Thank you NetGalley and Entangled for providing me with an ARC of <i>All the Stars left Behind</i> in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist

I was on a sci-fi binge when I came across this book. I tried to find as many books that had to do with space travel, strong female characters, exciting adventures and the word “stars” in the title.

A book with a heroine, who is a little different, set in a place that in mainstream North American young adult books usually doesn’t get much attention certainly piqued my interest.

Colour me intrigued.

The Details

I thought the story started out too depressing. The mood just sucked the happiness out of me.

I can tell what the author was trying to accomplish, but it came on a little strong in the somber mood department.

I would have liked to have gotten to know the protagonist a little more before the main squeeze of the story entered her life. It took away from establishing the character on her own, independently from the boy who is supposed to add the romance.

I found the beginning was too obscure. Crucial information was not given or only hints about important details were shared with the reader, which made for a very frustrating start to the story.

It didn’t give me much reason to invest a lot of my time in getting to know more about the characters or the plot.

Generally speaking; the writing was good. There were no major grammatical errors and the narration flowed well.

The Verdict

Overall, I got a weird, heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach while I was reading this story.

I’m not sure, if the depressing tone was supposed to have been this strong and overwhelming, but it took away from me enjoying the book.

Sadly, this one wasn’t for me.

Family Bonds That Never Existed Can Still Hurt

This synopsis and cover had me wanting to find out what was in store! Unfortunately, that is where the love ended. There was so much story to be told and the premise was unique. The characters were all very different and they had such promise this could have easily been a trilogy or at minimum 300 pages more. Everything felt choppy and somewhat contradicting there were two main characters and a plethora of secondary characters that should have been fleshed out fully and polished to create a cohesive captivating read from beginning to end. Sadly, this did not occur.

The Story, like I mentioned before was unique there are two races of people vying for dominance of the other. Yet, out of nowhere we find out the good guys have done some bad things themselves. Lena is brutally tortured...she gets away and absolutely nothing comes of the entire event. It felt unnecessary, it felt as though that sympathetic situation was too harsh. Then when nothing came of it that series of events felt empty. I am a fan of insta-love, but this story of love felt a bit lacking. The reader is told how the characters feel for one and other and that was okay, but I wish Roar and Lena had some more time to find out about each other and get to know who they are. It felt long, confusing, and not tied up.

The Characters, Roar is a super-hot alien but the reader isn’t brought into the workings of who he is and why it has to be him. We get a pretty cool name towards the end explaining a little bit of it but these are the things that make this story unique. It was hard to understand why these topics were not explored deeper. Lena suffers spinal bifida her character is all the stronger for it. The synopsis states she has a major chip on her shoulder and other than the obvious wrongs in her life she really doesn’t. Lena is a very smart gal with a big heart she has experienced a lot of loss but she is moving forward with her life. Until Roar, that’s when things start going haywire. I did enjoy her quite a bit. The several secondary characters of this story were a wonderful addition unfortunately the reader doesn’t get much deeper than a layer or two. Each beautiful character had so many of their own issues it would have been nice to see some resolution for them as well.

The End, Other than the MAJOR beautiful scene where Lena has her aha moment there wasn’t much there. A promise of a threat. The world still has several unresolved issues. The threat that Lena and Roar still faced…There was some nice setup for a picture it yourself kind of ending. Unfortunately, I don’t care for endings where you insert whatever you want to happen. Ha I want an epilogue…I want all t’s crossed and i’s dotted.

My Rating

2.5 Fun and different premise. Beautiful cover. Insta - Love and I don’t know why…But, fun filled stars, nonetheless.

This was a DNF for me as I couldn't connect to the characters or the story and it just got cumbersome after one point. Sorry!

This is a good story which is spoilt by too many contradictions throughout the book and loose ends at the finish.
So although I enjoyed the story it is let down by the above.

