I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend if you are looking to get lost in a good story!

I first heard of Our Dark Stars when I was looking through Netgalley. At first, I was a bit hesitant to request this one. Though the synopsis interested me, I was hesitant to read it because the book is only 316 pages. For such a complex plot, I suspected at least 400 pages. Though I had my doubts, I enjoyed myself reading Our Dark Stars and I recommend it, despite the couple issues I had. Also real quick: that cover?! Hat's off to whomever designed that!


Our Dark Stars is a YA science fiction novel told in dual point of views. Talia Starchaser, a human, is set to inherit the galaxy. However, a party before her eighteenth birthday leaves her family and the fate of the galaxy in shambles. One hundred years later, Will Perrault and his crew find Talia in suspended sleep. Will is a half-mock. Mocks were servants to the humans when before Talia's birthday, but now they rule the galaxy instead. The roles of humans and mocks are reversed, and with Talia discovered, everything is subject to change.

The first thing I want to talk about are the friendships. Will and his crew have a close knit bond. Though some of these dynamics were convincing, I wasn't that invested. When a crew member was hurt or in peril, I didn't care. I didn't have enough time with each character or characters' interactions with each other to truly empathize with the story. The one friendship I really enjoyed reading about was Talia and Ailat's. Ailat was Talia's mock (before everything blew up in Talia's face, quite literally), and that is what struck a chord with me. Talia's struggle to see Ailat as her equal while having to traverse politics led for some great internal debates.

As you might have guessed, I definitely favored one point of view over another's. I don't know how the two authors wrote this; maybe they each wrote one POV or they collaborated, but I loved Talia's side of the story. I found her to be an interesting character to dive into the mind of, and I loved how her internal struggles were reflected into the external problems. Will, on the other hand, I didn't like that much. It's not that I hated him, but I just didn't care about him or his issues. He whines and pines for about half of the book about what could have been, and I had no patience with him. When I was reading the book, I found myself looking forward to Talia's chapters and just getting through Will's.

Maybe it was because of my bias, but I also thought Will's part of the story was confusing. Setting up a complex world is a lot to handle, and the ball was dropped a little. I completely understood Talia's POV, but then switching over to Will's gave me whiplash. Will and Talia's worlds are complete opposites, so reading them back to back left me a bit confused. Plus, there are many characters to keep track of, and it was hard to do in the beginning. It wasn't enough for me to put the book down, but I did have a hard time getting through the first 15 percent and feeling like I had a good grasp on the world.

I know it seems like I'm railing on the book, but I only have one last (small) complaint: the length. I was actually worried abut the length of this right from the get-go. Only 300-ish pages for the start of a science fiction series, that needs to set up the world, make me love the characters, and get fully immersed in the story? At least for me, Our Dark Stars was not developed enough. Yes, I liked the book, but if there were even just 20 more pages that dug deeper into the interpersonal dynamics or world-building, I would have liked the book even more.

Now, onto the romance! As you might expect from the synopsis, there are hints of a romance between Will and Talia. They both are physically attracted to each other, but the book is mostly just hinting at it and building the tension. I thought this was done really well, and I didn't mind that the action was the core focus of the book. There's not too many scenes in the book devoted to their relationship, and instead it's about a crew of people working together for a cause. If there is a second book to this series, I am expecting some more lovey-dovey scenes though. :)

As for the plot in general, it's a great concept! Talia's presence really changes the whole galaxy. I loved how the dynamics were switched, and Talia's reactions were great to read. It does take a while for her to realize that she woke up 100 years in the future though. Like, wouldn't that have been one of the first questions she asked? The main action doesn't kick in for awhile, but I didn't mind too much. The rising action was done well. When the climax did happen, I was hooked. I do think that more time could have been spent of the falling action. Everything seemed a bit too easy at the end, but maybe that is the point and there will be a sequel!

Side note: there is one scene where a character is revealed to be gay, or bisexual. I don't really like how it was done. Afterwards, the next couple scenes focus on how the rest of the crew felt betrayed and how this person was lying to them. I don't think it's healthy to depict someone being in the closet as lying to others. People come out when they want to, and though I understand people can be shocked, they were pretty rude about it and made the whole thing about themselves. Also, one of the characters mentioned how the person that came out had been with people of the opposite sex, and how it must have been a ruse. This is a clear case of bi-erasure. There's this thing called bisexuality, where someone can, you know, like members of either sex. (ever heard of that before, authors?) Just because someone had sexual encounters members of the opposite sex and now is with someone of the same sex doesn't mean their past interactions were just an elaborate lie. *sigh* Can you tell that I wasn't trying to spoil anything?? Anyways, this really bothered me. Also, stop trying to make queerness a plot device!!


