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.

4.25

You know what… hell yeah, brother. I’ll be impatiently waiting for the next book.

Usually modern dialogue in fantasy settings bother me but this worked quite well. The FMC’s internal dialogue wasn’t insufferable but added some humor breaking up some of the more serious moments. If you’re the type who uses humor as a coping mechanism, this will work for you. A little angsty at times, but it counterbalances the sheer horniness of our FMC. And to that point - ya girl is deprived enough to suffer lucid wet dreams. I suppose that’s also a symptom of her fated path. Anyway, the vibes are vibing and I’m here for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for the audio ALC.

This is a solid romantasy. I am a bit bummed that it is a setup for a series because I strongly feel this would be SUCH a good standalone. The worldbuilding is simple enough I felt like I got all I needed from this book and I am on the fence on whether or not I am going to continue. It hit all the marks with the romance, the broody mysterious MMC, definitely good spice. I loved the action especially some unexpected moments from the initial premise of being a possible bride/trial situation. The trials didn't take up too much of the story either (my preference).

The narration was overall good. I felt a strength of the narrator was imitating the male voices. When it was just her voice of the inner monologue sometimes it got a bit irritating, being totally honest. But I thought the accent set the tone with the historical fantasy and was easy to understand as an American accent reader.

Thank you to Harper Audio for the free audiobook!

Beautiful and fantastical ... listened to the audio of this book and it was well worth it, and have enjoyed seeing others read and love this book

I really wanted to love this. And dont get me wrong it was enjoyable for the most part, but there were just some things that could have been better, and things that didnt make any sense.
Firstly, I feel like there was a huge missed opportunity with the character development, especially with the side characters. I really wanted to love her best friend but we really dont get much from her <spoiler>this started out really strong in the beginning and then she just disappeared for the bulk of the story. When she was brought back into the castle we got a little more, and I think thats what the author was trying to do, but it was so short lived. And then she just died, and honestly I felt nothing when she did.</spoiler> Her father is another character I felt like we could/should have gotten more from <spoiler>and I remember thinking, he had better have a valid reason for allowing her to go and keeping this secret from her, and then when he was explaining his thoughts at the end I was just like, that is not a good enough reason. He should have told her the truth and they could have run. But that would have either completely changed the book or ended the story lol. </spoiler> It felt very much like a useless plot device to propel the story.
I enjoyed the romance, and the MMC. There was a lot of mystery around him which I feel is very "in" right now <spoiler>and obviously the "he lied to me and now I cant trust him" trope. </spoiler> But again I feel like that was just done to have it in the story and create turmoil between the characters.
I do feel like the writing style was good, and I would recommend this to romantasy readers, but too many plot holes and lack of character development to give any higher than 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for providing a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review :)

I'm going to be so honest, the audiobook female narrator did ALL the heavy-lifting for this (the guy almost canceled out her good work). There is nothing unique about this book, but I enjoyed the narrator's voice enough to be able to get through this entire book without hating it. The guy... It almost felt like he was yelling at me and I had to turn the volume down on the rare chapter that he narrated.

This is your typical story of a common girl who is actually a special, magically powerful girl and somehow both untrained at all and just amazing at everything! With a love interest that is definitely not a leader of a rebellion at all!

There really wasn't anything shocking, surprising, or even just different from all the other romantasies that following this plot. The characters just kind of do things, without it really making much sense. I got disoriented multiple times throughout this story because it felt like they should be on their way somewhere / doing something, but instead they are just hanging out and acting like there aren't people in danger that they need to go help.

I also just generally don't understand having "bad guys" that have the goal of bringing back a god of death/destruction?? Like ohhh you want to kill people sooo bad? You are literally the ruler, just kill people?? Or when characters are like "No!!! We can't let the prophecy happen!!!" Honey, it's a prophecy, it is going to happen whether you want it to or not. Might as well have a little control over how it happens?

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio for providing an aubiobook eARC of The Starlight Heir.

I was so excited to be selected as an ALC listener for Amalie Howard’s foray into the romantasy world and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The action, the drama, the romance, it was all top notch.

I am going to be counting down the days until book 2 is released for sure.

Thank you to HarperAudio Adult for selecting me for this ALC.

The Starlight Heir is my first read by Amalie Howard, and I really enjoyed it. Although it's marketed as an adult fantasy, a lot of it gave YA but I didn't mind.
This is the story of a young blades smith named Suraya whose powers awaken when she is invited to compete for the king's hand. There are deadly trials in this fantasy novel (although brief), which I loved, along with magic, power, and betrayal. Suraya has star magic and is called to be the leader of a war to end all wars. She just needs to learn how to use and wield this unique, ancient power.
Overall, the book is good - very fast-paced and exciting, however, there were a few things I didn't quite gel with. There are a lot of modern expressions in this book, which I'm not really a fan of when it comes to fantasy/ romantasy. Also, towards the end, there were so many clichés thrown into the mix. It became sort of a "Love conquers all", "Love is patient", "Love is kind" kind of read. Luckily, that was toward the last quarter of the book, so it didn't ruin it for me. A solid 3 star read.
Thank you NetGalley, HarperAudio, and Amalie Howard for this ARC!

The use of modern gen z language in this historical/fantasy world just really ruined the entire illusion that was wonderfully built of this new world. The narration was fine, nothing special. The romance felt like a fizz not a sizzle or flame, and the spice scene were lacking for me.

I really enjoyed this audio book! Thank you for selecting me to read and review this book. This was a really enjoyable Romantasy that was elevated by the unique magic system and Persian / Indian Lore. I enjoy reading fantasy romance books that do have an element to them that set them apart and I feel like this novel did have plenty of unique elements to it, that also contained some of my favorite tropes. I felt like the fast paced nature of this story kept me engaged and the narrating was great!

This took me a little to get into but I became pretty invested in the characters once the rebellion happened. I'm sad that there was so much smut in this though at what felt like unnecessary given the situation they were in. I liked the overall message of the book and especially about forgiving but not forgetting. It's not my favorite work by Howard, but it's definitely a fun standalone fantasy which is rare these days. Most of my qualms are pretty minute overall and just a matter of my own taste but for romantasy fans out there I can see them enjoying a lot more and I still gave it 4 stars.

3.5 STARS
The Starlight Heir was an enjoyable book. It wasn't a favorite, but I still was intrigued by the heroine's journey. I listened to the audiobook and really liked the narration which was mostly told from the FMC's point of view. Suraya's story was captivating and set in an interesting fictional world, but I'll admit that at times I was a little bored with the slow progression of the intrigue. The romance, mystery, magic and treachery was what ultimately kept me invested in this novel.