I was really looking forward to this and I was so happy that it lived up to my expectations! I listened to the audiobook and the narration was great!
A beautiful fantasy store with great story telling talent and well-developed characters.

Got both the audio and ebook and loved this. The characters were wonderful and the story interesting. I bought a signed copy of the paperback as soon as Amalie posted about them.

I received both the e book and audiobook. I was listening to the audiobook and reading it at the same time. While I liked the beginning of the story and her fighting off worms and killer female villains, I wanted more of the fighting. I thkught that the mysterious male was a bit stupid and perhaps overdone. Maybe instead of shadows something else but I don’t know what.

Maybe I needed to do an immersive read?

I was super excited for this book as it is heavily inspired by Indian mythology and this would be my first book with that influence. While there was beautiful imagery, I felt like many of the characters fell flat and I had trouble connecting with anyone other than the FMC. The plot was action-packed and addictive to the point where I stayed up to finish the book because I needed to know what happened. This book was very tropey and full of cliches, but cliches are cliches for a reason. Sometimes they are exactly what we needed. I feel like if I had done an immersive read I would've been able to connect with the characters more, but overall this book felt a little lacking. 3.75 stars overall.

This book was pretty good. I really liked the beginning but it started to go down hill after 50%. I could not really get behind the romance.

A unique magic system based on Indian and Persian mythology stands at the forefront of this book. The audiobook narrators did a good job portraying emotions and tones for the characters. Having the few male narrated chapters inserted throughout the book added a bit of mystery to the story. The actual storyline kept me intrigued and curious about how fate would draw its hand. I did feel like the first half of the book dragged a little and Suraya was too hyper focused on how attractive and turned on by Roshan she was. There was too much inner dialogue on that for my taste. I like Suraya & Roshan together but when his biggest secret comes to life, her reaction was a little extreme. I am very interested to see how this storyline plays out and how the God of Night will play into the narrative.

Book Review: The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard (Audiobook) – 3/5 Stars

The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard had all the right ingredients—royalty, secrets, magic, and a touch of romance—but for me, it didn’t quite come together in a way that fully captured my attention. While the story had some engaging moments and a solid foundation, it felt like it never fully hit its stride.

The world-building was imaginative, and I appreciated the ambition behind the plot. However, the pacing sometimes dragged, and I found it hard to stay invested in certain parts. The characters had potential, but they didn’t always leap off the page (or out of the headphones) the way I’d hoped.

That said, the audiobook narration was a definite highlight. The narrator brought warmth and clarity to the story, adding depth to the characters and making the experience more enjoyable overall. It was one of those cases where the narration helped elevate a book that might have otherwise fallen flat for me.

Overall, The Starlight Heir was a decent listen—not a new favorite, but not a regrettable pick either. It might resonate more with readers who enjoy lighter fantasy with romantic elements and royal intrigue.

The Starlight Heir follows Suraya Saab as she transforms from a mere bladesmith to potentially: The Starkeeper. All because some prince decided that the best way to find this long lost prophecy answer was to just invite a ton of women to try to wed him. Naturally, Suraya accepted the trip, deciding it was going to be for an adventure rather than a husband. Enter Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Roshan. These two somehow manage to escape death an are on the run to look for: The Truth. Whether that's in their relationship or in her Maybe Starkeeper abilities, that's more on the reader to root for.
I was honored with an audiobook edition of this one, and the voice actors were fantastic. They gave it their all, and it showed. I had a lot of fun listening to this one, as the story was engaging and the voice actors were enjoying themselves and really feeling their chapters. I would HIGHLY recommend listening to the audio if you can get your hands on it. I felt the pacing was medium-fast, there weren't any sections that felt like a slog to me.

I am interested to see where this series goes moving forward. I like Suraya and think she’s a solid FMC. I liked Roshan initially but the lying to protect you gets old really quick. I’m also not sure how I feel about the mysterious shadow god.

DNF @ 15%

Thank you so much to the Harper Audio for the gifted ALC via NetGalley. I picked this one up in January, listened to 5% and never went back. Started it again today... made it to 15%. This audiobook is not keeping my attention, but so much is happening! It's hard to keep all the characters straight. I was struggling to process everything going on while listening.

Putting the audiobook down for now. Might read with my eyeballs at a later point because I have the special edition of it via Fairyloot sitting on my shelf (lol).

This was an entertaining and fun listen! I really enjoyed the narrators and I think they kept me entertained even when I got a bit bored. The story was interesting, and I really liked the elements inspired by Indian and Middle Eastern mythology and astrology. I did find myself wishing for more BUT I did mention getting a bit bored. I find I love books with strong side characters and strong friendship bonds. While there was one strong friendship bond, I feel like it was lacking in the FMC’s connections with some of the side characters.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. I do feel like this book missed the mark. I enjoyed the read but fell a bit short of everything I look for in a romantasy. Loved the promise and premise. Excellent narration,

DNF 60%

eek I'm afraid to be here, DNF'ing at 60%.

The beginning starts off impecable and it really caught my attention. By 40% everything was giving me the ick and I just felt the story was going off the rails. I plan to return to this, I think that it may be a book that pays off at the end but right now it just isn't worth it.