Besides my angry rant above, I did like the book. I don't think either authors had intent to dismiss bisexuality, but I do think it's important to point out. I think every book can be problematic, and it's our job as readers (and critics) to point these issues out, even if we did like the book (especially so).

Even though most of my review was detailing what I didn't like about this book, I promise you that I enjoyed it. There's enough loose ends for a sequel to happen, and I hope there will be one written! The plot was unique and kept me interested, despite the shaking world building at first. I didn't hate Will's chapters, but Talia's were more compelling to me as a reader. I'm interested in reading more from these authors and from this series in general!

With that, I give this book
3.5 out of 5 Stars!

1 word: Incredible!

I loved this book so much. Will and Talia were fantastic characters and their love story was riveting. The rest of the story was just as amazing! Can’t wait to read more from both authors.

OUR DARK STARS caught me off guard! I found myself enjoying this novel and practically flew through it. It had fun, interesting characters, as well as a very unique world. It was completely unexpected, too! I was taken aback by the human and mock relationships and just how everything had changed. It was a bit confusing in the beginning but as the story unfolds, I was able to pick up on the differences between the two main character's POVs--which, at first, were a hundred years apart. After that, I was too into the story to even think of anything else--the writing was just that engrossing!
I was also glad that romance was left until the very end! It definitely added more to my enjoyment of the novel. I'd highly recommend this one!

Initially what I saw when I first noticed this cover was a book by Amie Kaufman which I loved so I decided to read this. It was a thrilling, diverse ya sci fi that had me on the edge of my seat. I love the plot and characters. I especially love the time gap. Overall if you love sci fi check this out 4/5 stars!

Recipe for a good book:
- Racial diversity ✓
- Sexual diversity ✓
- Anti-abuse messages ✓
- Anti-racism messages ✓
- Cool space crew ✓
- Down-to-earth romance (muaha) ✓

This book was something out of this world, literally and figuratively speaking. Seriously though, I am hesitant to compare this to our beloved space gospel The Lunar Chronicles; however, dare I say that I might have enjoyed this a tiny bit more? DON'T YOU DARE JUDGE ME!

This is categorized as YA, however, the content is meant for mature readers as it contains swearing, sexual remarks, references of brothels etc. This book is told in dual POVS and alternates from past to present. So major kudos to both of the authors for making this easy to follow along because that is hella tricky to execute so the reader isn't left confused with a fried brain.

Alright, so you're probably like, "Hey dude, what is this book about?" Welp, you're following a princess that has just turned 18 years old and is betrothed to a horrible prince because he does not believe that "mocks" aka human replicas are capable of emotions. However, the horrible dude tries to charm Princess Talia anyway...

But Talia is smart and quickly discovers that this "prince" is a bigot when he demonstrates his hate towards Talia's servant/friend--a mock!! Dun dun dunnnn.

However, Princess Talia Starchaser does not want to disappoint her parents, so she is willing to secure this marriage even at the expense of others and herself in order to create an alliance to prevent another war. Cuz, you know, when you're an adult you got responsibilities.

All of a sudden, things go from bad to worse! Princess Talia's horrible fiance asks her to do something despicable in order to prove her loyalty.

"Death is a tsunami, and all the pain in the world can't stop the waves of grief about to crash over you."

After a series of unfortunate events (no, not *actually* after that series, dingus), Princess Talia's parents and younger brother are under attack and must save Talia, the heir to their kingdom: Talia is put in this space capsule that is meant to freeze and preserve her body, and off into space she goes leaving her family behind.

One hundred years go by...

Then BAM. Princess Talia's world collides with the devilishly handsome, half-mock Captain Will Perrault and his super selfless, witty space crew. But, ughhh, these two don't seem to get along at first.

Honestly, just mark your damn calendar for 6 March 2018 and grab yourself a copy. This was an awesome read and I will be purchasing a hard copy for myself! And although this book doesn't really necessitate a sequel, I feel like the odds of us getting one are pretty high *crosses fingers*. I will, however, throw a massive tantrum, round up my babies and protest if I don't get a sequel to this glorious book.

Thanks a million to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. Quotes are subject to change upon publication.

