Cover Image: Our Dark Stars

Our Dark Stars

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Member Reviews

A really fun YA Science-fiction romance story that I enjoyed immensely. A world/setting that definitely has the potential to have had more books following this one, but a fun read as a standalone nonetheless.

I really liked reading from multiple POV's, getting different views of the world and different stories as well. YA Scifi romance has been a sub-genre I've loved for quite a while now, but I don't get around to read them that much anymore, so I was really happy I finally got around to read this gem of a book. It definitely ranks high on my 'favorite' YA Scifi book list, so safe to say that I recommend this book haha.

Great to see Audrey Grey teaming up and co-author a book. I wasn't familiar with Krystal Wade yet, so I'm happy I now AM. Grey's wiring is something I always enjoy, this book was no exception thankfully! Wish there was more.

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A fantastic Sci-Fi novel filled with so much diversity it makes my heart sing. As someone that doesn't read a whole lot of Science Fiction I can confidently say that this is an incredible, action-packed adventure. Definitely worth picking up!

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Our Dark Stars was just not for me. It feels more like a space opera kind of story. Characters were vibrant and real and story moved at a brisk pace. Just not my kind of thing.

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Thank you Negalley and Publisher.

I could not get into this story. I put it down for a long time and came back to it thinking maybe the time just wasn't right for this one but I couldn't get into the writing and the characters. I will rate this book 2 stars.

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I hardly ever read Sci-Fi but I loved this book! It was unique, engaging, fast paced, and such great descriptions. The premise was so intriguing, and the world building was spot on. rich enough to have depth, but described in a way that wasn't overwhelming.

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I enjoyed this book. I do love a nice easy sci-fi book from time to time so this was a nice change of pace for me. I really loved the dual perspectives

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What an amazing sci-fi read!

I thought maybe this would be like other YA books, but the chemistry between the two MC's and the plot and pacing were off the charts. I loved every second of it! The cover is amazing and the writing was easy to read yet lyrical in its own way! I will be purchasing a physical copy soon!

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Absolutely loved this. The blend of sci fi and fantasy was deftly handled. I had a couple of quibbles with the plot and pacing, but overall it was a very enjoyable read.

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I loved this book! It’s an extremely fast paced sci-fi novel that definitely does not disappoint. The cover is absolutely stunning and the writing style is gorgeous. I highly recommend this one!

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Did Not finish. I was not able to get into this storyline or characters. Characters really carry a story for me and I just didn't have a connection with these characters.

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I have to say that I was so excited to read this one. I love Krystal Wade and am a new reader to Grey. But this one didn't have anything new to the aspect of a young adult sleeping beauty set in space. I thought that the jumping of time was really confusing and the dialogue was on the choppy side.

I really didn't connect with any of the characters and didn't really want to root for anyone. Early on in this one I actually restarted the book because I got confused as to what was going on and who was who.

So for me this one just wasn't to my liking at all.


Go Into This One Knowing: Confusing, Choppy Dialogue, Disconnected Characters

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This book is a bit hard for me to review. I enjoyed the premise of the book but the writing felt... borrowed. As if the author were trying to imitate SJM and didn't quite have the skill to pull it off. I think this author has wonderful ideas but I would like to see her explore her own "voice" a bit more and develop that.
I've seen this likened to the Lunar Chronicles which I am obsessed with and I was left wanting. Other than "space" and being a retelling there is nothing comparable, it lacks that same addictive feeling. The world building and scifi elements that should be present in a scifi were sorely lacking.
Perhaps this is not an author for me, though I might give future books a try. I do hope that the author has worked on developing her own voice by then rather than borrowing from others.

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"You are Talia Starchaser. You fear nothing. You own the stars and the planets and the galaxies."

* * *
3 / 5

Our Dark Stars was a bit of a gamble for me. It isn’t immediately right up my reading alley: the cover features a woman in a pretty dress floating in space, the synopsis tells me her name is Princess Talia Starchaser, to the heavily hinted at ‘forbidden’ romance. But I gave it a shot (mostly because I’m an absolute sucker for the phrasing ‘ragtag crew’) and it was definitely a fun read.

"sometimes, you must reach up and align the stars in your favour"

Princess Talia Starchaser has everything she could ever need or want. Until her eighteenth birthday when she is forced to betray her best friend, a mock (mocks are like robots), which leads to events which result in the death of her family, the subjugation of humans, and Talia floating through space for a hundred years. She is awoken when her ship is discovered by half-human, half-mock “starship” Captain Will Perrault, and then chased across the galaxy because of her past and her heritage.

