This was a fun adventure! And although it could stand alone, I really enjoyed meeting entirely new main characters while also re-visiting the characters and places of The Sound of Stars and The Kindred (also by Alechia Dow).

There's so much here for teens (and adults) to love. I'll definitely be recommending it widely to anyone who likes (or thinks they might like) space operas.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this! I thought it was fun and it kept me entertained. I couldn't ask for anything more. I enjoyed every single page and I would happily read this again and again just to feel the happiness I felt while reading. Alechia has such a way of pulling you into a story and you don't want to leave. You just want to keep reading and you find yourself in the pages. It's real and raw. I loved this!

so A Song of Salvation is TECHNICALLY a stand alone but it’s set in the same universe (ha) as The Sound of Stars and The Kindred, also by Alechia Dow

which i’m pretty sure i knew but conveniently forgot in my excitement when this became free to read on netgalley

so now i need to go read The Kindred

ABOUT THIS BOOK THOUGH!

i have a few quibbles about pacing, but overall i had fun reading this one!

i love Rubin Rima SO MUCH and his ability to love both easily and fiercely! i love how, of our three protagonists, Rubin is the one who (comparatively) has his shit together!

Wesley and Zaira grew on me, they both really just needed a bajillion hugs and fortunately Rubin was there to do just that

i also really loved seeing Zaira and Rubin being comfortable and proud of their fat bodies, that Rubin has basically a high end closet in his clutch and shared his fabulous sparkly clothes with Zaira

AND Wesley and Rubin are both aspec as fuck (or… wait) ANYWAYS they’re both pretty clearly demisexual, and i’d even add that the wording of their conversation about love and romance means that, for me, Wesley reads VERY demiromantic

again, i need to go back and read The Kindred, but i think A Song of Salvation was a satisfying conclusion to Alechia Dow’s three story arc, and it was nice seeing Morris and Ellie again and seeing what they’d accomplished since A Sound of Stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for the eARC.

A Song of Salvation is the third book in what I like to call The Starry Eyes verse.

The premise feels like the start of a really good joke. A reincarnated god, a podcaster, and the black sheep of a family walk into a bar. This book was an absolute joy with fantastic action scenes and really sweet romance.

I really like that we got to see characters from other books in this journey of self-discovery.

Alecia Dow will be an instant but author for me from now on. The stories she’s creating in this universe of hers are FANTASTIC. I’m really impressed with the depth of the characters and the heart of the story with this quirky sci-fi plot. It’s a very interesting plot and after The Sound of Stars, I couldn’t say no to requesting this book as well. I hope she continues to write in this universe.

Alechia writes books that are so heartfelt, so touching, where the earnestness in every word shines through so beautifully. It's a symphony of joy at it's heart, but it does not ignore the rage and the hurt and the anger that live beside the brightest parts of humanity. It celebrates its characters, in all their weirdness, rage, beauty, and all.

A Song Of Salvation was quick paced and a really good read about the power of your voice, love and humanity. It was so well done with very interesting characters. I liked this book and I will definitely recommend it. I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

OH THIS SLAPPED. From page one I was immediately hooked, and I devoured the story in a single sitting. So compelling, so voicey, and exactly what the SFF genre needs. Thank you for the ARC! I can't wait for more from this author.

The worldbuilding was incredibly unique and beautifully blended aspects of sci-fi and fantasy, the breakneck speed and conflicting factions didn't leave enough time for plot and character development. Dow perhaps focuses too much on world-building - this story could've benefitted from more time developing relationships and letting the characters flourish and struggle, agonize over decisions. In fact, this story might have been better delivered as a duology.

Thanks to netgalley and inkyard for this arc in exchange for an honest review

An epic conclusion to a breathtaking YA sci-fi series, this feel-good space opera is an emotional rollercoaster full of high stakes, dynamic characters, and an unforgettable story that’s out of this world.

Things I loved:

- Diverse and inclusive representation

Dow normalizes and celebrates diversity in various forms, creating a stunning ensemble of characters who were raw, relatable, and powerful. There is something for everyone in this story.

- A powerful and unique main characters

Told in dual POV with a sprinkle of entertaining transcriptions, the main characters were complex and uniquely crafted. I especially loved the balance between their vulnerability and them finding and owning their power and purpose.

