Cover Image: Digging in the Stars

Digging in the Stars

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Member Reviews

The story didn't hook me or hold my interest at all. Good premise, though.

Sorry for the long delay in feedback. I'm working on clearing out my Netgalley backlog. I am DNF'ing all books that just don't work within the first 50-100 pages. Trying to find the joy in reading again by going through the hundreds of abandoned books here.

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Digging in the Stars had a lot of potential (it's about archaeology IN OUTER SPACE, I mean talk about awesome) but unfortunately the characters were a bit too flat and the narrative too confused to pull it off. There was still a good chunk of mystery and a totally whacky ending to make this book fun, but it wasn't exactly a page turner.

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I tried to finish the book but I just couldn't. It wasn't for me as the buildup was just to slow. I had just finished a book series prior though and that could be why I wasn't able to finish it, I was suffering from a really bad book hangover. I wanted to give scifi a real chance and while I did everything I could to keep reading this book I just decided to shelf it for another time. I think I will give it another chance as the plot did sound interesting and I want to know more about the main character.

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Beautiful writing. This author has a way with words. However the overall cast was a bit much for me, from the professor's mood swings to the unlikely variety of characters (a hippie, a wimp, a phone addict, famous girl, ad nauseam.) it was a bit over the top. Not every person is a stereotype and these over exaggerations made the characters come off as flat and one dimensional in an otherwise well written book.

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I lost interest in reading this half way through. The writing was just a bit slow for me and didn't hook me. The idea was a great one and it may be great for others to read, but unfortunately this won't have a review from me.

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Superb read. Well written with a great plot and characters. I was engrossed from start to finish. This book is fast paced and has elements of mystery and suspense. It also has some twists I didn't see coming and the ending was intense. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

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This book was YA teen girls dream come true. It is perfect for middle school age girls maybe some high school girls, looking for romance in the vast reaches of outer space. I did not love this book, but I thought it had some quirky moments and some bumps in the road that needed to be worked out which is why I gave it a three-star rating.
What happens when a world has been completely and utterly demolished due to national disasters? What happens when a friend goes to the planet and gets lost? In this book, we find that our heroine Carter is looking for her friend who is in such a predicament. Carter’s friend, Conrad, has gone missing and left clues that he might be on the planet Thror. So, Carter does what any every day, average middle school adventurer would do. Carter commandeers her field trip shuttle and her fellow classmates on board with her sights set on Thror. When the class is unexpectedly sent to the long-lost planet of Thror, mischief abounds, and everyone decides to search for Conrad! Because they are there so when in Rome?
Personally, I thought this could be a little even too far-fetched for an outer space inner planetary storyline. I don’t believe that the professor would allow class judicial room around on the planet that is unknown and dangerous when you’re supposed to be on a field trip. But hey it’s a kid story technically so I guess we will allow it.
This book did not overwhelm me because it had tropes that I do not normally find appealing. Like the token whiny teenage girl who is popular and into fashion more than she’s into the storyline but eventually caves to play a part in the adventure. Or the storyline being all over the place before it finally makes sense. I also could not find a connection with the characters that was lasting and would make me want to read the next part of the series if it were to be a series.
I would recommend this book to teenagers who are into adventure and archaeology. I believe they will appreciate that in the year 2222 that young archaeologists are still fascinated with the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb and that there still adventures to be had. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book.

~ I was provided this book in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley and Blaze Publishing. The thoughts that lie within our my own and I was not influenced by any outside parties~

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“Digging in the Stars” eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Katherine Blakeney (https://katherineblakeneyauthor.wordpress.com). This is Ms. Blakeney’s first publication.

I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set is the far future. The primary character is 16 year old Carter Vanadian.

Vanadian, five of her fellow Archeology of Outer Space students and their professor are about to set off on a month long apprenticeship trip. Vanadian’s close friend, Conrad, has recently gone missing while on the planet Thror. Vanadian manipulates the travel reservations so that her group goes to Thror as well.

The planet is a chaotic place with the resident “Furry Giants” hosting visitors in spa hotels with much flirting with the female guests. As Vanadian begins to dig into the disappearance of Conrad, she inadvertently drags the rest of her small group into the mystery. She also finds that there is the real possibility that she may be on the trail of a truly significant archaeological discovery. This knowledge and the efforts to discover what has happened to Conrad do not go without risk to her and the others.

I thought that this was an interesting 10 hour read of a 344 page Young Adult Science Fiction Mystery Thriller. Beyond the fact that Vanadian and her companions travelled to a remote planet in just a day or two, this was a pretty hard to accept story. The basic concept was OK, but to me, the novel was contrived and weak. The cover art is OK, but could have been better. I give this novel a 3.4 (rounded down to a 3) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

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This is a fantasy story with a girl that is set to find her friend on a planet. And to that she tricked them to come to the planet. If you like sfi and fantasy then this is a book for you.

