"The Palace of the Stars" just wasn't a book that could really hold my interest. It felt a bit disjointed and I found myself not liking any of these characters. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

This book takes place in modern day Australia. A coma survivor, Mike, is recuperating at the house of an elderly bookstore keeper, Mari, in the country. After an earthquake shakes the shop, they discover a portal to 110 years into the past. Mike travels through and must make a life for himself while waiting for the building where the portal is located to be constructed. He makes friends, falls in love, and confronts racism. The story keeps switching perspectives from Mike to Mari. The dialogue can be very frustrating to understand for an American. I actually had an easier time sluicing out the historical phrases than the modern Australian ones. And the early and middle sections of the book seemed stilted and disjointed, making the storyline hard to follow at times. I really enjoyed the historical knowledge presented, but found a dirth of details regarding characters and their motives, while learning far too much about Mari, her dogs and a book theif that have little to no bearing on the story.

This was a good, easy read. It's reminiscent of Outlander - someone goes back in time and falls in love with someone in that time period. However, because Mike is a cop, he's asked to help solve a murder. It's the first in a series and I think I'll read the next one.

This story was chock-full of vivid characters. I loved the magic and the time travel as well as the historical element. The story kept me turning the pages.
Many thanks to BooksGoSocial and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book almost defies classification. It begins as a novel might begin, with Mari, a woman who takes in patients needing help at the request of the hospital taking in Michael, a patient who is being discharged. As the first few chapters unfold, some of Michael's information is revealed. He has been in a coma and is suffering from almost total amnesia. How he wound up in a coma is never explained fully, although there are some hints regarding his past.
As Michael slowly improves, he and Mari become closer to developing a friendship. As they move into daily activities, some of their time is spent at the bookstore Mari owns in the small town of York, Australia. Mari is there when an earthquake hits the area, tearing down all the bookshelves in Mari’s store.
Then the science fiction adventure begins. The earthquake reveals a portal which is a window into the past. Mari becomes intrigued and spends hours watching the portal, and shares what she sees with Michael. They then decide he will try to enter the portal and when he does, he finds himself in York 110 years previously. His plan to return through the portal is temporarily thwarted as he discovers the building housing the portal in the past is under construction, so the portal doesn’t exist yet. This leaves Michael stuck in the past until the building is completed.
While in the past, Michael is befriended by the owner of the “Palace of the Stars”, a group of entertainers who have come together over the years. They function as a created family as well as entertainers for the town, guided by their leader Mr. Gordon. Mr. Gordon is a kindly, generous person who is basically the epitome of goodness. Michael joins the family and Mr. Gordon gives him jobs to do as he works to help Michael adjust to living in a vastly different culture; words, dress, facilities, all are vastly different.
There is even a short mystery included as Michael and Mr. Gordon decide to find who or what is killing people who are passing through the town on their way to goldfields nearby. This portion of the book is relatively short and isn’t enough to classify the book as a mystery book in the classic sense.
In addition, there is a romance of sorts in the book, although without the classic triangle that exists in many romance novels. This book is also told from Michael’s point of view, another difference between this book and other, more traditional romance novels.
The book is told in short chapters, some only a couple of pages, others longer. The writing style is a combination of conversation which is very realistic, and lots of descriptions of the surrounding, mostly told in short phrases or sentences, giving it a staccato feel as the book is read.
The main characters are reasonably well developed. There are a large number of characters, and the author has done a good job of creating three dimensional people who are different enough from each that they are easily kept separate. There are multiple short episodes within the book, activities Michael or Mari engage in; meetings they have with others, some reflection of what each of them is feeling. Most of these are contained in a short chapter for each episode, which makes it easy to read the book in short bursts.
The suspension ol disbelief as it concerns time travel, portals, etc. is necessary for the enjoyment of the book. I enjoyed most of it, although at times it felt I was reading in circles and struggling to understand a through plot for the novel other than the experience of time travel itself. At about 60% of the book completed, I had a brief feeling that the book was beginning to drag, but then it picked back up and the end of the book was reasonably satisfying. For anyone who enjoys time travel types of books this will probably be an enjoyable read. If an excerpt is available, I would recommend the reader read that to get a feel for the distinctive style of writing.
I would like to thank BooksGoSocial Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital read copy of this book. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

It doesnt support or open after I download the pdf version of it. It's also not showing in my shelf in netgalley and I cant open it to read Please look into the issue and if you can send me the pdf in my mail ID- taniagungunsarkar@gmail.com I cant read the book from here. Please look into the issue

This is a very interesting book to try and review because I'm not sure what genre to put it under. It has elements of fantasy, history, romance, and murder.

