll Be Redeemed 
        -I Still Have A Soul 
        -I'm Still Alive 
        -Do You Trust Me? 
       -You Left Me No Choice
The Firebird Fairy Tales--Amy Kuivalainen
       -The Cry of the Firebird 
       -Ashes of the Firebird 
       -Rise of the Firebird 
Talented Series--Amy Hopkins
     -A Drop of Dream 
     -A Dash of Fiend 
The Cadeau Series--Connie Olvera
       -Who Can You Trust?