STARS AND SMOKE - Marie Lu

Sydney Cossette is a spy with an elite undercover organization (Panacea).  She was the youngest ever to join the ranks and she has a knack for picking up languages. She's tough and no-nonsense and her good looks have her breaking as many hearts as her combat skills breaks bones.

Panacea wants to infiltrate a major crime boss and when they get word that the crime boss plans to hire one of the leading boy pop singers in the world to perform for his daughter's birthday party, they agency recruits the young pop star and they send Sydney as his personal bodyguard to the event.

Sydney spends some time training the singer (Winter Young) and is pleasantly surprised that his movement training for dancing on stage translates well to combat training. She's also surprised that she finds herself attracted to him.

I found this to be a really nice balance of romance and spy/thriller for younger readers.

While the building romance is important to the story and to the development of the characters it never seems to dominate the action.  This isn't the typical YA romance where one or both parties tries to deny their feelings for the other, but instead both trying to understand what it is they are feeling - a little surprised at their feelings.

The spy/thriller/action plot drives the story nicely.  From the set-up (the recruitment of Winter Young) to the infiltration of the crime lord's home we are brought in to a thrill-a-minute suspense. We take Sydney's view of Winter, wondering if he'll manage to pull off his role in the action, and cheer for him as he steps up and shows that he's more than just a manufactured pop star.

Winter's success does push the bounds of credulity a bit, but of course this is what makes the story and definitely is a draw for the young readers who likely want to imagine that their favorite pop star is more than just a singer. 

I don't feel like we really learned enough about Sydney, especially given that this is really her story. However, I recognize that not knowing more about her lends itself to more books in which we're likely to be given glimpses to her past.

I've not read anything by Marie Lu prior to this, but I enjoyed the story and the writing and I can see why she's a popular YA author.

Looking for a good book? Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu is a fun, fast romantic action story that would likely really grab and hold a YA reader's attention.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

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Stars and Smoke

author: Marie Lu

series: Stars and Smoke #1

publisher: Roaring Brook Press

ISBN: 9781250852816

hardcover, 336 pages