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Very different. Love that its archaeology on another planet. Slow in places, but still kept my interest, wondering what was going to happen next.
I received a free copy from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.

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I have split emotions about this book, on one hand it was a fairly quick read YA fantasy book with a interesting storyline focused on a unique subject. On the other hand I found Carter and Conrads relationship lacking emotionally and the storyline in the last chapter really hard to follow. Also, in the conclusion at the end so many bits were just skipped over and never properly explained. Like why did Conrad go to Earth? I'm guessing to try and find Carter but it's never explained. Why does he have trouble breathing? And at the beginning Carter describes Conrad as a good friend nothing more, he's slightly strange and she doesn't find him attractive. There's hardly any communication between them in the whole book but skip right to the end and they're suddenly madly in love. Very confusing. I just think the characters needed developing a little bit more.

The premise of this book is really exciting and tackles a new sub-genre. I still really enjoyed this book and would recommend it but just be prepared to make up some of your own conclusions as to why things happened.

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**Thanks to BlazePublishing and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC! All opinions expressed are my own.**

Where to begin? This is the story of Carter, a girl who loves archaeology and the history of her namesake, Howard Carter. She and her Archaeology of Outer Space class are leaving for an excavation apprenticeship on the planet Magnus, and as the professor's teaching assistant, Carter is tasked with buying the tickets.

Well, she's preoccupied with her worries for he best friend Conrad, who vanished to the planet Thror a few weeks earlier, and this accidentally books their flight to... not Magnus, but Thror.

Once they reach Thror, nothing is as it seems, and Carter and her group will have to dig (no pun intended) deeper than ever to find the answers.


LIKES
-Professor P. She was just kind of great. She reminded me of Professor McGonagall. She had so much personality, and... yeah.
-The actual mystery parts were really well done. When you have no idea what's happening and the characters are confused also? Love it.
-The Archaeology of Outer Space group is a group of five girls, with a female professor. Quite frankly, I loved that. The dynamic was perfect and they all acted like oblivious teen girls.
-The descriptions of the food were hilarious. I cried when they could never find anything to eat. Because it all sounded SO INCREDIBLY Nasty.
-The last ten percent or so (on my Kindle) was amazing. I raced through it.

DISLIKES
-Carter. I don't know; she just wasn't my favorite protagonist.
-The beginning was a little improbable. No one thought to even check their flights before they boarded? They didn't get told, "Enjoy your flight to Thror" or see a sign that said that or anything like that? I don't know. It was weird.
-The first half of the book was kind of slow. But that's just me. If you're looking for lots of heavy action, this is not the book for you.
-There were a couple of creepy parts I didn't appreciate.

CONTENT
Two cuss words near the end.

Running jokes throughout the book involving non-English speakers trying to be nice and coming out flirty and/or suggestive.

No drugs, etc, as far as I know. A character uses a breathing machine.

VERDICT:
This was a slow book and not my favorite, but that is my personal opinion: and the next person to read this book might really like it. Nice debut, and I appreciated the lack of offensive content.
Also: I loved Professor P so much. She was at times almost like a grownup version if Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus.

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This story takes place in July of 2222, on Earth and on a faraway planet called Thror. Carter, a 16 year old Archaeology student, receives an old-fashioned Brownie film camera from her sickly friend, Conrad who abruptly went to Thror.
Carter, her professor and classmates are scheduled to go to the planet Magnus, but they only had enough in their budget to go to Thror and then get another ship to Magnus so Carter booked their flight to Thror.
Thror is a dry and heat ravaged planet, which is inhabited by furry creatures that look like bears with bugs eyes and scaly faces.
Gunnar Throrvaldsson a famous outer space archaeologist, claimed that he discovered the tomb of King Loreval on Thror back in 1922. The spectacular underground palace had been destroyed by a cataclysmic eruption and forever lost. Carter had read Gunnar's book avidly until she had almost memorized it.
Carter develops the pictures in Conrad's Brownie camera and packs them in her bag to dry.
As the group leaves for Thror, but right before their departure, Carter's father slips a necklace with a pendant attached to it a sphere of moonstone encircled by four golden triangles.
Before they arrive at Thror, everyone is angry at Carter for booking them for the wrong planet, but they are about to find out they are in for the greatest adventure of their young lives, you will have to read the story for yourself to find out what it is!

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Couldn't finish the book because I couldn't get into it. But love the premise.

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What a unique read! This was a fun adventure of a book! The characters could have been a little more exciting but besides that I love it.

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