This book is a Not For Me title. I mark titles with competitive qualitative content NFM when I find the content personally disinteresting or the writing style to be dissonant to my preferences.

Marked overall as 3 because, while I randomize checks for qualitative markers I do not read anywhere near enough of the book to give either more or less than that rating and a blank rating is not an option.

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Starborn in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist
Starborn by Lucy Hounsom is a gripping and imaginative fantasy novel that takes readers on a thrilling adventure through a beautifully crafted world of magic, mystery, and danger. The novel follows the journey of Kyndra, a young girl who discovers that she has the power to control the elements and that she is destined to play a crucial role in the fate of her world.

The Details
Hounsom's writing is both descriptive and engaging, bringing to life a rich and detailed world that is full of unique cultures, magical creatures, and powerful forces. The characters are also well-developed, with Kyndra in particular standing out as a strong and determined protagonist who grows in strength and confidence as the story progresses.

The plot of Starborn is full of twists and turns, with unexpected revelations and surprising developments keeping the reader engaged throughout. Hounsom does an excellent job of balancing action and suspense with quieter moments of character development and introspection, creating a narrative that is both exciting and emotionally resonant.

One of the strengths of the book is its exploration of themes such as destiny, identity, and power. Kyndra's struggle to come to terms with her abilities and her role in the world is a powerful and relatable story that will resonate with many readers. At the same time, the novel's portrayal of complex political machinations and the consequences of power add depth and nuance to the story.

The Verdict
Overall, Starborn is an excellent debut novel that is sure to delight fans of fantasy and adventure. With its well-crafted world, engaging characters, and exciting plot, it is a must-read for anyone looking for a thrilling and thought-provoking tale of magic and destiny.

A decent read, being a debut novel. It is a traditional epic fantasy with a YA tone to it. I enjoyed reading it. The pacing was good, and the narrative easy to follow. There is awesome magic, action, and well-rounded characters written with depth and nuance. There is a coming-of-age feel to the story, as it follows the journey of a young lady from her idyllic life to a life of adventure, power, and the attempts of saving the world from destruction.

The worldbuilding was pretty solid. I liked the concept of 'breaking' in which natural(?) disasters strike the world without any premonition and leave havoc in its wake. The most interesting thing of the book is the magic system, which is ingenuous and fantastic in a sort of far-fetched manner. The people who wield powers are called wielders, and they derive their power from the sun, the moon, and the stars. I'm intrigued by the way in which Hounsom has created the concept of 'Starborn'. And, if one carefully analyses, one will notice that the names and powers of stars are developed after the Norse concept of Runes. There is a lot unsaid left in the lore, with regards to the Rairam and the Acre, which is addressed in the second novel, and a lot is revealed about the conflict between the Sartyan empire and Solaris.

As far as fantasy goes, it was okay. The pace was a little slow for me, but the story was okay. The writing wasn't bad either. I don't know that I'll continue on with the series though.

DNF at 40%

I tried my hardest, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. Starborn was not what I imagined it to be at all. The book was very bland and vague, and contained horrible characters, I just couldn’t stand it any longer.

I knew I wouldn’t like Kyndra right from the start. I hoped that she would go through some character development, or start to learn and become a better person, but I was completely wrong. Kyndra is a very ditsy and annoying main character. I don’t want to call her stupid, but she is definitely not smart. There are multiple times in this book, where something should be common sense to Kyndra, but its like she doesn’t have any and just does the opposite of what she’s actually supposed to do. She is like the little kid that touches something after you deliberate told them not to touch it. The relationships that Kyndra makes in this story, make absolutely no sense to me. There are times where she trusts someone because she just has a good feeling, and there are other times when she befriends people she really shouldn’t have.

The pacing of this book was very bad as well. Not only was it very boring throughout 99% of what I read, but it also felt vey choppy. I found myself skipping parts to try to get to something more exciting, but there wasn’t anything more exciting.

The world-building was okay, but not the best. It was really vague and while we got a sense of the world that Kyndra was in, there werent any descriptions that made me completely visualize the scene. There are some books where it plays in your head just like a movie, and this one was not it.

Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless you like idiotic main characters and boring plot. This is one book I would definitely stay away from.

This was by no means a genre-defining novel, but it was a more than decent debut that maybe stayed a little too close to some YA/Fantasy tropes. It hit all the right notes in the pacing and was an entertaining read.

DNF @ 54%

The best way to describe this book is that it is a hot mess. It goes from a possible dystopian fantasy, to a possible quest based fantasy, to (what it actually is) epic fantasy.

Now maybe you're thinking, ohhh that sounds elaborate and I love elaborate. So do I. Except that when you build a new elaborate world you absolutely MUST build characters alongside it that your readers are dying to read about. At no time did I ever feel like I was drawn into this world or was excited about reading more of it. In fact it was the opposite, I dreaded picking it up.

<b>There are three major mistakes made in Starborn</b>:
1) Very poor characterizations. I did not hate our lead girl but I certainly didn't like her. The two travelling companions that she goes with could have been super mysterious and interesting, but instead they had stilted dialogue and just no chemistry with each other or our lead gal.

