**3.5 STARS**

Content Warning: death or a parent, death, sickness, violence

I’ve read two other books by this author and always loved her atmospheric writing. This book is way different than those books I read and here’s what I thought:

+ Atmospheric writing and mysterious world building. For some reason I thought this took place in the past…far into the past when settlers came to America. Think dirt roads, saloons, tonics, etc…I thought this story was set in the wild west! The story is raw and gritty, the people are sick with consumption and dying and it seems like a tough place to live. So this is a western, dystopian, sci-fi book and I loved the whole mix of it!

+ I say this is sci-fi but only at the ending and I can’t say much without revealing things about the story.

+~ Vega is the chosen one. She holds a secret and she needs to get to her final destination to do something (no one knows what, even the reader). She’s very mysterious and determined to get to where she is going. But because she has been so sheltered and only taught astronomy – she doesn’t know much about surviving in the wild until it’s time for her to go and find the Architect. She frustrated me at times – especially because she was rash in her decisions and because she’s the chosen one, everyone around her dies because of her. I was getting annoyed with that by the ending.

+~ The romance is pretty passionate and insta-love. Vega and Noah are like a fated romance which works for me because they are living in the end of days and desperate times – why not fall in love and kiss a boy before you die, right? I was all for it…but that ending! It saddened me.

~+ I’m all for mystery but 3/4ths into the book I just wanted to know what the heck the Astronomer and Architect needed to do to save everyone. I was over the mystery and wanted information. Everything is so vague until the end. I will say I read this book quick though because I was curious to know what was causing the people to be sick and why Vega was so special. I did like the reveal at the end, I thought that was a cool reveal. I just didn’t like how things ended between Vega and Noah.

Tropes: chosen one, insta-love

Why you should read it:
*the story is atmospheric and mysterious with a good reveal
*Vega and Noah falling in love before the world ends

Why you might not want to read it:
*the mystery takes too long and you might be bored and tired by the time everything is explained
*Vega is the chosen one and everyone dies around her

My Thoughts:

I had to process my thoughts on this book a lot because when I realized it was a western/dystopian story and the big reveal at the end, the feeling I had was I really enjoyed the book. Then my mind picked apart the things I could have done without like how long the mystery and vague information went on in the book and how Vega got on my nerves because she is the chosen one and protected and everyone is going to die and sacrifice themselves around her. I also loved the ending because of the reveal but I was so sad about Noah…so my feelings are all over the place about this book but I’m glad I read it. Overall, I’m going to say I did enjoy it more than disliked especially the ending when things started to make sense.

I have loved Shea Ernshaw's books (especially Winterwood) and so I wanted to love this one, too. Unfortunately, I did not. For the first 85% of the book, I continued to read entirely based on having loved her previous works. The book became interesting for me at the last 15%, but even that was not enthralling enough for me to rate it higher than 3 stars, which feels generous. The writing, though beautiful, was not enough for me to love the story as a whole. I rarely think so, but I think this would have been better as a short 20-40 page story instead. I truly hope other readers disagree with me.

I absolutely adored THE WICKED DEEP, so I was ecstatic to be able to read A WILDERNESS OF STARS by Shea Ernshaw early. Unfortunately, this book was slow and just didn't grip me as much as some of her previous work.

While I was intrigued by the vague mission the main characters were on, the story was just a bit too much of a slow burn; even with different dangerous or adventurous scenes, I think the mission was just a bit too vague - not in a "I need to know more" way, but in a "I don't know quite enough, so I'm not invested way."

On the flip side, once it picked up in the last few chapters, I was hooked. I had to know what was happening, who was going to survive, and what the point of all this way.

Ultimately, I'm sad this one let me know, but am still a huge fan of the author.

I keep waiting to connect with an Ernshaw story in the same way I did The Wicked Deep. A Wilderness of Stars fell short of that mark.

Lets start with the positive! It doesn't get much cooler than a dystopian wild west setting and the author brings her telltale atmosphere in all it's glory! The World building is fun and fantastical, Ernshaw rarely disappointing with her lush and lyrical worlds. However, like my last few reads by this author, the pacing felt so wonky. I would liken it to driving with somebody who keeps accelerating and then abruptly stopping. I never was able to sink into a rhythm within this story and unfortunately it made it a slog.

Clearly A Wilderness of Stars wasn't for me, still, this author has me hooked on what she may offer next. I remain hopeful that her stunning writing will be matched with appropriate pacing in the future.