Soft DNF @ 35%.

I was super excited for this one, but just couldn’t get into it. I found my mind wandering and I had to keep going back to re-read sections. The audio narrator is great and engaging though! The story just didn’t pull me in unfortunately.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced audio copy!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to the audiobook for THE STARLIGHT HEIR.

The world building was fascinating—a bride to be chosen among women of local villages, a beast or god lurking within their midsts. The narration was well done, and I enjoyed both parts, especially the mystery surrounding the secondary voice. I am a slow burn fan by heart and the romance felt a bit quick for me, but I did like the pairing overall. There were quite a few surprises along the read that I enjoyed as well. I’m curious to see what book 2 will reveal!

Suraya Received an invitation to the palace to be a guest and to see if the future king would choose her to be his bride. Her father told her to keep her head down and to return home soon.

However that was not the case. Suraya power awoken and she is just who the future king wants. But the future kings half brother Roshan is on a mission to save her.

Though their escape into enemy territory they find by themselves falling for each other. And Roshan becomes Suraya first lover.

The endin of this book leaves it wide open for another. There are so many things going on that do not have answers yet. And the red smoke in Rohan’s eyes, I can’t wait to find out.

This was a (mostly) really enjoyable romantasy novel. I went back and forth on the worldbuilding in this book. I’m not entirely sure what the cultural influences are supposed to be and though the idea for the magic system is really creative, I never fully felt like I understood what was going on. It was only a mild confusion, though, because the magic was not so complex that I couldn’t just go with it. The part I struggled with the most was probably the inclusion of modern real-world slang into a high fantasy setting, a trend which I honestly despise. It throws me out of the world of the book completely, every single time. Where this book really shone was the characters. I really liked Suraya and Roshan, it was very easy to root for them, and I loved them as a couple. The villainous characters were evil but not cartoonishly so. The plot was quick enough to not lose my attention. However, there was a twist at the end that was so thoroughly foreshadowed and telegraphed that when the revelation of this secret led to this book’s equivalent of the third act breakup, it honestly felt like a big overreaction on Suraya’s part because it was so obvious, and also at that point considering what they had gone through it didn’t feel like what Roshan had done was that big of a deal. The third-act breakup/betrayal is not my favorite romance novel plot device to begin with, but when it feels forced it’s even worse.

I feel like I have a lot of criticisms for a book that I honestly mostly enjoyed. Maybe that means I’m just frustrated because it was so close to being great? The audiobook narrators were great, no complaints there. Anyway, I’m going to call it 4 stars and I’ll almost certainly read the sequel, so the bottom line is that I liked it enough to want to keep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio ARC of this book. I loved the world and enjoyed the world building of this book. I think that this premise has a lot of promise, and I'm sure the rest of the series will be as engaging and and vivid as the first. The narration was well done too and I like the way the flashbacks were done. I had a hard time getting into the romance, but that is not usually the main reason I pick up a book and I could tell there was setup for future books. I also liked how it went off the rails pretty early on in the book too and veered in an entirely different direction than I expected.
This book had one fatal flaw for me though. the side characters were one-dimensional and the portrayal of her best friend was pretty bad in my opinion. I couldn't get past the tired stereotypical bi portrayal of being hypersexual and her one personality trait was sex. It ruined the book for me. I was hoping for some depth to their friendship or character growth, but there isn't any. I couldn't name one thing about any of the other side characters too and even though part of that is on me, I do remember thinking that while I was listening as well. I probably wouldn't continue this series, even though I really liked the premise and there are parts that are really exciting and well done.

(2.5 rounded up)

this should’ve been renamed “the plot conveniences” because by god that’s all there was

we never got time to actually sit with any of the plots in this book. they would be introduced and then immediately pushed aside. the trials? one and half rounds and like 2 chapters before it’s over. they get captured? escape. captured again? oh look they escape. almost die? yeah that’ll happen 10 more times

we also never really got to know these characters (especially the side ones) well enough for me to care if they died or were in danger. we are told that this character means a lot to our protagonist, but we never see it or feel it so when they died i didn’t actually care. the author was so focused on making plot point after plot point and shoving as much as she could into one book that she skipped out on character progression.

speaking of that, wow i couldn’t care less about the main character. i LOVE a chosen one trope okay, but for some reason the trope just didn’t work here. she rarely actually saves herself, the people around her are usually the ones jumping into the scene and saving her and she’s just given powers that aren’t really explained in any sort of way besides “the fates decided” and that’s about it. i hate a non fleshed out magic system.

the romance was also bleh. insta love, sex, betrayal? kinda?, forgive. formulaic and against, bland characters

i listened to the audiobook version which is honestly what saved the score of this from being like a 1.5. the narrator was FANTASTIC and she was the only thing pulling my attention into the story. so an extra star for her.

This book was a fantasy read with a chosen one! Great story to ease into the fantasy world. The cover of this book is beautifully designed and captures the fantasy aspect of this book!

This fantasy had great characters and the story was easy to follow, the spice was low but tension was great! I love that the spice didn’t take away from the story line.

Will look forward to more stories from this author.