Starflight by Melissa Landers

Title: Starflight (Starflight #1)
Author: Melissa Landers
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 368
Source: Bought
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Overall: 4 STARS

SUMMARY

Solara Brooks needs a fresh start, someplace where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. The outer realm may be lawless, but it's not like the law has ever been on her side.

Still, off-world travel doesn't come cheap; Solara is left with no choice but to indenture herself in exchange for passage to the outer realm. She just wishes it could have been to anyone besides Doran Spaulding, the rich, pretty-boy quarterback who made her life miserable in school.

The tables suddenly turn when Doran is framed for conspiracy on Earth, and Solara cons him into playing the role of her servant on board the Banshee, a ship manned by an eccentric crew with their own secrets. Given the price on both Doran and Solara's heads, it may just be the safest place in the universe.

It's been a long time since Solara has believed in anyone, and Doran is the last person she expected to trust. But when the Banshee's dangerous enemies catch up with them, Solara and Doran must come together to protect the ship that has become their home-and the eccentric crew that feels like family. 

MY THOUGHTS 
I've had Melissa Landers's Starflight on my TBR forever, but I finally had a chance to read it recently. Now I'm wishing I picked it up sooner! Starflight is a wildly entertaining adventure across space! I couldn't get enough of this thrilling, pulse racing YA science fiction story as Solara and Doran put aside their differences and tried to evade arrest and outrun deadly space pirates!

Hardship and being overlooked is all Solara has ever known. Raised in a crowded orphanage by nuns, it was her skills as a mechanic that earned her a scholarship at a prestigious academy. But one mistake has cost her what could have been a promising future. Felony tattoos now mark her knuckles, and only a fresh start in the outer realm can help her... if Solara can get off-world in the first place.

Doran Spalding is the epitome of privileged, wealthy, and handsome. He's the ultimate golden boy who always has the best of everything, while Solara only owns hand-me-downs and barely has a credit to her name. Solara's never understood why Doran always tormented her in high school, but in her desperation to leave Earth, she temporarily indentures herself to him in order to gain passage on board the luxury spaceliner Zenith. 
  
In an unexpected twist, however, Solara and Doran soon find themselves on the Banshee with its ragtag crew instead. Back home, Doran has been framed for conspiracy, and only a mysterious set of coordinates left behind by his father can possibly help clear his name. I wasn't sure how I could possible fall for Doran since he's arrogant and bullied Solara for so many years, but he really does try to redeem himself. And Solara might have a soft heart, but she sure knows how to give Doran a taste of his own medicine, to my immense delight.

I enjoyed Starflight so much! It was fast-paced and so exhilarating to read, but also knew exactly how to tug on your heartstrings too. Starflight can be read as a standalone, but if you're not ready to say goodbye just yet, you can read Starfall next year! It will be a companion novel focusing on Cassia and Kane as the lead characters, with Solara and Doran taking on a supporting role. I hope Starfall will be just as addictive and absolutely fun to read as Starflight!