'All the Stars Left Behind' is a new young adult science fiction novel that fans will enjoy. It's the author's debut - which I think showcases her potential and talent. The plot might not be wholly original - there's aspects that I've seen plenty of times before - but the author gives it an unique feel that sets it apart. The story is one of star-crossed lovers that fall for one another but can never (or should never) be together. In this instance, the guy is an alien and the girl is actually a weapon that can save his endangered world. There's an obvious instalove situation between Roar and Leda, the main characters. I'm not a huge fan of instant "love at first sight" - at least not at the extreme. It was really intense between them right from the beginning and doesn't ease up during the story. I have to admit that I didn't like the way their connection started - these situations always make it feel cheesy and unrealistic to me (in any situation). But as I got to know them each better and watched their relationship grow over the course of the story, I got on board. I liked seeing them work together to overcome problems and obstacles, as well as the romance - obviously. I just think it would've worked better (for me, at least) if it hadn't been so immediate and over the top. Just my opinion though - it's nothing against the book.

Another thing worth noting and is always a big deal for me as a reader, was the writing style. I'm a huge fan of the first person point of view for several reasons and I almost always believe that it's the best way to go. Unfortunately for me, the book was written in the third person POV - from alternating perspectives of Roar and Leda. Don't get me wrong - I love that the story is told from both Roar and Leda's POVs. We get to see everything that happens from each of their viewpoints, which is always a great style, in my opinion. I really wish that it had been written in the first person instead. I think I would have connected easier and deeper with each of the main characters if it was done in the first person. My experience would've been much different, most likely better. One thing I love is getting to really know a character on a deeply personal level - it allows me to slip into their world more easily and I can usually identify with the narrator better. Again - this is solely my own opinion and preference - and has nothing to do with the writing or the story. I do recommend this book to fans of YA, science fiction, fantasy, dystopian, and romance.

Got halfway through, realized I didn't care, and stopped reading. There was a lot of world-building that didn't mean anything, the characters were flat and uninteresting, and the plot "twist" regarding the weapon I saw from a mile away.

I am keeping this review short because I have been review sooo many books recently and I don't want to 'over review' myself and begin seeing it as a chore, also reviewing eats into my reading time. Anywhoos...
The story follows teenage Leda as she moves from Manhattan to Norway. I would class this as romantic sci-fi. The romance side starting pretty early in the book and the sci-fi making up the majority of the second half... a tale of two halves.

I found large parts of the book a bit vague and rushed; I would have like more build up to the love story and more background into the 'aliens'. There were just so many things happening it all became a bit rushed and muddled.

However, I loved that the book addresses more serious themes;
Grief
Disability
Emotional neglect
LGBT+

I really enjoyed the supporting cast and they definitely distracted from the unfolding Insta-love.
Overall it was a good read. I did enjoy the book it was a light, run read, however with small amounts of tweaking it could have been improved massively.
Overall it was a 2.5 STAR read.

**3.5 Stars**

Leda has just lost her beloved father to cancer and now her whole life has been uprooted by her distant mother, dropping her with her Grandmother and uncle, who she did not even know existed. While living with her newly discovered family, she meets her uncles employee Roar, a strange boy that she is instantly drawn to. Strange things keep occurring to Leda, like seeing things that nobody else sees like shadow people, and the odd encounters between her and Roar, where time goes missing whenever they touch. Just when she feels like she is starting to get a grasp on her new life, a bomb is dropped and nothing is what Leda thought it was.

I love alien stories and pretty much anything with space travel so I was really interested in reading this version. It did not hurt that the cover was eye catching, and we all know I am a sucker for a good cover. I can honestly say this book was a very unique plot with an alien search party, pretending to be refuges from another planet seeking shelter on earth, but in actuality they are searching for a weapon to save their people. The book took place on earth as well as outer space, with the crew facing one challenge after another from all kinds of space attacks and human surprises. This story was a nice mix of space/supernatural technology and adventures, mystery, danger (creepy space tentacles? yes please) and a forbidden love thing going. I could not predict what would happen next, Ashley Graham kept me on my toes with each dangerous turn thrown at Leda.