Thank You to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

While Shea Ernshaw is one of my favorite authors, this book admittedly fell short of my expectations, and I think that my expectations were part of the problem. Ernshaw's previous books have been very witchy and I was expecting something else in that vein, but A WILDERNESS OF STARS is a departure from what Ernshaw has written in the past. This book is a risk, and in general it is a risk that paid off. A WILDERNESS OF STARS has a really neat western-dystopian vibe going on. Once again, Ernshaw proves to be a master of creating a unique atmosphere in her books. I really enjoyed that feel in her writing, though it took me a while to figure out whether or not I was reading a historical fantasy, apocalyptic western, or futuristic science fiction. I liked Vega and the lore of the Astronomer and Architect a lot. I thought the slow-burn romance with Noah and Vega was really satisfying. The book's pacing is alright, but it is one of those slower movers. The final plot twist was unexpected to be sure, but the ending left me kind of confused about what was actually going on in the entire novel and if there's more to this story that feels unfinished. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. So this was a mixed bag for me: lovely writing and worldbuilding, but a weird experience especially at the end. Not my fave of Ernshaw's books but I still remain a fan.

When I read A History of Wild Places by Ernshaw earlier this year I thought it was one of the most unique and compelling stories I have ever read. So needless to say, the bar was high for this one. I am happy to say it also lived up to it! Vega, tasked with saving her people is such a great character that readers will instantly fall in love. The entire plot was so interesting and engaging and I really felt like I was IN the story which is one of my favorite things about Ernshaw's work. Do not sleep on this title!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

never did i ever think that i was going to be this disappointed by this book. my hopes and enthusiasm for it were really high and in the end i dnf’d it at 35% and skimmed through the rest just to see if i missed something good (i did not).

what irritated me the most was the slow pace and not enough information about what was going on. the author did more telling than showing in my opinion and i couldn’t take it anymore.

the plot was boring (i almost fell asleep honestly), the characters were one dimensional and confusing.

the book had potential if we consider the summary but the execution was horrible and i wouldn’t recommend it to anyone since it’s just a waste of time.

Thank you Net Galley for the free. Utopian tale of Vega, the astronomer on her quest to find the architect while being chased by the theorist. Adventure and Love story.

I have no words. I wish I did. I love Shea as a person, but I am so disappointed in this book. I wanted so much from this. I know what she's capable of after reading The Wicked Deep, Winterwood, and A History of Wild Places. I haven't seen her capture the magic of The Wicked Deep again, though.

This book was a full-blown, all out, western. Oregon Trail wagons, snake oil, miners, shoot outs, outlaws and gangs of renegades. There was NOTHING in the blurb to suggest that this was the story we were getting at all. I'm also not the target demographic, so maybe others will feel differently.

Vega is the last astronomer. She sets out on a quest across the wilderness with the last architect in hopes that their journey and the story in the stars can save the people from an illness that is killing so many people. It’s just a matter of time before they are all gone.
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I’ll be honest, I really enjoy this author’s work so I was very excited to read this book. This book does have a very slow plot. It takes a long time for it to get exciting. However, the ending was good, not what I expected or necessarily wanted, but it was a nice plot twist!
I do think this book needs a sequel and it could be a case where the second book was a bit better than the first.
I enjoyed the romance and the storyline was unique.
It was just a slow read with VERY, very long chapters and for some reason, the super long chapters made be feel like it took forever to read this. Ha!
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Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the eARC of this book!

First of all, even though this book didn't work for me, that doesn't mean this is a bad book. It just wasn't a book for me.

The plot took too long to start. And not only that, but the book in general is so slow that it's hard to get into the story and connect with the characters.

There is a serious problem regarding the pacing of this book and something that does not help at all is the long chapters. Normally I have no problem with long chapters and most of the time I prefer it but with a book whose plot is already extremely slow, long chapters do not add anything to the dynamism of the story. The only thing I liked about the book was the last 10% of it. The ending was wild and it went by really fast. But it is very difficult to love a book when for 90% of the book the reader is blind. It's very sad for me, because the idea of ​​the book was amazing, it had a lot of potential but the execution was not one that worked for me.

