I loved this book. It grabbed me immediately and the story kept hold of me. I'm not always a fan of multiple POV books, but I cared about each of the POV characters here enough to look forward to their chapters. I love that part of this is set in Canada, and it was so cool to see a city I'm familiar (Toronto) depicted. The fae feel very fresh, comparable to reading Holly Black.

Rating 3 out of 5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Dark and Hollow Star is the highly imaginative novel from debut author Ashley Shuttleworth, and it starts off with a bang. Now, that I have finished the book I still believe that the prologue was one of the most captivating moments within the novel, it drew me in fully. I appreciated the author's obvious passion for her work and want to thank the author and publisher for including trigger warnings at the beginning of the story, since the subject matter can be a bit difficult for many readers.

I will say this, at times I felt like this story was overly ambitious. There was a hodgepodge of varying folklore and mythology, which did give the story a unique edge, but in times it felt like the execution was a bit choppy. There are quite a few POV characters so you get insight into different minds and people living in differing courts, which helped to round out the picture of events. Although, sometimes the writing would switch to past and it was not completely clear when this switch had occurred, leading to moments of confusion. The premise of this story is great and the messaging is equally fantastic, but certain moments felt like they were not fully connected. The characters were engaging and complex and I love mutual pining so definitely an A+ from me there. Nausicaa was my favorite character and not just because she has the same name as a beloved Ghibli character, but her grief and anguish were real and raw and resonated with me. I would be interested in continuing on with this series, because I feel like some of the issues I had with this book could be smoothed out in the sequel and I'm keen to know what happens next.

This is a story about a group of magical outcasts, with a murder to solve.

I really enjoyed reading this! It’s the first fantasy I’ve encountered with a serial killer element, and the blending of genres was nifty. Looking forward to the next book!

-more full review to come on my blog soon!

Thank you Netgalley & Simon & Schuster Children’s!

4.5 stars
I’m a sucker for a good urban fantasy and this one delivered!
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This book is full of Fae, murders, royalty, mythological elements, and great LGBTQ+ rep. I adore these four queer teens with all my heart and really enjoyed their character development as the book progressed. Each group member was so different and had their own individual voice which made it very easy to tell everyone apart. The writing throughout was super descriptive and I really felt like I was right there with the characters. I loved how the author took a Toronto setting and interwove the Fae and their culture into the world seamlessly. The plot itself was engaging and fast-paced, and I really enjoyed the plot twists that were introduced.

it was pretty okay, it took forever to get into the plot and was a bit slow so i kept picking it up and putting it down which made me lose interest but once i finally sat down i was able to speed through it

-𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩-

Ironborn are turning up dead and ravaged. Faced with dismissal from the adults in power among the Fae courts, four teenagers unite to right the wrongs plaguing the city of Toronto.

It's gay, it's Fae, and it slaps. With a unique mythology that combines Fae, Greek mythology, and sci-fi elements, this story creates a captivating world that is unlike your typical Fae story.

-𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮-

The story gives insight into the POV of each character, and all four are interesting, complex characters. Arlo and Nausicaä are my favorites - Arlo's struggles with self-worth is evocative to anyone who has ever felt they don't fit in. Nausicaä is strong, with a sarcastic dry wit and a tough exterior that hides a soft center and secret fears. Vehan and Aurelian are also pretty amazing; fiercely loyal with a core of goodness that distinguishes them from the callousness that surrounds them.

The story gives you all the puzzle pieces that each character brings to the table and keeps you wondering how they all fit together as they slowly come together.

-𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨-

These characters are living in my head rent free; they're stunning and so full of life. I loved all the queer rep - the words gay, lesbian, bisexual, and nonbinary are actually used, which is sadly rare. All throughout the book, I felt the mounting frustration the characters faced at having to take matters into their own hands because of inattentive adults. This is a breathtaking queer urban fantasy with a unique world, wonderful representation, and an unflinching reminder that teenagers are full of passion with a voice that needs to be heard.

The most unique urban fantasy I've read since Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series!

Oh man I have so many thoughts!! I'm going to break this down into list format to help organize my thoughts.

1. LOVED this unique premise and world. While this world is based in reality (the majority of this is set in Toronto) the magical facets of this world are extensive. There are so many creatures, gods, mythologies, ideas, crammed together that things could have gone terribly wrong. But my some super power, Ashley Shuttleworth made everything work so flawlessly together. I loved the nods to modern culture and RPG tactics. It made this fantasy feel new and fresh and wholly unique. I cannot wait for more in this world!

2. This book has lots of dark and gritty moments and themes but all of it was handled with exceptional care. This story deals heavily with death & grief, familial bonds (and strains), abuse, and suicidal thoughts. So be aware of that before going into this. However, the author balances this was stunning friendships and self-acceptance arcs.