Mari is an ex nurse who now has a bookshop called Book Nook and also does work for the "Red Cross (though this isn't really explained) through which she has taken in a young man, Michael. Mari was without a doubt my favourite character. As a nurse myself I was convinced the author must have been a nurse herself to write her and the hospital scene so convincingly.

Michael is given into Mari's care after waking up from a six month long coma, with no apparent next of kin and amnesia. All that is known about him is that he was a rookie policeman who had been badly beaten. Mari is warned he will be difficult and he certainly proves himself to not be very likeable, to the extent that Mari is a bit afraid of him.

Mari finds a portal in her bookshop which she wants to explore herself, but can't because it causes her pacemaker to play up. So Michael goes through and immediately discovers he can't get back because in the era of 1904 Mari's bookshop had not yet been built.

The rest of the book is divided between Mari's vigil in her bookshop, waiting for Michael to be able to return, and Michael's experiences in 1904 York where he is taken in by the owner of the Palace, an entertainment entrepeneur.

I really enjoyed Mari's chapters, possibly because I found her very real and relateable in many ways. I didn't feel as invested in Michael's as he falls in love at first sight with a woman in one of the acts, but I did enjoy his story arc. The pieces of history that were skilfully inserted into the story were very interesting.

The Palace of the Stars is a genre-blending Australian novel first published in 2018, the start of a series dubbed either “The Harker Investigates Mysteries” or the “Love, Magic & Mystery” series. I got it as a Read Now from NetGalley - I’m not sure what drew me to it as I’m generally avoiding new-to-me authors just now, I think it was being promoted on the site. I am quite partial to a good time-travel adventure, but unfortunately this one didn’t quite work for me.

Michael Harker, a former policeman from York, West Australia, has recovered from a coma but has ongoing amnesia and, with no surviving relatives, is taken in by eccentric nature-loving bookshop owner Mari Linden. After a rocky start, they become close, and when an earthquake damages the shop, Mike is compelled to help. He uncovers a portal to the past, and discovers a whole new world in York of the early 1900s. Befriended by the gallant theatre owner, JT Gordon, and his mysterious household, Mike finds himself unable to return home, and so embraces his new life despite all it’s discomforts, falling in love with a beautiful performer. Meanwhile back in the present, Mari must safeguard the shop to ensure he can return - but will he want to?

While billed as a mystery, this is only a small part of the plot, so the series description here is a bit misleading as Harker really doesn’t do much investigating and the identification of the killer occurs late and is wrapped up quickly. There are elements of fantasy, recent historical fiction, and romance - I confess if this had featured the original cover art of lovers gazing into each others’ eyes, there’s no way I would’ve requested it. The afterword reveals that many of the places, people and events featured were real, so the historical elements were interesting, especially the medical aspects.

I found the narrative rather disjointed - it felt as if there were sections missing. We never find out what actually happened to Michael or why, then at one point Mari refers to MH370 which felt completely out of place. After arriving in the past, Mike is rescued by JT the following day, but there’s no mention of where he spent the night. There’s also no explanation for his frequent blackouts. The plot progresses in unspecified leaps so it’s unclear how much time he is actually there, then the dramatic end happens suddenly and is over just as quickly. It’s as if the author was working to a word limit so cut chunks out.

I also struggled with the characters: Mike is completely obnoxious in the beginning, such that Mari fears for her safety, then suddenly they’re best friends with little indication of how they got there. I didn’t like him much better even when he time travels, and was unconvinced by the romance which appeared to be based on little more than physical attraction. I liked Mari and JT better, and was hoping to discover some relationship between them. The ending should’ve been sad but it happens so quickly I was unmoved. The fact that I stopped this at 75% with an hour to go do paperwork shows how little the plot engaged me, and I have little motivation to read the sequel.
However, it’s not a terrible book, the writing is fine if you like short sentences, and has mostly positive reviews, so maybe it’s just me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc which allowed me to give an honest review.

3.5 stars

'The Palace of the Stars' by Australian author Karina McRoberts is the first book in a planned trilogy best characterized as historical fiction mixed with character studies. As advertised, the story has elements of "love, magic, and mystery."

*****

Mari Linden is the seventy-something owner of the 'BookNook' bookstore in York, a town in western Australia. At the behest of Dr. Sakhálin, Mari has agreed to take in Michael Harker, a former policeman who was severely injured and fell into a prolonged coma. Now that Mike has awoken, he's an amnesiac sleepwalker with dark nightmares, and Mari settles him into her home to rest and recuperate. Mari and Mike's relationship gets off to a rocky start, but they eventually become friends who like one another.

An earthquake in western Australia opens a portal in the 'BookNook' bookstore - a gateway that leads to 1904 York. Through this 'window', Mari and Mike can see snippets of things happening in historical York. Mari can't pass through the portal because of her pacemaker but Mike can....and does. As Mike is wandering around conservative 1904 York - looking completely out of place in torn jeans, a t-shirt, and thongs (flipflops) - he attracts the attention of an entrepreneur named J.T. Gordon.

