It took me a long time to finish this book and I think that is because there are parts I liked and I kept hoping it would get better. I do like the world, although I think more depth into it was needed. The two main female characters acted younger than their ages. The one character was over 100:years old, but didn’t seem to have mature into actually thinking. I liked having the multiple characters, but I wished there was a point of view from Celadon. The pop references and the way they spoke did get annoying. I felt like things were too easy and finished too neatly at the end. I also think there was a lot of whining about not wanting to do something after actively doing something. It felt like the parts that would be interesting to know more about were skimmed over and instead other parts were delved into that didn’t need so much depth. All the romances weren’t working for me, As I said there were parts I enjoyed so eventually I will read the next books. I would give it 2.5 stars.

Queer urban fantasy set in Toronto? Say less! A great start to a great series. Recommend this one alot at work!

TW: Gore, prejudice, murder, mental health & body experiement.

3.5 stars!
Think Crescent City in our world mixed with Blade 2 movie vibes.
So this took me a while to finish due to losing my arc and then not being able to find my physical book. However, it also was very slow to at least 50% and one too many pov in my opinion. But I get it because it was fascinating as they each found pieces of the plot before coming together. ALSO, QUEER REP IS SO GOOD!

The last half was more exciting with them all working together, and I feel like most of this book is a set-up for the second book. I look forward to it.

OKAY. First off. Pitched as CITY OF BONES, but set in Toronto?! Color me intrigued!

Readers, prepare: you're about to hear Ashley Shuttleworth's name everywhere. Honestly. A DARK AND HOLLOW STAR is gritty, sharp, whip-smart and atmospherically brilliant. Shuttleworth carves out a magical-realist world in a populous city, made believable by her well-developed Fae lineages.

It's fast-paced. Action scenes complement heart-wrenching revelations. And the murder mystery undercurrent at its heart kept me flipping through the pages until the very end.

All in all, it was a phenomenal story, and I cannot wait to see where the characters' arcs take them in the next book in the series!

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth is a Young Adult Fantasy novel filled with LGBTQ+ characters, an intriguing plot, and immersive world-building and is Shuttleworth’s debut novel. This novel follows four teens: Nausicaä a Fury who was banished from the Immortal Realm centuries ago and who is seeking revenge. Arlo is an ironborn half-fae who doesn’t fit in the mortal realm or with her royal fae family, Vehan is a fae prince determined to prove that he belongs on the throne, and Aurelian who is Vehan’s guardian burdened with a secret. These four main characters were relatable, well developed, and fleshed out; they each had their own distinct personalities and quirks.

A Dark and Hollow Star is full of magic and mystery. Shuttleworth crafts a magical world right in Toronto, and makes it so believable and realistic you would think fae exist. This is the first book in a series, and I cannot wait to see what Shuttleworth has in store for Nausicaä, Arlo, Vehan, and Aurelian. I look forward to continuing on with their journey. This is a book that will stick with me for a long time.

This book started out really good, however I had to put it down in the middle of it. I can't remember why now, but after having put it down I had no interest in picking it back up. Which is discouraging when you're smack in the middle of a book and it's not interesting enough to get back to it.

I may pick it back up later and try again, but for now it's been 3 months so I am unfortunately giving it 2 starts and marking it as DNFd .

This is the follow up series fans of Cassandra Claire have been waiting for-only, this series is better. Set in a fastpast Toronto underworld of magic and mayhem, ADaHS is rife with romance, mystery, adventure, and tons of queer representation. The plot and settings were so immersive that I tore through the novel in no time flat.

The representation in this novel was incredible. This genre needs it! But from a writing/format/organizational point of view, there were some issues. Overall this book was decent and deserves to be read for the rep, but at the same time there was a lot going on and I feel it needed more edits.

This novel is the first in a new series set in Toronto and the magical world. I love that the story in set in a city that I know with the magical overtones. From the first page, the writing drew me in and the characters intrigued me. There were moments in the book where I laughed; as well as moments that ere filled with tension. The world building and characterization are great and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. This story is definitely a must-read if you enjoy reading stories featuring magic and interesting characters.

Ashley Shuttleworth knocked this one out of the park! Completely blew my expectations away. The setting was so lush and imaginative, combining elements of modernity with fantastical elements that created a really immersive and rich urban fantasy setting. Multiple POVs kept me glued to this book and I finished it in two days!

The author had so many strong elements to the story: fantasy worldbuilding, an intriguing mystery, all the different types of relationships in the book that felt natural and had me smiling into the book.

Great story and I can’t wait for the sequel

I absolutely loved Nausicaa and Arlo.Their friendship turn sapphic romance gave me life. It was very heartwarming seeing her grow close to Arlo since Nausicaa has spent so much time without any true friends after getting revenge for her sister and being banished to roam the earth for eternity. I couldn't get enough of Nausicaas cynical attitude and dark humor. She gave Arlo the confidence to tap into her power and be her badass half human and half fae self. Arlos relationship with her cousin Prince Celadon was very sweet. He was like a protective big brother while also supporting and believing in her potential.

