The Sound of Stars offers an exciting blend of dystopian sci-fi, music, and romance, but opinions are divided. Readers loved Ellie and Morris's bond, the unique premise of forbidden books and music, and the LGBTQ+ representation. However, some found the pacing slow and the world-building inconsistent. With its mix of heartfelt moments and intriguing concepts, it's a memorable debut for fans of emotional, character-driven YA. Perfect for those seeking a story that combines humanity and hope against a backdrop of alien invasion.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read this book! I absolutely loved it and couldn't put it down! The story brought me straight into the world!

I really enjoyed the storyline in world building in the novel. I also really liked the characters. I thought this was a solid read, and I will definitely be reading more by this author.

THE ENDING LEFT ME SHOOK. The characters were the best part of the book and the story was subtle but really amazing.

Good story centered around survival and romance. The characters were interesting and had good development. Would recommend to a YA looking for extraterrestrial romance.

I think I liked this enough--I definitely loved the idea of giving out books as a rebellion, and the idea of stories and songs as hope. I didn't find the romance all that compelling, but I appreciated how gender and sexuality weren't treated as anything but facts.

DNF at 25%

The synopsis sounded interesting, but ultimately I couldn’t connect to the characters or the story.

RATING: 3/5

This book didn't draw me in, but the alien-human romance and LGBT inclusion were great highlights of this sci-fi story.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow, 400 pages. Harlequin Teen (Inkyard Press), 2020. $14.
Language: R (29 swears, 8 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Since the Ilori have taken over Earth, Janelle and her parents have been contained in their apartment complex, left alive without knowing why. M0Rr1S is the labmade Ilori in charge of making and distributing the vaccine for all humans left on Earth in preparation for the rest of the Ilori descending on the planet. None of the other Ilori know about M0Rr1S’s affinity for music and humans until he befriends Janelle and convinces her to steal remaining contraband for him, putting both of them at risk.
At the heart of this story is a desire to be yourself without others’ prejudices and judgements weighing on you. I love that Janelle and M0Rr1S connect on that level despite being from different planets. Their adventure is full of physical and emotional challenges, romance, betrayal, hope, and music – lots of music, including beautiful lyrics included by Dow.
Janelle and her family are Black; M0Rr1S is an alien of the Ilori race who is described as being “darker than olive-skinned but lighter than black.” Different races are mentioned, though most of the characters that Janelle encounters are White. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, innuendo, partial nudity, and mentions of sex. The violence rating is for blood, gun use, mention of suicide, hanging, blood, and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

I was really intrigued to read this book. The idea of books and music (and I guess art, though I don't particularly care, it's part of the package) being illegal is just devastating, and I just wanted to see how these characters would fight back against it.

First off, I have to say, this cover is my kind of cover. I love the colours, and it just looks so fantastic and beautiful to me. Especially the top with the cloud, half pink, half blue, with bits of purple, right over to the cityscape. It just looks so pretty to me!

Ellie and M0Rs1S shouldn't work together, she's human, he's alien, and after the events 2 years ago, they're enemies. But somehow they make it work, given that's she's a queer black lady, and he's a labmade Ilori, though it's not like it's smooth sailing. I really enjoyed watching these two from different backgrounds interacting.

I just really enjoyed these two and their stories, dealing and overcoming being different, and finding a way to save humanity's creations, and so, the light of humanity, even though humanity isn't really deserving of it. And the way it worked out was so great to read!

There was something about the Starry Eyed band, and their latest album, The Sound of Stars. Like, the lyrics of their songs seemed to fit Ellie and M0Rs1S's journey perfectly. And how that turned out? I was kinda thinking that way, but it was great to see it play out!

I need a sequel, I need to know how they're going to gather the allies, face off against the true Ilori. I'm hoping her sophomore book will be in this series, because I don't want to wait! I'm dying to know how the Ilori are going to be taken down!

I had a great time reading this book, and it was a really wonderful read!

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow is a young adult science fiction fantasy. This one is set in dystopian world in which aliens have invaded and the story is told by changing the point of view between the characters.