Eleven from Stranger Things meets pure Black Girl Magic in Zaira’s character. She was refreshingly relatable and compelling.

Wesley was a grumpy cinnamon roll and I’m here for it!

I also appreciated the compilation of characters from previous books in the same universe. The way Dow interconnected their stories was fresh and satisfying.

- A hopeful and empowering voice/tone

Dow offers an honest and compelling critique of society with an inspiring and empowering outlook and resolution. This book is a love letter to relevant to our current times and generation full of comfort, love and encouragement

Love Meter:
If you’re looking for powerful found family elements, sweet romance, and LGBTQ+ representation, you’ll love this.

Do note:
- Trigger warnings may include but are not limited to: colonization, emotional abuse/abandonment from parent, loss/death of parent, genocide, and war.
- To fully appreciate the amazing world-building, the Easter eggs and three overall story, I highly recommend reading Dow’s previous books The Sound of Stars and The Kindred before diving into this gem.


Thank you to Netgalley & Inkyard Press for a complimentary copy of this e-book. I am leaving a voluntary review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own.

A Song of Salvation is a young adult space opera novel by author Alechia Dow. The novel is technically the third in a series, after The Sound of Stars and The Kindred (which I have not read), although it is entirely stand-alone, and does not require reading those books to be enjoyed. It was a novel that I probably wouldn't have taken too much interest in based upon the prior novel I'd read (which I'd liked but not loved), except one of my favorite reviewers (Alex Brown) highlighted it as a rare kind of YA novel - a YA space opera written by a Black author. So I was interested enough to request it and give it a try.

To be honest, my feelings on A Song of Salvation remain kind of mixed, just like its predecessor novel. On one hand, this is an enjoyable YA Space Opera novel, featuring a solid duo of main point of view characters (plus a really enjoyable third main character who doesn't get POV chapters) - Zaira, a girl from a race on the verge of genocide who possesses the lost power and soul of a goddess inside her, and Wesley, a boy who ran from the godlike beings who could tell him his destiny and has instead found a cynical life as a pilot/smuggler. Together they get involved in a conflict between gods and races for the sake of saving the Universe and the way they interact, learn to love, hope, and find something despite difficult lives and destinies that wait them, works pretty well. On the other hand, the book throws in a bit too any things, like a last act destined love interest (a minor character from a prior book) who just felt out of place and utterly unnecessary, and too much of things seem to be resolved by last second deus ex machinas, as if the author couldn't bear to let any characters' plots and relationships go unsettled. The result is an enjoyable read, but not one that'll make one of my highlights of the year.

NOTE: As I mentioned above, this book is stand-alone, but is also the third and final book in a sequence of other books that began with The Sound of Stars. Characters from both prior books do recur in this novel, with the protagonists of The Sound of Stars playing a peripheral but important role in the book's conclusion. So if you have any interest in reading those books, I recommend doing so first. If you aren't sure, you can start here instead, it's not like there are any spoilers here for those books that will affect your enjoyment of those, and you won't really be lost at all when the prior books' characters show up.


---------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------
According to legend, the Universe was created through the songs of a goddess Indigo, who came to be opposed by a God of destruction, Ozvios. Together with the unity of all the beings she created, Indigo was able to defeat Ozvios, after which she faded away, to leave the mortal beings of the universe to their own fate.

But generations later, the Ilori people, following the worship of the maybe-reappeared Ozvios, have begun and succeeded largely in a brutal war of conquest and colonization. And while forces have begun to marshal themselves in opposition to the Ilori, none have realized the extent of what the Ilori have done to the ancient planet known as Mal Ares, and its people there, the Nightweavers, who they murdered. The only nightweaver left alive is a teen girl named Zaira, a girl who is said to be the reincarnation of Indigo and her power, but whom cannot really access that power, and whose death seems inevitable in only a few days....

