Picture this: Equilibrium meets War of the Worlds. That's what this book is!

I enjoyed the idea of this book. Aliens have taken over a sick Earth with the mindset of restoring it and basically turning it into a vacation home while chilling out in their human hosts. Yep. They're going to steal the bodies while they're on vacay. But somehow music and books actually inadvertently save the world. The unique part is they're forbidden [see equilibrium likeness here.]

I liked the characters but didn't feel they had chemistry. It was a little one-sided to me but separately they were each likable.

The overall plot was interesting and I'd give it a solid 3.8 savvy crowns which is rounded up to 4 on goodreads. :)

I struggled to connect with the main characters in this one. It's beautifully written, yet I didn't feel anything for them - I didn't have anyone I was rooting for.

This book will be great for a lot of people, it just wasn't for me.

This book was full of pop culture so if thats your thing you will die hard love this one. For me the premise sounded little silly. A girl who loves books and an alien who loves music. Maybe it was the wording but I found myself laughing though a lot of this title. It was a good book if you are not looking for something to deep. I found it entertaining and the the book engaging. The characters were very relatable and well that ending was just killer. I am not sure how I feel about it even now. I will be checking out the next title since I am guessing there will be one.

This is such a wonderful story of two people on opposite sides of a war brought together by their love of art. Ellie hosts a secret underground library when the invading Ilori outlaw any books after they are used to convey messages through the human rebellion. Morris, one of the Ilori, is fascinated by human music and protects Ellie and her secrets.

On the run together, they face both humans and Ilori and choose one another over their own people again and again because they see something similar in one another through their love of art and life. They are adorable and perfect and fight back against the Ilori invaders together, proving that humanity deserves to be free to choose.

Aliens. Books. Dystopian NYC. This book screams my name, so it is no shock this this is one of my most anticipated reads and debuts of 2020 (Though I got to read it last week!) The Sound of Stars did not disappoint for one second and kept me wanting and needing to know what was going to happen next.

Can we take a moment to admire how beautiful the cover for this novel is?! The art and the colors blend beautifully and I absolutely adore it, the ARC is stunning but I can't wait to see finished copies of this beauty.

Alechia is a debut author and for her first novel, The Sound of Stars is magnificent. The world building, characters and plot bring this story a live in front of the reader. I can't wait for every one else to meet Ellie and M0Rr1S!

I loved every moment of this post apocalyptic road trip to save humanity and literature and music and I can't wait to see what the sequel will hold. (There will be a sequel, right? *insert puppy dog eyes here*)

This is a what did I just read type of book. It was a bit of a bumpy start but once you grasp the world building it starts to even out. The characters are interesting and the plot drives this very unique book home. Overall great sci-fi/ dystopian read! 4/5 stars.

I was not sure what to expect with this book. The beginning confused me some, until I got some background information and was able to process the story. It's unlike any book I have ever read, yet it reminds me, in places of several stories. Twilight, to name the obvious, but also, The Host, also by the same author. There are bits and pieces which are similar; the unlikely romance between two dissimilar species; but also the shared humanity of the characters.

Set in the not-too-distant dystopian future, the world has been besieged by an alien race. People are being herded together into living communities while slowly the world is cleaned up and cities are flattened. Humans are allowed only two transgressions before they are put to death in front of their community; everything is illegal; books, music, singing, and any kind of habit forming behavior is not tolerated. Janelle's parents are mere shells of their former selves; her father has been "vaccinated" into a half-self, and her mother has a mysterious job from which she escapes with illegal drinking. Janelle herself is an illicit lending librarian, loaning precious books to select community members. One day she discovers Morris in her storage room, and her life changes forever. Morris is an elite member of the Ilori command, and the two form an unlikely friendship which can change the course of Iloria rule.

As Morris and Janelle's friendship grows, so, too, do the dangers. The book is really well written, and the plot twists and turns leave the reader surprised, and rooting for the underdog to win.

