This book had the perfect romantasy plot for me. The drama, the mystery, the romance had me gasping. I can not wait for more from this world!!

It took me a while to get into The Stars Are Dying. I found the unusual phrasing Peñaranda used distracting, as I often had to re-read sections or sentences to clarify the meaning. In some cases, it wasn’t just the phrasing that was the issue; there were fragments or statements that didn’t make sense. I also found some of the dialogue felt disconnected, like people talking over each other, about different things, because some of the responses didn’t make sense in the context of the conversation.

After a rough start, the story and writing settled some. I was hopeful for a strong growth arc for Astraea and I was interested in her story. While her real identity seemed obvious early on, sometimes, the intrigue is seeing how a character discovers their truth, and I was hoping for satisfying developments and revelations.

Ultimately, the story didn’t deliver the way I hoped. While Astraea learning who she is and discovering her purpose is a worthy arc on its own, there’s a goal post change when her friend dies and she decides to compete in her place. Unfortunately, decisions like this underscored issues with Astraea. Yes, she’s been sheltered, but she was also rebellious enough to sneak out, make friends, and acquire skills behind Hektor’s back. These actions suggest independence and willfulness and an awareness of the threats around her. And throughout her friendship, she had plenty of exposure beyond Hektor’s confines. However, she never seems very alert or aware, and she doesn’t seem to consider risks. For someone who had to plan carefully to sneak out and avoid detection, she jumps into risky decisions with no forethought later.

It can be very hard to write a compelling character who starts out naive and who makes impulsive decisions without having them seem erratic. And when it comes to Nyte, Astraea bounces back and forth more than a ping pong ball during a ping pong championship game. Ultimately, it felt like some of her decisions were more about serving the plot than organic character growth.

There were other issues, such as developmental contradictions, that a good developmental edit would have addressed. And in truth, since I read this before its re-release, some of the word level issues may have been addressed, so I wasn’t factoring those into my ranking. It’s less likely there were developmental corrections, but still possible.

Therefore, what I focused on when ranking this book was how I felt about the story and character arcs.

The competition was frustrating. While I can appreciate the guts it requires to do things differently, having the competitors competing against themselves and working at their own pace towards a general deadline eliminated a lot of potential for tension and drama. Instead, we had competitors doing things that didn’t make sense, such as starting fights with other competitors. Truly, what was the point, given that they weren’t allowed to kill each other, and they all had bodyguards assigned to them to prevent harm? It felt like distracting chest-thumping so we remembered some of those characters were around.

Several of my biggest issues center on the ending, so this is where I’ll warn you to stop if you want to avoid spoilers. The ending went on forever; having a notable chunk of the book continue after the competition ends isn’t easy to pull off, and it felt like momentum floundered. A lot of the revelations that followed confirmed things already suspected, and felt anti-climactic.

My biggest complaint had to do with Hektor and Astraea’s arc. I’d hoped she’d grow into a strong, independent character. Killing Hektor at the beginning certainly paved the way for this growth arc. However, then we learn during the competition that she didn’t kill him. At first, I hoped it was an illusion (like other things we’d seen during the competition) and she only thought she was confronting him. And then, after a late-in-story Astraea-Hektor confrontation to bring resolution to their story, Hektor was back in the next stage of the competition. Hektor resolution redux. And to top it off, since we now know Astraea didn’t kill him, we don’t even get the satisfaction of her correctly eliminating her captor and abuser. Instead, one of Astraea’s many protectors had to kill him. Ultimately, I found this book dissatisfying and frustrating. I really wanted to like it, and I remained hopeful until near the end of the competition, but it floundered and never really recovered for me.

This book didn’t really work for me. I didn’t like Astraea at all and the story itself was just SO slow moving. Great concept I was excited about but it just didn’t all come together for me.

This book wasn't my favorite. It was an okay read but I feel like it borrowed from a lot of other books but wasn't quite as good as any of them. It's absolutely beautiful though. I was just a bit let down.

I loved it, but I hated it. I was hooked the first 50% of the book. The world building, politics and tension between the characters was done well. I did however really struggle with the pacing, sentence structure and how choppy things became in the second half of the book.

Choppy to the point where I went back to the previous chapter to make sure I hadn't missed anything as it felt like I had missed multiple chapters. Overall, I felt like it could have used another round of editing to smooth things out. Astraea as a character also frustrated me with how she chose to stay ignorant and not question anything around her as it happened.

I do plan on reading the second book as I'm curious how things will go, but do feel like the first book was predictable. This book definitely has a lot of aspects very similar to a few other series.

I loved this book up until the final act. Somewhere around the 2/3 mark, things went off of the rails. The concept feels original, the characters are interesting, and up until the 300 mark, the pacing is good. Unfortunately, it feels like the author could not decide what kind of story she wanted this to be and made it a buffet of themes and choices. Couple that with the main character going back and forth so many times on whether she loves or hates the love interest and it drained my enthusiasm for the title. Finally, the ending feels like something out of a fantasy themed daytime show. I'm honestly not sure if I will have the strength or desire to read through the sequel.

