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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

"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

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.

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!

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

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.

I received a copy of “Our Dark Stars by Audrey Grey and Krystal Wade on NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. A combination of the cover, the pitch “Firefly meets Sleeping Beauty” caught my attention, so I requested the book. I enjoyed reading it, though I don’t think it lived up to being compared to Firefly.

The chapters alternate between Will and Talia’s points of view. Will is captain of a scavenger ship trying to regain his place in the military after letting a rebel ship getaway. Talia is an exiled princess who spend 100 years in a cryo-pod after her family was defeated by rebel mocks. The mocks are androids whose artificial intelligence evolved until they were sentient, human-like beings.

As Will decides what to do with Talia and she comes to realize that the roles of humans and mocks have reversed in the past 100 years, the book did raise some interesting questions about AI and ethics, contributing to a conversation science fiction novels have engaged in for decades. While I enjoyed that aspect of the book, I was a little let down by plot and character.

Talia was too much of a cliche modern princess — arrogant and tough. Will was also a stereotype captain who didn’t quite have the same vibrant personality as someone like Mal or Han Solo or Peter Quill. His crew was interesting, though I wished the narrative had focused on them a little more. At first, the two main characters seemed to much like science fiction archetypes, but they did grow on me as the book went on.

The plot, while not bad, was also a let down. After two or three chapters, I knew exactly how it was going to play out. There were a few things that seemed like they were meant to be surprises, but set up made them way too obvious.

The ending was exactly what I expected, though it came a little too easy so I was pulled out of the narrative wishing Talia had to work a little harder in that last chapter.

Despite its flaws, I did enjoy reading it, and like always, as a writer, I learned from reading and reviewing it. Finding the right balance between making twists too obvious or too shocking is tough. This book is a good example of leaning a little too much to the obvious. It is also a warning of the dangers of comparing a story to something it won’t quite live up to.

Had it been advertised as “Sleeping Beauty in Space with Salvagers Instead of Dwarfs” I might not have been so critical of the cast.

Beautiful Cover, and a beautiful story! I will post my review on my blog at a later date, but good work!

Our Dark Stars was written beautifully; there's no doubt about that. It isn't necessarily in my wheelhouse as much as I thought it might be, but I still really enjoyed the story overall. The plot, storyline, world building, and pacing is all pretty spot on. Anyone who loves SciFi fantasy will adore this book. I'm more Science Fiction, less fantasy, so that is where the disconnect was for me. But seriously brilliant writing.