Oh, where do I start?

This is one of the best books I've read all year. I am not a big Sci-Fi reader but I loved the premise so much and 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.

If you love character-driven stories with plot twists, TSOS is for you. I rarely find such richly deep characters that suck me in so quickly. I could not put this book down and when I was forced to, it's all I thought about while away from it. The alien character, in particular, captivated me from the very early pages. The dilemmas he faced, the ways he grapples with being ostracized, and the lessons that come out of it really impacted with me. Personally I identified more with Ellie and the lens with which she'd grown to see the world. Her bravery to be who she is on the inside, on the outside while tearing down emotional barriers she'd built really resonated with me. Both of the main characters are so believable and the dilemmas they face, so palpable. And one of the antagonists was so well written, I literally GROWLED at the page anytime they appeared. Ha ha! A nod to the author's talent for writing such REAL characters.

This is a book you MUST read. The author has also woven in such timely and important social commentary, a variety of LGBTQIA rep, much needed mental and physical health rep. As a fellow writer, I marvel at the author's talent. This book has nestled its way inside me and I don't ever want it to leave. <3

The Quick Cut: A girl and an alien invader bond over artistic interests while trying to preserve what they care about.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Inkyard Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Art has this beautiful way of bringing people together. No matter how different they can be, it pushes through the gaps to see the ties that bind us all. In this debut novel about a girl living through an alien invasion, she finds a unique connection with an invader through music and books.

Ellie lives in a dynamically different world than the one she was born in. After the aliens named the Ilori came and a misunderstanding ensued, one third of the world's population was wiped out and their control was cemented. Two years later, her family lives in a confined area of New York City and all emotional expression has been deemed illegal. Art, music, and books were all collected and destroyed by them. Ellie keeps a secret library when one of the invaders named M0Rr1S discovers her stash. Instead of turning her in, he gets her help in his own secret: his love for music. Can their artistic bond find a way to save the world?

This book is a quirky blend of fantasy in combination with contemporary. Or truthfully, comporary in a fantasy setting. In every moment, the story plays out between Ellie and M0Rr1S with them trading off the narrating role. You see both of their internal dialogues and struggles to adapt to the world they are now in. It's so sweet to have a novel that really highlights how music and books can bond two unexpected people together (or show that anyone can be touched by emotion).

Unfortunately, the strong start this book has begins to degrade by the midpoint. A plotline that was well paced suddenly slows down when the duo take a new turn in their connection. As much as I wanted to enjoy the new scenery, I kept wishing the pace would pick up again.

With a sweet story, this book intrigues at the start only to turn to a sluggish pace by the end.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5

This book is phenomenal! The first few chapters was a little rough for me to get thru but it was so worth it. There are so many great lines out of this book. I just fell more and more in love with Morris! I'll take one too please.

We get to go through some of the hard ships She has for just being a black girl and how people look down and think she doesn't belong just because of her skin color. Then Morris stumbles into her hidden library and she learns not only that they aren't so different but she learns too love and live.

I suggest this book 167%

Thank you to Net Galley for the e-arc!

I love romance heavy sci-fi books and sci-fi that follows the emotional responses from the sci-fi set up. This book sounded right up my alley. And I liked this book in the beginning. But after a while, it got extremely cheesy. This book has the feel of a romantic contemporary with a sci-fi set up. I also feel like the ending was too open ended for the set up, especially because I think this is supposed to be a stand-alone. It kind of seems like there's potential for a sequel, which I'm not mad at.

On the plus side, this book was cute. I think it did friends to lovers pretty well, and I liked their interactions with each other. This follows Janelle "Ellie" and M0R1S "Morris". Morris is not human, and he finds Ellie's illegal library. On Morris and Ellie: I thought their relationship together was well developed in the beginning, but during the middle it got cheesy and moved too fast. But throughout the book, they still had really cute moments together.

I liked the writing in this book on a prose level. The words flowed well, and I felt close to the characters as I read.