I was definitely excited when I saw that this book had been picked up by a traditional publisher, Bramble. I’ve had some good luck with Bramble’s choices (Carissa Broadbent is a new fave by far!), and there was a lot of positive hype around this book, including it being picked by a book box I subscribe to that also has been hitting it out of the park recently. So, with many good signs pointing to a great reading experience, I eagerly dove in once I received my ARC copy!

Unfortunately, all of these positive indicators let me down a bit. But even though the book didn’t work for me, I can see why it has the hype that it does. There is a lot of strong potential here, especially given currently popular tropes and read-alike authors whose names get thrown around a lot as comparisons. The writing would also veer wildly, but when it was at its peak, it could by lyrical and whimsical in a way that I think appeals to a lot of romantasy fans.

It’s also notable that one of my primary gripes with this book has to do with its use of a character type/arc that I’ve read in another book recently that managed to pull it off where this one did not. I didn’t review “When the Moon Hatched” on the blog, but I read it last spring and was, frankly, a bit surprised by how much I liked it. I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler, but the main character’s arc revolves around her identity and who she may have been in a long-lost life. It’s a tricky concept to write, but that book managed to pull it off where this one took a very similar approach and failed. I think the difference all comes down to the execution of this main character and the type of personality/role they are assigned within the story. In WtMH, we had a main character who was action-oriented, violent, a sheer force of nature. The slow reveal of her past is one that is actively pushed against; she has a complete personality and history as it is, and much of her story is trying to reconcile who she is know with who others see her as.

Here, we have…not that. I do think this book set itself up for a much harder challenge by making the main character a victim of abuse as well. This sets her up to be an incredibly passive, withdrawn character for much of the book. Yes, I understand that the author is trying to show the ways in which learned helplessness is a survival technique, but for the story itself, it leaves readers following a character who feels profoundly uncurious and unmotivated to engage with the mysteries swirling around her. Things are ostensibly happening (there was a lot of “plot? what plot?” throughout the first three quarters of this book), but she is such a passive character, that it was incredibly frustrating to feel stuck in the wake of her inaction and seeming uninterest.

I also felt like there was zero chemistry between her and the romantic lead. Again, we have a character here who is aware of her past, so the book neatly side steps the need to create the bond between them. Instead, readers are simply told it’s there. It’s almost like insta-love in that way. Sure, we’re meant to understand that these two have a bond that was established before, but as we never saw it and see no work to re-establish it in a natural way here, it instead feels the same as insta-love: unearned and lacking any true foundation built up on page.

And while there were moments of strength in the writing, I did struggle with it more often than not. Right from the start, I found myself having to re-read pages to try to piece together what the author was trying to convey. Just because words sound beautiful together, doesn’t mean they actually make any sense to read. What am I meant to be picturing? The plotting and pacing also left much to be desired. Due to the passive main character and the lack of any real action, the book feels like a slog to get through for much of the first half. Things do pick up towards the end. But even here, I was incredibly frustrated by what we were given, or, more notably, not given. Almost none of the mysteries surrounding our main character were revealed. I still know next to nothing about who she was five years ago and how she got back.

Overall, this was a fairly frustrating read. I do plan on giving the second book a go as I have already requested it, but this book did set that one up for a steep climb to any sort of enjoyment. Perhaps readers who enjoy more passive main characters in romance novels may enjoy this, but as it stands, I think there are better examples of this sort of story out there. We’ll see how the second book wraps things up I guess!

Rating 7: While there was potential in the basic premise, the passive main character was difficult to follow and the insta-love romance frustrating to read.

Link will go live on The Library Ladies on Oct. 16

DNF ~50%

I was enjoying the book at first, even if the first third felt slow and the FMC too naïve for a character her age. Some of hers and other characters’ attitudes felt incoherent or straight out deus ex machina, just to move the plot to where the author wanted it. Some characters are interesting, Nyte in particular, although he reminds me of other romantasy love interests. The plot pulls a lot from Crowns of Nyaxia in a way that didn’t feel very new or original. Sadly not a title for me.

This book is not for me, I was hoping that the fantasy elements would outweigh the darker content of the book, but they did not. I didn't enjoy the very sudden sexual content, it was all pretty uncomfy.

It's possible that I've just read too much romantasy, specifically stories that involve trials or games, but it took everything in me to finish this book. I found the plot to be boring, repetitive, and full of abrupt scene transitions.

The writing itself was fine—dialogue-heavy, but I don't usually find that to be a bad thing. What drove me crazy was not the writing mechanics, but the repetitive nature of the dialogue.

The characters with any dimension felt recycled, particularly our hero. His name is Nyte, and I don't feel like I need to explain further. Astraea, the leading lady, is a bit more developed, but not enough to hold my interest.