I enjoyed the murder mystery plot with Nausicaa and Arlo teaming up with the fae Prince of Summer and his steward to find out why all the half human and half fae children were turning up dead with a stone heart in their chest. I loved the foreshadowing of something bigger going on with the deities and the philosopher stone. The possibility that Arlo could become a target added an exciting sense of danger. Plus the alchemical sigil the Prince of Summer has on his chest didnt seem very promising for him. His cruel and manipulative mother had me dreading what she would do next. The fury killing the reaper before they could get answers didnt make much sense but maybe that will be explained in the sequel.

I was beyond happy to read a book set in Toronto which is only a few hours away from where I live. It created a deeper connection with the setting and the book as a whole. I love how it incorporated the fae courts and all the different types of faeries. The fae world was so well developped that I found myself completely transported. Not to mention the goblin market was super fun to explore. I enjoyed the meddling gods and the wild hunt. Nausicaa being a former fury gave her some awesome powers and Arlo was given some unique immortal powers by fate that helped her master alchemy. This is definitely a new favorite and I cant wait to get my hands on the sequel.

This was such an interesting and engaging fantasy! It was great to see so much LGBTQ+ representation, which as a reader I find doesn’t get showcased enough in fantasy. Shuttleworth created really unique and in depth characters that I found myself loving and rooting for! It was also really cool to see an urban fantasy set in Canada!

A Dark and Hollow Star has the makings of becoming your new favourite modern fantasy. Set in a world where the fae and other mythical beings walk among us, Ashley Shuttleworth’s debut novel pulls you in with the promise of an exciting adventure.

The story follows four queer teens who each play a part in uncovering a dastardly plan. We have Arlo, our ironborn half-fae outcast from her royal family. Vehan, a dutiful fae prince and Aurelian, Vehan’s guardian (and crush). Also, our cover girl, Nausicaä, our tempestuous Fury exiled from the Immortal Realm due to her healthy appetite for revenge. As far as character-driven fantasy goes, A Dark and Hollow Star benefits greatly by featuring four great characters that you instantly want to root for upon meeting.

The idea of a novel solely featuring queer characters in a world where queerness is a norm is enough to want to grab it off the bookshelf and run to the cash, but Shuttleworth gives us fully realized, three-dimensional heroes that we not only want to see succeed in solving the mystery but also want to see enjoy long-lasting love (please, Shuttleworth protect these darlings)!

When it comes to fantasy, there are a lot of different approaches and tastes. If you are a fan of a slow-burn that takes its time building the world and the characters within it before jumping into what is sure to be an anxiety-inducing adventure in the following books, then A Dark and Hollow Star is for you. Shuttleworth takes their time with having the reader understand the leads, their ambitions, their fears, and what they hold dear. Meanwhile, there is careful consideration in crafting the world, mapping out the Eight Courts of Folks and the arrangements made to have the magical realm exist among the human world. There is a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal realms, and Shuttleworth puts down a solid foundation to guide us through the story.

Often the trouble with slow-burn fantasies is that the story and adventure are lacking in excitement because there is so much to set up, that is not the case here. We have a central problem that ties each of our characters together and builds upon the much larger issues at hand. A mysterious killer is on the loose and as each of our leads gets roped into the mystery, we as readers gain a lot. As this is a character-driven narrative, the mystery and action aid character development and world-building. All are fairly balanced and laced with an intoxicating need to read more. Folks, this is one hell of a page-turner.

A Dark and Hollow Star is a great fantasy because there are fun characters, fantastic world-building, heart-melting romance and intriguing conflict. However, the true triumph is Shuttleworth’s absolute devotion to fully integrating queerness into the text and world. As more and more voices from the LGBTQ+ community get published in genre books, we as readers benefit from a plethora of rich text that unburdens us from cliched and often half-assed forms of representation. These characters aren’t queer to check off a box. Their queerness doesn’t sideline them or make them a point of mockery. Instead, queerness is the norm.

The excitement burrowing in my chest for the next novel is almost too much to bear, A Cruel and Fated Light can’t come any sooner. 2022, where are you?

Enjoyed this novel's take on faeries in our world! I loved the characters in this book and the plot! My only complaint with this book was the pacing. At times, especially in the beginning, it felt like nothing was really happening and it was so slow. After the 50% mark I felt like more events were happening and the plot was actually progressing. I enjoyed the latter half of the book a lot more because it wasn't just world-building. The cliffhanger at the end made me interested in continuing this series!

