THE STARS BETWEEN US

A teenage girl desperately tries to take control of her life even when choices seem to be ripped from her grasp.

Viktoria Hale and her family struggle to get by on the poverty-stricken planet Philomenus. Even with Vika’s mysterious benefactor helping to provide some favors, money is always tight. Then one day, young solicitor Archer Sheratan appears at her family’s flat and informs them that her benefactor is the recently deceased Rigel Chapin, a multibillionaire tycoon from neighboring planet Ploutos. Vika was named as a key figure in his will: Provided Chapin’s estranged son, Leo, agrees to marry her, he will inherit his father’s fortune. Although the ship carrying Leo to meet her explodes, killing him, Vika is whisked into the rich, glamorous society of Ploutos, where she continues to enjoy the company of Archer and tries her best to avoid a suspicious, bespectacled young man who is employed by her hosts. Vika is determined to do whatever it takes to ensure financial security for herself and her family, no matter the personal stakes. With a futuristic space setting that is underutilized in the story, this narrative relies heavily on descriptions of refined luxuries that lend a Victorian air. There is a fair amount of intrigue to keep readers invested, but too many tangents fail to coalesce into a rounded whole. Main characters seem to be White; secondary characters have a range of skin tones.

Muted opulence forms the backdrop to this slightly disjointed space drama.