All in all, I liked this book, but it didn't have as many sci-fi elements as I was expecting and it was a little too cheesy for me. But I will definitely read more by this author.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All my opinions are my own. The Sound of Stars comes out on February 25, 2020. And now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, let’s get on to the review section of this review.

The Sound of Stars is about a human girl who loves books so much she begins to run a secret library in her home when the world is taken over by aliens and an alien boy who discovers a love for pop music when he finds it on Earth. Both struggle to fit in their own worlds, but find they fit in with each other as they try to save humanity. That premise alone caught my attention when I was browsing NetGalley. And a lot of the things I was hoping for came into play: an alien who doesn’t quite understand humans but LOVES their music, a bookish girl with a big heart, and a ton of book and music references. To me, it just feels like a debut novel. Which it is. But it lacks depth in some important areas for me like world building. And the themes of the novel aren’t exactly subtle. They’re more like neon signs in the middle of the night.

There were things that definitely worked for me though. I really liked Morris and his struggle with being an outsider in his own kind. I also really enjoyed the fact that there is more than one alien species. It’s mentioned in passing that of course there is and I really liked that. I also really enjoyed this band that the author came up with. Their interviews and lyrics that are spread throughout the novel were excellent.

I really wanted to like this one more than I did. I think if there had been more world building and more of a build up to the romance then this easily could have been a 5 star for me. I also wish the whole point of the story wasn’t shoved in my face. I think a little subtlety there would have made the point better. Maybe more flashbacks and less of the narrator’s opinions would have gone over better.

It was a really quick and easy read despite being over 400 pages in my ARC form. If this is planned to be a series (I don’t know why it wouldn’t be), I would happily pick up the next one. I think with more experience the series would just get better in this author’s hands. There is a lot of representation in the book which I thought was great and an area of the book that didn’t feel forced or overly plotted. It felt sincere and real which I appreciated.

I couldn’t get into this one or connect to the characters. The MC was just hard to like. The writing and dialogue was great, though.

Janelle ("Ellie") is living in a post-apocalyptic earth, still reeling from the invasion of an alien race known as the Ilori. M0Rr1 ("Morris") is an Ilori, shaped to look like a human and to prepare the Earth for the Ilori takeover. Ellie has defied the edict banning music, books, and art, and Morris finds himself drawn to them . What happens when they meet? Parts of the book are reminiscent of the "Fahrenheit 451" and the "White Mountains Trilogy," though much more tailored for a modern, female audience. Lots of yearning and angst, and I'd probably classify this as a YA contemporary sci-fi romance. Elements of the story are quite dark and there is some implied violence, but I generally vote this as a fun read for teens.

There are so many good intriguing, entertaining things about this book keep my attention like popular culture references used with song and book quotes, bounding friendship and connection between a human and alien (my childhood’s favorite movie is E.T., I was raised with my adoration of Spielberg and alien nations till I met Ripley in Scott’s Alien movie!), and of course road trip idea.
But there is also annoying things which also make me pissed off when I’m starting to read a book. Do you want examples? I don’t like slowness, barely moving pacing and I also don’t like the books with unexplained situations and unanswered questions. The ending is as important as the beginning for me! (Sometimes, it is more important, especially shocking, twisty ones are always my preference.)

So I tossed between 3 and 4 stars and finally I decided to give 3 because there are so much potential this book and I also like to read if there will be sequel which helps me to calm my nerves sharpened with too many question marks.

Both Janelle and Morris are relatable, lovable characters. But the slowness at the beginning prevents us to learn more about their stories and connections. And I wish the road trip wouldn’t be a quick journey to reach the church. It could take longer time with additional, enriched storylines.

I also liked the book’s approach to the LGBTQ community, and other basic and crucial heavy issues like unfairness, injustice, inequality.