The story alternated between Roar and Leda, both so important to the mission and the story. I am such a fan of dual narration in my romance books, and this was no exception. My favorite part of Roar was the fact that Leda was disabled never even was a thought. To Roar, she was a beautiful, competent and smart girl who he wanted to get close to at any opportunity- her crutches and spina bifida did not exist to him. So sure, Leda had a physical disability, but nobody treated her as such (except for herself at times) instead they expected her to be capable of great things and brushed off what she felt she was not capable of. I was not sure how her physical status would play into the storyline, but it was well played where a girl with a disability can save the world- no haters here. Both Leda and Roar are well developed characters, enough so that I could connect and empathize with everything they go through. The side characters were just as important to the story, such as Leda's family and Roar's crew, helping to create a fully fleshed out world.

The one thing that I struggled with a little was the transitions in the story, especially at the beginning of the book. The narration of the book alternates between Roar and Leda, but it never indicated when, so it would switch randomly during a chapter and took a few sentences for me to catch up. Also, the story jumped around, like things were missing, so I would re-read parts to see if I accidentally skipped it, but nope, it was just not there. For example, Leda was about to finish making dinner for everyone, had an intense confusing moment with Roar, and then went to bed... I guess dinner was over? Did time jump too, and the people she was cooking for did not feel the need to eat or come look for her if she was missing for hours? And she disappeared in front of her uncle, who didn't notice she physically vanished (if that is what happened...I really am not sure). There were some other times like that where things did not match up with what was previously happening or other things just were left out making me feel like I was missing parts of the book. Sure, they were not the most needed or interesting parts, but it drove me a little insane with how choppy the delivery was near the start of the story.


This was a great first book by this author, and I would gladly read whatever else she creates and releases on the world. The way the story ended wrapped up the book, but it left plenty of wiggle room for more Roar-Leda adventures to come, so I look forward to another space adventure to really end the war...and for them to be together... Hope that was not too spoilery, but I have hopes for what will come next. I enjoyed the story regardless of the choppy transitions at the start of the book and I flew through the pages in a single sitting. This is the perfect read for anyone who likes aliens, space and space-technology, forbidden romance and adventure.

I received this title in return for my honest review. Visit my blog at http://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ to take part in the blog tour.

This did not catch my attention. Nothing wrong with book just had no trouble putting it down for something I liked better. Thank you for letting me try.

I won't actually give this a rating because, for the moment, I'm going to shelve this under DNF. I just couldn't get past the Instalove and lack of compelling plot. Maybe in the future I'll come back and try again.

All the Stars Left Behind is Ashley Graham’s debut novel and is a rich intergalactic sci-fi novel that will appeal to fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Lux series with its romance, action and characterisation.

After the recent loss of her father, Leda Lindgren finds herself relocating to Norway to live with her estranged uncle and grandmother. Starting over in a new country would be hard for anyone, but with Leda suffering from spina bifida and a chip on her shoulder, this icy Arctic is far from a winter wonderland. Miserable and still grieving, everything changes for Leda when she meets her uncle’s gorgeous and mysterious employee, Roar. Entranced by Roar’s moving tattoos and drawn to him for reasons she can’t understand, Leda knows there’s more to Roar than meets the eye. Roar knows the last thing he should be thinking about is the beautiful but sad human girl he can’t seem to get out of his head. Part of a small group sent from his home planet of Aurelis to Earth in an effort to find a weapon capable of saving his people from a relentless enemy, Roar has a duty to his crew and his mission to find the weapon whatever the cost. Yet when it comes to light that Leda is the weapon Roar has been searching for, will his desire to be with her stop him from doing what has to be done? And Leda be able to accept her destiny to save an entire alien race?

Launching readers into a sci-fi YA full of aliens, romance and action, All the Stars Left Behind was an easy to read tale that unfolded well and managed to tick all the boxes. Ashley Graham won me over with the intriguing space world she created and the way she wove the characters and their relationships with each together.

