Review: And All the Stars

Goodreads Summary: Come for the apocalypse.
Stay for cupcakes.
Die for love.

Madeleine Cost is working to become the youngest person ever to win the Archibald Prize for portraiture. Her elusive cousin Tyler is the perfect subject: androgynous, beautiful, and famous. All she needs to do is pin him down for the sittings.

None of her plans factored in the Spires: featureless, impossible, spearing into the hearts of cities across the world – and spraying clouds of sparkling dust into the wind.

Is it an alien invasion? Germ warfare? They are questions everyone on Earth would like answered, but Madeleine has a more immediate problem. At Ground Zero of the Sydney Spire, beneath the collapsed ruin of St James Station, she must make it to the surface before she can hope to find out if the world is ending.

I haven't run into many science fiction novels that are tailored towards young adults so of course when I had seen this one pop up on Netgalley I had to check it out. Especially with that gorgeous cover! 

And then I started reading it and discovered that:

It was beautifully written. The descriptions created the most fantastical visuals in your head.

And it had:

Realistic, three-dimensional characters! Its always awesome when you come across a novel that has an entire cast of well-developed characters, a group that actually feels like a real thrown together group of people and that's what you get with this one.

And best of all there was:

A plot that mananged to surprise me which isn't an easy feat. I like to think I'm a pretty clever girl [I may be deluding myself!] and I'm usually decent at guessing what is around that riverbend but this novel managed to trick me a time or two and I ADORED that. I like it when a plot sneaks up on me, who doesn't?

And despite my reading slump's best efforts this novel had:

A quiet sort of siren's call. I found myself picking this novel up even when I wasn't particularly driven to read; there was something about the way it was written and the characters that quietly called to me and I'd find myself reaching out for my Kindle at the strangest times wanting to immerse myself all over again. 

Definitely would recommend this to anyone hunting for a good young adult science fiction novel or even someone not entirely sure about the genre.