Tara Sim's Scavenge the Stars is the first installment in the authors Scavenge the Stars duology. Apparently, this is a retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo. In the city state of Moray, children bear their parent's debts. 7-years ago, Amaya Chandra aka Silver Fish, was sold to a debtor ship Brackish to pay off her father's debts. For years, Amaya has been trying to save enough money to pay off her debts and she is really close. Thanks to a great find, she soon has enough money to go free. Then, after she rescues a mysterious man named Boon who claims he is rich, and is willing to help her.

It not only costs her 4 more weeks of her sentence, but also sends her on a journey that will see her become an entirely different character. Come to find out, Boon is one of the landless, people who were banished and now have no kingdom to call their own. Amaya chooses a path of vengeance against the man who put her there and those who ruined her father and sent her mother scurrying to pay off her debts the only way she knew how. There is a huge jump from the time Amaya meets Boon to when she suddenly appears as Countess Yamaa in Moray.

The story also follows Cayo Mercado. Much of the story actually takes place on Moray which is like an island state but with casino's, fabulous wealth, crime, and Ash Fever that is slowly consuming people of all ages and status. Cayo is trying to pull his life together. He's been known to gamble, drink heavily, and have sex with whomever he ends up with be it man or woman. With his sister sick from Ash Fever, and no way to pay for her treatments, Cayo feels as though his life is being torn apart by secrets and feeling like he can't do anything about it. His path keeps intersecting with the mysterious Countess Yamaa, and as he struggles to bring down the evil infecting his city she might be his only hope.

For the most part, Amaya's ruthlessness, desire for revenge, and desperation in needing to understand what happened to her family seven years ago made her completely captivating. She was strong-willed, stubborn, and unapologetically determined to right all of the wrongs that had been done to her. But, she has a soft spot for those like Roach, Beetle, Weevil and others like herself. While revenge is what she expected, Amaya finds herself tangled in a dangerous game of deception as she grapples with the truth of her past amid the perilous streets of Moray.

Cayo is totally different. Cayo, heir to a wealthy family in Moray, has been blamed by his father for gambling away their money. He spends most of the time trying to repair his image, save his sister, and do what's right for the family even though there is clearly something wrong which leads to some interesting scenes with characters who don't necessarily have his best interest at heart.

Why only 3 stars you ask? Simple: World Building. This is a world that has many curious places we know nothing about. We get a glimpse of Moray, but there's also the Sun Empire, the Rain Empire, Republic of Rehan etc. One hope is that the story ends with the main characters plus several others heading for the Sun Empire where there is hope for Cayo's sister. But, will Amaya get her revenge against Boon? Will Cayo get answers from his father about his deal with the Slum King? While there is a hint, or a simmer of a romance between the main characters, they both have way too much baggage to overcome to rush into anything firm.

Sold to a debtor's ship, Amaya has spent years serving under a ruthless commander as she tries to erase her debt. When she rescues a stranger from the seas, he promises her wealth and revenge on the man who ruined her life. In order to serve this revenge, Amaya must use the man's son, Cayo, but as she gets closer to Cayo and the truth, Amaya must make some hard decisions about what to do next and who to trust.

Billed as a gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo there are certainly undertones of the source material here. Since this is going to be a series, this felt like a mixture of the Edmond Dantès and initial emergence of the Count section of Dumas's novel. I say this because much of what transpired in Scavenge the Stars was a fact finding mission as Amaya learned how various threads in her life connected. Also, though she has been able to get revenge on some minor players by the end of the novel, the big three that seem modeled on Fernand Mondego, Danglars, and De Villefort are essentially still at large. I won't say who I believe each of Dumas's characters appears as in Scavenge the Stars since there are some reveals in the final quarter of the book that are worth waiting for.

The story itself is told from two viewpoints: Amaya Chandra and Cayo Mercado. If you enjoy dual points of view, this might be a great novel for you. As a reader, I felt the two perspectives allowed the reader to empathize with Amaya and Cayo who are also victims since they are both pawns in a larger game. I will say that I did find Amaya's viewpoint more intriguing as she grappled with her life on the debtor ship and then tried to reenter society.

This book was a bit slow as layers were added to a very complex plot that featured a large number of characters. In the final quarter of the book, the pace picked up and led to a climax that wraps up many of Amaya's and Cayo's discoveries and sets up the plot for the next installment. Overall, I did enjoy the novel and would read the sequel to continue Amaya's and Cayo's journey.