Although I have mixed feelings, I would love to be able to read a sequel to this book after that ending

This book started off a bit slow for me, but that ending went wild and quick and absolutely NOT what I was expecting. Like, at all. And I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

I thought the plot and concept for this book was super fascinating and unique. I liked the traveling aspect, and it was tense with people chasing after them. The romance was developed well too. However, I could not stop focusing on all the stupid decisions the MC made. (Like when people kept seeing her neck tattoo. Can't she tie a scarf around her neck or something?? It killed me.) She was the cause of so much conflict in the plot. I also disliked the extremely long chapters—I think that's why I thought the book was slow even though they are traveling fairly fast.

All in all, this was quite entertaining though a little annoying at times. And Shea Ernshaw took a huge risk with that ending. I'm interested to read other reviews to see what people think. Like, there has to be a book two, right?

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 4
Plot/Movement: 3
Character Development: 3
Overall: 3

Thank you, Simon and Schuster and NetGalley, for the ARC!

Trigger/Content Warnings: parental death, murder/death, cult behavior, kidnapping

I need to tell myself that this author just isn’t for me but I keep coming back when I see the blurb of the latest book by her.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Vega. There are a couple chapters that are past tense from a different astronomer which is what Vega is as well. I wouldn’t say that there is too much to her character or even the others in the book. I have said this when reviewing her other books and I will say it again, the character development was lacking. I thought the romance was fine. They weren’t bad together and they felt bonded due to their jobs, but it’s also hard to feel anything when you aren’t connecting to the characters.

I do think that the plot was very unique. I have not read a book that was filled with astronomy and I liked the details here and there about it. The problem is that the plot is very slow in the beginning and nothing exciting really happens until you get farther into the book. A lot of secrets and breadcrumbs but I just needed more to be hooked by it.

As always, her writing is beautiful and it’s one thing that keeps me coming back. I just wish there was more substance to it all.

Overall, this okay but ultimately it ended up being a miss. Even though that was the case for me, it could be for you! Give it a try if it piques your interest.

This was so good!! I’ve loved this author’s other YA fantasies and I’m so happy that I enjoyed this one just as much! Her writing and storytelling has always been amazing but this one really blew me away.
A Wilderness of Stars follows Vega, the last Astronomer, who is tasked with saving her people from an illness taking over the population. In order to do this, she had to find and team up with the Architect, the only person who knows the way to the sea she must travel to. Her journey won’t be easy, but this is a task her ancestors have been planning for over 100 years.
I can’t express how much I loved the writing. It was so pretty and immersive. There were so many beautiful quotes, I definitely want to get a final copy and tab the heck out of it. This is going to be such a perfect, moody read for the fall/winter. I was so drawn into this world and captivated by the descriptions. The stories woven through the stars were stunning.
I think this missed the 5 star mark for me because of some pacing issues. The beginning is a little slow, it took over 100 pages to get to the main things described in the synopsis. The chapters are also super long. There are only 13 chapters in the whole 400 page book. This isn’t a huge deal but I definitely prefer shorter chapters just from a pacing perspective.
The characters were really complex. Vega and Noah’s individual stories connected so well together. Their romance was really sweet and I’m so glad their loyalty to one another was so consistent throughout the story. I like how more about their pasts unfolded as the book went along.
The ending was…wild. I didn’t see the twist coming at all. It was such a sad ending but also left off an a hopeful note. I know that this author usually writes stand alone books for her YA fantasies but I’d love to see a follow up novel or novella to this one!
This was such a great mix of fantasy, adventure, magic and romance. With atmospheric writing, a strong western-like setting and authentic characters, this book has solidified this author as one of my favorites in the fantasy genre!
Thank you so much to Simon Teen for send me an early copy of this one!

A dystopian story that is a western meets sci-fi journey. In a world that is slowly being consumed in sickness there is belief that an Astronomer, someone who has tattoos and markings of the constellation on them, is the cure. Vega is the last Astronomer, she was raised by her mother, the previous Astronomer who has died, and after seeing the two twin stars in the sky she knows its time for her to fulfill her journey. Vega must find the Architect, a man who will be the key to guiding her to the sea in order to fulfill her purpose. She will have to travel across different towns, face dangerous people, and find the strength to complete her journey. Along the way she meets Noah, a mysterious boy with his own secret tattoos who will be the key to getting her to the sea... yet with dangerous men hunting them both down and willing to kill anyone to get to them, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other to survive. This story threw me off, I was definitely not expecting the sci-fi/western vibes that this story had, I was expecting something else I guess. This is essentially a story about a girl who is on a mission- meets dangerous people and meets a boy who she falls in love with but has his own secrets. The ending of the book is left open ended ( I don’t know if there is going to be a sequel or not) and its left in a way you wish there was some sort of extra chapter or in a way that the book would be a bit longer to get more of what is going on. The way it ends kind of makes you wish there was just more to finish it and I was left feeling lime it was kind of missing a conclusion to it all. In the end, I generally like Shea Ernshaw’s writing and stories, but this one was a bit harder to connect to and get invested in compared to some of her previous works. Definitely read it though if you are interested in YA Dystopian meets western and sci-fi stories.