I liked the characters within the story from Leda and Roar to Leda’s uncle and grandmother to Roar’s teammates Oline, Petrus and Stein. They complimented each other well and supported the story. Without giving away any spoilers, I have to say I was really surprised and intrigued by one revelation revolving one of Roar’s teammates and am keen to see what Ashley Graham does with this in the future.

Admittedly I did struggle early on with the fast, intense way that Leda and Roar fell for one another and the power behind their feelings. It just seemed to come on too fast, too strong for my likings to be believable. That being said, there was a reason behind this intensity that was explained by Graham as the novel progressed. Who and what they were had an impact on the attraction they felt and as such it went a long way to support the intensity of their feelings. Personally I’m just over insta-love and can’t stand to see these in books nowadays as I feel it cheapens and lessens the romance.

The ending of All the Stars Let Behind seemed a little anti-climactic and forced for my taste—too easy if I’m being honest. I’m not sure if this tale is meant to be a standalone or part of a series as All the Stars Left Behind ended in a way that could have been either. Personally I think Ashley Graham should explore the world a bit more and I’ll be looking for updates on future books.

Overall, for a few issues I had with All the Stars Left Behind, I did enjoy it. It was a solid read with a beautiful cover that entranced and entertained. I’m keen to see what Ashley Graham does next and will be keeping my eye out!

Although the book was something I've read before in other series, I liked how strong Leda was. She has the attitude of a strong-willed character and does not back down easily. The missing star goes to the insta-love. I like the theme of aliens in YA when used good but I couldn't help but get Twilight vibes with this one.

If you like a good alien type book with some action and romance, then this is the book for you.

DNF. The writing was boring, there was info dumping, and insta-love happened almost immediately.

I recently finished All the Stars Left Behind by Ashley Graham, and I've got to say that overall, I liked it! There were some parts that I was kind of iffy about, but, by the end, it was pretty good.

Firstly, I think I liked how action packed the book got at times. During the beginning, the book was a bit slow for my taste. But once something actually happened, I was fully engrossed in the story. And trust me, a lot does happen in this book. Almost to the point where it's unreal. But I think it manages to jampack everything that could happen while not being too dramatic. Plus, the book would do a nice job of explaining any raised questions that readers might have right away. 

As for the characters, for the most part, I really liked the ones that were fully fleshed out, like our protagonists, Leda and Roar. Without thinking about pairings or whatnot, I really admired Leda's ability to stay strong and sensible, even with everything that's been going on. Even at times where she'd doubt herself or want nothing more than to follow her desires, she doesn't, because she knows there is more at stake. Plus, I like the way the author treats her disability in the novel, not something to be overlooked but at the same time, it doesn't limit Leda's potential to be a hero at all. The only problem I had with her was her link to Roar. While it was explained away and everything, I still kind of felt like it was too instalovey for me. I have few exceptions for instalove, and this wasn't one of them... Other than that instalove and the amount of time it would take to get from one POV to the others, I really liked reading about our main characters.

Well, that's all I have to say about All the Stars Left Behind by Ashley Graham. I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind instalove and is in the mood for a good Sci-Fi read!

3.5 out of 5 stars

All The Stars Left Behind by Ashley Graham is a YA Sci-Fi story filled with aliens, mystery, adventure and romance.

The novel is about Leda Lindgren who has moved to Norway to live with her uncle and grandmother after her father passes away and her mother decides she doesn't want anything to do with her.

Born with spina bifida, Leda already has insecurities and now with her mother sending her to her only family in Vardø, Norway, she has a major chip on her shoulder. Luckily, when she moves to Norway, she ends up making friends with Nils and has an instant attraction to her uncle's gorgeous and mysterious employee, Roar.

Roar is an Aurelite. An alien from Aurelis sent to Earth with three others to look for the weapon that can save their planet that is under attack by the Woede. He can't afford distractions especially in the form of a human he can't help but be drawn to.

When danger arises and Leda is caught in the crosshairs, Roar finally realizes that Leda is the weapon he has been searching for all along. Now he has to protect her and get her to Aurelis before his enemies get to them first.