3. Queer A.F. Omg this book is so unapologetically queer and it was wonderful. There are non-binary characters (on page), gay, gender fluid, and more all on page. I loved seeing (or hearing since I listened to this on audio) discussed so directly.

4. Great, full developed, and unique characters. This book is told from quite a few POVs - it takes some getting used to but each character was so fully developed and distinguishable that I never had any issues telling them apart. And with a cast of characters this size, that is an impressive feat!

5. And because the characters were so well developed, I'm wholly invested in their possibly budding relationships. (view spoiler) I would protect all 4 of these characters with my life.

Overall I'm blown away by this unique, sweeping fantasy debut. I not only can't wait to get my hands on this sequel, but I can't wait to see what Ashley Shuttleworth does next!

My review is live on Goodreads and will be posted to my blog on 3/20 @ 9am

OHHHHHHHHHH my god I loved this book so much!!! The characters, the storyline, the representation.....CHEFS KISS!!! After hearing Theresa (@libraryofsappho on insta) rave about it so much I knew I had to get to it ASAP. And she was right. This book was excellent.

It's hard for me to get into high fantasy, so I loved that this one was set in an urban setting and had roots with the real world. I felt it had a rocky beginning, but quickly picked up speed and interest. Once the plot got moving I could not put this book down. I literally fell in love with Nausicää so freaking hard. I also really loved Celadon!

While this book had some convoluted plot points that I didn't feel had the best explanations, it never got in the way of enjoying everything else. I loved the rep, the characters, and the multiple points of view. There are family themes, questioning, and so many things that are important to read about. I can't wait to see what else Shuttleworth comes out with!

A Dark and Hollow Star is a dark, magical, and fun urban fantasy. The writing is exceptional, with a few info-dumpy paragraphs that could probably have been spread throughout the story and still expand on the story. I liked seeing fae-folk navigate through a modern city and use the technology, but I do wish that we had seen more of the faerie realm. I was thinking this would be more focused on the romance aspects but it was more plot-heavy, which I ended up really liking, but do hope to see more of the relationships in the next book.

The strongest character was Nausicaä and would have preferred to read the book from her perspective only. Arlo was probably my least favorite POV, she was a flat character just moving along with the story without her doing much. Vehan and Aurelian were interesting and their relationship seems very complicated, which is something I hope is explored more.

The main antagonist for this book, Hero, had no substance and he felt like a typical mustache-twirling villain that is evil for the sake of being evil. I’m glad we’re moving away from him and the real antagonist was revealed at the end. I can’t wait to see where this series goes!

I loved this book! I really didn't know a whole lot about this book but I thought it sounded interesting so I decided to give it a try. I am so glad that I did because I was completely captivated by the amazing storytelling within its pages. I hated to put the book down when I had to do other things and when I wasn't reading, I was thinking about this story. It was one of those rare books that just worked for me on every level.

The world-building in this book was top notch. Everything that we needed to know was worked into the story just when we needed that information. The characters were great. I cared for this group of young adults and wanted to see things work out for them. As for some side character, I had trouble connecting with.

This story was exciting! Nothing was easy for this group of characters and I never knew what was going to happen next. They all go through a lot in this book and things look like they are not going to go their way more than once. There were few scenes that were so intense that I was totally lost in the story and was almost holding my breath waiting to see how things would work out.

"A sidhe prince, a lesidhe guard, an ironborn girl, and a former Fury – they seemed less like a serious investigative team and more like the lead-in to some terrible joke."- A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth.

Have you ever read your favorite fae story and just wished it were... GAYER?. Well then do I have a book for you all! A Dark and Hollow Star is not only a high fantasy/murder mystery with an interesting magic system and complex world building- but all our lead characters are queer and we have two developing romances.

The characters were phenomenal- Arlo, Nausicaä, Vehan, Aurelian-and I cannot wait to see how their story continues. I mean they were disasters but entertaining disasters. It’s always fun to watch teenagers and one immortal try solve a deadly murder mystery- all the while dealing with school, mutual pinning, high-fae patriarchy, anger issues, new found powers, and over protective family members.

Due to the high abundance of Fae stories, they’re not that easy to keep unique. However, Ashley Shuttleworth wrote such an exquisite world that’s almost futuristic for the fae. We have magic blended with technology, with their world simultaneously intertwined with the mortal world. Considering I’m fussy with world building- especially in fantasy- I was impressed. The world is completely queer normal and we’ve tons of queer representation which made my Lesbian heart glow!

The plot was fast paced and I loved Nausicaä and Arlo! Their crush on each other was adorable and yes- I am finally getting that immortal/ half-mortal SAPPHIC pairing I’ve always wanted. Vehan and Aurelian are the kings of mutually pinning and their romance is definitely on a slower course but that is my cat nip.