Except Zaira gets help and escapes into space, where her power begins to grow, and is sent to find an Andarran pilot, Wesley Daniels, in order to fight back to save the universe from the Ilori and the resurgent Ozvios. But Wesley is far from a hero himself, as a boy who once fled from the chance to see his own grand destiny, and has no idea how he can help Zaira save the universe. Yet together Wesley, Zaira, and an interplanetary upbeat broadcaster, Rubin Rima, will find themselves on the road back to the places of their pasts, and then to the place where the whole universe is converging, a conquered planet named Earth.......
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A Song of Salvation is largely told from the perspectives of Wesley and Zaira, with the story alternating between the two character's first person perspectives and here and there interrupted by interludes from other characters, most notably Rubin's broadcasts but also news alerts and bits involving the main protagonists of the prior two novels in this series. It's a story that depends upon its two lead characters as well as Rubin so this method of storytelling largely works.

For both Wesley and Zaira have reasons for cynicism and despair about the world. For Zaira, everyone she grew up with as family has been killed by the Ilori, with her own power being unable to protect them, and while she doesn't want to harm people with her powers, it's kind of understandably hard to control her own rage as that power grows and she's confronted with people trying to get in the way of her fighting back against those foes. This is especially the case as she's faced not only with enemies, but with peoples who should be allies who did nothing to try to stop the Ilori from their slaughter. She means well, and wants to fulfill a destiny of saving the universe from Ozvios, but despite knowing that her predecessor was a kind goddess, she just can't help feeling anger and righteous rage, for better or worse, and her own lack of understanding about how things work in the universe mixed with that rage does repeatedly get her into trouble. She's an angry hurt despairing young woman with immense growing powers and she acts like it, and a large part of the plot involves her learning the hard way about what path she is destined to and even wants to follow. Meanwhile, for Wesley, you have a boy whose species submits to a godlike fish-esque species to get glimpses of the past and future...except Wesley was too afraid to try that. And so he doesn't know his own destiny, but can feel people's emotions thorugh empathic abilities, and has to deal with his mother casting him off and calling him a failure for his refusal to try to learn his own destiny. And while he's made out an okay and somewhat enjoyable life as a smuggler and pilot, the whole thing has gotten him cynical about the world, which has only treated him with disdain and spat him out to survive on his own. So when he meets Zaira and hears her talks about destiny, he's immensely skeptical and not onboard at first, because that way only has driven him to unhappiness so far.

Naturally the plot doesn't let these states of mind continue without challenge, and the plot spurs both Wesley and Zaira to action. And so Wesley has to use his empathic abilities to help Zaira with her mental trauma so she can continue growing and developing and to save them all, while Zaira has to realize that her anger and rage cannot be the only thing to guide her...while also acknowledging that such feelings are real and part of who she is - and that Zaira is someone independent of her Goddess predecessor in Indigo. Helping this along, and working to tremendous effect, is the third member of their trio, Rubin, a livestreamer of news (sort of an instagram influencer/podcaster hybrid here) who is super popular and famous who broadcasts the truth about what the Ilori are doing (to their dismay) and who somehow keeps up an incredibly optimistic and idealistic attitude about it all, despite his own traumas and past tragedies. In another story, Rubin would be a naïve jackass whose optimism is beaten out of him as it rubs off on the others, but here his naivete isn't really that big of a deal and he remains the good natured counterpart to the other two protagonists, and is just a really great counterweight to the grimness of it all that allows everyone to develop into better people. It also helps that his dialogue is often very humorous if not outright funny.

Through these characters, and the space opera plot, we have a story about peoples coming together to try and save each other and make a better world, about destiny and what it means to be fated and how we control our fates somewhat, and how the most important thing isn't doing something on one's own, but through working together in love and harmony to make a better world in the face of evil opposition. It also deals well with themes about how the worst outcomes can occur when good people do nothing, and take no action to try and stop evil people from genocide and murder somewhere out of sight. And the plot works fairly well in this respect for the most part.

I say for the most part because the book has some issues in its final arcs in that it just seems unwilling to let plot threads and character relationships remain up in the air. So for example, Wesley and Zaira do not have a romantic relationship, with Wesley instead being attracted to and in a M-M relationship with Rubin. Zaira is portrayed at first as uninterested in romance instead. And yet the book throws in Wesley's brother, a minor side character from book 1, in the final few chapters as her fated romantic partner, and she falls for him because....well destiny says so? It's just really lousy and adds absolutely nothing except to prevent Zaira from not having a partner, as if that was a problem. Other plot arcs or issues are resolved by deus ex machinas that are nice to ensure the ending is happy but well, just feel out of nowhere. And the final plot arc relies upon the protagonists from the first few books taking some actions, and well their stories just feel like the should be separate from Zaira/Wesley/Rubin's.