I love alien stories and tv shows like Roswell, Star-Crossed, or Colony. So when I first read the synopsis for All the Stars Left Behind, the idea of an ordinary human girl finding out that she is the weapon an alien race needed to save their planet sounded interesting and caught my attention. As a debut sci-fi YA novel about aliens, spaceships, and out of this world creatures, Ms. Graham's novel hit its marks and with the mix of action and moments of suspense, the story of Leda and Roar moved right along.

Where I think All The Stars Left Behind may have fell short, at least for me, is from trying to do too much, in a way. This is especially seen amongst the characters and turning points within the story. Nevertheless, Ms. Graham kept my interest throughout and there were scenes that I enjoyed.

Overall, All the Stars Left Behind by Ashley Graham is a good novel that I recommend based on it's potential and its simple enjoyability as a sci-fi romance.

(I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book I received for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.)

2 Stars

This is a genre (YA/Sci-fi) that I don't read often, but truly enjoy when I do. Unfortunately, All the Stars Left Behind was an exception and a difficult read for me. The story had a great premise and potential, but I struggled with various points in the execution. Throughout the story, I felt like there could have been more details or detailed writing. In the first few chapters, especially, there were whiplash inducing scene changes where I was left feeling lost and confused. Many times I had to re-read the previous paragraph to check if I had missed something vital. The lack of details created choppy transitions in the story and disrupted the entire reading flow. Also, while the book was an unusually slow read for me, the story's time frame was lightning fast. I'm not bothered by the insta-love between the two main characters, but with the pacing, some statements and actions didn't make sense to the time that they occurred. This pacing also made it difficult for me to connect with the characters and the story overall. After the 50% mark the story picked up exponentially. Personally, I didn't care for the direction and how it played out, but the story and flow improved.

Since this is clearly my subjective opinion, I was vague with my own details so not to spoil anything for the next reader.

***2.5/5 Stars***
All the Stars Left Behind had so much promise! The premise was uniquely fascinating, the characters stood out and were original, and the parts about space travel and science blew my mind. There was so much about this book that I loved. Yet there’s a huge but. It felt as though I was reading a beta copy. Which means, I kept finding scenes that contradicted itself, moments where the ball was dropped, and things weren’t always fleshed out or made sense. I don’t think I’ve ever re-read so many scenes just to figure out what was going on. It was frustrating, because I wanted to enjoy the story. Yet I found myself making a huge list of notes in regards to all of the issues. And I’ve never done that before, unless I’m beta reading. So if you’re not as picky as me, in regards to follow through and details, then you could have a lot of fun reading this book! But if you want to take a peek at the list of issues I had with this book, then you can continue on below. But be warned, there are spoilers since I talk about the problems in that corresponding chapter.

✩✮✩✮✩ Spoilers Below✩✮✩✮✩

Chapter 1

Uncle Arne tells Leda and Nils that he could use their help in his shop. Yet when she gets out there, he never asks for her help.

Chapter 2

Roar states – “He’d rather lie and work with the humans than become like the Woede.” So how is his situation on Earth different than the Woede’s situation on Earth? We aren’t told anywhere in the book how the Woede’s situation is worse. Our does he just not want to be similar to the Woede in any way? It wasn’t clear.

Chapter 4

Roar made Leda and himself move from the shop to her house. One, we’re never explained how Roar made that happened. Two, she just drops it. Down the road, she questions about him appearing in front of a different house, but she never questions what happened between the two of them. Also, the next time they hang out she doesn’t even mention it.

Chapter 5

Oline complains about Stein pulling a disappearing act in public. That he’s taking risks. Later on in the chapter Roar says “none of us are getting drunk and blowing cover.” YET Roar and Petrus just did the exact same thing, blowing cover, at the end of Chapter 4!

I don’t understand why they had to drug Petrus and Roar’s guardian. This isn’t explained to us. Why couldn’t they just tell him they’re missing a friend and will be out looking for him? Or is there an instance in the past where their guardian didn’t grant them much freedom? Why did they have to take the drug route?

