Member Reviews
This was one of the best YA fantasy books I have read in awhile. The world building was fantastic. I look forward to more books in this series.
This book was a great read, and I really enjoyed it. I felt vibes similar to that of Disney's Moana and Kristin Cashore's Graceling series but with a twist of magic everyone learns. This book was incredibly difficult to put down, and I really enjoyed the world building. In the first chapter I was a little wary of Amora, but then throughout the book she blossomed and showed herself to be a leader who cared about her people, which is where her conviction that she was the rightful future ruler stemmed. Her adventures as she travels what would be her kingdom for the first time in a desperate bid to save it are breathtaking. Fans of Tamora Pierce and Tomi Adeyemi are likely to love this book! I know I did.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 STARS
I really enjoyed this debut YA Fantasy from Adalyn Grace. Plus a book with Magic, Pirates, and Mermaids? Sign me up! I am all about that!
While I did end up really enjoying this book in the end, I did struggle with the pacing in the beginning as the magic system was being explained and the world was being constructed. I did love this magic system though. That and the characters helped me push through the slow beginning. At around 30-40% or so, it picks up and is just full of action.
I really loved the dynamic between our MCs, Amora, Bastian and Feddick. I found it to be quite a fun sort of round-about way of doing the ever dreaded love triangle. (I promise it isn't really a love-triangle) Vataea is also an awesome side character. She is a mermaid with a grudge, but also loyal. It was really great to see all these characters interact and grow. Amora is a fierce spit-fire female protagonist, and nothing is standing in her way of helping and protecting her kingdom. Bastian is this broody and mysterious pirate, who you can't help but fall in love with. Him and Amor's snarky back and forth is fantastic.
I also really liked the concept of this magical kingdom constructed of different islands. I found that it was a unique spin on a cast system and I really enjoyed that.
Overall, I thought this was a highly entertaining read, and look forward to the next book in this series!
*Special thanks to NetGalley, Adalyn Grace and Imprint for the advanced eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and review*
"Fear is a part of life; all that matters is what we do with it."
I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the main character Amora. I understand why she feels the need to prove herself, she just wasn't as likable as I expected her to be.
Bastian is probably my favorite character. He's a witty, snark, well dressed pirate. Who doesn't love a bad boy?
I wish we learned more about Ferrick. Perhaps he will get his time in the next book. We know that it has been decided that he and Amora will marry and although he truly cares for her, he's feelings are not reciprocated. You just kind of end up feeling sorry for him. His magical ability is pretty rad though!
Vatea made me love mermaids even more. She is feisty and powerful but we also learn, not invincible. I hope to see more of her in book two!
Overall the story was very enjoyable! I liked learning about the different magic systems and all the islands that make up the Kingdom of Visidia. The action scenes were very detailed and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened next. I look forward to reading The next book!
Thank you Netgalley and Imprint for providing me with this arc.
It feels like I’ve been a bit since I read a YA fantasy, especially one by a new or new to me author, that I really honestly truly enjoyed. This book felt like a breath of fresh air. I had such a good time reading it and flew through the pages.
The magic system, world building, characters, and plot were great! I loved that it was partly a pirate book and loved the way Amora embraced the freedom of the open ocean, craving adventure, but still being grounded and loyal to her kingdom.
I’ll be the first to admit that I often enjoy romance, love triangles, angst, and little bit of will they or won’t they type of situations, but in YA, it can often be overdone and the angst is more frustrating then it is compelling. I absolutely loved the romance aspect of this book because it started with a little bit of hmm I think they are into each other and then she made a comment and he was basically just like yep what are you going to do about it. It was so direct and awesome. We don’t get a lot of that in YA and I think I actually cheered out loud when I got to that part.
I loved the main character so much. She was fierce and loyal to her kingdom, naive without being stupid about it, and still curious and craved freedom.
All the Stars and Teeth was an awesome debut YA fantasy and I’ll definitely read more of the series and hope to see more from the author. I don’t know that I agree that it’s good for fans of Caraval or Throne of Glass because I didn’t care that much for Caraval and even though I love ToG, Celaena is a tough character to like and I think Amora is much easier to like and to root for.
TL;DR REVIEW:
This is a fast-paced, easy to read, exciting YA fantasy novel. I liked it!
For you if: You like YA fantasy, strong female leads, pirates, and adventure.
FULL REVIEW:
Thank you to Imprint and the Macmillan team, plus NetGalley, for the advanced review copy of this book. It will be published February 4, 2020.
All the Stars and Teeth is a fun, fast, exciting YA fantasy novel that I liked very much! I will be keeping an eye out for the sequel.
The main character is Amora, the princess of the kingdom of Visidia. Visidia is made up of several large islands, each one populated by people who practice a different type of magic. But only the royal family practice the dangerous soul magic, and the book opens with Amora on the eve of her birthday, preparing to demonstrate her mastery of soul magic in front of all her people and to claim her place as official heir.
