Star Crossed:

"A worried crease lined
his forehead.
"Just how planned
is this plan of yours?""

My rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

I love a good adventure full of conspiracy and plot twists. I had long been forgoing this books, brushing it off, returning it back to the library twice without a second glance, but while on vacation I found myself in need of a medieval romance. What I got, well that was something else indeed!

Digger a strange thief from the great city of Gerse must flee her only home leaving behind the man who loved her so much he gave his life for her and the thieving behaviorisms behind as she becomes lady-in-waiting to Merista Nemair. However, as posing as Celyn Contrare a Nobel woman who was banished and thence escaped from a Cely's monastery she finds healed agreeing to leave by way of sail boat out of her beloved city and into the rural country side where Meri's parents await to whisk her away Digger/Celyn and another snobby nobel women Phandre in tow as her ladies-in-waiting to the high mountains of Bryn Shaer. 

Being a lady-in-waiting should be simplicity at its finest for the wanted thief but just as Digger becomes costumed  to her life of luxuries she is snatched back to her reality by the devilish Lord Daul who has somehow caught in an act of stealing! Digger is appalled because no one has ever caught her before, soon Daul is blackmailing her to become his personal spy among to Nemair's. Like any good thief Digger plans to flee through the rough day pass cut into the mountains, that is until an avalanche crushing any hope for escape. Armed with her rusty wit an old courtesan  acquaintance who is the only one among the Nobles that truly knows where Digger's come from and what she is; thankfully the familiar citybrat sticks to the code of their class, keep the secrets of a fellow thief, she has no choice but to follow through with Lord Daul's demands.

Now Digger must brush off her skills and put them to use in order to keep her secret carefully hidden, but what of the things she learns? Why are wizards baring the mark of Sar hidden away on Nemair's land, where has Digger's dagger gone and why would Daul own a magic lock if he is so devoted to the Greenmen's cause? Then the pieces start clicking together, each one distinct but improbable, explicit and most dangerous. Fear of rebellion and heretics spreads through Digger one night during a game of chess with Cwalo.

Then the most dastardly thing happens, Digger finds a trap door and hidden underneath a study's carpet. In the floorboards there is a narrow passageway that leads to a mediocre set of rooms. When Digger explores further she realizes there is a man in there, to her shock it becomes evident that it is the missing prince Wierolf himself. 

When secrets can no longer be kept tightly knotted together for Digger she is forced to tell the truth a concept she has spent her entire life running away from. But when the stakes of not telling the truth far outweigh the consequences suddenly there is not a choice she has left but to come clean and hope the gods are feeling less zestful and  more bored because surly the aftermath of it is bound to be an enchanting tale.

My heaviest complaint being simple: I flung this book at the wall!!! It was so annoying at the end, here comes a bright and shinning opportunity to make a four, maybe even five star book and what do they do they take the climax and stretch it so thin that it becomes nothing but thread and then build on it again. How aggravating it was to be biting your nails one moment and next, well the next your seething wanting to rip the book apart.

Set in a world reeking with unrest and intrigue a citybrat is swept away from the man she loves to a life of soft pleasantries. Rip with adventure and sharp turns of events that would make a military strategy analyst proud, Bunce weaves a wonder of a tale. I was however displeased with the writing style, I felt it was a light too bald for such an interesting story and though the story was appealing to me it was not invigorating. To a point I felt it resembled Graceling only without the jest Graceling had provided, the story was pleasant enough to read and to go a step further it held my attention but it was a slow read. I suggest this partly because there was opportunities in the story where a huge plot twist could have been something awe-inspiring but instead it fizzled dully. I felt it could have been better than it ultimately was.