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meringued's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I had no idea what to expect from this book going in; I didn't even really know what it was about, and I had zero idea it was science fiction. So that was a (delightful!) surprise.
The story is narrated by Cass through her diary entries. The narration felt very real, with confusion, profanity, slang, and pop culture references. Cass felt like a real high school student who wandered into an unknown world, and I think very few books capture that "realness" as well as this one did. Cass doesn't know everything, she isn't good at fighting (she doesn't even want to exercise most of the time- true realness), she doesn't enjoy her specialness but just wants to go home and be normal. In a way, the narration reminded me of [b:Wolf Tower|293395|Wolf Tower (Claidi Journals, #1)|Tanith Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391128560s/293395.jpg|1279335] by Tanith Lee, which is high praise. Claidi and Cass have a lot in common. There is also no romance in this book, but hints of romance to come. I don't know if that is a positive or negative for you, so take that as you will.
The story is very unique and original (although, I don't read much science fiction). Höst has created a complex world, and there is obviously a lot left to be explored in the sequels. I did feel confused about a lot of the world introduced, and I'm not sure if that is due to Cass' confusion, her Australian way of talking, or simply the way it was explained wasn't very clear. There was also SO much infodumping that come by way of Cass taking classes and learning from textbooks, which got tedious after a while. The middle drags due to the sheer amount of explanations given about the world.
I will definitely be back for more, of the Touchstone trilogy and Höst's other books.
I had no idea what to expect from this book going in; I didn't even really know what it was about, and I had zero idea it was science fiction. So that was a (delightful!) surprise.
The story is narrated by Cass through her diary entries. The narration felt very real, with confusion, profanity, slang, and pop culture references. Cass felt like a real high school student who wandered into an unknown world, and I think very few books capture that "realness" as well as this one did. Cass doesn't know everything, she isn't good at fighting (she doesn't even want to exercise most of the time- true realness), she doesn't enjoy her specialness but just wants to go home and be normal. In a way, the narration reminded me of [b:Wolf Tower|293395|Wolf Tower (Claidi Journals, #1)|Tanith Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391128560s/293395.jpg|1279335] by Tanith Lee, which is high praise. Claidi and Cass have a lot in common. There is also no romance in this book, but hints of romance to come. I don't know if that is a positive or negative for you, so take that as you will.
The story is very unique and original (although, I don't read much science fiction). Höst has created a complex world, and there is obviously a lot left to be explored in the sequels. I did feel confused about a lot of the world introduced, and I'm not sure if that is due to Cass' confusion, her Australian way of talking, or simply the way it was explained wasn't very clear. There was also SO much infodumping that come by way of Cass taking classes and learning from textbooks, which got tedious after a while. The middle drags due to the sheer amount of explanations given about the world.
I will definitely be back for more, of the Touchstone trilogy and Höst's other books.
gregoreads's review against another edition
4.0
Stray was such a fun, refreshing read. Written as a diary, it feels so legitimate. The characters feel real, and the situations seem plausible. It isn't pumped up with unlikely, unnecessary drama, and the characters are not irrational or irritating. It's funny how the lack of all that becomes so noticeable in YA, haha. Host took her time with everything and didn't rush us through explanations and info dumps, but it never felt boring. I loved looking through Cass's eyes and learning about the new planets, their history, and Cass's place in it all and I can't wait to continue on with this trilogy! Is it bad that part of me wishes the interface was a real thing here on earth?
dwolfs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
aigra's review against another edition
4.0
This is the giveaway I won and this is my little attempt at writing a review:
One minute Cassandra is on her way home from school, the next minute she finds herself in a place with plenty of vegetation and animal life, but no people. With no idea how she got there and therefor now idea how she can get back home, the only thing she can do is try to survive and find a human settlement. Eventually, she does find an empty village from where she is recued by the Setari, a kind of elite soldiers from a technically advanced planet.
Being rescued doesn't come with a trip back to Australia though, since her rescuers claim to have no knowledge of earth. Instead she is taken to their home planet, where the Setari find out, that Cass has some very useful talents ..
I had a good start with this book and the story pretty much drew me in from the first page. But by the time I had reached the middle of the book the story had become kind of slow and drawn out. Well, maybe slow isn't exactly the right word, because there are always things happening ... it's more that there's this sense of aimlessness once Cass starts her training with the different Setari squads. Also, I totally lost track of all the different characters. There are just too many unfamiliar names mentioned and eventually I just gave up and figured that I would notice sooner or later, who the important characters are, which worked fine.
Anyway, I had no idea where this would be going or if it would be going anywhere at all and I did get a bit bored with the story at that point. The story gets back on track eventually though and just when I got an idea of the direction it could be taking and when someone who might be important showed up on the scene the book ends.
It's been a while since I read a book that was written entirely in diary form and it's not my favourite type of narrative. For the most part, it worked all right for me here though, because Cass is a character who isn't too self-absorbed and who isn't prone to rambling either.
All in all, I liked the book. It feels like proper science fiction and not like a poor excuse to sell me an unoriginal cliché love story, which is the impression I got from way too many YA books recently. I was torn between a three and a four star rating and decided on four stars in the end, because this book left me wanting more.
One minute Cassandra is on her way home from school, the next minute she finds herself in a place with plenty of vegetation and animal life, but no people. With no idea how she got there and therefor now idea how she can get back home, the only thing she can do is try to survive and find a human settlement. Eventually, she does find an empty village from where she is recued by the Setari, a kind of elite soldiers from a technically advanced planet.
Being rescued doesn't come with a trip back to Australia though, since her rescuers claim to have no knowledge of earth. Instead she is taken to their home planet, where the Setari find out, that Cass has some very useful talents ..