I was so close to give four stars till I read the ending and I wanted to throw the book against the wall ( or throw out window like Bradley Cooper’s character did at “Silver Linings Playbook”, he was tougher grader than me because he threw Hemingway’s “A Farewell to arms”!!!) because I hate the ending wholeheartedly and it absorbed all the positive feelings about this book.

So I need a sequel ASAP for answers and unexplained parts and I wish the author plans to write it because I love those characters and I love to read more of them.

I think the debut novel has so much potential and the author’s intellectual,writing style is efficient and promising. So I love to read her upcoming works ( I hope it starts with a squeal 
Special thanks to NetGalley, Inkyard Press, (I need to thank specially the designer of this cover, it’s amazing work) for sharing me this ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review.

One-third of Earth's population is killed when the Ilori invades, and Janelle (Ellie) managed to survive, but life under Ilori control is stifling and unbearable. Art, music, and literature have been banned, but Janelle loves books too much to follow the rules. When one of the Ilori, M0Rr1S discovers her secret, will her life be forfeit?

I had a hard time deciding on a rating for this book. I think I fall somewhere around 3 1/2 star, so I'm being generous and putting it at four. I'm all for a good alien invades story, and two cultures finding acceptance with each other. However, with this one, I found myself very bored at times. There were times when the narrative felt bogged down with details and explanations that happened far too often.

The characters themselves were interesting. I could definitely relate to Janelle's love of books and M0Rr1S' love of music. I thought it a nice touch that each section had a quote from a book for Janelle or music lyrics for M0Rr1S.

The middle of the book dragged on several times, and I found myself skimming to where something interesting happened. And the ending left me dissatisfied. I did not like it. It felt contrived and, honestly, if there is a second book, I wouldn't be interested in reading it.

This is a book for readers looking for a sci-fi YA romance with a wide range of representation.

This has a lot going for it. The SF-nal aspects of it are the most interesting - the "alien invasion" set up is well done, and I liked the complexity of the alien society. Unfortunately, for a book under the Harlequin imprint, I found what was obviously supposed to be an amazing love story trite and not entirely believable. I could believe in Morris falling for Janelle - his POV is sweet and convincing - but Janelle's reciprocation felt more convenient than true-to-life. The ending was rushed and relied much too much on a very convenient deus-ex-machina.

This book has been on my goodreads list since it was announced and it did not disappoint !! I was given an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and here it is ! I grew up watching doctor who as well as bits and pieces of Star Wars and Star Trek, though I was never really into them until I was in high school. This book did not disappoint! I enjoyed both the sci fi and fantasy aspects of the novel as well as that doctor who feel to it! I am super excited for the release and cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy! This novel is a must for anyone who is a sci fi nut like myself !

It was a cute read. Not so much sci-fi as I was expecting but still ok. While I enjoyed the pop culture aspects, the book seemed a little scattered.

I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a wonderful debut novel by Alechia Dow! I love alien stories, I really just adore anything to do with space. I grew up watching things like Star Trek and Doctor Who, so when I read the synopsis of this book I knew I had to read it as quickly as I could.

From the first page, I was immediately transported into Dow’s fantasy world. Dow is phenomenal at world building and I really felt like I was right there. I did feel like the book dragged a bit during the middle, but overall it was fantastic.

I loved that the book contains real life issues we are facing in today’s society and how they were weaved in and out through every chapter. There are tons of current pop culture references throughout this book, so it is not really something that can be “timeless” read. However, the story would have been really lacking if those references weren’t a part of it. I love the general theme of music can help you get through tough situations.

The relationship between Ellie and Morris was my favorite. It felt so genuine and unique. It wasn’t rushed or forced it was just pure, innocence, beautifully organic. Dow’s writing style keeps you wanting more. I really do hope we see a sequel to this. Maybe I am a sucker for a series.. But I really want to know more about Morris and Ellie and their future together.

Thank you so much to Alechia Dow, NetGalley, and Harlequin TEEN Publishing for allowing me to review this book. This review will be posted on www.featheredfables.wordpress.com closer to the publication date.