A Dark and Hollow Star had a premise I was instantly intrigued by the moment I read the synopsis. While the book started out a little slow for me, it did pick up a little before mid-way through and it was definitely an exciting read to the finish by then. The book has some great LGBTQ+ rep, but it would have been nice to see some more people of colour characters, considering it's set in Toronto, one of the most diverse cities in the world.

In terms of the plot, there were a few times where I was confused by which character was saying what as it does jump around at certain points. There also could have been a bit more time spent on the world-building aspect, but that didn't deter me from wanting to find out all that was happening. All in all, the book was an interesting read and by the end, I did feel invested in seeing where the story goes for the next book.

3.5/5

I really struggled with the star rating on this book and wavered between three (my average) and two for a long time. I think the context in which I read this book influenced my experience a lot--I had recently read a number of books that, good or bad, did not match up to my expectations of what I was getting into based on how they marketed/what they appeared to be and I was left in some way disappointed. This book is <i>exactly</i> what I expected it to be and I'm not disappointed in that in the slightest. I wanted a fae-inspired YA urban fantasy book with same gender attracted characters at the forefront. I got exactly that. I'm sure I'll be able to recommend this book to teens who will love it. I would have killed for it at that age when I was figuring myself out and the only gay content at my library was the <i>Rainbow Boys</i> series (note: this is not a knock against <i>Rainbow Boys</i>, which was a hugely formative series for me).

As an adult, I am very much not the target audience here. I don't always feel that very strongly with all the YA I read (and I do read quite a lot of YA--both for personal and professional reasons), but I really, really felt it here. And, again, while there are a lot of teens I will probably recommend this to with the full expectation that they will just adore it, the recommendation is going to be riding on the book being campy, urban fantasy fun with LGBT content (by a Canadian author!). I'm probably not going to recommend it on the strength of its plot or characters or worldbuilding, all of which had potential but were a little, well, <i>hollow</i> in execution.

Nausicaa was my biggest disappointment. The beginning of the book and the initial introduction of her character was so promising, but as I saw more of her in modern day...I just didn't buy her and I didn't buy how quickly she and Arlo got wrapped up in each other. Aurelian and Vehan's relationship had the benefit of a long history together, which helped sell it a lot better, but even acknowledging that this is the first book in what is intended to be (at least) a duology, there was disappointingly little development.

I liked some of the side characters (particularly Celadon) better than the mains, but wow there were <i>a lot</i> of named and laboriously described side characters who added up to very little. The laborious descriptions were even more egregious with the mains and kind of frustrating to read when they continuously boiled down to everyone being very pretty and very fashionable. At one point, I remember Nausicaa's (fairly straightforward) outfit being described in detail two chapters in a row and I just put the book down for a bit.

I appreciated that all of the really significant, really positive romantic connections and attraction were F/F or M/M (because when do you ever see that). I didn't love, however, the repetition of Shallow Teen Girl Hitting on Blatantly Uninterested Teen Boy as a side character.

The villains were a bit of a mess and the climax wasn't especially compelling. I fully acknowledge that action scenes are hard to write, but it was...really evidently not the author's forte.

I probably will pick up the next book in the series, both to see where it goes and because I do like Shuttleworth's ideas in concept and know that an author's debut is not often my favourite of their works. But two stars is where I landed this time. As the GoodReads hover text says, "it was ok".

This one is definitely FOR fans of Sarah J Maas and Cassandra Clare because it is very heavy in lore. Being a fan of both authors, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the lore from both of their books in this Canadian urban fantasy. I'm giving this one a solid 3 stars not because I didn't enjoy it, but I think there's space for so much to come from this world and I have yet to decide how much I like it. If you're not too familiar with the popular YA fantasy novels, I'd say that this series might take a little time to get used to, but it'll be worth the time!

A Dark and Hollow Star was a solid 3.75 star read for me. It was a fun read but I was not overly invested in the story or characters; however, I am no longer a young teen and this played a big part in my feeling of disconnect throughout the story. Regardless of this, I see the appeal and think many older teens would enjoy this book. The story follows four teens as they attempt to uncover the truth behind a string of brutal murders targeting mixed human-fae children. The casual queer representation was really nice and refreshing as it was not the main focus of the plot or a point of conflict at all.

My favourite characters by far were Nausicaä and Arlo; although Riadne might be my favourite side character, simply because I love reading about characters that will sacrifice everything in order to achieve their goals. Nausicaä is an exiled ex-Fury roaming around the world causing havoc until she stumbles upon Arlo and the two reluctantly start working together. I really loved how angry and arrogant Nausicaä was and it just made her pov really fun to read. On the other hand, Arlo was a bit more complex. She is very much a teenager confused about what she wants in life. She is very much a reluctant hero type; she is scared, but she also has a strong innate need to look out for people and that fuels her brave and courageous side. The other two main characters, Aurelian and Vehan felt a little less fleshed out; and therefore, less interesting.