The cover, characters, plot, and whole book was beautiful.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first opened this book. There'd been a bunch of criticism about a YA aimed sci-fi novel with a cover like this one, people saying it was incredibly reminiscent of Their Fractured Light, third novel in the Starbound series by Amie Kaufman.

I thought to myself, goodness, I loved Amie's books and I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about a knock off.

And so it was a really good thing that this was, apart from those superficial things documented above, nothing at all like Amie's work! It is entirely its own, with more twists and turns than certainly I was expecting.

Honestly, I don't want to spoil the story itself, but Talia and Will come from different times. Like, a hundred years apart. And you don't realise just how different that makes them until you get really into the story.

This is a story about a war between humans and mocks, and the reasons behind it, and the reasons people of both sides fight. It's about righting wrongs in a lot of ways. About coming face to face with hard truths about yourself.

I personally think that the story would have been better without trying to shove Talia and Will together. I didn't see a lot of chemistry there, largely because this was so plot heavy a book that there weren't a lot of opportunities to flesh out their character interactions. Really, I would have rathered see Talia with Leo than anyone else, that would have made sense and linked well with the plot.
2 likes

. A space opera that halfway through decides it is also a romance novel. However, the main theme, that robots will come to enslave humanity, was interesting.
While compulsively readable, there were several plot points that felt lifted from various other space operas, specifically, Jupiter Ascending, Firefly and Star Wars: A New Hope. For example, in one scene, Talia actually records a hologram message that is very derivative from Princess Leia’s “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi” message.

Our Dark Stars
Audrey Grey and Krystal Wade
5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Excellent story!!! Such a creative and emotional sci-do/fantasy novel. I am pretty picky when it comes to sci-fi books and this one bypassed all my expectations.



While she sleeps, the whole universe changes.

Princess Talia Starchaser has it all. Wealth. Status. Adoring citizens. But on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she’s forced to publicly betray her best friend, a companion mock she’s had since birth, setting events into motion that lead to the destruction of the humans, and the princess floating through space, a remnant of a time when humans ruled over droids.

One hundred years later, half-mock captain Will Perrault and his ragtag crew discover a device floating in space. When a very human Talia emerges from its depths, Will suspects she’s the key to buying his way back into the regiment he once commanded against the last remaining rebel humans—and the ruling mock queen’s good graces.

Both Talia and Will would rather get space-tossed than trust one another, but with the queen’s forces chasing them across the galaxy and the fate of both worlds hanging in the balance, they’ll forge the unlikeliest of alliances to survive.

Thanks NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Fans of The Diabolic and Ilkuminae will love this epic sci-fi space opera set in a well-developed world.

This book was just ok for me. I couldn’t really get into the story. It was slow, and hard to follow.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mini review:

This was a trainwreck. I was really looking forward to reading this. I generally enjoy sci-fi. I did not enjoy Will’s point of view at all. Talia was much better but that couldn’t save the book. I didn’t care for any of the characters except Talia. She was the only one that was tolerable.

It was action packed and a fast read I’ll give it that.

I will not be reading the next books. Do not recommend.

Received a copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

I do love a good sci-fi every now and then so trust me when I saw this.. AAAA...MAZING

Besides love a good sci-fi (or any kind of genre really) I do love a dual POV too. It just makes a book more interesting when there's a dual. Sometimes with multiple POVs one can get confused quite easily or you can get bored with just one POV. So I really like reading books with dual POVs - this book has it!

Once I finished doing my happy dance I wanted to dive into Our Dark Stars. At first glance, I fell in love with both Will and Talia pretty early on. Will is a starship captain while Talia is a princess. The duo forms an unlikely alliance after Talia wakes up from her cyosleep to a different world. I don't know how I would feel if I was woken up 100 years later (after I went to sleep) but shit would probably hit the fan. This also made me think of the movie Passengers.

Now I'm not saying this book was beyond perfect, because trust me it had some flaws, but I did really enjoy reading it. I really liked the characters and the overall flow of the story. I think I just really loved watching Talia and Will grow throughout the book.

Overall, I loved this book. I'm so happy that I found a new author. I'm beyond ecstatic that this cover looks freaking amazing. The story was entertaining and made me zoom through the book. I kind of feel guilty that I went through it so quickly.

I could totally see myself rereading it over and over again. Also, when it comes out I'm definitely going to go out and buy it for myself and everyone else I know.

*thank you to Netgalley, Blaze Publishing and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

3 stars.