Two years before the Ilori were responsible for the deaths of a huge portion of the Earth’s population. Now survivors are living in Ilori controlled centers always at risk of being another death in the Ilori’s takeover. Janelle “Ellie” Baker is a seventeen year old survivor that lives in a New York center.

Ellie knows that breaking any of Ilori’s rules could result in her death but decided that holding onto a little human happiness is worth the risk. Ellie runs an underground library of any media she was able to save after the invasion. M0Rr1S was born in a lab and should be emotionless but M0Rr1S has found he is curious about the humans so when he finds Ellie’s lab he can’t bring himself to turn her in.

The Sound of Stars was the type of book that I felt hey that could be me when I began reading. I mean a world without books?? I would probably be hoarding those things right along with Ellie and of course I couldn’t help but root for her when she was risking everything to bring them to others. I also enjoyed M0Rr1S and was definitely interested in what would happen with the two of them in their dystopian world.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is one of the best books I've read all year. I am obsessed with the COVER (OMG!) so I had to give it a try. And ohhhh myyyy wooord. The prologue alone had me enthralled. From the clever use of structure to the DEEP characterization of the two main characters to the heartwarming way their belief systems shift as the novel progresses--I was HOOKED. I will definitely be reading more by Alechia Daw.

This was such a delightful and ultimately inspiring read! It definitely has some of the more typical tropes of YA alien-invasion dystopia, and I LOVED that because it took me back to some of my favorite older dystopian books. It is perfect for fans of Partials, especially if you’re looking for more representation.

And on that note, there was so much fantastic representation in this, particularly gender and sexuality, as well as race, body image, and sexual experience. The representation never felt forced, or like it was there simply for the purpose of checking boxes, too.

I loved all of the pop culture references, as well as the main character’s bonding over books and music.

The twist near the end felt a little predictable and I was a somewhat lost for a moment because I expected more from the end than what we got. However, I just feel this is a simply beautiful novel overall and it has me excited to read more from Alechia!

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Whoops totally forgot to write this review quickly, so here are the important tidbits"

Ellie is demi & bisexual Black 17 year old with anxiety who reflects on racism in US before the aliens even arrived. Morris is a little meh, but the most romantic being ever, who also experiences hardships as a 'lesser' being (labmade v. true)
The book has some great quotes -- romantic and ones speaking to the divided world we live in. It really relates to our world and think this would be a good alternative or additional reading for high school required reading lists.

It is an interesting concept, but was slow for me. I never really got into it and the ending while a different way to do things, made this book feel like less, like a prequel that only hints at all the great things that will come, but because this is a standalone we will never get.

I will recommend this to people looking for apocalypse sci-fi novels and beautiful writing. So, not my kind of book, but I will try another book by this author in the future.

The Sound of Stars is a fun and sweet sci-fi read. I absolutely feel in love with the charming Morris and his love of humanity and music. Janelle/Ellie and her strength through adversity and love of books is perfect for all of us that are big YA readers.

Morris is an alien from another planet that comes to take over Earth and its people. Earth is in a bad spot with global warming, racism, and more. They take over earth easily and Ellie is in the center where Morris is perfecting a vaccine for the humans. Morris stumbles upon Ellie’s illegal library while trying to find music and an unlikely friendship and love comes from it all.

It was a great read but there are so many questions still. Hope there’s a sequel

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of THE SOUND OF STARS for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I'm torn, y'all. There are a plethora of things to love about THE SOUND OF STARS! On the other hand, I am very confused?

Let me explain.

Ellie is easily one of my favourite protagonists of all time. She felt like a person who could actually exist, rather than just a main character in a sci-fi novel. Does that make sense? I related to her struggles with anxiety and hypothyroidism and, as an adult in my twenties, was surprised to learn some new coping mechanisms for anxiety through a fictional teenager's mind. I don't simply love her for her health issues, so, moving on.

Ellie draws strength from the memory of her parents' activism, as well as the main characters of her favourite books, and I am 100% here for all of that. I do have to confess that my favourite character in this book is actually her best friend Alice.

