An Accident of Stars is a captivating and rich portal fantasy set in an intriguing world filled with unexpected trials.

I adore Foz Meadow’s writing style and was completely swept away into Kena. I fell in love with Saffron and had my heart completely shattered when reading this book. We effortlessly float across various pov’s which allowed the reader to become fully immersed in this fascinating world. I will say that it may be confusing for some readers, but I found once you are in the story it is easy to become swept away and follow the narrative.

I can’t wait to read the next installment and would definitely recommend this to lovers of world walker fantasies.

I received this book as a re-released ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An Accident of Stars takes on an Alice in Wonderland storyline where a young girl disappears into another world and tremendous adventure ensues.

While I enjoyed the imaginative nature of the plot and the world building that included politics, magic, religion, world walking, and language and culture, I did struggle quite a bit with how consistently the POV switched with no warning and no clear differentiation on which characters view point you were in paragraph to paragraph. It made it hard to follow and even harder to get into as I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out which character we were present with in the current moment.

There were captivating plot points and by the time I hit about 80% into the book I truly cared to know how it would resolve and liked the character growth but am not sure if I will finish the series.

3.5 stars overall.

A pretty cool portal fantasy with a women-centric queer-normative world and quite a bit of action/violence.

I enjoyed a lot of here, but there were things that didn't quite work for me as well.

What I liked:
- most of the characters are women, all different, all with their own stories and flaws
- loved the world-building: the politics, the languages, the religions (played a huge part in the story and I really liked it), the landscapes and, most importantly, the relationships
- loved the representation, especially bi, poly (polyamorous marriages are the norm, and I would have loved to get more scenes that show how they function) and aro (one of the main characters is aromantic and she is a great example of how to handle aro characters well); one of the supporting characters is trans as well - and she was one of my favourite characters even before the reveal, but I kind of wish the reveal was handled differently
- a lot of great side characters (Yena, Pix and Matu were awesome, wish there was more of them)

What didn't connect with me, personally:
- multiple POVs: I enjoy books with multiple POVs but here the switches from one character to another didn't feel as smooth perhaps
- the ending (I know it isn't a real ending as there's more in the series, but as it was - it felt a little off or maybe a little hollow, I am not sure how to explain it properly)

Overall, a solid if a little flawed read with interesting characters and great world-building.

P.S. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.
This portal fantasy drew me right in! I loved the cast of characters, and the epic fantasy vibes of this story. While there were parts where I found this book a little slow (especially the middle portion), overall this is a fantastic adventure!

What a world of magic! Worldwandering and sleeptalking (not in the way you ould think) with gods and sacrifices.

We meet our main character, Saffron, in this adventure. Your average, yet braver high school girl, tired of the boy that is harassing the girls.

A strange woman stops a situation, and in an effort to see and talk to her again, Saffron looks for this stranger and finds her... as she is leaving this world...
What would you do? Saffron jumps in the rift after the stranger! Wow, I am not so sure I would do the same. A brave girl, that one.

“Apathy breeds more evil than defeat. Keep fighting!"

Down she fell, no rabbitthole here. Into the city of Karavos.

Now, this is where her journey begins. Strange beings, animals, and customs, all different from the world she is from.

Little does she know about the dangers lurking. From The square of Gods to the trials beyond freezing waters to kings that makes it all worse.

“...and the debt of her ignorance chilled her."

What a ride! 🐎🐎🐎
I enjoyed the characters as I got to know them better, the surprises for better or for worse. This new world is interesting to me, I might just return with the next book.😊

Excellent storytelling, well plotted, an entertaining story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Well done, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The cover and premise really drew me and as soon as I started to read I just couldn’t stop. Very enjoyable. I will definitely be continuing with the series.

Portal fantasies remain popular in fantasy fiction, but there’s the need and want to do something that bit different with them. An Accident of Stars differentiates itself well, firstly by being very much a book for adults, gender-swapping a lot of the traditional fantasy roles, offering decent representation, and mostly that our main character is not ‘the Chosen One’ or the lynchpin of the story.