Both voice actors did a great job, but the alternating style didn't work for me. I highly doubt they recorded at the same time.

Overall, this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you Chloe C. Peñaranda, Macmillan Audio, Tor Publishing Group, and NetGalley for my advanced digital and audio copies. My opinions are my own.

Plot - 1
Writing and Editing - 3
Character Development - 2
Personal Bias - 1
Final Score - 1.75

I DNF at 12% I personally just couldn’t get into this book.

First I just did not like the writing style the whole time I was reading I felt confused and like I was missing something but I wasn’t and I had to reread sentences multiple times just to try to understand them example I’m still confused on how she got in a door that was supposed to be locked and apparently no one had the key to, I also didn’t like the main character so far and felt her lacking and I just couldn’t connect with her.

I personally would not recommend

*I want to thank Chloe for the arc of this book to review*

This has so many good tropes! But I found myself having to re-read at times or honestly just losing myself and not remembering what I just read. I doubled down and really focused and it was worth it!! This was a great book, and I will be picking up the second!

This book has so much potential, vampires, starlight power, games, enemies to lovers, but it absolutely fell flat for me. I kept hoping that it would redeem itself and pushed through to the end only to feel utterly frustrated. There were so many loose ends and confusing plot lines. This is not a book for beginner fantasy readers because the world building is difficult to follow.

I appreciate the opportunity from @netgalley to read this book. The review is my opinion of the book.

✨The Stars Are Dying✨ - Chloe Peñaranda

⭐️4/5

What a ride! This book was JAM PACKED with action, and a sense of mystery that honestly always kept me guessing. The predictability was actually a good mixture of predictable and not predictable at all, which felt quite refreshing.

Although there were times I honestly was left confused as to what was happening mid-plot, or times when I felt as though there might’ve been holes in the plot, I was still intrigued as to where the story line was going to go, it kept me on my toes the whole time!

At first I felt like the characters were a perfect mix of Celaena Sardothien & Rhysand, as well as some aspects felt even twilight inspired - I never found myself comparing them, as the author did a great job of combining all that we love as Romantasy Readers, into her own world of creation, while infusing her story with new aspects that haven’t felt done before!

I think many Romantasy readers will love this book, and even those who are new to the genre too.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

I was really hoping I would love this. Instead I spent much of the book very bored. I think it was too long and too slow. When it did pick up it wasn't enough to convince me that I need to continue the series.

Very dramatic opening, sets the pace for a dark, brooding and grieving character. This is definitely different writing to anything else I have read.

this series has the potential to be a favorite....while this first installment was perhaps a little too ambitious......
one of the bigger areas of opportunity for this book for me was the pacing, its written in a way that keeps you turning pages to have questions answered but you really just end up with more questions which leads to lack of clarity......this may cause people to DNF it.
it is my opinion that the plot of this book somewhat takes a back seat to the FMC character development.
I am glad I stuck it out, I never want to feel like reading a book is a task i HAVE to complete.....and i was close to DNFing but the plot twist at the end was somewhat worth it and I will read the next book in hopes of better overall writing and plot development.

I did really want to like this book! After reading the description and high reviews I was pumped to get early access!

The book wasn’t cohesive enough for me, I get wanting to have a series or multiverse be successful and trying to make the reader ask question after question, but the writing just missed. I trudged through the beginning and don’t like DNFing books so I kept at it and finally the pace picked up where I could finish the book. I tried listening to the audio for this book but every time the male narrator came on I wanted to turn off the book. I did really like the female narrator!! I ended up just reading it through an eARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early access in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

This book broke my heart and gave me so much hope. I am an absolute sucker for forbidden romance and this book definitely delivered. I felt like this book was a puzzle I needed to solve, and each time I thought I had the twist figured out I was pleasantly surprised to figure out that I did not.

The foreshadowing in this book is *chef’s kiss* 🤌 and the slow burn 😏. The MMC, Nyte, has serious who did this to you and morally grey vibes. The FMC, Astraea, is struggling to find out who she is while overcoming her oppressor, but is still also somehow a badass.

This book is a beautiful masterpiece that weaves together so many heavy topics. Overcoming grief and developing a character out of that is something the author did such an amazing job at.

This book contains the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers!!! I was floored and cannot wait for book two! That pronunciation guide at the end for a laugh, more specifically Hektor. 🤭

I also loved how Astrea is an unreliable narrator, throughout this book, there were moments while reading that didn’t add up and the ending tied it all together seamlessly.

I have so many questions I NEED answers to and I and very excited to see what happens in book two.

This was a fun read. The story begun with a great set up, with interesting characters, a strong main character, and enough mystery to keep me guessing. The book did however start to drag a bit and fell a bit too much into reiterating Astraea‘a missing memories, and Nyte dangling his knowledge. I wish there was more story building. I’m still not entirely sure I knew by the end what the main plot was. This story has a lot of promise and I could see fans of fourth wing really enjoying this. I look forward to reading the next installment.