As someone who reads a lot of YA fantasy, this book felt a little lacking in the fantastical elements in the story. I wanted a lot more out of it. Overall, the story was okay but it didn't blow me away as much as I was hoping it would

You know those books where the writing just clicks with you despite some of the flaws that are present in the story? Yeah, Scavenge the Stars was it for me. I just loved how swift and tightly written this one was. The plot moves and doesn't dawdle. Amaya is a fun, spunky protagonist who is not all the well equipped to make her decisions in the story but, hey, she spent - what, seven years? - much of her life growing up on a debtor ship in terrible conditions and being abused and starved on the daily. I don't blame her.

The plot twists had me gripped and while I had inklings about others it was great all the same. Now, I've never read the Count of Monte Cristo nor have I seen the movie but perhaps I should. Although the length of that beast intimidates me. Even the other character we have a pov from is well crafted. He drives the book forward and doesn't merely recap events from a different perspective.

Sure I wasn't too fond of the blooming romance because I think Amaya is too cool for any man or she should be with another character I enjoy but oh well. A very enjoyable read. Looking for more retellings with gender-swapped twists? This is the one for you!

This book was just “okay” for me. I feel like there could have been a little more background on the history of the Kingdoms. The hint of a love interest wasn’t my favorite. I either want it to be there or not be there at all. Amaya kind of went a little crazy with the revenge so I couldn’t relate to her as much because I didn’t think she was necessarily the “good guy”. On the other hand, I liked her as a character because she wasn’t what I would expect at all times. I also love the intricacies of the character relationships through the city.

I've been trying to get into this book for almost a week now and can't seem to make it past page 44, so I think it's a sign that this is right book/wrong reader and I should put it aside. Please give this one a try for yourself if the synopsis catches your interest!

Hmmm I can't quite put my finger on it, but this one was a miss for me. I LOVE Count of Monte Cristo, but this fell flat. A very cool LGBTQ + world, but a bummer that it played no part in our main character's lives. A very rushed ending. Not all fantasy retellings need to be a duology, trilogy, or 10 book series.

I haven't read the Count of Monte Cristo, so I took this story at face value, not affected by that comparison.

I liked the 2 main characters, Amaya and Caryo, and felt they were fleshed out pretty well. They weren't perfectly good or bad, but still tried to do the right thing, and I liked that about them most, especially Caryo.

This book is the first in a series. The story is basically driven by secrets and revenge, so I kept feeling that once the revenge is meted, and the secrets are revealed, much of the wind would be taken out of the story's driving force. This did happen, but by the end of the book, the secrets kept multiplying and the revenge became multi-layered, and the story was neatly set up for the next in the series.

The pace was moderate, and there were times the action lagged, but it kept my interest and I liked the little twists we kept getting along the way. I would have liked more world-building and more information about the political climate and surrounding countries, but based on the end of this book, I'd guess that will be covered more in the next installment.

Overall, I liked this story, and am definitely interested in reading the next book in the series! 3.5 stars.

YA Fantasy is just hitting me weird these days. I wanted to love this book and I wanted to enjoy it more than I did, but I found the protagonist to be annoying and I felt the plot was slow and I just wasn't a fan.

It wasn't really what i expected but i enjoyed the story as i absolutely adore retellings.

I will post a explanatory review in the upcoming days.

Thank you Edelweiss for the chance to review this title ahead of its January release date.

I love retellings and this book was so high on my list that I' probably would have given ym firstborn for an arc. I didn't have to do that since NetGalley came through. But unfortunately, SCAVENGE THE STARS fell short of expectations.

Although the openings chapters did not draw me in, I kept at it longer than I wanted to. Amaya's story intrigued me enough to keep going, but it didn't last long. After maybe halfway through there was a major shift in the story that had me jarred and I had to go back to see if I missed anything. Inner monologue weighed down this story. There was so much about the world that I did not know and wished I did, but the character's felt...inward? Does that make sense? Also, Boon felt one dimensional and the fact that Amaya trusted him so easily irked me.

As I said before, I would have appreciated a bit more world-building for me to feel grounded in the book. I felt like I was just being bounced from place to place with no recollection of how I got there.I did like the queer rep, so there's that.

I feel as though something bigger than world-building and flat characters was missing from this book and can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the lack of intrigue I expected from a revenge plot; the lack of tension and action scenes.

Some people enjoy it, but for me, it's a thumbs down.

When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide.

Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…- Goodreads

This book promises a lot. Adventure, thrills, romance, and suspense. However, this read did not deliver on any of those promises.

Amaya started off strong but the moment she got off the debtor ship, she became the most annoying, selfish, surprisingly entitled human being within this book and every time she spoke all I heard was a whinny brat that was getting a different chance at things but allowed her emotions to ruin everything. It was like she didn’t learn anything from being on a debtor ship and it was disappointing.

