This past week, I read Justina Ireland's Spark of the Resistance, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a great adventure story featuring some of our favorite Resistance heroes (Rey, Poe, Rose and BB-8), as well as some porgs. It's a super fun, cute, and hopeful story that gives us some insight into what our characters got up to between movies and how they were feeling, while also providing us with a little more information about the galaxy far, far away. So basically, one of my favorite types of Star Wars.
Read ahead for spoilers of Justina Ireland's Spark of the Resistance!
As I mentioned above, Spark of the Resistance is a great adventure story. It starts with Rey, Poe and Rose deciding to veer from their mission to answer a mysterious distress call. It takes them some deliberation, as they fear that it might be a trap, but ultimately they go to answer it. What they find is a race of furry green people that look a little rabbit-like that live in a fantastical underground area. They're very grateful for the help promised to them, celebrating by feasting with our Resistance heroes and dancing with them. Our heroes slowly uncover why the First Order is on this faraway, forgotten planet- there was once an underground Imperial lab that had a weapon in it that was used to mind control the natives of the planet. In First Order possession, they do the same again- until, of course, our heroes come to the rescue (with the help of a scientist who built them- and "teamed up" with the First Order so she could come back and destroy them).
It's a story that lets us follow along these favorite characters as they venture through dangerous jungles, find valuable allies, and problem-solve as they learn together about this mysterious world. It's really fun, filled with fun and cute moments (such as Rey and Poe bantering about flying, or Rose dancing with the natives of the planet). It's sweet and wholesome, while also being quite sad at times. It's definitely a recommended read if you're looking to scratch a Rose Tico content itch too.
One thing I also really appreciated about this book was the insight it gives us into some of our favorite characters between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Rey, for example, is finding herself feeling very unsure about her place in the galaxy. She wants to live up to the Jedi moniker, but isn't sure that she can fill Luke Skywalker's shoes- but encouragement from her friends helps her believe in herself. Poe is feeling a lot of guilt over the events of The Last Jedi, but keeps trying to push forward and not let that feeling hold him back from being a good leader and being more helpful in the future. And Rose is still trying to find her place in the Resistance. Though she played such a big role in The Last Jedi and is now taking part in key missions, she still feels like the small, hardly noticed mechanic she was before. And, of course, she still dearly misses her sister.
It's really great to get to read this book and see these characters in the space between movies. It's always so interesting to me to see them in that gray area that we haven't gotten to see ourselves. This book isn't particularly long, but the story is certainly more than worth the read!