I really enjoyed the overall premise of the book. I always enjoy the idea of alien races conquering earth and seeing the changes they bring. There is a lot that can be done with the alien invasion trope and this book certainly does it well.

I also enjoyed the characters. They were complex and had a lot of backstory to make them really come alive. One thing I think this book did that I didn't love was there was a lot of telling rather than showing especially when it came to Janelle's background. I would have preferred reading about experiences she had rather than just her saying she experienced it.

The ending of this book was by far the best part with a twist I did not see coming at all! I really ejnoyed it and can't wait to see what happens next.

2.5

Sadly, when I was reading this SciFi novel I got more and more confused and felt let down. It started of really strong - more like a 4-star book. But as it went on it just became ridiculous (for me). I was never a die-hard fan of the romance and I couldn’t really connect with his POV. Hers on the other hand was really strong, and I think I would have preferred to have only read her side of the story because his just wasn’t fleshed out enough for me.

But since the beginning of the story was really strong I might pick up the author’s next novel to see where they’ll take it.

DNF50%
I was graciously sent a copy of this for review by NetGalley quite a while ago, and I've picked it up here and there and tried to make someheadway, but frankly it just hasn't held my interest at all and I'm finally throwing in the towel. This has a great premise, and the plot is both original and intriguing, but the characters just aren't doing anything for me, unfortunately. I think that might be more a failing on my part than the author's, though.

I received this book in return from NetGalley in return for a review. This was...something. I definitely enjoyed the premise, though I was confused by the way they went about things. Would not allowing human beings access to their books and music and whatever, create better humanoid hosts? It would allow the humans to expand their minds. Right now all they are doing is making sure that the humans are satisfactorily fed and educated. That is no way to raise an elite force to be used as bodies for your people. If you fail, it's your own fault. I enjoyed how M0Rr1s (teehee) was so unlike his other Ilori counterparts that they actually thought he was defective and that he would not succeed. Way to prove them wrong, M0Rr1s~

I am hoping there will be another book coming out eventually because I do really want to know what happens. Do they succeed in overthrowing the "true" Ilori (a term that I find wholly unacceptable because being lab-made does not make them any less Ilori) or does it all go horribly wrong? I must know!!!

I rated this book a 4 out of 5, because I didn't understand the lack of books (they expand our minds) and then I didn't get how this one little rebel girl was going to be the undoing of a millennia-old race of planetary conquerors. Surely they had come across something like this before and had ways of stopping it? It was very good and I look forward to any other works by Ms. Dow.

This is a solid well-paced book with tons of characters I really enjoyed, evocative writing, a good twisty storyline. Looking forward to reading more from this author

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

Wow. This book had my entire heart. The story follows a girl named Janelle following Earth's takeover by an alien race called the Ilori. Due to a mutual love of music and books, Janelle finds herself on an adventure with an Ilori named Morris. The Sound of Stars touched on so many topics that are relevant to readers of all ages but especially teens. I'm looking forward to recommending this on an astronomical level!

4 super satisfied stars! A girl risking her life for books (Ellie)? An alien who has real human emotions and a love of pop music (MORr1s)?? A possible forbidden budding love between these two? OH AND LGBTQ REP AND POC?? SIGN ME UP! I AM HERE FOR THIS!!!

So, as you can tell, I kind of enjoyed this book! It was exciting and emotional. I found myself immediately drawn to the connection between the two main characters, and wholly invested in their plight.

I’m not sure if there will ever be a sequel, but the possibility was definitely left open, and I for one would LOVE LOVE LOVE to read more of this story!

I know this book was not intended for my age range but it was fantastic!!! The writer out so my much details both small and big into this book that made reading it so pleasant! Thank you for sharing your work! Totally worth it!

Apparently my review was never sent, but I DNFd about halfway through. I didn't enjoy the world building and how childish the MC was. I felt like Ellie was over the top and the technology that was presented was off. The writing was so weird, and all of the reveals weren't that great. Nothing made sense and it just wasn't very good.

Rating: ★★★½ (3.5)

Review:
I finally finished this book and now I'm not sure how to write a review. I feel like my thoughts on the beginning through to about the half way point are tarnished by how long ago I read that part of the book. And it's really not the book's fault that it took me so long to read it. It was a good book! Life just happened and I was struggling to read and now I feel like I don't remember every thing perfectly for this review. But I'm going to try my best!

Ok so let's start with what I do know I enjoyed:

- Ellie and Morris were such lovable main characters. I liked their personalities a lot and felt like they were so relatable at times. They're both kind of awkward, especially at forming relationships, so there was a lot of silliness and trying to bond over pop culture references. And Ellie's love of books was, of course, a mood!

- I also appreciated the representation in this book. I can't speak on all of it but I can definitely speak to the fat girl rep and I felt like Ellie was portrayed well. Other rep in the book includes: Black main characters, LGBT+ characters (Ellie identifies with bisexual, demisexual), characters with they/them pronouns, anxiety rep, and plus size rep.