Overall- To anyone looking to get lost in a new fantasy series- you need A Dark and Hollow Star in your life!

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
DNF @ 56%

Stunning cover, amazing premise, disappointing execution. This book was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I was not prepared for it to be so disappointing that I couldn't even finish it. This urban fantasy follows 4 queer teens that have to team up to investigate who is murdering half-fae/half-human people in Canada.

Right from the start, I could tell that the book needed to be sized down a lot, there were a lot of unnecessary descriptions to the setting and detailed backstories to characters that we only ever saw once in the story. This constant info-dumping dragged down the story and made it lose its magic for me. I think that the author included a lot of creatures and places as a way to have solid worldbuilding but ended up with a lot of half-done stuff that did not amount to anything. There was a lot of veering off the main plot so that we could learn more about the world in general but because we get so much information at the same time it just ended up confusing me.

The characters...were a walking YA stereotype. Nothing wrong with it except that it didn't really work for me, every time that the characters were described it just read like a dozen other characters. We have a brooding boy with tattoos, a price with a really big heart, a girl that acts out because she wants attention and someone to love, and a girl that feels like she doesn't belong. None of the relationships that I witnessed in this book felt impactful, the characters were so bland that I just couldn't see how they were supposed to care for each other or why they even did.

I enjoyed having a range of LGBTQIA characters.

Overall, it had potential but it fell too short for me after all the hype that I saw and after learning that there is a sequel...its not worth the hassle.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did. The pitch & cover were more interesting than the book itself. At least 25% could’ve been edited out for a tighter story and clearer world. There’s a lot of info dumping at the beginning. For a genre bending fae novel with queer main characters, I felt really bored. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the eARC of A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth.

Unfortunately this was just NOT the book for me. I actually ended up DNFing this book around the 60% mark. The most frustrating part is that I cannot pinpoint exactly what did not work for me. I realized about halfway through that I had no idea what was going on. There was something within this story that I just felt so disconnected with and I felt like I was experiencing the story from a distance.

I really enjoyed how diverse this story was and appreciate the list of possible triggers at the beginning of the book. I am kinda bummed that this one didn't work out for me, but I definitely feel like it was an issue with me and not the book.

When a series of gruesome, ritualistic murders threatens the tenuous peace between fae and humankind, a sweeping cast of completely loveable disasters must team up to solve the mystery. Four POV characters, excellent queer rep, and complex worldbuilding combine in a well-crafted, epic adventure that spans real-world North America, the Unseelie and Seelie fae courts, and the Immortal Realm.

I wish I liked this more. The premise of this book is wonderful- I loved the City of Bones meets the Cruel Prince tagline and that it followed 4 LGBTQIA+ protagonists. I would definitely read more by Ashley Shuttleworth in the future and I will be recommending this book to certain audiences.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. However, once I made it two-thirds in, I felt myself not caring about certain characters and the plot. The world-building took a lot of effort to wrap my head around (which is fine)- however, I was very confused by this as the tone of the book definitely read on the younger side of YA. There were a lot of jokes that I feel appeal more to younger readers, but the magic system and the setting felt more adult in tone.

I also did not love the four different points of views. I feel that I could have really enjoyed them if they were more equally dispersed, but the story mainly focused on the female protagonists. This was both a positive and a negative as I grew really attached to Arlo and Naussica, but I found myself wanting to skip over the other character's chapters. I also would have loved more romance in this book, which we do get a brief touch of towards the end. I loved Arlo and Naussica's dynamic but my overall interest in the world is not great enough to continue on with the series.

this book felt like a nice warm gay hug! when people weren’t getting killed. it was like 50/50 gay and death which is fine ig

after the first 200ish pages of infodump and i finally figured out what the fuck was going on, i had a fantastic time. fae books are a dime a dozen these days, and usually have awful representation or read like something off wattpad. or both. this book was, thankfully, neither. it definitely stood out to me, and was very original. i clicked with the humor and writing style almost instantly and it actually had me laughing out loud a few times. it was refreshing seeing both m|m and w|w couples, because usually multiple POV books focus on only one.

nausicaä was an absolute joy of a character. vehan and aurelian were angsty and maaybe could have used a bit more development, as i found myself more interested in their relationship than the characters themselves. arlo was... arlo fell victim to the classic “main character is the most boring character in the book” but she wasn’t even all THAT boring to begin with, so she was definitely readable.

i have been looking forward to this book for a long time, and it fulfilled my expectations. the sequel was set up very well, and i’m very excited for it.

(arc provided by netgallery and Margaret K. McElderry Books. all thoughts and opinions are my own)

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an early e-ARC of this book!

Guys, this was a GREAT YA Urban Fantasy!! Also, can we talk about this gorg cover!?! This story centers around 4 teens who get swept up in a big mystery, which leads them on quite an adventure. The characters were fantastic and I really liked the world building!

