I truly wanted to enjoy this but I ended up DNF=ing and losing interest. I somehow could not get into the world-building and characters. The connections felt a bit flat and unfortunately I was unable to finish.

“Scavenge the Stars” by Tara Sim was a great story and such an original take on a retelling of “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Definitely recommended!

I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-20 from my title feedback view!

I was *obsessed* with The Count of Monte Cristo film that released in the early 2000s (helloooo young Henry Cavill), so when I saw this is a gender swapped retelling of that story, I knew it had to check it out! I quite enjoyed this spin on the original story, and while it stuck closely to the original story in terms of direction of the story, it still felt like something new and fresh.

I love a good revenge plot and this one does some good work to get there! I would have liked to see the world building fleshed out so more—it felt as though some of the broader elements of the world were barely brushed over. However, some of the closer world building was done well! I especially enjoyed the way the merchant classes are portrayed, especially the ruthlessness of the different characters and factions. That said, Cayo is a complete cinnamon roll, you can’t convince me otherwise.

Now, I did get two of the characters mixed up for like half the book, because I was listening to the audiobook and their names sound very similar (oops 😂), but that’s on me more than anything else! I really appreciate the sexual and racial diversity in this book. At least one character is asexual, one of the protagonists is bisexual, and if I didn’t miss anything, I’m pretty positive most of the cast is people of color.

Needless to say, I recommend giving this one a shot and look forward to reading the sequel!

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I've never read or watched The Count of Monty Cristo, so maybe that's why I couldn't really connect with the story? I loved the concept and I liked when Amaya was determined to get her life back. I can't imagine living that life for 7 years, so I really admire her.

Cayo's story wasn't really interesting me that much and I found myself skimming his chapters. And because of that, I probably missed a few key points that I needed.

So sadly, this was an okay book for me, but I'm glad I got the chance to read it and I'm sure there are many readers who will love this story!

Being unfamiliar with the Count of Monte Cristo, I went into this reading it as just a novel and not a retelling. And I really enjoyed it! I can't wait to read more.

I wanted to love this book but I found myself skimming on more than one occasion. I can't even pinpoint what made me lose interest in the characters besides maybe that everyone seems like caricatures or that everything seems too predictable. I'm not sure. I wanted to love it but I dnf'd at 49%

Amaya has spent seven years indentured to a cruel ship captain who forces children to dive for pearls. She is only days away from freedom when she saves a drowning man and the captain punishes her by adding more time to her servitude. After she too almost drowns, she finds that the man she had saved earlier is ready to recruit her for a plan of revenge.

Mercado is the owner of the debtor ship that Amaya worked on and her new benefactor has his own reasons to wreak revenge on the man who abused children like Amaya. The plan is to get to Mercado through his son Cayo who has spent years drinking and gambling. Amaya is to get close to Cayo so they can take down his father, but Cayo is not the young man Amaya expected. He is struggling to be better and is unaware of his father’s dealings; now driven by a need to find treatment for his ill sister. When a newcomer, a rich Countess, arrives on the scene, Cayo and others are drawn into her circle. But as truths are revealed, the plot to get revenge becomes more complicated.

As the search for revenge proceeds, Amaya learns more about her own family and the owner of the ship. At the same time another mystery surrounds a strange virus that is causing more and more people to become sick and die. With answers come more questions and an awareness that the real story is more complicated than first thought.

Lovers of pirate stories from Young or Levenseller will be drawn to this entertaining tale from Sim.
3.5*

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection on preorder and will recommend it to students.

It's not that I didn't enjoy the beginning of this book or the characters but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. I plan on going back and reading it when I have more mental space to deal with this intense story. The normalization of LGBTQ themes was great. I would recommend this for fans of dark or rough YA adventures.

I. Loved. This. Book. Working a long con for revenge against the man she thought took everything from her, Silverfish turns from sea urchin to mysterious countess as the plot thickens and the lies pile on. I am absolutely in love with this journey of finding the truth and yourself and maybe a bit of love and romance on the way. I NEED THE NEXT ONE IMMERDIATELY, there was so much left unsaid and so many questions to ask. I do love how the author built this world and created these flawed and brilliant characters. Not one person is perfect in this story and it's so refreshing and honest. I cant wait to see where this story leads!!!!