Our Dark Stars has some interesting dynamics. In Talia’s time, human are aided and served by mocks. When she awakes, humans are those who are subjugated, viewed as lesser by the dominant mock population because of their physical limitations and weaknesses. Talia doesn’t just go from being a rich, spoiled princess to someone living in fear and poverty, she has to navigate this change in a world totally different to the one she knows.

"Talia Starchaser thought being sold to a prince on her eighteenth birthday was a terrible present"

Will and Talia get their own chapters, which I liked. They both have such different viewpoints: Will, tired and weary, trying to keep his ragtag crew together and to solve their problems of too little money and no status; Talia, naïve and ignorant, afraid and uncertain, without any knowledge of how to navigate this new world and dependent on a half-mock man that she doesn’t trust.

Our Dark Stars is a tale of a princess and an intergalactic war. It was a light, fun read, but focused too much on the romance and too little on properly building up fully-fleshed out characters with motivations that make sense (particularly with respect to the crew of the Odysseus) to captivate me.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of Our Dark Stars

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The description of this book reminded me a little of my favorite TV series, Firefly. I've thought that when I saw descriptions before and I've always been a little disappointed. Firefly is great because of the cast of characters and the relationships between them. It's not the story lines that make it great, those do help, it's how the characters react to the situations that they are presented with. I love a good character driven story.

Both Firefly and this book are both about a rag tag crew that operate on the fringes at the edge of space. While that's where the similarities end, Our Dark Stars did not disappoint. The crew on the Odysseus is interesting and surprising! I really enjoyed the way that they all play off each other. They are loyal to a fault. I also really enjoyed the tension between Will and Talia. They had so many reasons to hate each other but the chemistry was intense!

There wasn't much I didn't like about this book. I would have liked to have a little more of a description as to why Jane was glitching or why it was dangerous. The idea of sentient androids (mocks) and that they are superior to humans to the point that they are the ruling class was fascinating. I'd love to see it explored more. Maybe in a sequel *hint hint*

This book is for lovers of sci fi, fantasy, romance... really everyone. You will definitely enjoy it.

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I absolutely love both of these authors so it's super cool they both wrote a book! There was diversity and plenty of action. The world building was also absolutely amazing.

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It reminded me of the luna chronicles by marissa meyer. I really liked it but I though there would be a sequel cause there were a lot of things left open. But still great book. Definitely recommend it ;)

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I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

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I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book which I received
through Netgalley. A great story, I liked it very much

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Wow this was a roller-coaster read! My rating fluctuated so many times as I read the book, which made this review really hard to write. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book.

To make it easy on myself I'll just start with the things I did like from this book. Talia is an interesting character, and for the most part I liked her and I liked that she was friends with the mock Ailat. Also for the most part I liked Will's crew. They seemed like a good bunch of people, but I wished they would have been developed a little more.  These are the reasons I didn't give this book 1 star. 

Most everything else about this book just didn't work for me. The world starts off really cool, in the past with Talia. There's lots of attention to detail, but that seems to go away once the book is back in the present with Will and the crew. I found myself confused more than once. 

I was also able to guess most of the major plot twists, which really made the book hard to read. It was frustrating to see how Ailat's character turned out because I didn't understand why she was like she was. It didn't seem to fit.  This book also could have done without the romance between Will and Talia. It took away from the plot rather than adding to it. Talia shouldn't have let herself get distracted, and Will had more reasons to hate her than to love her. 

In the end I gave this book 2 stars on Goodreads.

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Firstly, can we just ogle at how beautiful this cover is?! I really enjoyed this story. The characters were interesting and the plot was intriguing.

At first the converging timelines wee infuriating and I just wanted Talia and Will to MEET ALREADY. In Talia’s timeline, we know how it ends for her, but not the details, and just when we are about to get more answers, it switches to Will’s timeline and we are taunted with him finding out what is in the device box. We know what it is and we want him to know too, but then it switches again! Emotionally draining, man. But damn, is it a good way to keep you reading. Pretty sure I blew through the first half of the book in a matter of hours.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever read a story about in the human’s vs. droids conflict, the droids win. This book really goes into the ethics of making artificial intelligence and how we treat those beings. Are they alive if they are made of metal and wires?

Alright, ethics of AI is not something I really want to on this review.

But this story really makes you think about it. And the role reversal between Mocks and Fleshers is absolutely horrifying.

Overall a very intriguing story. I think this was written as a stand-alone, but I would definitely read more about these characters!

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