Gordon is bemused by Mike, who uses strange expressions like OK, DIY, and TV, and carries things Gordon has never seen, like a library card and a cell phone. Gordon offers Mike a job in his lavish home/entertainment venue, called 'The Palace of the Stars.'

Productions at The Palace of the Stars feature singers, dancers, magic acts, animal acts, and so on. Before long Mike is like a member of the family among the residents of the Palace, including Gordon and his wife Dierdre; household staff; Palace performers; children of the residents; etc.

Mike falls in love at first sight with a beautiful dancer/magician named Mae Belle, but she's unavailable, and Mike suffers from jealousy and dejection.

As the characters go about their lives and converse with each other, they reveal details about themselves and Australia. This provides the book's historical elements and character studies.

For example:

⦿ A visit from a pipeline inspector inspires Gordon to relate the story of the construction of the Goldsfield pipeline, which carries water to the dry interior of Australia, especially the gold fields.

The man who designed the pipeline, C.Y. O'Connor shoots himself, for reasons that are unclear.

⦿ A discussion of the Australian gold rush includes a discourse on the plight of Chinese immigrants, who are forced to do grunt work and forbidden by law to search for gold.

⦿ Gordon's wife Dierdre tells a story about the horrific conditions in the gold fields before the pipeline was built, saying: "People were KILLING each other for water. There were so many people; TOO many! There was no sanitation, no food. It was madness. It was Hell." Dierdre goes on to talk about the typhoid, vomiting, blood, excrement, sores, rot, scurvy, and other horrors of the gold fields, endured for the hope of striking it rich.

⦿ J.T. Gordon tells Mike the story of his life, explaining that he grew up on a farm in Canada; lived in New York and California, where he made thuggish friends; and finally made his way to Australia. Gordon's tale is filled with misery, hardship, gangs, and misdeeds, followed by redemption and success.

The mystery part of the story revolves around the unexplained deaths of Chinese travelers, who seem to drop dead on the road for no known reason. To add misery to misfortune, it's impossible to provide the dead Chinese with decent burials because pastors won't allow them in church graveyards. Mike - being a former policeman - makes it his business to investigate the deaths, with the help of other Palace personnel.

As all this is going on in old York, Mari and her two dogs - Tahshi and Leela - are in present day York, waiting for Mike to return. This is easier said and done because the building that contains the portal hasn't been completed yet in old York, and Mike has to wait for that to happen.

Though this is a fictional story it addresses aspects of Australian history and other non-fiction subjects. In fact, McRoberts even includes a postscript with additional information about topics in the book, including: music; fashions of 1904; O'Connor's pipeline; social welfare in old Australia; Chinese immigrants in colonial Australia; Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes; health care in old Australia; typhoid fever and other illnesses; botulism; coma; camels and horses; tracks to the goldfields; York Road Poison (a deadly plant); and more.

The story is more a series of vignettes than a tale with a linear plot, but I enjoyed the book, which contains amusement, adventure, danger, and intrigue.... as well as a taste of love and romance.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Karina McRoberts) and the publisher (Rocanadon Press) for a copy of the book.

An interesting concept of time travel. Mari Linden takes in Michael Harker after he has been in a coma from being beaten. She has a bookstore in town but has a house out of town. Never had children but takes to Michael and tries to help him get his memory back. One day in the bookstore Michael goes through a rip in time to 110 years ago, He is there until the building which houses the bookstore is built. The book covers what happens to Mari with Michael gone and what happens to Michael in the past. Michael sees many wondrous things and learns about the Australia of then.

I liked that this book doesn't focus on the romance novel, overall I enjoyed reading this and liked getting to know these characters.

The Palace of the Stars a fiction about time travel written by using some facts from history, there was some romance but it wasn't the main subject most likely was a side story. It is an interesting story is about Micheal, ex-cop, who lost his memories and was trying to go on living. But just when he began to cured with his company Mari's help, they found a portal to the past. After that, he decided to go through it. I can't say they thought it through, after decided to go he just jump in and find himself clueless all again. He assumed he will go there and come back immediately after just looking around, well, of course, it wasn't that simple.

This is well-written fiction but wasn't full action. I mostly liked how we read about both Mari and Micheal sides. I really loved the side character Gordon he was a charming gentleman. Without knowing who was Micheal, he helped him. We couldn't learn more of 1904 because Mike was in a well-protected place mostly in the palace of the stars which is Gordon's theater. The end was a short cut for me but I enjoyed the story. With that, I learned about some facts about that time and I liked how Karina McRoberts added more explanations about them at the end.
Thanks to #NetGalley and the BooksGoSocial Publishing Group providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review.