Star Splitter. Matthew J. Kirby (Penguin Young Readers Group 9780735231665, $18.99, hc. 320pp) April 2023.
Seventeen-year-old
Jessica Mathers wakes up in a body printer. This is the fastest way to travel
from Earth—to have her data transmitted and assembled. But something has gone
horribly wrong. No one is there on the spaceship in orbit of a distant planet to
help her recover. She finds blood on a console and a bloody handprint in a
corridor. Then she realizes she is not on the spaceship, but in one of its
landers that crash-landed on the planet. Outside, she finds the graves of the
crew members. Then she meets herself—a Jessica who was printed earlier, but
whose explanations of what happened seem a little too pat.
The structure of Star Splitter
is deceptively simple: The chapters alternate between the viewpoints of the before
Jessica, whose narrative begins days earlier, and the after Jessica, whose
narrative begins after the crash. The before Jessica woke up on the spaceship,
and her parents were printed two days later. This is where we discover she is
lying to the after Jessica, since she tells her their parents never printed.
#
“And Mom and Dad
are …?”
“Like I said, they
never arrived.”
“Can we pull up
their data? What if we just establish them here?”
“I thought about
that … I checked the printer … It’s dead.”
#
The time
difference between the two viewpoints is meant to build tension as the before
Jessica reconnects with her parents, the reader knowing the entire time that
some disaster will happen. It can be a little tedious, but the after Jessica
goes through harrowing adventures, from being swept away by a river to making
her way through endless underground tunnels.
Although they are
the same person, the before Jessica is rather sulky—she hasn’t seen her parents
in six years, since they decided to explore space without her. She spirals into
an odd love/hate relationship with them. The after Jessica grows by overcoming obstacles.
She is rather plucky and does not quit, no matter what. Kirby aptly explores
both teenage paths.
Ultimately the
reader will be satisfied or dissatisfied with Star Splitter based on the
explanation of what happened, and the fates of the two Jessicas. I found the
disaster not explained convincingly. As for the Jessicas, it is ambiguous as to
whether it is a happy ending or not.
As a side note, the first chapter is more of a prologue. It is somewhat gross and unnecessary, so it is best to skip it.
I've never heard of this one before! Thanks for sharing your review.
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