Overall, A Song of Salvation is a solid YA space opera novel, featuring characters of color and queer characters all over the place, with some decent themes overall. But it just kind of lost me at times in the resolution, preventing it from being something truly great to recommend.

I absolutely adored this book. I will forever be a sucker for a well executed found family and this book had me obsessed with every character. This universe Dow has created weaves together so many beautiful tales full of queer love and joy and it’s truly a sight to witness. It also shows anger, injustices and trauma and all I can say is that the entire story is breathtaking and fierce. An auto buy author for sure.

I loved "A Song of Salvation" by Alecia Dow. I am looking forward to it's release in July. It is nice to find a new voice in the science fiction realm. Zaire the main character was a god or is she really? Wesley is a student and pilot making deliveries to make enough to pay for his studies. And Rubin is a podcaster bringing hope and positivity to the universe. What makes them all qualified to fight the Ilori who have taken over much of the universe? It's a fast paced young adult adventure through space. Will good conquer evil? Read to find out.

Thank you Inkyard Press and NetGalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I loved this adventure! Alechia Dow really puts the reader into this world of different plants and species! Zaira, Wesley, and Rubin must find a way to stop the Llori Emperor and the God of Destruction. A that while dealing with complicated backstories and teenage angst! I enjoyed that there were elements of fate, found family, love, magic, and space! I found all three POVs to be likable and the story to be fast paced and easy to sink into! Can’t wait to read it again!

Dow’s tender stories sweep you away to fantastical worlds but her words breathe life into characters of such depth and beauty. A storyteller who’s a true gift to the genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review .

I love when YA books feel like they are written for actual teens...The trilogy that didn't feel like a trilogy comes to a very trilogy end and we close the door on a universe that felt alien while still feeling accessible to the age group. Dow takes some notes from other works here, but they feel like loving tips of the hat rather some of the lightly-recycled fan fic published lately–making a distinction, not a judgment, and of course maybe I'm just not enmeshed in fandom enough to see how low on the head that tip really is. Ultimately, a vibrant and enjoyable series that I have and will continue to recommend.

A Song of Salvation was the space opera it promised to be. It was quick paced and a really sweet read about the power of your voice, humanity and love. Our MC's Wesley, Rubin and Zaira are perfect trio. Wesley is the han solo smuggler who is looking to find his place. Zaira is the reincarnated God trying to find her perpose and how to use her powers for good. While Rubin is the heart of the story while also being the comedic relief. They were fun to get to know. This book is very plot driven, things happen fast and characters explain their develop[ment outright. I think this book is a great YA read, but it might even be a little more middle grade.

Starting this book without reading anthing by this author prior felt like i missed an inside joke or 10. It took a while to find my footing in the story.


I enjoyed Both Z and Wesley's povs. Finding family fighting The God of Destruction.

Wesley and Rueben give Z the family she's been looking for

I had a really great time reading this book! While this technically isn't a series (though it should be, it's set in the same world with the common foe of the Ilori) each book focuses on a different couple, and the various evil things the Ilori are doing. And I loved this book, which had two different couples, yeah!

The few overlapping characters and a common threat have made these a series of interconnected standalones. Well, this book brings that overlap to the max, because a certain someone is a love interest in this book, and we get to see some more familiar faces that we've been wanting to see!

Both Zaira and Wiseley are in pretty poor places in their lives. She's the only one of her people alive, and the Ilori Emperor wants to sacrifice her to his god, who is the opposition of the god that she's supposed to be. So that was not a great pace to be in.

And Wesley, the connections that he has, and how his life has been affected, I just loved how it tied things together! Because oh, how the Ilari plot progressed in this book! This might be the final one, at least with the Ilori as the bad guys, but I'd love to spend more time in this world!

This was another really great read, and I can't wait to read more by Alechia Dow!

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.