While over all I enjoyed this, there were parts that didnt interest me much. I liked the main character Talia and her junior mock Ailat (Talia spelt backwards which I thought was really cool!) But about half way through it started to get a bit boring. I wanted more of the story to have been set in before the 100 years passed. That was the world and storyline I was most interested in. This defiantly has The Lunar Chronicles feel to it. I didnt really connect with Will and his team. They were ok, but I could take or leave them. I wasnt too fussed. But given all this, I did still like reading it and I am very thankful I was given an ARC of it. It is worth reading.

OMG, This book was really good! It took me by surprise and I really didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It was totally fast paced, action packed, and engaging YA sci-fi read. I’ve never read any of Audrey grey’s books but I want to give this a shot because I loved the premise and also not to forget the gorgeous cover that was literally calling my name. It kinda reminded me of defy the stars by Claudia Grey but they’re definitely not the same. After finishing the book, I was left wanting for more. I enjoyed every aspect in this book. The characters were pretty good and they’re the best thing I loved about it. The plot was a bit predictable but It didn’t hinder my enjoyment of it at all.

Princess Talia Starchaser is the sovereign to the Starchaser dynasty, ruler of the seven planets. In their world every human has a companion mock, human looking androids with emotions programmed inside them. Because of a virus, the mocks started to make their own decisions and they start to rebel against their makers because of the way they’re being treated as slaves. Eventually, the rebellion starts to get out of control. To save the Starchaser dynasty, a political wedding was set between Talia and a prince from another planet. Talia and her mock Companion Ailat have grown together and they’re best friends since forever but when she was forced to betray her on the eve of her eighteen birthday, a chain of events takes place which leads to a princess floating in space, an end to the humans authority and a start to the Mock’s reign over humans.

Hundred years later, half-Mock Captain Will Perault of the ship Odysseus and his scavenger crew discovers a floating device in the space surrounded by mines. He retrieves it by risking his life along with his crew members in the ship. Everyone gets surprised, when a flesher(a term used by mocks for humans) emerges from inside it. When the Queen’ s forces starts to chase after them, Will believes that she’s going to be the key to buying his way back to the queen’s regiment and also earning her good graces. Six months ago, he was kicked out from Queen’s regiment for getting away an alliance ship filled with humans. So in order get his old life back, he needs to hand Talia over to the Queen. Will and Talia can’t stand each other and they don’t trust each other either but to survive they both make an unlikely alliance. When Talia brings out the buried human feelings inside him, Will wants to get rid of her as soon as possible even though he feels guilty about it.

Talia and Will were pretty enjoyable characters! I loved Talia! She’s strong, stubborn, sassy, and also a bit spoiled. I enjoyed her character from the start. She loves adventure and deeply cares for her loved ones. She didn’t hated her family even when they arranged a political marriage with a jerk prince from another planet. Ailat, her companion mock is her only friend in her entire life and she always treated her like a sister. I liked the sisterhood between Ailat and Talia at the beginning and I felt bad when Talia was forced to betray her. Will is a very intriguing and also a bit complex character! He had a dark past that made him hate humans. After he was turned into a mock, he forgot about human emotions and how to feel them. I wish we had more glimpses of Will’s past so we could know a bit more about his childhood. I absolutely enjoyed the relationship between him and Talia. I’m so glad it wasn’t an insta-love. I’m always a sucker for slow burn romances. Talia and Will constantly clashed with each other at the beginning. She always gets on his nerves whenever she fails to obey his command. But eventually they start to trust to each other and feelings bloom. I loved their chemistry, their banters and the tension between them. As for the secondary characters, Will’s crew members Leo, Lux, Dorian and Jane are pretty likable too. I enjoyed their playful banters and how they cared for each other as a family. It would’ve been great if the authors focused a bit more on the side characters too.

I really liked the plot even though it was predictable. The story was pretty entertaining and fun, I was never left bored. It’s really a unique sci-fi retelling of Sleeping Beauty and I enjoyed every minute of it. The space adventure and action in the book made this book even more enjoyable. The pacing was good but some parts felt a bit rushed though. There are some interesting twists and turns in the book. Some were predictable but some came as a surprise for me too. The writing style was funny and captivating through out. I’m glad this book had a dual POV. I enjoyed reading the story from Will and Talia’s third person perspective. The world the authors created was pretty good and I want to explore more of it.