- The book was also beautifully written and hit home with a lot of its issues. Because it may be set in a world where we've been invaded by aliens, but it talks about how we could have avoided the invasion, by taking better care of our planet and being less violent. It talks about racism that Ellie faced before and after the invasion and how it damaged her hope in humanity. But, ultimately, Ellie still believes we are worth saving.

So that all being said, the main problem I had throughout this book was the pacing of things. There would be lots of tense action one moment and then things would feel incredibly slow. And then added onto that, Ellie's chapters were in first person and Morris' were in third... which I thought was really cool, I enjoyed that! But it sometimes broke up the pacing weird as well as made for moments where something was revealed at a time that just felt too convenient.

Ultimately though I still think this is a book worth reading. It's a story about finding hope when we feel like there isn't any to be had. It's about falling in love and saving the world. And while I actually enjoyed the ending and think it could stand on its own, I really hope there will be a sequel some day. I want to read more about aliens and space adventures!

Content Warnings: death/murder (public execution), racism, anxiety attacks, alcoholic parent, colonization themes

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover is gorgeous!
This story gives me vibes of Ready Player One (pop culture references) and American Pyscho (chunks of song lyrics).
I like how racism gets erased because of alien invasion. The protagonist rarely experiences racism any more because the aliens treat her like any other human.
<spoiler>“A vacation destination? Humans died just so you could use our world for a vacation spot?” Oh man, I understand Ellie’s anger.</spoiler>
The ending feels very deus ex machina.
4 stars for the first 80% but 3 stars for the last 20%. 3.5 stars in total.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

this was a beautifully done debut novel, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the world that was built by the author.

I picked this book to read because I adore the cover (it is so gorgeous!) and I had no idea what the story was about when I started reading. Color me surprised to find that this was a story about the aftermath of an alien invasion and the strong willed girl who stood up to basically the world to fight for what she believed in- and her weapon of choice was books!

This was a story about rebellion and hard choices, as well as aliens, technology and romance. But really, this was basically a love letter to all things art, be it written or sung. The two main characters use books and music to help them emote and cope with the hard world they live in, and even though they are from two very different worlds, they use these forms of art to communicate and fall in love.

And even while there was death and destruction, love was a huge factor to the story. This was very much an enemies to lovers plot, where the human girl hates the aliens and what they did to her people, but still finds room in her heart for this awkward open-minded alien boy (who never hated humans and has always been curious). There was a lot of diversity in the story as well, with all kinds of great relationship dynamics and characters to keep the book moving forward with character development and plot. I did struggle to get into the story for the first half of the book, but it became more engaging the more I read.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

The cover of this book is breathtaking. I really liked this story. It was a little different but a wonderful diverse story.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, but that in no way influences my thoughts and opinions about this book.

There may be some slight spoilers in this review, but I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible.

I took way too long to read this book and I honestly don’t know why. This book is filled with lots of LGBTQ+ representation and lots of interesting aliens. It’s perfect for fans of The Fifth Wave.

I’m not going to lie, the first 28% of this book was rough. I thought that I was going to hate this book at first because I didn’t like any of the characters, but all of the characters grew on me and I eventually became emotionally attached to all of them.

Morris is the definition of the perfect boyfriend to me. Everyone’s obsessed with hot guys, but I’m obsessed with guys that respect people’s boundaries. He’s an actual angel and I love him so much.

Janelle was so relatable. I’m asexual, but I might be demisexual. I’m not sure because I haven’t been in love, but I related a lot to Janelle’s feelings and hesitations with her romance. This is the third book in the past couple of years that I’ve read that has an asexual or demisexual character in it and it makes my heart so happy. I feel like there isn’t enough asexual representation in books and movies, so that’s why it took me so long to accept myself for who I am. This book can and will help people accept their sexualities. Janelle made me feel validated and she made me believe that I can find love some day in the future. Janelle’s struggles with her anxiety were also extremely relatable. I thought it was cool that she utilized her coping skills instead of just letting her anxiety control every choice that she makes. That’s not something that you see in young adult literature often.

I also loved all the references to young adult books and pop music. It added to the fun of the story and every little pop culture reference made me so happy.

I really need a sequel to this book ASAP.

Overall I highly recommend this book to everyone, but especially to people who like young adult science fiction and romance. If you’re struggling with this book at the start like I was, keep pushing through because I can guarantee you that it will get better.

I liked this book! It was fun, and I enjoyed it and it really touched on race, the importance of music, and the importance of books! It was great! I also appreciated the new take on AI. I felt it really made this book unique! The setting was great, and it was interesting to see how race factored into this apocalypse like setting and how it affected the character. Also it really touched on sexuality as well! It was nice handled in my opinion!