Overall, I the story was fun and enjoyable and I will most likely be continuing on once the sequel comes out. However, I am so glad this book exists and despite my slightly ambivalent feelings, I cannot wait to recommend A Dark and Hollow Star to teens and fans of young adult fantasy.

2.5 ish

This took me so long to finish. This was one of my most anticipated of the year and it really just left me feeling very meh. I also did have some problem with this book and it fell below my expectations.

A Dark and Hollow Star follows a group of four queer teenage fae as they attempt to discover why there is a string of ironborn (half human half fae) are being murdered in the city of Toronto. In shifting POV chapters, we watch as Arlo, Nausicaä, Aurelian, and Vehan hunt to find the serial killer and why they're targeting the ironborn.

To start, there is some good in this book, but one thing to point out, the description really made be ready to read a largely queer fantasy set in Toronto with a serial killer, the serial killer aspect really wasn't what I thought it would be. However, while most of them are not fully confirmed within the book, all of these character are queer and there is various gender identities within this book as well. This was done well and it was great to see a lot of LGBTQ+ rep in a book, and if you see other reviews, it does mention that basically every character is a different sexuality so a lot of different representation (however, unless I missed it, only two are explicitly said in this novel).

However, while there was loads of LGBTQ+ rep in this novel, the lack of BIPOC characters in this novel was very disappointing. The novel itself mentions that Toronto is a diverse city, and this is very true, there are a lot of people of difference races in the city and that really makes it the unique experience it is, so I was disappointed to see that the 4 main characters were all white and as far as I can remember, I believe most (if not all) side characters were too. This was really disappointing to me as I hoped to see some awesome Canadian BIPOC fae in here as well, but that was not the case. While also on the subject of this being in Toronto, I was a little disappointed that all of the Toronto places mentioned were all very well known places - like the CN Tower, Ripleys Aquarium, and Bloor Street - and nothing that only a Toronto reader might be able to have that "hey I know that" feeling. Part of this book is also set in Arizona at the beginning which I was very confused about at first, I assumed it was all in Toronto.

On the subject of being confused, I was so confused at SO many points. I found myself forgetting which character was which and at points just confused about the whole plot. The writing was a little flowery in points and I think that was a bit of why I was confused at times. I found the length of this novel also didn't help. I didn't really feel like 500+ pages were necessary for book one of a series that for a lot of it, didn't have a lot happening. The main climax doesn't begin to start until about the last 100 or so pages and once it hit, it felt like it went a little too fast.

I did like the alternating POV chapters, it is something I usually like in a book because I like seeing different perspectives of the same story and find that we learn a bit more about each character through that. For a book with 4 main characters, this was really helpful and kind of helped with the confusion (but did make some as well). I wish the ratio of who was telling the story was a little bit more equal. The POV was a lot more on Arlo or Nausicaä than the boys, and the chapters about Aurelian and Vehan is where I had the most confusion, so maybe if they were featured a bit more, I wouldn't have been as confused. There was another person thrown in the alternating POVs sometimes and while I do see how it was really important to the story, could have been maybe not included since it was only 3 or 4 times.

So that was a lot. Overall, just kind of meh for me. I was really let down for somethings and had a lot of high hopes that weren't met. I am still kind of interested in the plot and characters, so picking up the second book once it comes out isn't fully out of the picture for me.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for approving me with an eArc in exchange of an honest review*

A Dark and Hollow Star is a story about faes, fairies and other surnatural species, centred in the Toronto, Canada. We follow a series of murder on Ironborn (people born with Fae and human blood) and four teenagers trying to solve this mystery.

I liked the initial setting of the book with the mystery and the different characters. I found the beginning enjoyable and then it slowly descend into boredom and disappointment. The squad actually reunite around 60% in the book and before that I was always wondering when they would get all together, more so since we are promised this squad thing. So I expected them to meet earlier.

The worldbuilding also confused me a lot and it just kept being confusing the more I read. I love the part about the Fae and their courts and their politics. I found it great but it was the other elements that threw me off. At first, I was excited to see the Fury from the Greek Mythology making an entrance and then I just kept wondering what was their purpose in this fae world. And then, we are introduced to philosopher stone, the seven sins and even more, a dungeon and dragons role play game style. It felt to me like a big patchwork of stuff that was a weirdly tied together. I found each element to be really interesting individually but together, I found it weird.

The only likeable characters for me was Vehan which is an absolute cinnamon roll, I loved him so much. His chapters were definitely the best. I didn’t really care for the others and at the end I was very annoyed by Nos constant drops of pop culture reference, it broke the ambiance and the pace for me. Maybe I just can’t take this sort of dialogue anymore and it’s why i read mostly adult fantasy haha. Thus said, I really like the amount of diversity found in this book and all the cast is actually part of the LGBTQ community so I found it refreshing and great.