As you can imagine (since it’s at the very beginning of the story), that doesn’t exactly go according to plan, and a debonair pirate saves her and convinces her to go on an adventure across Visidia to save their people from a growing threat that her father, the king, has been ignoring — and hiding from her.
In the beginning of this book (and a little bit throughout), Amora is kind of a brat. She’s full of herself and feels entitled to everything she has. But then Bastian comes into the picture, and I loved him right away. I also grew a huge soft spot for Ferrick, Amora’s betrothed (by family/royal arrangement). And, as you’d expect, Amora grows a lot throughout the book. I also expect that she’ll continue down that path of growth in future books of the series.
The magic system in this world is really creative and fascinating! Amora thought she had her magic all figured out, but now it seems like there is soooo much more that’s going to be revealed. And we barely got a look at other types of magic in the kingdom. But I can tell that we will soon!
One nice thing — especially since book one is barely published yet, much less the sequel — was that this book didn’t end on a huge cliffhanger. The characters’ arcs are obviously not wrapped up completely, but this particular story wasn’t left totally in the lurch. I do want to read the next one!
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Violence/gore
This was bloody brilliant. An adventure in a soul searching journey sailing along the high seas, fighting the monsters and personal devils, all the while trying to conquer the inner magic.
Amora was the princess of Visidia, she had been training in her magic her whole life. But on the day of proving herself, things went wrong and she had to run away to save her life. Enter Bastian, who was ready to help her at any cost, but he needed her too to reclaim his stolen magic. They had to deal with a new magical power along with monsters and hidden creatures
My first book by Adalyn Grace, and I was blown away. How was this a debut. It rocked and soared and simply blew me away with the power of the words. I was in the magic of Amora, I was on the ship with Bastian, I was in the fights with creatures, I was in the ultimate challenge. I was immersed in the book so completely that for a few hours, the world ceased to exist.
Only Amora and Bastian existed. Such was the power of the author's writing. Vivid imagery of the words pulled me into the story. A intriguing storyline pulled me into their lives. I loved the idea of their magical powers. I thought the author had a magical ink into which she dipped her pen to write the story.
Characters were fleshed, they gave me a complete story about their lives. Magical powers were dark and amazing, they caught my interest immediately. I loved everything about this story from the characters and setting and the plot lines and the magic. It was simply awe-inspiring. I wonder if it would be transformed into a movie soon...
A fab read over the weekend.
Adalyn Grace’s All the Stars and Teeth is one of the darkest, grisliest books I’ve read in a while. It’s an acquired taste that will have some begging for more and others turning away.
All the Stars and Teeth is the first book in a duology that left me feeling more ambivalent than anything else.
On the one hand, Adalyn Grace is a strong world builder that pulls you in immediately. Her detail is impressive. And that attention to detail makes a big impact. Amora’s magic is so gruesome it comes across as a shock. And while I think the repugnance associated with it is key to the entire story, it has a serious ick factor to it that I never felt comfortable with.
The pacing throughout All the Stars and Teeth could be a little bit tighter. I found myself wandering a few times. But on the whole, it’s a solid book.
Grace is a very good writer. And while I’m not sure I would enjoy the second book in this duology, I certainly see the merit in it. I’m interested to see more for from this author if only for comparison sake.
Link will go live 2/6/19
Wow....this is a fantastic YA fantasy story. Pirates, mermaids, magic, friendship, romance and Amora. Amora is a wonderful protagonist who is willing to fight for her country no matter the cost. The magic she wields is powerful and she will use both it and her intelligence to be the hero her country needs her to be. I really loved this story and I'm glad I kept reading it even though I was a bit confused at first about how the magic worked. I don't really recall magic like this in any other books I have read and I liked that it was unique. I really enjoy the power and resilience of Amora and I can't wait to see where the author takes these wonderful characters next. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book was beautifully written and had just the right amount of everything I was hoping to read! I felt a little confused at the beginning, but I kept reading, and I am glad I did! All of the characters had their own voices and added so much to the story. Amora was badass, and that's all I really want in a main character!
I was really excited to receive an ARC of this book - thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.
I’ve been reading and then being disappointed by pirate books for years. But finally, this is the perfect pirate adventure fantasy book I’ve been waiting for! The heroine is incredible and the entire book portrays women so well (the author and her entire publishing team are all women, as she states in her acknowledgments). Really I loved her entire crew because the characters are all so real and well written. This fantasy world has a complex, intriguing magic system like I’ve never seen before and loved figuring out. I also loved the island kingdom setting and the descriptions of the cities, food, clothing, jewelry, and more are all stunning. The story is packed with action from prison escapes to fighting sea monsters to rescuing a mermaid and so much more. I didn’t want to put it down or leave this world. I could go on and on but really just go buy and read this book!