I had a good start with this book and the story pretty much drew me in from the first page. But by the time I had reached the middle of the book the story had become kind of slow and drawn out. Well, maybe slow isn't exactly the right word, because there are always things happening ... it's more that there's this sense of aimlessness once Cass starts her training with the different Setari squads. Also, I totally lost track of all the different characters. There are just too many unfamiliar names mentioned and eventually I just gave up and figured that I would notice sooner or later, who the important characters are, which worked fine.
Anyway, I had no idea where this would be going or if it would be going anywhere at all and I did get a bit bored with the story at that point. The story gets back on track eventually though and just when I got an idea of the direction it could be taking and when someone who might be important showed up on the scene the book ends.
It's been a while since I read a book that was written entirely in diary form and it's not my favourite type of narrative. For the most part, it worked all right for me here though, because Cass is a character who isn't too self-absorbed and who isn't prone to rambling either.
All in all, I liked the book. It feels like proper science fiction and not like a poor excuse to sell me an unoriginal cliché love story, which is the impression I got from way too many YA books recently. I was torn between a three and a four star rating and decided on four stars in the end, because this book left me wanting more.
dani_bugz's review against another edition
3.0
Stray could have so, so easily been a 5 star book with a good editor behind it.
Host has a very engaging writing style, and despite the bizarre content I was hooked from the get go. The world building was amazing, there was a diverse cast of characters, and our MC was glorious!
Her MC, Cassandra, was super realistic, making intelligent, calculated observations/ideas/choices. I loved Cass! I wanted more Cass! But I wanted more Cass if she were edited up. And without the journal entry style. Actually I can't fully decide; on the one hand I hated, HATED the journal style format, but on the other hand I have to acknowledge that it worked well. I just feel like it may work better as a simple first person narrative. But then again, we would have gotten all the boring bits the journal was able to cut out. Can you see how confused I am right now?
I also found that a lot of important connections weren't made throughout the story. I kept getting incredibly confused, looking back to see what I'd missed, seeing I hadn't missed anything, and just reading on to hope I would eventually sort it out in my head. In some cases it was fine, but most of the time I was just confused and annoyed by it. Again, the editor would come in handy here!
Honestly, as far as books go, it was pretty good. I enjoyed it. And if you have a few spare hours, I would definitely recommend reading it, especially since it is FREE at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48654. But it is absolutely not worth paying for, which is why I am not continuing with the rest of the series. If Host does get an editor in to neaten up the series though, I'll be right up front ready to hand over all my moneys!
Anywho, definitely read the free ebook. But it's not worth paying for (yet) in my opinion.
Host has a very engaging writing style, and despite the bizarre content I was hooked from the get go. The world building was amazing, there was a diverse cast of characters, and our MC was glorious!
Her MC, Cassandra, was super realistic, making intelligent, calculated observations/ideas/choices. I loved Cass! I wanted more Cass! But I wanted more Cass if she were edited up. And without the journal entry style. Actually I can't fully decide; on the one hand I hated, HATED the journal style format, but on the other hand I have to acknowledge that it worked well. I just feel like it may work better as a simple first person narrative. But then again, we would have gotten all the boring bits the journal was able to cut out. Can you see how confused I am right now?
I also found that a lot of important connections weren't made throughout the story. I kept getting incredibly confused, looking back to see what I'd missed, seeing I hadn't missed anything, and just reading on to hope I would eventually sort it out in my head. In some cases it was fine, but most of the time I was just confused and annoyed by it. Again, the editor would come in handy here!
Honestly, as far as books go, it was pretty good. I enjoyed it. And if you have a few spare hours, I would definitely recommend reading it, especially since it is FREE at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48654. But it is absolutely not worth paying for, which is why I am not continuing with the rest of the series. If Host does get an editor in to neaten up the series though, I'll be right up front ready to hand over all my moneys!
Anywho, definitely read the free ebook. But it's not worth paying for (yet) in my opinion.
decodethebooks's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars★★★☆☆
First read: November 2018
Second read: July 2020
Third read: July 2022
Touchstone series reviews:
#1 [b:Stray|10837174|Stray (Touchstone, #1)|Andrea K. Höst|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335183787l/10837174._SX50_.jpg|15399425] ★★★☆☆
#2 [b:Lab Rat One|11921067|Lab Rat One (Touchstone, #2)|Andrea K. Höst|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335349017l/11921067._SX50_.jpg|15399450] ★★★☆☆
#3 [b:Caszandra|13111788|Caszandra (Touchstone, #3)|Andrea K. Höst|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335349243l/13111788._SX50_.jpg|16476955][b:Iron Kissed|1412138|Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3)|Patricia Briggs|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358229529l/1412138._SY75_.jpg|1178926] ★★★☆☆
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littlebitofe's review
5.0
I really loved this book. It is well-written, with great character development. The world created here by the author is so complete and intriguing. I didn't want Cassandra's story to end - and I am grateful there are two more books in the series after Stray! Cassandra is a heroine that is relatable and very likable. This is one that will stay with me. It is just my kind of book.
ufcasey's review
3.0
The story is written in diary entry format which at first was a little off putting but then over time either I forgot to notice it, or the author forgot to write that way. Either way, I enjoyed the story enough to move on to the second book in the series.
silver_valkyrie_reads's review
Time to call it. This is moderately interesting, but less interesting than a dozen or more other books I’ve been reading instead, or have waiting to read next. The only reason I stuck with it as long as I did is appreciation for the combination of realism and intelligence in the survival section at the beginning of the story.
a_ab's review
1.0
This book ends in the middle of the story. It is a whole lot of world building and just as the plot starts happening, the book ends. I find such authorial behavior absolutely inexcusable and will not be continuing this series or reading anything else by this author.