The other disappointing part of this novel was the adventure. It was for the most part non-existent. I am trying not to use the word boring to describe this book but in all honesty, I can't avoid it. Nothing in this book kept me wanting to read the book. I finished it because I had the dnf guilt going on. 

I would also like to point out that the romance was predictable at every step of the novel. The love interest lacked so much personality and was truly just as much of a brat as Amaya but with much more well intentions. 

Overall, I couldn't find anything I enjoyed about this book and that is unfortunate. This is not to say that you (the reader) may not find this book enjoyable but it was not in the least what I wanted and expected. 

1 Pickle

I received a free copy of this book through netgalley. All opinions are my own

I had a great time reading Scavenge the Stars! It was a fast paced, intriguing tale of revenge, betrayal and love!

I'm going to be honest the beginning was so confusing. I had to read the first chapter twice, I could not understand what's happening, why are there bugs? But then it all made sense, just a very weird start with that whole water bugs situation. But apparently, slaves are called bugs on this ship and they don't get to keep their names, they are now, Roach and Spider and Silverfish. Cool.
I really liked story development, it was very well done, and even though some things were so predictable, the ending did surprise me.
My one main complaint is side characters. There were so many, yet none of them were well developed, they were there just to move the plot, they didn't feel real. We know nothing about them, just their bug name. Also, Amaya's inner dialogue about her name was a bit annoying. She keeps thinking about herself as Silverfish, no not Silverfish, Amaya. And it goes back and forth, and it was just too repetitive in my opinion.
Romance part was very well done, even though I saw it coming mile away, it still touched my heart and made me smile. So cute!

Overall, it's a great start to a series, and I'm curious to see where the story will go because the ending was amazing!

First of all, thank you NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for an e-ARC in exhcange for an honest review!

Silverfish (Amaya) was sold to a debtor ship seven years ago. Nearing the end of debt, she discovers the body of a man floating in the water, and despite Captain Zharo's order, she pulls him aboard. Her debt finally paid off, she decides to help the man excape, but he does so before the ship has docked. The Captain, angry and betrayed, tells Amaya that her mother has been dead for the last three years. Her mother has been her only guiding force about the Brackish, and in an attempt to kill her, Amaya jumps fro mthe ships, waking to find herself on a little island/cave with Boon (the man she'd saved) and other Landless, men and women who have been expelled form land.

In an attempt for revenge, Amaya and Boon plan to take down the Mercado family who runs the debt ships.

On the other end of this story is young gambling playboy, Cayo Mercado, son to the merchant-turned-Lord. Mercado is trying to get his children to marry wealthy, but when Soria comes down with Ash fever, Cayo will do anything to keep his sister safe. That is until he meets young, beautiful, and wealth Countess Yamaa, a mysterious woman who has purchased the Brackish and uses freed debtor children in her home.

I have heard so many mixed reviews about Scavenge the Stars, but if Im being honest, I absolutely loved it! Scavenge the Stars is a genderbent retelling of the Count of Monte Christo, and thoguh I haven't read it (though I know the story well), I tried to keep in mind that this is a retelling. Scavenge the Stars is a beautifully written YA about revenge and trust, about finding yourself amongst the Moray streets, and learning a game of chance. I reall recommend it to people who enjoyed Six of Crows and Mia Corvere's story (though not quite as dark!). A new favorite for 2020!

Tara Sim fans are about to rejoice over this book!! But first off I have to say I neeed a book 2 so I hope it is in the works lol!!
Love triangles, politics, family struggles; secrets, lies, and romances all come together with a ton of fast paced action from the gate!!
Amaya is an amazing character, with relatable traits and some admirable ones as well. The characters as a whole are diverse and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them.
The view point switched from Amaya to Cayo. Who is in a lot of the same situations as Amaya, that they eventually find draw them back together every time. But are they enemies or could they be more...
The politics aren't overwhelming in the story but they are a big part of the storyline. The world building was great,; detailed and vibrant. A truly spectacular read that everyone is sure to fall in love with!!!

**Review will be posted on my blog and Goodreads, Instagram, etc. January 2nd, 2020. I will update this post with links then!**

THE COUNTESS IS HERE.

I feel like I first need to note that I know nothing about The Count of Monte Cristo. Unfortunately that means, I can’t really speak to how well the retelling went. What I can say is that I reallllly enjoyed this book.

Countess Yamaa, aka Amaya was a force to be reckoned with. She’s still a bit naive in this installment and has some more growing to do. There was a nice character build around her and her arc is showing great promise. Amaya has had to battle her way back from a heinous situation that leaves a mystery in its wake. I love her fierce protectiveness over the younger children around her and her tenacity to get the job done.