The LGBTQ+ representation in THE SOUND OF STARS was fantastic. I adored the fact that Ilori respect pronouns and genders beyond the binary. Ellie is demisexual, which is cool to see firsthand during her adventures with M0Rr1S.

On the subject of Ellie and M0Rr1S... Watching their romance develop was adorable. I loved reading about them bonding over music and books, especially The Starry Eyed. After they finally expressed their growing feelings for each other (I don't think this is a spoiler considering the genre of the book, but you have my apologies if you feel otherwise), it got kinda cheesy, and not in a cute way. Was I so insufferably gushy when I dated in high school? Possibly. I hope not. By repeatedly professing their undying love, it felt like the characters were trying to overcompensate for something, when they really didn't need to.

As for the story itself, M0Rr1S's plot twist came out of nowhere. Okay, yes, I know, it's a plot twist. But I think it gave me whiplash. I suppose it makes sense for M0Rr1S as a character, but having been in M0Rr1S's head a number of times... I felt lied to. Basically, everything after that halfway point threw me for a loop and I had trouble following the storyline. My review notes consisted of me begging the book gods to enlighten me on what the heck was happening. However, when I took a glimpse at other readers' thoughts, I realized I might've been alone in this. So do with that what you may.

As for the ending, I liked the part with the other aliens, and their history with the main characters. It should be noted that it set up for a possible sequel, which I wasn't aware of at the time.

All things considered, THE SOUND OF STARS is an incredible story for teenage girls like Ellie who struggle to find themselves in the books they read. Anyone above that age bracket might want to look elsewhere.

I have to start of this review with saying how impressed I am with the amount of representation Dow put in this book. Our main protagonist is a Black female, she speaks about how she's overweight, she has anxiety, she has a bisexual friend and she also thinks she's bisexual. The aliens also identify as female, male or nonbinary and it’s a part of their introductions when they meet new people or other aliens, which was a really cool way to build these characters. And there's so much more not on this list that I found in this book. It was beautiful and vulnerable and heartbreaking and heartwarming.

This book is the embodiment of two people who come from two completely different backgrounds, ways of thinking and sides of a war and how they came together. They found friendship, love and the strength to do what was in their power to bring their people together.

The characters talk a lot about trust and the book also shows us how trust develops. Our two characters don't trust each other right away, for obvious reasons. But we get to witness the journey of trust being built, the vulnerable conversations that come with it and the openness and assurances that come when trust is build from the ground up. It was one of the most heartwarming things I've read in a long time.

I didn't really enjoy the pacing of the book or the fact that at some parts I felt like it dragged and I found myself a bit bored. But I'm honestly unsure if that was the book itself or if I'm not a huge fan of post apocalyptic sci-fi books normally. There's a lot of traveling though feeling like the characters aren't getting anywhere and a lot of dialogue that felt like character info dumping. But these aspects are a big part of post apocalyptic sci-fi series.

The, what I would call multi-media, aspect of this book was cool. The songs and interviews that were between chapters were a really intriguing addition to the story and I especially enjoyed how it brought the book together at the end. A sort of 'reveal".

I enjoyed the ending of the book but wasn't a huge fan of the end of the book. If that makes any sense at all. Towards the end I liked where the story was going, but then the last chapter or so felt off to me, almost a different tone or voice from the rest of the book.

All in all this is a solid sci-fi book and I feel like sci-fi readers will really enjoy the book itself. Fantasy or contemporary readers might have a bit of a hard time getting through it though.

I tried multiple times to get into this book. I've read the first chapter at least three times, but I'm just not feeling it.

This is one of the best books I've read, the weaving of timely and important social commentary was perfectly done. I love, love, love this book. Thank you, Inkyard Press for this gifted copy.

Alechia Dow is a talented author. The premise of this book was really fantastic and made me extremely excited for more of her words. I cannot wait for her upcoming books and I was happy to feature her in two articles for The Young Folks: https://www.theyoungfolks.com/books/141883/womens-history-month-supporting-and-celebrating-womxn-authors/ and https://www.theyoungfolks.com/books/143972/black-authors-artists-to-support-now-and-always/.