Oline was so hot in the spaceship that she stripped down to her bra and underwear. Then pages later it mentions her pulling a blanket up to her chin. If she’s cold then why wouldn’t she put back on her clothes? I don’t understand her actions, especially since it never mentions her grabbing a blanket.

While I love that we got to be in both of their heads, and it doesn’t bother me that sometimes we’re a few chapters with Leda before we go back to Roar, the transition felt choppy since I never know who we’re going to be with. There’s no notice to who we are with. Plus you never know if the next chapter is a continuation of the previous scene or if time has passed.

Chapter 8

Why was Charlie hiding in the closet with Leda? Why wouldn’t they be out in the open? He knows Roar or Petrus will be coming home, so why hide in the closet?

Chapter 10

Roar calls her defective when talking to Leda’s mom. It would have been better to say something like ‘you think your daughter is defective’. That way the word isn’t associated with making Roar look horrible, but instead would just make her mom look horrible.

Her Grandma hints that she shouldn’t get close to Roar. But then down the road, everyone is shocked about what happens with both of their bloods when combined. And that seems like the reason they can’t be together. So is that the reason her Grandma says she shouldn’t get close to Roar? Beause if so, she never confirms she knew it. And if not, she never once tells Leda the reason behind her statement.

Her blood changed color because she came into close contact with Roar. Why? Is it because of their genetics and what they are to each other? Or is it because he’s the same type of alien as her? If so, her Grandma and Uncle are new aliens to her, so why wouldn’t they activate it? There’s no explanation for this phenomenon.

They talk about Nils being a bargaining chip, yet they never use him when they’re desperate down the road. No one mentions it once when they’re trying to figure out what to do. And Nils is barely even mentioned on the ship in the future too, which felt a little strange since him and Leda became good friends.

Chapter 11

Contradictory statements – Roar couldn’t be alone with Leda without her Grandma or Uncle right behind him, then the next page it states that he’s there with her all night alone, with no mention of her Grandma or Uncle checking in or being right behind him.

Chapter 12

How is the spaceship not captured or controlled by the government? Because in Chapter 14 Leda’s mom and the interrogation person have no problem finding them up in the sky.

Also, I know they came to Earth on an escape pod, so is that how they all got up to the spaceship? Neither of those were explained. (Just found answer, explained in Chapter 23….. that’s quite a long time to wait to find out)

Chapter 14

Petrus asks to talk to Roar in private, so Roar has Stein take over the ship so he’s free, but then he walks away to find Leda. Petrus’ request was forgotten. Also, what did he want to warn Roar about Leda? He doesn’t bring it up again.

Chapter 15

She never asked how her being a weapon worked, that sat a little weird with me.

Chapter 21

How did another ship get out of their planet if there was a web all around it not allowing anyone to get out.

We were never explained why Tulva tortures Leda. Yes, Tulva says she wants answers, but she never asked Leda questions. What was the point of torturing then?

Chapter 22

Their whole mission was to find Leda and bring her back. So these words seem off –

“Oline wanted to head back to Aurelis. Abandon Leda and Stein to whatever fate they faced. Deep down, Roar knew it was the right thing to do, but returning home without the weapon meant they’d lost.”

How can it sit right with him when she’s his mission? I can’t see how their planet needing them is above bringing back the weapon – aka completing their mission.

Chapter 27

Toorn stated –

“Activating the weapon doesn’t simply destroy the Woede, you know. Or perhaps no one mentioned that? Aurelites and Woede, we are connected in ways you might never imagine. Are you prepared to make that kind of sacrifice?”

But what doesn’t make sense is that that he’s taken over their planet and is killing people there. So how does that work……he can murder many, but not all and his race will still be okay?