Her burgeoning romance with Cayo is a bit dry for me, but they did have some good moments. I love the tiny chances when they were together and both able to be who they wanted, not what was forced of them at the time. There’s definitely some sparks and connection there. I have hopes for how book two will round out.

I would have loved a little more revenge aspect. Amaya talked about it a lot, but it took her a real long time to do anything about it. The late middle section of the book is when her lust for vengeance started to come alive. I like this darker edge to her personality and gives a lot more depth to her character.

Cayo took some time to grow on me. What I appreciated most was his focus and love for his sister, Soria. Their tightbond was amazing and it drove all of Cayo’s decisions [and mistakes]. I did love him by the end and was impressed with the new leaf he was attempting to turn over after falling into a gambling addiction.

The only thing this book is lacking is world-building. There were mentions of a lot of different kingdoms and nations but I knew nothing about them. I think a map or a more direct description of the world surrounding Amaya would drastically help my understanding of the lands.

This was a great, quick, fluid read. I found myself wanting to turn back to it and curious to what happens next. I definitely can’t wait for book two and hope I get a lot more revenge from my girl, Amaya.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy retelling
Language: some
Romance: a few kisses
Violence: physical
Trigger warnings: children being sold to debtor ships as labor, child abuse, gambling addiction, someone being drugged without their consent

I started this book by reading the sample available on NetGalley and immediately I was hooked by Silverfish, formerly known as Amaya. Fortunately, I was given a copy so I could continue reading!

Silverfish is working on a fishing vessel to pay off her late father’s debt. She has only a few days left before she is free. However, the captain can add time onto her debt if she does something that he doesn’t like. Like sneeze…only she doesn’t sneeze, but rather ignores a direct order and saves a man from drowning at sea. She gets two weeks added on for this. She didn't save him because she's a nice person. She saved him because she was hoping he'd pay her back for it.

The story then hops over to Cayo Mercado. Cayo is…bad news? He’s working for his father on the docks as a result of using all his money to pay off a massive debt he owed to some shady characters. This is his father’s attempt to straighten his son out while giving him a chance to earn the right to inherit the family business. So when a mysterious, rumored to be very wealthy, countess Yama comes to town, his father demands he gets close to her. His father, it turns out, is not a nice man.

Meanwhile Amaya and Boon (the guy she rescued) strike a deal, Boon will help Amaya get revenge on the horrid captain, in exchange for her wiping out his own personal enemy, Kamon Mercado (Cayo’s father). Boon is “Landless” which basically means he been exiled. This means he’s just as interested in personal vengeance as Amaya is. And this is why many people call this book a remake of The Count of Monty Cristo. So, of course, it stands to reason the Kamon is basically the bad guy for anyone in the book. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like this was carried off in a Monty Cristo level of epic.

So, there were a few things I struggled with a bit with this book. The world building. We are given the names of all this places and empires (Moray, Lede Islands, the Sun Empire, Rain Empire…some other ones), but we’re not really told how they are all related. It’s mostly so and so are on and off warring with each other with the one kingdom/country stuck in the middle playing neutral ground. But no real information is given. We’re not even given a very good layout of Moray. You are kind of left to make it up in your head as you go…minus things like there is a jungle like area along part of the border. However, if you want a good description of a teahouse or a great description of the food, this book does that.

Things were also referenced to different time periods made up for the purpose of being a time period in the book, but we have no idea what any of it means or what it actually looks like because the time period is make believe. So, while you can randomly choose your own real time period you think it can equate to, you don’t actually know for sure if it’s what the author had in mind.

The bad guys are very one dimensional. They fall into the trap of being evil through and through simply for the sake of plot. They don’t seem to have multiple facets to their personality. In fact, one is willing to let his own flesh and blood relative die…

Characters are vaguely described at the beginning of the book, leaving the reader some wiggle room as to how they picture the characters in their own mind. However, as you go on you get more detail which may change how you picture them. What was great is that the characters are each flawed in their own way. Cayo is a playboy alcoholic addicted to gambling who is trying to straighten out his life. Amaya is a vengeful young lady who does not trust easily and would totally be a killer if the opportunity presented itself. Their relationship is slower than slow to blossom, which is refreshing after reading so many books where insta-love seems to be a thing.

This book is refreshing in other ways as well. There are characters that represent bisexual and asexual preferences. There is some diversity, by which I mean most of the characters are a shade of brown which is cool. Over all the story is very well written and does have a few twist and turns for readers.

