This is a sequel series to Red Sister. If you haven't read that series then I don't advise you reading this book. The book gives more of a crash course of this world and introduces new cultures at the same time at a fast pace. If you have read the Red Sister series, then read this one.

Yaz's people live on the ice. Plants are a foreign concept to her. Every three years all the ice tribes gather to cull the weakest children from the tribes. The children are thrown down a pit. When Yaz's brother is thrown, she jumps after him. Then she discovers the true meaning of the pits.

This book starts at a breakneck pace and doesn't let up. I liked that it delved more into the world's past and answers where the demons come from. But because this book went so fast and gave so many characters, I didn't feel connected with any. And the main character has three men in love with her. I already hate love triangles so I was not happy when it morphed into a love square.

Abeth, a frozen ice planet. Many years ago, a home to Nona and the sisters of the Sweet Mercy convent. Now home to nothing but wandering ice tribes, struggling to survive in the harshest conditions imaginable.

To survive is to sacrifice. Outliers must be culled. Whether you are weak and lag behind, or if you’re too big or strong and eat more than the average share, then you can no longer exist within the tribe. You are thrown away, torn from your home and family forever. Yaz, our teenage protagonist, finds herself in this position at the onset of the story, and we follow her journey down the rabbit hole into an unforgiving world of danger, mystery, magic, science fiction, politics, horror, and so much more.

To go into any more detail will spoil some of the fun, but I will mention that the story was impossible to categorize, as it created a genre all to its own. What to call it is up to you. Icepunk? Sure, why not. It’s not news that Lawrence continues to get better with every book. This is something we’ve known for years. But this is a different kind of story than what we’re used to from him. It has a drive to it, a pulse, a gearshift that kicks higher and higher.

Long-shrouded mysteries that were first hinted at in The Broken Empire and carried over through The Red Queen’s War and The Book of the Ancestor were finally being cracked open wide here, revealing that Lawrence has been low-key creating a shared universe of his work all along. What else could be in store for the future of the Yaz-mere? We can already access two different series in two different eras. Perhaps there’s a third era of time in which we can further expand on the lore of a mysterious race or two? But I’m getting way ahead of myself. This book is having that effect on me. It’s provoking wild theories and getting me very, very excited for what’s to come. It’s that kind of book.

Every chapter kept getting better and better. There were many questions I had during The Book of the Ancestor series that were addressed here. New abilities, new environments, new threats, new characters to love and hate, themes and questions carried over from Nona’s story, a ton of new mysteries to solve... it was plain to see how carefully the scenes were constructed, and it all flowed wonderfully. Almost every chapter had something breath-catching in it.

The Girl and the Stars is more than the start of a new series. It’s the culmination of some of the best ideas of Lawrence’s previous works while promising that amazing things are still to come. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next Icepunk book in the Yaz-mere.

9.5 / 10

Another fascinating entry in this series by Mark Lawrence! The world building he does for Abeth and its many peoples is second to none. I couldn't put this book down and am already impatiently waiting for the next book.

Well that certainly didn't turn out the way I expected. Set in the same world as the Book of the Ancestor series it follows the story of Yaz, a super-awesome-special girl who winds up having super-awesome-special powers that help solve some super-awesome-special things just in time.
I am a survivor of the early 2010's dystopian deluge of YA novels and this novel made me think it was published back then.
Female protagonist who doesn't know she's special but has that special power everyone needs? check
Never used her power but suddenly masters it? check
Conflicting desires to be brave and be frightened? check
Star crossed lovers? check
Love triangle (or in this case quadrangle)? check
Falling for the bad boy (even if it is because he was demon-possessed)? check
If the kids in my library still read dystopian stuff I would get this, but they don't so oh well.
Lawrence's world-building is good, but the story set against the backdrop is not.

This book was received as an ARC from Berkley Publishing Group - Ace in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was so astonished when I finished this book that my heart has never been so full and I have never been so inspired. A lot of the young readers hopefully will be inspired by this book that they feel they can do anything. Yaz is a young girl growing up in the east of Black Rock and the spot what they call the Pit of the Missing is drawing her in which she is becoming broken. Instead of falling to the pit, Yaz decides to leave her life behind and start a new path in which she discovers her strength that she never knew she had. Leaning on the survival tactics her family taught her, she discovers a world that she never knew existed and as long as she has her inner strength she can never be broken. I know a lot of people if they really dig into the theme will be inspired by this book. Our book club is sure to love it and generate a powerful discussion.

We will consider adding this title to our Sci-Fi/Fantasy collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.