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

Wow. This was like a dream, haunting and lovely. I really didn't know what I was getting into but this story completely swept me away into it's tale.

Vega is the Astronomer and she is searching for the Architect. On a mission to save this world before it is swallowed by darkness and sickness. Or, to at least save herself.

On this journey through dusty towns she finds danger and love and courage. All the emotions ya'll!! Just an absolutely beautiful story. .

Out November 29, 2022!

I love Shea Ernshaw's writing. She creates such interesting worlds and atmospheres for her books. A Wilderness of Stars had such high stakes and was so compelling. I absolutely loved the story. I loved the vibe of this world and how interesting it was. This was more science fiction than her other books and I loved it. The characters of this book were so loveable and Shea Ernshaw broke my heart at times. The ending had parts that I didn't see coming and I love when that happens. I highly recommend this book!

Rounded to 4.5 stars.

CONTENT WARNING: death of a parent, grief, violence, blood, murder

I’ve read a couple of books by Shea Ernshaw, so I had a few expectations in place when I started this book. I was prepared to love this book, and while it was slow moving at first, I trusted the author fully, and she definitely didn’t let me down.

I wasn’t expecting it to be set in a dystopian form of the Wild West, but I just rolled with it. Vega is an astronomer, taught secrets by her mother, who is dying of a disease just referred to as consumption. However, it’s different from what we know as consumption. Her mother has taught her everything that she’ll need to know, but when her mother dies, she still doesn’t really feel prepared to venture out of her secluded valley to find the elusive Architect, now that she’s the last Astronomer. And her status makes her vulnerable, as does the tattoo on her neck. People think that she’ll be the cure for the disease ravaging the people, so they’re hunting for her just as she’s searching for the Astronomer with very little to go on.

Vega has to trust her instincts, and place her faith in people she doesn’t know. When she crosses paths with an intriguing girl who saves her from a dangerous situation, she has no choice but to trust her. And this girl, Cricket, leads her to an even more intriguing boy—Noah. Noah is covered in tattoos as well, and the three of them head out across dangerous territory to fulfill Vega’s destiny.

I loved watching Vega struggle between the caution that was taught to her all her life, and the trust that she needs to place in others in order to accomplish her task. Things aren’t easy, and she has to make tough decisions, and often second-guesses herself. But I enjoyed knowing that she ended up trusting herself to do the right thing, often choosing with her heart instead of her head. It showed that she had a strong moral compass, and even though she spent a lot of time being terrified, she stood up for what she thought was right. She was a tough as nails heroine, although there were times when she was forced to rely on others as well.

Noah was another intriguing character, who went through major changes throughout the story. His backstory was fascinating, although I don’t want to give too much away. However, he was also willing to take the difficult path and do what he felt was right, even when it wasn’t what he was expected to do. However, the other characters in the story aren’t explored in depth, and I would have liked to get to know them better. I do have to say that the antagonist in the story is done amazingly well.

While Ernshaw eases us into the story and gives the reader time to get to know the setting and main character, the action and pace ratchets up quickly. There are twists and turns, and I couldn’t stop reading. This was the kind of book that I couldn’t wait to get back to when I was doing other things. Towards the end of the book, there was a fantastic twist that I absolutely didn’t expect. While the overall tone isn’t a happy one, the ending was incredible. It left it open for a follow-up, which I hope is coming, but even if not, it allows us to come to our own conclusions about the ending. Overall, this was a fantastic story that was beautifully written, with vivid descriptions, a gripping plot, and so much action I could never predict which way it would go.

I wanted to enjoy this book but ultimately found the characters to lack and overall be something that was not giving what the pitch was written as.

I have never read any books by Shea Ernshaw but I can say that I enjoyed A Wilderness of Stars and that I plan to read more books by her. . This book was an escape from reality per say. We follow Vega and two friends as they try to protect her and help her find her way to the safety of the sea. An absolutely excellent read! I will definitely read more by this author and promote this book.