So while it is over all a solid book, there are some areas I thought had room for improve it. I would definitely recommend this in future to anyone I think would enjoy it.

This book had a lot of potential but parts of it didn't live up to my expectations.
First off, the world-building. At times it was amazing but other times, it lacked a lot. For example, there were many times when they seemed to not be technologically advanced but that changed by the next page, leaving me confused.
Another thing that I didn't like is that the details often felt forced like the author was trying to be 'politically correct' because it was expected of her. These details often put a little hitch in the reading and I'd have to go back and try to figure out why the author included what she did. I don't want to write too much because of spoilers but there were times when I was going along just reading when there were sudden, there would be paragraphs explaining political opinions and hot topics of today's society.
Amaya was such a complex and interesting character. She was so adaptable to different environments and I loved seeing the changes in her.
However, despite all that, I found the plot intriguing and I'm looking forward to reading the second book someday.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Content: 1 Star for excessive use of language
*I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. A positive review was not required and all thoughts are my own.

Author Tara Sim used "The Count of Monte Cristo" as a base for the plot, re-situating the action in a fantasy world, updating it, switching genders of some of the characters, and adding a lot of diversity. The original story is quite complicated, and Sim does a nice job in making all the identity swapping, manipulation, and deception understandable and interesting, rather than tedious, to untangle.

We first meet Amaya Chandra, going by the name of Silverfish, on a debtor ship staffed by young children sold by their parents to work off debts incurred by their families. The ship is commanded by Captain Zharo, a villain who, like the other bad guys in the story, is a caricature of evil, with no nuance whatsoever. The non-villains, on the other hand, are drawn in shades of gray, often musing about whether to do the right thing or satisfy their less admirable desires for revenge, oblivion, or other negative behaviors.

Amaya, in disguise, soon meets Cayo Mercado, the son of a nobleman, Kamon Mercado, painted as the Ultimate Bad Guy. But Cayo is not his father, and Amaya comes to realize that destroying Kamon by hurting his son would not be fair or satisfactory in any way. Moreover, as they become closer to one another, they discover truths about their own family histories that change everything they thought they knew.

Evaluation: I enjoyed this book. The worldbuilding was sketchy, but I thought the story was complex enough without having to learn all the sociopolitical aspects of this world. I look forward to seeing how it turns out in the next book.

This is one of those times where I wish I could add on half stars in the ratings. I liked this book. There were some highs and lows for me, moments where I didn't want to stop reading and a few moments scattered in when I found myself skimming a little bit to get to more interesting parts, but all in all, it was solid. I never read The Count of Monte Christo so I don't have anything to compare this gender-swapped retelling to, but that's not a big deal to me. Let's dive in!

Amaya has been spending her life indentured on a debtor ship she was sold to as a young girl. When she rescues a stranger from the ocean, her actions have set her onto an unimaginable path, where she must disguise herself in her quest for revenge from the man who had destroyed her family and life as she knew it all those years ago. But revenge isn't what she expected and Amaya finds herself tangled in a dangerous game of deception as she grapples with the truth of her past amid the perilous streets of Moray.

I would say I had two issues with this. The first was that in the beginning, the timing between the two point of views didn't seem to line up, where one was ahead of the other, but within a couple chapters that got resolved to where they were both at the same time, so no harm, no foul really. My second issue was that I found myself bored in some places. A lack of proper plot pacing and motivation made parts drag a bit, however, there were plenty of parts that got me excited to keep reading, so it pretty much balanced out.

One of my favorite things about this book was the two main characters, Amaya and Cayo. I felt that their chemistry was fantastic. It's no secret I enjoy a slow burn and that whole enemies to lovers trope and I though this one was done very well. Both Amaya and Cayo felt really flushed out and real. I sympathized with them, I rooted for them, and I wanted each of their happiness. I definitely cared about these two. I can't really say the same for many of the other characters yet (Except perhaps Beetle!) but Amaya and Cayo are both very successful as characters and BRAVO for that!

I'd also like to mention that Tara's style of writing is fantastic. Her words seemed to move across the page with a flourish- artistic, with a smooth and graceful flow that made it easy to envision the bustling streets and crowded docks of Moray. She definitely has a distinct style that I look forward to seeing more from.

There are a lot of pressures on both of our characters and you can tell that this is a first installment setting up for a much bigger collision in additional books. The world building is not complete but I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more as the other books so that didn't bother me so much. And as I said before, when the plot was moving, it was moving! It was exciting and page-turning.

If you like stories of revenge and romance and twists, you will enjoy Scavenge the Stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Hyperion for providing this e-arc free for an honest review!