Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 620 pages
Author: Imani Erriu
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: February 14th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

“I defy the stars.”

In a world where no entities exist but the Stars, cruel and merciless gods that watch over the world, Elara has been cursed by fate. A prophecy that promises she will fall for a Star, and it will kill them both.
But when one descends to wreak havoc on Elara’s Kingdom, she is forced to flee into the arms of her enemy in the neighbouring country.
As she learns more about her own magic, and the depth of the Stars’ deceit, she also finds herself learning more about the country she is forced to take refuge in, and the enemy prince forced to train her into a weapon.
Something dark brews within her, a power made of night and shadows that begs to be broken free.

DO I READ BOOK TWO?

I’m so conflicted. I’m aware I gave this four stars, but it’s a confusing thought process to get here.

I thought that this was an easy read. It’s 600 pages and honestly, most of it flies right by. I love that. I loved the found family aspects and the side characters shown well. The romance grew on me and I felt very much invested by the end.

BUT. Okay, WHERE WAS THE PLOT? I know the whole idea is that she’s been ousted from her kingdom and needs to win it back, but that never really got going?? I can’t believe I’ll say this, it felt like there was too much romance and the rest of the story to fill everything out was missing. The antagonist was weak and I wasn’t connected with the heart of Elara and Enzo’s character arcs. [I did love Enzo though].

Now the meddling gods were great. That is one of my favorite fantasy tropes. And even when you could see it coming I loved the way the fated romance played out. I’m genuinely curious what will happen next, and at the same time, not sure I should keep going?!

Overall audience notes:

• Fantasy Romance
• Language: some strong
• Romance: 3-4 open; high explicit
• Violence: high
• Trigger/Content Warnings: torture, loss of life, murder, weapons violence, magical violence, nightmares, child abuse, executions

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