2) Plot. You must make me want to keep reading. This (generally) requires plot. There needs to be something drawing us into the story that is moving it forwards. Instead in Starborn things happen that are random, make no sense and seem to happen because it's convenient. A huge pet peeve of mine is when there is no flow to the story and things seem to happen because the author needed them to happen instead of them fitting into the story and plot.

3) Writing. While the last couple chapters I read actually had some good writing and dialogue going on; during the first 45% of Starborn it feels like Lucy Hounsom is finding her writing style and therefore it's all over the place (a hot mess). I'm shocked that TOR didn't work on this more and allowed it to be published as is.

<b>Now I know what you're thinking, but Mel if you stopped reading just as the writing was improving how do you the rest of the book isn't great?
</b>
The thing is I just don't care. Our lead gal is inconsistent and does things not because they fit her as a character but because they need to happen. Random people show up with no real purpose or semblance of reason. The world building is just strange (ancient superstition, magic, tribal living, then airships, large cities, etc); it's like Hounson couldn't decide what kind of world she was building so she threw everything into it.
I could go on but let's face it I'm just repeating myself.
Maybe if this book had started at the 40% with a short prologue or flashbacks to tell the first 40% of the story in a quick fashion I would have felt differently. But I just wasn't willing to force myself to pick this book up and pretend to care any longer than the 54% I read.

I didnt realise this was an adult fantasy when I requested it. I dont read much of that genre because I find the pace to be too slow for me. The pace in Starborn wasnt too bad. My main issue was not having any motivation to pick it up which affected my reading pace. I didnt like how some parts were really vague. Important questions werent asked and important elements were ignored. This books strongest asset was he world and the magic system. It was intriguing and the addition of the steampunk elements were a nice surprise.

Sadly, I wasnt very invested in the characters. So many characters and scenes made me angry. Not all of them bad. Some parts were suppose to make me angry, but it did make it harder for me to enjoy the story and like the characters. I didnt agree with a lot of their decisions. Going into a room for no reason after he told her not to was pretty freaking stupid. The main character seemed clueless. I like my protagonists to be a bit more resourceful and cunning. It was frustrating seeing her in denial.

I probably should have read the dreams more carefully, but they were confusing so I started skimming them. I liked the main characters friendship with Iri and how the other friendships developped, but I would have liked to see them explored more. At times the plot felt aimless without a clear direction, but there was some entertaining and intense moments. I thought about giving more examples for the issues I had but I wanted to keep this review spoiler free since the title itself is kind of spoilery. Overall this book just wasnt for me.

The book has an interesting idea. Character development and description could be worked on more, but as a young fantasy book it is okay.

Starborn... the title had me intrigued of course, after all, I am a star lover.
From the beginning, I was quite caught up in the story, picturing this fantasy land the author presents to us, reminding it a bit of the beginning of Eragon. A lot of things happening, lots of questions.
We follow the story with the eyes of Kyndra, a young girl with gifts she is slowly discovering, while her world is shattered to pieces. Of course, with this title, we, reader, know where they come from. I've waited for so long to see it finally revealed in the book!!
I have to say though that I had problems with Kyndra's character. She was very childish and stubborn to stupidity sometimes, and half the time, I wanted to shake reason and common sense in her head. She had her good moments too, but that's one of the things (the main), stopping me from giving a better grade to this book!
I really enjoyed the universe created by the author, the building of the story too, the powers coming from the Moon and Sun, the history forgotten, that was all very well done.
Another thing that was treated was the way a crowd, people's mind, can be dangerous. How people you love and lived with can turn against you, because of their narrow mind and need of reasons when catastrophes strike. The author describes quite well the problem of the old ways ruling over reason too, and warn us against the mistake of the past.
The writing was quite pleasant as well (and it's something I always pay a lot of attention to!), and I would recommend this book for any fantasy lover!

Rating: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS    

MY REVIEW:    

Firstly, I need to address the title of this book. If you are the type of person to judge a book by its cover, (everyone does this at least to some degree) you will miss out on a phenomenal book. The cover and title tend to make potential readers think this book will be about outer space and will be a sci-fi novel, however, this is not the case. Starborn is a perfect example of fantasy fiction at its finest.

I literally devoured this book. The characters are so vividly described that a picture of each of them immediately formed in my mind. Not only that, but each character has a fully imagined history that further fleshes out their believability.

This is the first book in the WorldMaker trilogy and even though this book hasn’t been released in North America yet, I am already wishing that I could get my hands on the next book in the series. I believe not only that this book is destined to become a Bestseller, but that it will also be optioned for it’s film rights.

This story has just the right amount of betrayal and dedication, fantasy, magic, history, romance, frustration,  ingenuity and truly astounding world-building which all combine to create a surefire winning combination.

Not since the Harry Potter series, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hunger Games trilogy have I encountered an author with the ability to so seamlessly craft a complex epic tale of right and wrong, of good and evil and with the ability to build an entire world from nothing but their own imagination. The name of Lucy Hounsom will soon be on the lips of North American readers and publishers all over the continent, and rightly so.

I highly recommend this book to both youth and to adults who love epic adventure stories.

This book will grab your attention from the first page and it will not let go. It is because of its ability to entrance the reader and because of the author’s incredible world-building, that I have no choice but to rate this book as 5 out of 5 Stars.  

My recommendation is to mark your calendars for August 24th and grab your copy right away since this amazing book is bound to sell out quickly.

* A special Thank You to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book.