Lush in its descriptions, fast paced in its plot, All the Stars and Teeth is a unique journey of family, love, calling and true purpose.
I really did like this book. The soul magic had me a little freaked out at first since I was not expecting all the bones and blood. I got used to it though. The story was rich in detail and has a great plot. I'm wondering what will happen next !
**DNF @ 58%**
I do really like the ideas and the world this author has come up with. I loved the different kinds of magic and how they were explained and the different islands I did see where distinct. I also thought that Bastian reminded me of Jack Sparrow in a good way. But sadly, I didn't care for Amora or the pacing that was bogged down. I feel like things were a bit too easy with getting supplies, learning about useful things to help them and escaping. There wasn't a ton of conflict to provide tension. I also felt like Amora did some aggressive things that she didn't apologize for and I didn't think they were necessary. I didn't like how Ferrick was treated as the silly boy with unrequited love and was only useful for healing. I also felt like some dialogue was info dump for Amora to learn what she needed for her objective. The fact she was so sheltered about the world when she was to be a future leader was very hard to believe. While I think this author has great potential, this wasn't completely for me in the end. I'll recommend it to teen patrons and those who love YA books though.
All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace is a great story! I loved the title! I found the main character Amora super interesting and loved her journey.
"All the Stars and Teeth" by Adalyn Grace was a story with a lot of good bones...which was not meant as a pun, but totally is one. Sorry. Point being, it had a lot of good ideas as far as world building and magic systems and family dynamics and romance and for some reason I just didn't really connect to any of it. I never really got into the book and was just forcing myself to get to the end of it after a point. I think I had pretty high expectations, and it just all felt...bare boned. Sorry again. Something about the world and the characters wasn't fleshed out or believable enough for me to really be living in it. It all felt very surface level and often predictable.
One of my favorite parts was probably Amora's magic—tying hair on bones and teeth to kill people, that is sick and original and awesome in a gruesome way. But, though magic was kind of the point of the story and Amora's magic is supposed to be very important to her, we hardly ever see her use it. When she did it was awesome. Maybe I just wanted the book to be darker than it was. Because I'm a twisted person, I guess.
I also enjoyed the romance, though I didn't super connect with it. It was cute and I looked forward to it and liked the kissy scenes. I also really liked the mermaid. She was a sweet character. There should be a book just about her.
To sum it up, it wasn't terrible, but I think it could have been better and it wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. But that's just me and I know a lot of people feel differently.
The evocative cover of All the Stars and Teeth, by Adalyn Grace, made me want to read it, and I was not disappointed. This tale of an island kingdom and the young woman who is the heir to its throne is packed with magic and adventure--if you like world-building stories, you'll find plenty to relish here. There are mermaids, pirates and romance in a rich fantasy setting. My one quibble is that I'd like to have known the characters better; the action in the book took precedence over character development. Still, this is the first entry in what will probably be a very popular series.
All the Stars and Teeth fist caught my eye because of the menacing title and gorgeous cover design. On top of that, I had seen nothing but stellar reviews claiming it would be the big YA book of 2020. Unfortunately, this book was just average for me.
This is a high fantasy novel, and as such I understand it must build an entire world from scratch, but the author introduced the world through two massive exposition dumps. In truth I never learned the names of the kingdom's islands, other than the two we visit in the novel. Nor did I learn the associated magics and gemstones.
We also get the setup for a love triangle, but it's never followed through, as the protagonist's affections are never in doubt.
For the first several chapters, the dialogue and narration feel stiff and forced. Though it never feels perfectly natural, it does eventually flow more smoothly.
Overall, I didn't dislike this book, but I didn't adore it.
All The Stars and Teeth is an amazing debut novel. It follows Amora, a princess of an island kingdom, who is forced to flee after a demonstration of soul magic goes awry. She is helped by a pirate named Bastian, and strikes a deal with him to help him reclaim his stolen magic in return for his help.
There’s pirates, mermaids, magic, monsters, and the pacing is perfect. The magic system is unique and well explained, the main characters are well developed and have personality, and I loved Amora’s confidence throughout the entire book.
Overall, this is an adventure that you don’t want to skip out on. It’s the first book in a duology!
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
ALL THE STARS AND TEETH had me at "vengeful mermaid." This YA Fantasy is WE HUNT THE FLAME at sea. And like WHTF, it left me sad when I finished the book and I yearned for the sequel.
Although a princess in an island kingdom with everything from rainbow coloured mist, one city as stark white as Gondor in LOTR and another city with stained glass streets, Amora must be the "monster" her kingdom Visidia needs.
Although there is friendship, romance and pink guyliner (think the Hunger Game's Capitol) in ALL THE STARS AND TEETH, Amora will not hesitate to use her dagger or satchel of soul magic to save her kingdom.
Fierce fights, spooky secrets and menacing sea creatures had me gripped to Adalyn Grace's debut. It's a must-read, and sure to be a Bestseller.