As refreshing as that is, it does mean that the focus is a little more diluted between Saffron, from the ‘real’ world – our chance to see the fantasy realm of Kena through her eyes – and the rather more interesting character of Gwen, with a few others in the mix, too. Gwen, it turns out, is also from our world, but has spent most of her life in Kena. There is a balance between the tale told from older and younger viewpoints, wide-eyed newbie versus old hand, but I suspect the reader’s own age will lend a preference to one side of the story or the other.

The world-building is very well done, throwing us into a political conflict that pits not just two sides against each other, but also side factions with vested interests. We get to see palace life, but more of the ‘ordinary’ folk, as well as religious sects and strange mystics. It’s a rich backdrop, for sure. Is it too much? Hmm. I wouldn’t want to remove any of it, but it’s a lot for one set-up and doesn’t make for the easiest time getting into things, either as a reader or just getting the story up to pace. Once it gets further along the balance is a bit better, although I did then find the switching between characters could feel just a little jarring.

Now, a few bigger complaints, I’m afraid. I suppose in the main I just didn’t wholly take to the character of Saffron – the young lead. She’s a little bit of a passenger, plot-wise – but, far far better that the cliched ‘chosen one’, I suppose. It might have worked if not for the contrast to Gwen – and I think I would have preferred to have the whole thing from Gwen’s perspective, which probably just outs me as ‘old’ 😉 It just seemed more interesting, though, to have someone with life experience.

I also very nearly put the book down very early on due to some rather too-casual violence – it came across as giving Saffron some ‘life experience’ in the most brutal way. I’m not overly squeamish, usually, but losing body parts for so pointless a reason just felt beyond cruel, and I’d rather it was something less… permanent? Even for a fictional character. On the other hand, I hear that the second volume – A Tyranny of Queens – will pick up with said aftermath, and it’s going to be one thing that can’t be brushed over.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this and I will eventually pick up the sequel. The world-building is rich, the story interesting, and I enjoyed the feminist take on high fantasy. But, it suffers perhaps from a little too much ambition, squeezing in a lot of good things but not giving a lot of them enough time. It also feels like something I would have enjoyed more at a younger age, but with a few too many adult themes – be that the aforementioned violence, or relationships of ‘different’ types – to be wholly aimed there.

This and the sequel are both available now, and writing this review does make me want to pick up the latter and see how the whole story together alters my view, any. Recommended? Sure – if it sounds appealing, you’ll find a lot to like, even if it didn’t hit 100% for me.

I am a sucker for portal fantasies so having a multi-verse that sucks you in is a treat. A seasoned traveler and a fish out of water teen, Meadows packs this novel with magic, society and politics. If you adore exploring new worlds which are well thought out this book is for you, packed with diverse characters.

I really loved that this story managed to be exciting and adventurous without creating stakes so high that it felt stressful. A fun read!

A super fun portal fantasy in which world walkers can travel through the multi-verse. Our two main characters- one a seasoned traveller and another a teen who accidentally follows her through end up in a fantasy world in which magic is real and society and culture is different. I adored the world created, with its magic, society and politics. If you adore exploring new worlds which are well thought out this book is for you, packed with diverse characters.

I wanted to like this but I had a hard trying to get into this story. I think I decided that it wasn’t for me and that’s alright.

Truly engaging in every way. Loved the lead because she was complicated and imperfect. I need that in my fantasy and science fiction. I’m excited to read more from this author.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, but sadly it was a DNF for me. It's entirely my fault! I couldn't seem to engage with the writing, and the constant influx of information, history and characters became too confusing for me to fully engage with. I'll try again in future and be sure to update if the book 'clicks' with me on another go-around. Huge apologies.

A fun high fantasy book focused mostly on queer women, trans included. Two of the main characters are from Earth who ended up in this fantasy world, while some of them are locals, and there's also variety in ages and situations which made them really interesting. Seeing how differently they handle situations was great, and also how they can be complex, like Viya is clearly kinda racist because she's young and she grew up in that environment, but hopefully she'll work on it.