They were divided and afraid when the invasion came. The invading species fought against the humans. They were called the Ilori. Freedom comes at a price in the new Ilori led life. Morris is an alien who can make changes. Janelle takes risks to give the people freedom. I thought some parts were boring

Opinions: The Sound of Stars was a diverse, adventurous, all-consuming story of science combatting fiction. I loved it, and I suspect most teenage readers will too! This book is basically an alternate universe facing the same problems our universe is - global warming, discrimination, etc - and therefore shines light on the inevitability of damage when nothing productive is done. I was impressed with the many motivating, influential themes Dow wove into such a complex storyline; there were so many meaningful characters, intriguing backstories, and mysterious side-plots that I wasn't even focused on the themes until the end when I sat down to ponder the book. This is what I call a perfect story: one that entices you with action but leaves you thinking in the end. I also adore the creativity that comes with most sci-fi novels but shines in The Sound of Stars! Dow stepped outside of the boundaries and included various science/dystopian-based creatures that wowed me! It was a treat to learn about the creations, "magic" system, and creatures of this alternate universe. All in all, The Sound of Stars was engaging, thematic, and though-provoking!

My Favourite Thing: Of all the great things in The Sound of Stars (and since I'm sure you've heard enough about the protagonist's book obsession from other bloggers), I'm choosing the quotes and songs referenced at the beginning of each chapter! Although in an alternate universe, these quotes from historical icons brought the book back to reality for readers and helped us remember that we're still on Earth. It keeps the book within a realistic perspective for us readers. The quotes and songs were each thought-provoking and/or gave the chapter context and a depicted atmosphere. I loved analysing the references and taking notes as I read to figure out how they tie in with the themes. These small details shows that Dow had a true passion for her writing!

My Least Favourite Thing: With all intentions of being blunt, I did not dislike a single thing about The Sound of Stars! If you like the sound of 5/5 stars, you should check this book out.

Total Rating: PG-13
Language: PG-13
Adult Content: PG-13
Violence: PG-13

Recommended For and Similar Reads: The Sound of Stars is the epitome of YA science fiction. If you're a teenager who wants to break the boundaries of science, this book is for you! Similar reads are "Star Wars", Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosie Thor, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace, Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth, Star-Crossed by Pintip Dunn, and S1-R3N by Ben Wolf. I strongly recommend The Sound of Stars!

It's always a treat when you manage to connect with a book from multiple directions at once; so often when I read I have to choose between racial and cultural diversity, queer rep, and the speculative storytelling I'm drawn to.

This was an across-the-board win for me. It's a story about our world in the throws of an alien invasion. The Ilori take over the planet, creating strictly controlled camps of humans, and they're in the midst of a plan to vaccinate humanity against feelings and consciousness.

The story is told through the eyes of a human and an alien narrator. Ellie is a black human girl who is a Brooklyn native, living in a posh and quietly racist upper east-side neighborhood (turned containment center). M0Rr1S is the alien who created the vaccination; but he clearly has reservations, and is the victim of an Ilori social hierarchy that parallels racism on earth.

Though the Ilori are supposed to be immune to emotions and sentiments, M0Rr1S is drawn to human music and stories, and as he discovers Ellie's secret library, he pulls her into a reluctant alliance and a cross-continental fight to change their story.

The book boasts phenomenal representation of blackness in America, reflecting often on fear and trauma, as well as the persistence of hate, even at the end of the world. It's also a super queer book, with strong representation of trans and non-binary identities, bi and pan-sexuality, as well as ace and demi identities. Diversity isn't the focus of the story, but it's woven throughout, and I really love how consistently it was included.

From the cultural references the narrator makes, the invasion takes place in our world, as it is today. It's really fun to see a writer stanning other writers, and there are plenty of references to black and queer books that are basically candy for book nerds. Likewise, there are so many references to music (also primarily black and queer) that this is a book that conjured a playlist as the story pressed on.

It was such enjoyable read! From what i can sleuth, it was published as a stand-alone, but personally I'm hoping for a sequel!

THE SOUND OF STARS was great!

I'm not going to lie, it was a little bit hard to read in the... current world situation... which is probably contributing to why I'd rate it 3.5 stars, and not anything higher. Make sure you're in a good frame of mind and/or are ok with discussions of vaccines, invasions and mass death if you're going to crack this one open.

On a happier note, I LOVED the way that Dow snuck in references to other books here and there! A major plot point revolves around THE HATE YOU GIVE, and there are callbacks to Weymouth's THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS, Collins's THE HUNGER GAMES, HARRY POTTER and more... that was so clever, and so fantastic! A brilliant way to immortalize some phenomenal YA series, for sure!

I also loved the ending -- it was shocking and incredible!! I NEED to know more about Brixton -- I think he's shot to one of my favourite characters in the novel! -- and the, uh, Andarrans, are super, super intriguing!! The ending was SO strong in this story, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next instalment!

All in all, THE SOUND OF STARS is an enjoyable, albeit a little bit unremarkable, read, filled with lots of pop culture references (which I LOVED!). Can't wait for book 2!