Chapter 28

It wasn’t very clear, but if she’s out in space without a suit and she’s with Roar (he has a suit on), then how did she not die? Wouldn’t she run out of oxygen?

ashley graham's debut, all the stars left behind, introduces us to leda lindgren. she's recently moved to norway to live with her uncle and grandmother after her father died and her mother went awol. she's not all that excited about living in a new place. and meeting new people. especially since she can expect awkward stares and teasing once she explains her medical condition of spina bifida.

when she meets roar, it's like time stands still.

roar isn't like other boys. he's not from planet earth for one thing. he's been sent to find a weapon for another. and when leda turns out to be the weapon he's looking for all bets are off. it appears that his elders and hers have left a whole lot of information out of their stories. and as drawn as roar and leda are to one another, not just romantically, but genetically, being together could kill them. it could destroy entire species of aliens.

as leda and roar race against time, the woede, the different government agencies who want to conduct interrogation and experiments on them, and the traitors in their midst, their connection deepens and grows beyond anything either of them ever expected. leda always imagined that the only thing people could see when they saw her were her crutches. but roar sees beyond that. he sees her beauty and her intelligence and the light that glows within. that light sets him aglow too.

so they have battles to fight, a war to win, peace to broker. not a big ask for two teenagers in crazy love with each other and forbidden from consummating it. the book doesn't solve every one of their problems. in fact, one thing i liked about the book is how it didn't take easy shortcuts when it came to fixing things. there are a couple of opportunities where the author could have given leda an easy out as to her disability. even though life isn't like that, this is science fiction. the impossible should be possible. in this case though, it means something that it's not.

ALL THE STARS LEFT BEHIND wasn't exactly the book I thought it was going to be and unfortunately in this case, that wasn't a good thing.

I was just plain bored, confused or felt like I was missing something through most of ALL THE STARS LEFT BEHIND. It was like the author was so busy trying to fit in as much diversity in the characters as possible that she forgot that the book also needed a plot. I did actually like the characters, but without a strong story they kinda just floundered to me.

There were a lot of things that weren't explained that seemed like big deals. Leda's necklace for instance. Her father gave it to her before he died and told her to never take it off. We never find out why. There are more, but the necklace was the first thing that popped up. There were also a lot of things that took place that didn't make sense or were contradicted by other events. We find out that Leda and Roar's blood supposedly turns into poison when mixed, but they gave Roar's blood to Leda earlier in the book to save her?

After all the other issues I had throughout ALL THE STARS LEFT BEHIND, there was the ending. I have no clue if a second book is planned, but if there isn't the less than satisfying ending was even less satisfying. I'm giving ALL THE STARS LEFT BEHIND 2 stars, because I did finish it, but it wasn't for me.

I gave it 2/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I have to applaud Ashley Graham for including a heroine, who has a disability, into a Sci-Fi novel. More times than not, disabilities are only included in books where they are the central focus, and so they are usually dramas/tear jerkers. There were times I wasn't sure if it was realistic or not (like guys only showed interest in the main character, Leda, until they saw her crutches), but I've never had a physical disability, so I'm not one to talk. Maybe guys are really that shallow (though, I would like to think that they aren't.)

As for the story itself. I liked the premise. I like the idea of a normal, every-day, person secretly harboring the ability to be a weapon strong enough to save an entire planet--and not even knowing it. That is such an awesome idea. Unfortunately, it was better in theory, than in practice.

The plot was ok, though the ending was quite confusing for me. What really made this novel hard to read, though, was the relationship between Leda and Roar ( I love his name, by the way). The first time they meet, Roar catches Leda before she falls and he holds her while they stare into each other's eyes--for a ridiculously long time. And it only gets worse from there. There is no build up to this relationship, they are just automatically all over each other, all the time. I get it, she's the weapon and he's genetically made to be drawn to the weapon. But whether or not they are drawn to each other through no fault of their own...it needed to be done differently. And because the story seems to hinge around their relationship and not as much around the 'save the world' premise, it made me feel like everything else fell a part because of it.

I really liked the supporting characters, for the most part, and they added a lot to the story. One of my favorites is deaf, so kudos to Ashley for bringing in more diversity, but they are overshadowed by Leda and Roar and lose the effectiveness they could have brought to the story.

So, even though I feel like it had potential to be good, I'm going to have to give it 2 out of 5 Stars

*Has some sexual innuendos, and some vulgarity*