Overall, I loved this book! It’s an entertaining YA sci-fi read filled with adventure, action, humor, and light romance. For now, it’s a stand-alone novel but I really hope there’s more of this story.

I felt like this had elements of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast mixed with great action, conscious AI, and space - which I loved!

This was about a war between humans and 'mocks', those who are basically conscious AI. In Princess Talia Starchaser's time, humans ruled the galaxy with mocks as their servants. But, due to Talia's actions, whose intentions weren't as awful as they seem, we see how the war gained momentum. In order to save the Starchaser line, Talia ended up in cryosleep, for around a century. Half-mock captain Will Perrault and his crew stumble upon her pod while searching for space treasure, and Talia awakens in a galaxy vastly different from the one she's used to. As they navigate through space it's clear they need each other's help. But how will they work together to save each other, and the galaxy, when they barely even get along?

Princess Talia Starchaser isn't the spoilt royal brat everyone assumes her to be, she's adventurous and capable of flying spaceships. She's loyal and does all she can in the moment to those she cares about. She's obedient and puts aside her feelings for the sake of her planet. 

Captain Will Perrault is a half-mock with a lot of inner demons. He was forsaken and nearly killed by his own kind when he was human, so now he hates everything that makes a human, human. Craving acceptance with his new mock 'family' he goes looking for something to appease the mock Queen, which is how he comes across Talia's pod. 

Talia and Will had alternating chapters so you could see things from their viewpoints and gain unsaid knowledge about their backstories. They were both great characters with valid reasoning for the ways they think and their intentions. I really enjoyed their banter and more serious scenes together, and totally shipped them. But, I'd have liked scenes with more chemistry between them? Because as much as they're obviously attracted to one another and enjoy each others company I felt like something was missing. Maybe that's just me though. 

The other mocks in Will's ragtag team were intriguing but I felt like they could've been fleshed out more. There was a nice scene between Lux and Talia where they spoke about their losses and related to one another.

The main villain of the story, the mock Queen, had valid reasons for her actions, and I understood why she became what she became. You feel somewhat sympathetic towards her when you realize her story. The Collector however, was just an asshole who wanted to see humans exterminated, and was just there to provide us our villain.

I really like that this story wasn't dragged out into a series, though it ends with the potential of having a sequel. My only complaint was that I felt like there were a few moments in the story which were a little too convenient, like the writers wanted something to happen so it just happened.

My overall opinion : I think Our Dark Stars had fast paced action, two main characters interesting enough to keep you invested in the story and certain interesting questions regarding ones morality. Would recommend it to fans of Sci-fi.

*** Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC! ***

This was a really fun read for me. I read quite a bit of science fiction but I don't read many books that are based in space. The authors incorporated a really great adventure through space with just enough detail to understand the basic mechanisms of things without bogging the reader down with inane facts. This story is told from 2 perspectives: Talia's and Will's. I really liked that the first part of Talia's perspective took place 100 years prior to the present (which is where Will's perspective takes place) because it allows the reader to understand what Talia was going through at that time and how she ended up where she was. It also allowed the reader to see the stark contrast in the political climate from the past versus the present. I liked both Will and Talia's character and appreciated the fact that the authors didn't spend too much time developing the romance between them. However, I did have certain issues with the story. While the story went along at a fast pace, I didn't necessarily think there was enough development of character and plot for the story to really cement itself; there was a lot of jumping around without enough grounding to let the reader believe in the direction of the plot. I also had an issue with the romance, which I know sounds hypocritical but hear me out: the novel is sold as a science fiction and romance, and yet the romance barely develops; I really didn't feel a romantic connection between Will and Talia so when they suddenly express their feelings for each other after such a short period of time, I was quite taken aback. Maybe the romance should have been left out of the story. I also thought that the ending was a bit too convenient and positive. After such a struggle in the beginning, things were resolved way too easily. 

Overall, this was a fun read with a good amount of action and good characters. However, I think the story and romance could have benefited from some depth, which could have been accomplished if the authors had made the story longer and taken the time to allow for some development. I'm giving this a 3/5 stars.

I wanted to fall in love with this book so badly, it has all the makings of something fantastic. However it fell short for me, only due to the way the book tells you everything, leaving no room for imagination.
Loved the Characters though

I thought this was an ok YA sci-fi. Many elements seemed very familiar, and the chemistry between the characters didn't do it for me. I think my hopes were too high due to the high ratings. <Note to self: stop reading reviews right before you read the book.>