Unfortunately was not able to finish this book, though I tried multiple times. I would put it down and when I picked it back up again found that I had forgotten things and would just start over.

I really wanted to fall in love with this one. The plot was pretty good, but when it came to the world building it was a bit confusing and flat, somethings just didnt connect in my brain. The side characters, we hardly learn anything about them. I truly believe that with a strong side character the main characters tend to have more life and the plot strengthens. I will still read the 2nd book for sure! One thing I did enjoy for sure was the dark historical atmosphere, it would have been perfect if there was a bit more interaction between characters! I recommend giving this a try for sure, maybe it will be something you fall in love with!

This book started out enjoyably, but it's ultimately a forgettable and middling adventure from an author who has written more engaging books in the past.

This was such a complex fantasy novel. I loved the character relationships and plot development. If you enjoy diverse fantasy novels this is a must read.

Scavenge the Stars is being hyped as a feminist Count of Monte Cristo, so you know I wanted in on that! And, indeed, Amaya is playing the long game to get her revenge on the man who ruined her life and destroyed her family. She returns to her home city with a shady ally, Boon, whose financial assistance allows Amaya to infiltrate high society by posing as a wealthy countess. In her cover identity, Amaya gets close to the son of the man she’s after, but in a city full of secrets and corruption, she may end up learning more than she wants to know.

I really dug the first half of this book, but when the sharp-as-nails Amaya and the tender-at-the-bone son-of-evil came together, things kind of fell apart for me. It was just too convoluted, and I found myself way more interested in the descriptions of what Amaya was wearing than in what was actually happening. I also felt like the personal edge that makes the Count of Monte Cristo so compelling was missing here — yes, totally, Amaya has every right to be angry at the people who ruined her life, but those people are kind of limp bad guy constructs — there’s nothing really personal in her desire for revenge and nobody exhibits any of the growth that ultimately makes revenge stories complicated and interesting, so it takes on a let’s-just-punch-everybody action movie feeling sometimes. And since they’re cardboard cut-out bad guys, that doesn’t even feel unreasonable. This one was a miss for me.

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim is a gender-swapped version of The Count of Monte Cristo. It reminded me a lot of the show Revenge, which was similarly modelled after the classic. Dual perspectives are included for two main characters, Amaya and Cayo. I found myself connecting more to the female protagonist, Amaya (which is pretty typical for me, so not necessarily a problem with this book). The book took me some time to settle into. This could be, in part, because I felt less connected to Cayo, and also maybe the start was a little slow, as Sim set up the world-building and all the key characters. However, once I did settle in, I found myself really engaged and by the end, I was hooked for the next in the duology. I cannot wait to read more in this world and from Sim, in general. Thank you so much to Tara Sim, Disney Book Group, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this great book!

I liked the magic system and the world building was interesting. I did have a bit of hard time figuring out that the different POV's were bouncing from past to present.

I know that will be another book because of the cliffy that this one ended on. I can't wait to see what's next.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me a complementary arc of this book.

Amaya was taken away from her family and sold off to a debtor's ship when she was really young. For seven years, she spent her days in constant torture, diving for pearls and counting the days when the debt would be finally paid off and she would earn her freedom. So, oneday when she saves a man, named Boon, from drowning, he offers her a chance to be free and get her revenge. In turn, she has to help him bring down Kamon Mercado, the man responsible for Boon's misery.

I would give this book 2.5 stars, It was really underwhelming and I did not care much about any of the characters. In fact, it took me a lot of effort to get through it. The plot itself wasn't too bad but I feel like it could have been executed better. The pacing was really slow and nothing significant happens for a long time. Characters are really important for me in any book and in this one, I just could not connect to them. They were really dull - I felt bad for them sometimes but I just could not bring myself to care enough.

Overall, this book had great potential. I just wish it were more exciting.

I’m a sucker for “Count of Monte Cristo” stories and that’s why I picked this book up. Very loosely a gender-swap of the old story, this one had so many twists and plot turns that by the time the big ending happened, the “easy out” taken disappointed me. In reading the ARC, perhaps the ending was fixed in the final version???. Otherwise, I adored the original world building and all the characters (and there were many!)