There's normalized polyamory and female sexuality - explicitly it is said that there's no equivalent word to "vixen" in the local language because female sexuality isn't scandalous like it is on Earth. There's also a lot of politics and religious worldbuilding between two nations. I especially liked how the names were handled, and how it differed between Kena and Veksh.

I was a bit disappointed by the ending, it felt like a story being cut short when it was really just beginning. But I'm curious to see what Saffron will do next.

Give me all the portal fantasy books! This book was so refreshing to read! It was the perfect book to read in between some of my more intensely dark books. This book made me feel the way a lot of portal fantasies make me feel...which is to say hopeful and happy! I recommend this book if you like portal fantasies, queer characters, and adventure stories that have high stakes, but don't stress you out. I guess I'd consider this a cozy portal fantasy!
This is also a great time to get into this work because the next book in the series is set to be traditionally published in May!

The cover really attracted me to this book, I've only been reading fantasy for about a year and wow I've been missing out.
I really liked the feminist slant to this book, filled with strong women of all ages and backgrounds working together in an alternate dimension to earth.
It contains a fair bit of violence but also love, relationships, politics and more.
I think the book really captured my heart on what an adventure it would be to be transported to another dimension.
I look forward to reading more from Foz Meadows.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows is a third person multi-POV Queer portal fantasy. When Saffron follows Gwen, an Earth woman who hasn’t returned to Earth in a while, through a portal into a very different world, she’s not prepared for all the things she’s going to have to deal with.

One of the things I thought was very cool was how the Queernorm aspects included polyamory and made it a very normal part of the world. It’s still very uncommon to find polyamory in fantasy unless it’s a triad and we follow the relationship as it grows but there’s very few, if any, other examples within the text. Queernorm worlds should include polyamory as a possibility and structures that allow or even favor it.

I liked how part of the dynamic between Saffron and Zech is based in Zech teaching Saffron about this new world while Saffron is also teaching Zech her language. There’s some linguistics stuff, which is always fun, and there’s a lot that Saffron needs to learn very quickly at various points. Zech calls Saffron ‘Safi’ because she can’t form the sounds needed to pronounce Saffron’s given name, and that is such a nice touch.

Content warning for depictions of sexual assault

I would recommend this to fans of portal fantasy looking for Queernorm worlds and readers looking for a fantasy with rich worldbuilding

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!!

A queer portal fantasy and the first novel in a new series, Saffron Coulter must decide where her allegiances lie in a mystical world on the brink of ruin. Relying on the help of a myriad of interesting women with their own agendas and goals, she strives to make the most of this chance at heroism. Stumbling into a mess far beyond her capabilities—a civil war is decimating the land of Kena—Saffron isn't the Chosen One, but she still wants to help save as many people as she can.

Just who will she side with and how?

Our secondary lead Gwen Vere is a middle aged freedom fighter and fellow travler between worlds. A bit jaded by past failures trying to free the land of Kena, she still does her best to encourage others to stand and fight. Keeping both her family and regrets close to the chest, will she be able to fix any of her mistakes before causingnfurther harm to the world she's come to view as her own?

Lovers of the isekai genre and roleplaying games, you'll likely have a delightful time exploring Kena. The cast is almost exclusively comprised of women, which is a lovely change of pace. In many popular high fantasy novels/series we're lucky to have two named female characters who impact the plot in any manner beyond just fucking the male lead or dying...

I'm not quite sure what age range this novel is aiming for, as we bounce primarily between two POV with a smattering of others for additional context. Each feels like it was written for the age range represented: with a more YA lens for Saffron and an adult focus for Gwen.

I don't know if this was intentional or not to appeal to a wider audience, but the rapid shifting between the two could be jarring at times. It's possible to write a teenage lead and still feel like the novel should be shelved in the adult fantasy section and vice versa so this was a bit of an odd choice in my opinion. It didn't fully ruin the experience for me, but did mess with pacing and tension a few times.