Things I liked:
- The magic system and the layers of world building. The magic community and Earth (as we know it) are woven together. I feel like there is so much more about this world and magic community we have yet to discover and I'm assuming it will continue to build in the next book.
- The political intrigue!
- The 4 main characters! I love Arlo, Nausicaa, Vehan, and Aurelian. They are all very unique and dealing with their own issues but this larger mystery at play brings them together and it was so fun!
- The REPRESENTATION. All of the main characters are LGBTQ and it was all just so casually represented in the story - I loved it!
- THE ENDING was intense!! And after that epilogue, I need the next book asap!

The only thing I will say is that because the magic community is pretty complex, I'm still trying to figure it all out and was still confused at times in the story about some of the differences between certain communities, but it honestly didn't take away from the story for me! If I had been smarter, I would have taken notes in the beginning to better visualize it all haha

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for anyone who loves urban fantasy!

"What is a philosopher's stone doing inside this mortal child?"

Arlo Jarsdel just turned 18, which means it's time for her Weighing. Even though her mother Thalo is fae, and her uncle is the High King, her ironborn status due to her human father outweighs everything else in the eyes of most members of the Court. On top of that, her magic is weak. As the Weighing comes towards its end, her cousin Celadon breaks in and reminds the Court that Arlo may have greater magical potential that may still appear in the next few years, and that they have better things to do than interrogate her. There's been a series of ironborn murders that so far the High King has done close to nothing about, and the underground group known as the Assistance has been calling out the Courts and King in messages distributed far and wide, even on YouTube. The Courts finally allow Arlo to choose - does she want to join magical society (but not higher society, due to her status), give up her memories of the magical world and live only among humans (as her father did after the divorce), or defer her Weighing? Although she really doubts some greater powers are going to manifest in her, she chooses to defer her Weighing for eight years.

Meanwhile, in the court of Seelie Summer, Prince Vehan and his once friend and now retainer Aurelian are seeing what they can discover about the murders. They found the scene of one of these murders years ago, and Vehan wants to get to the bottom of the matter, partly because the body of the ironborn boy they found had the same alchemic array Vehan has on his own chest, and partly because he feels that no one else is taking notice and caring about this as they should.

And then there's Nausicaä. Formerly known as the Fury Alecto, she was banished to live as an immortal among mortals three hundred years ago. Few know her past, and instead just know of her as the Dark Star, a force of chaos. Some suspect her as the cause of the ironborn murders (and she definitely let a bull troll loose in the house of the Queen of Seelie Summer). As she returned the troll to the forest, she sensed something unusual - a Reaper. And she wondered... perhaps she and the Reaper could work together? That would surely cause chaos. Instead, as she tracked to track down the Reaper, she found a murder scene, and upon closer inspection, discovered that the ironborn boy murdered here had his heart transformed into a philosopher's stone.

For their various reasons, all four of these folk are swept together to find the truth behind these crimes.

I had a hard time with this one. I don't read much (or any) faerie fantasy. There's a LOT going on here. Four Courts - Winter, Summer, Autumn, Spring - of both Seelie and UnSeelie faeries (so 8 courts). There are fae, but then also there are faerie, which are different, and ironborn, which is also different. And yet another category, sidhe and lesidhe. So, I think Vehan was a sidhe fae of the court of Seelie Summer? How much do these distinctions matter? Big shrug? There are also trolls and changelings and goblins and vampires (all of which I think fall into the category of faerie), Fates, gods, Titans, the Wild Hunt. There are just so many various concepts that I more than once thought "which of these things is it actually important that I remember?" Unfortunately quite a lot of worldbuilding was delivered in infodumps. A lot of physical description was delivered all at once as well. It's okay, I'll see this character again! You can tell me about their eye color when someone looks at their eyes; I don't need eye color and hair color and height and build and how they carry themselves all at once the first time I meet them.

That said! There's some interesting stuff going on here. One character is truly nefarious and I'd be interested to see how that resolves in a future book. Also interested to learn more about Arlo's deal. There are some mysteries in the past there for sure and she gains an ability I'm not sure I've seen anywhere else. All four of our main characters are queer (yay!) and it's not an issue (extra yay!) All this together... am I going to read the sequel? Maybe. As stated above, the author has given me some hooks that I'm interested to follow, BUT I'm wary about their writing style. Maybe the infodumps will just be in this first book while the world is being set up for the first time and I'll be happier with the next.

I mentioned that I don't really read faerie fantasy, but I'm guessing if you like Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black, you might enjoy this as well.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC. A Dark and Hollow Star was published this week, on February 23rd.

To be honest, mentioning The Cruel Prince and City of Bones as comp titles was an injustice to this book. It's so much better (and gayer) than those two. I love this ragtag crew of sad and angry babies so much.