Book Review: The Agaped Bearer: Wishing Stars by Hannah Taylor Lindsey

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Middle Grade Fantasy
Length: 584 pages
Author: Hannah Taylor Lindsey
Publisher: Starnate Publishing
Release Date: July 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The most powerful force in the universe falls out of the sky and into the hands of a magicless thirteen-year-old girl. Lisa Robbie, a freckled, soon-to-be-eighth-grade girl from Keyport, New Jersey, happens upon a shooting star that isn’t merely space debris but is magic—the Agapéd Magic. This leads her to a whole new way of life where she learns she has the most powerful magic in all four galaxies, a power that the Guardians have waited 120 years for… and they are not too thrilled about it.

The only person who sees her worthy enough to wield this magic is the 700-year-old brutish Wishing Star gardener, Gaius. Still, even he won’t tell her the Agapéd’s true purpose—the purpose for Lisa’s life. Why don’t they like me having this magic? What is so special about it? Why are they keeping me and this Agapéd Magic a secret?

Curiosity takes Lisa down a path of nightmares as the Agapéd Magic begins to take a toll on her heart, and she must decide if this new way of life is worth all the pain and sorrow tagged along with it.
. . .
The Agapéd Wishing Stars is the beginning of the epic light-versus-darkness saga, a fantasy adventure perfect for those who enjoy constant tugging at their heartstrings and plenty of magical encounters.

Thank you to the author for a gifted copy.

VERY LONG.

I could see the good bones in this book. There’s some coming of age and being the chosen one and all that comes with when your thrust into something so young. I liked the learning moments and I didn’t mind the main character, Lisa, or Gaius. I liked their mentor/mentee relationship and the growth there. And the prince is cute too! I loved his addition and think that will play a much bigger role in the future books.

What brought this down for me was the length. With 600 pages and only 300-400 of those truly necessary. There were a lot of tangents and world dumping explanations. And I found myself skimming more than I wanted. The plot lost a lot of speed and I this book felt completely dedicated to Lisa working on her power, that’s it.

A mixed bag of thoughts for this one.

Overall audience notes: