Had I known that this was dystopian, I probably wouldn't have requested it. That's my own fault, as I didn't read the description and I was drawn in by the pretty cover. I have never enjoyed dystopian but there was nothing wrong with this book.

An interesting and surprising book

Charles is a farm-boy who survived an accident that killed millions. After that, people all around the world developped extraordinary abilities and he finds himself in awe of their heroism. His life is simple, with his rabbit and his grandpa, but after college, he leaves in search of something more. Ten years later, he comes home and sees both Arthur - an old classmate - and his grandpa that he hasn't spoken to in years. He decides to help them decipher a strange book, unaware of the dangers that lurk ahead. He will make unusual discoveries about himself that will change his life for good.

I expected more magic and fantasy in this book to be honest, and it kind of put me off. The beginning was very intense and intriguing and I was excited to read what was next. But then, I got a bit bored during the middle part. It was mostly romance and trivial life, lacking the magic and mystery that I needed. I was excited to see that the fantasy aspect of the book came back later on, though. It was more interesting and surprising. Overall, the book was good, but it could have been more intense and magical, I think, but that's a really personal opinion as a fantasy fan. The writing was okay, nothing fancy or particularly exciting, but I liked Charles's way of thinking. It was also interesting to see him grow throughout the different timelines written. I also liked that he has a pet rabbit because it's original, although I'm a bit surprised by Frankie's lifespan (13 years seems really long for a rabbit). The book was globally fun to read. I think the world has a lot of potential and we might get to see and learn more about it in the sequels, I'll have to read and see!

I'd say I recommend, but don't expect a lot of supernatural and fantasy stuff.

"Being good isn't based on how much power you have, but what you do with it."

This is a tough one to review. I was pretty miserable reading it. I tried but I really did not enjoy it. The plot was all over the place, the world lacks world-building, and the characters are exhausting. All in all, it just wasn't good and definitely not one I'd recommend.

I started reading this book because the cover and description intrigued me a lot, sadly I couldn´t help but feel disappointed after finishing it. The world-building was mildly developed and the characters fell flat for me. I liked reading about them and their story throughout the book, but I didn´t feel connected to them and that brought the rating down for me. The relationships were confusing as well, and some of them lacked depth. Even so, I´m curious to see what this author will bring us in the future, seeing that this is a debut novel and we haven´t seen this author´s full potential yet. Wishing all the best to her and the publishing team.

I think that there's probably a decent underlying idea here, but the overall execution is so poor, I have had to DNF the book. This is something I never usually do, and even when a book isn't my kind of thing, I'll still push on, but there are so many mistakes and inconsistencies here that it feels unreadable.

It's a shame to say this as I'm sure a lot of effort has been put into crafting the idea, but, as other reviewers have pointed out, there are so many holes and problems with grammar/structure, I'm amazed it ever went through an editor. We're all used to the odd typo or formatting error with ARCs, but this sadly goes way beyond that.

I sincerely hope the author will be able to revisit the book and take into account some of the feedback given, as there are a number of positives mentioned in other reviews as well as some negatives to fix up. It feels like a story with potential, but in this state, it's barely readable.

I won't be sharing my review on my usual social media or website platforms.

The title, cover and description of this book immediately through me in and I was happy to be offered a review copy.

I really wanted to love the story since the premise sounds really interesting and like something I‘d enjoy reading but sadly I just couldn’t get into it. The writing style wasn‘t really my thing and I couldn‘t connect to the character(s). I do hope the book finds readers who love it even though for me it didn‘t work out.

Thank you Net Galley and Aminah Fox for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I have rated this book 3 stars cause I could not rate it 3.5. But that would be my overall rating of the book.

The book is described as a "A queer coming-of-age story of fandom, first love, and family set in a dystopian North America still healing from the fallout of a global experiment gone wrong, leaving the world in desperate need of heroes."

This is a book about heroes and villains in a world that is described as dystopian but I felt it did not describe the world in that setting as it focused mostly on the Outskirters who are pretty well to do people coming from old money. There were brief mentions of the things that had happened before the Nox event (an event that led to the creation of superhumans with abilities) and of a illness and virus and pollution after the Nox event but not in as much detail as I liked. So I really had to remind myself it was a dystopian world.

The writing style of this book was something I actually enjoyed. It read like a comic book but the way it was written made it easier to imagine the story unfolding in my mind. The story is told from the perspective of Charles Sykes, a boy from the Brush - the opposite of the Outskirts and follows him from the age of 12 onwards, the way it is written is at once like a journal from him but also like a narration and most people might not have liked it, but I definitely enjoyed reading it.

The characters were interesting and was described well. You had to love Grandpa Harrisson, and Charles's dad and hate Everett and wonder about Emily. You see Charles's growth from a happy little 12 year old to an abused 17 year old to a successful 27 year old who could hold his own with the Outskirters, but underneath it all he is still stuck in the past, the past with Arthur, his father and his mother and all the scars that it left. Arthur is a typical rich boy on the path to self-destruction and was a character I could not hate as much as I wanted to. It explores queer relationships without making it all about it, in a society that does not accept it, still may I add, even though it was 2099 when Charles was 12.

The overall plot of Wonders and Terrors and abuse of power of the Wonders is something that was well looked and gave me major The Boys vibes. But I felt like it did not really explore and explain the reasons for that abuse of power. The book does explore the blurred lines between good and evil at times and in a way truly shows 'absolute power can corrupt absolutely'.

The ending was one I felt was coming but still when it did it was too sad and happened too fast, but I felt it set up for the next book and what could happen pretty well.

I hope there will be a second book cause I truly would like to see how the story unfolds and maybe get some better answers and explanations.

I feel really sorry about giving this the worst rating I’ve ever given a book and writing such a negative review for a young aspiring author’s debut novel, especially after having read her author’s note about how much effort she put into it, but it just really didn’t show at all in the book that I just read.

I know advance reader copies are not the finished product. Even keeping that in mind, the amount of spelling errors, plot holes and logical mistakes (like sitting down at the magic show twice in the span of one page or misspelling the name of an important character for part of the book) was astounding. There was weird punctuation, use of ellipses and towards the end of the book the main character suddenly addresses the reader directly which he hasn’t done before, ever. This should stand out to anyone, and especially an editor.

Additionally to this inconsistency, this story reads more like a draft for a book than an actual finished product.

That was mostly due to how much telling and how little showing there was going on. The writing style was basically summarising what happened, the first fight scene was half a page long and I felt extremely distanced from the plot the whole time, not to mention the characters.

Also, the book is set incredibly far in the future without there being any significant technological or scientific development that would call for the need of such a setting. The purpose of the artificial star that is mentioned in the beginning is not explained or alluded to whatsoever other than it supposedly would have been a step towards immortality, the US is renamed for Visea because in the past there had been a plague. A plague, not any political unrest or war or anything. There was a plague and then they renamed the country. The “gifts” are not explained at all, either - in the beginning, it sounds a bit like every “gifted” person has one “gift”, but later on there are several and the main character doesn’t even seem to have any limits to his abilities at all. Some he discovers just randomly and then they are never used again.

Also, the main character didn’t seem to have any character whatsoever, if you don’t count “letting people walk all over him” as a character trait. He is mostly depicted as a victim throughout all of the book - the Nox Day accident makes the main character’s father’s cancer come back, he dies, the new stepfather is a violent, abusive alcoholic for no reason other than to point out how much of a victim the main character is and then there’s the whole matter with his relationship with Arthur. After the first five pages, I knew more about the main character’s father’s personality than about the main character himself. In addition to that, his character didn’t develop between when he was 12 and when he was 17. At both ages, he has a rabbit that is his best friend and magically stays the same age after Nox Day, at 12 he has a crush on a girl but at 17 he things going to a magic show is just the thing he needs before going to college. Yeah, I was a bit weirded out.

What also confused me was how interchangeably the parents were either called mother and father or by their first names.

But moving on to the love interest. When Arthur was first introduced, I wasn’t sure whether the main character actually liked him or whether Arthur was just another (slightly more clever) bully. Their sexual relationship doesn’t seem to be founded on anything and I have no clue whatsoever as to why they should be friends at all. Especially when the main character suddenly after a flashback without any specific prompting decides that this isn’t enough and gets angry and ends their relationship. But then he becomes the godfather of Arthur’s daughter! Although he has barely spoken to Arthur or his wife ever since that!

I wish I could say that I liked the second love interest any better. I think she definitely had potential had it not been for the main character constantly swinging between “I love her so much omg she’s so amazing” and “dude but Arthur I miss him I really loved him”. There was no chemistry between them and I honestly didn’t enjoy the focus on their relationship, it didn’t add anything to the plot. It would have been much more convincing if there was a bigger focus on the goddaughter Alice, and if she had been used in the threats. She was actually rather cute!

But what I disliked the most about the book was how random the plot was. It basically jumped from one scene to the next, the reader had no clue what was happening why or even what the main character’s goal actually is, there were frequent and unnecessary flashbacks that did nothing but rip me out of a story that was difficult to follow as it was already, there was no correlation between many of the scenes and there were blatantly obvious plot holes, like why the grandfather should have the book in the first place if he wants nothing to do with and of the “gifted”.

If everything wasn’t so rushed and there was actual effort put into the development and detailed description of all of these scenes, the plot would be really interesting I believe. As it is, I frankly haven’t even understood why the main character feels so removed from his super hero character and what his actual motivation behind his actions are, or what the idea for the sequel is supposed to be.

As it is, the plot was confusing and weirdly paced and I have never encountered more flat characters than in this book.

I do honestly believe that with a fair share of editing, this could evolve into a great and unique story, and I wish the author all the best for her future.

I was granted an e-arc of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book I’ve read that was written by someone born in the same year I was born in. The author is only a few months older than I am and I’m sorry I can’t give this book a higher rating; it simply wasn’t good. Where the Stars Sing was neither an enjoyable nor a pleasant read and the reasons for that are numerous.

Let’s begin with the most important aspect of any fiction book: the plot, which, in this case, was all over the shop. It was incoherent, jumping from one scene to the next without any smooth transitions. I felt like I was reading a comic rather than a book. It lacked heft as well as depth and there were some narrative choices that I think just didn’t work. The story was divided into three parts following the events of Charles’ life at ages 12, 17, and 27. Given that only two chapters were dedicated to his 12-year-old self and only four to his 17-year-old self, I think it would have been better to leave out this categorization and instead use retrospect to tell the reader about Charles’ past.

But even worse than the plot was the writing. It hurts me to say this to a budding author who is about to get her first book published at a remarkably young age, but this should have been one of those books you write, finish, and then shelf on your computer for future reference regarding writing practice.

Not once did the writing manage to emotionally engage me. It was bland and never achieved to make me feel that something was at stake. It was said that things were at stake (Charles’ life, the safety of millions of civilians) but I didn’t feel any of it. There was an implied romantic relationship between Charles and his male childhood crush/lover but the ‘yearning’ or implied tension was non-existent. There was a lot of telling instead of showing going on which is a pity because it lead to the characters’ interhuman interactions being left unexplored.

Even though the author mentions an editor in her acknowledgements, it felt like not a single editor had ever laid eyes on this book. It was riddled with spelling errors. Sometimes whole words were missing from sentences. There was a gross overuse of the past perfect tense and all the time I had this feeling that this was written by someone whose first language isn’t English and who is still struggling with common sayings and the appliance of past tense.

To conclude, I don’t have anything positive to say about this book and I think it might be good to shelf it instead of publishing it; to treat it as an exercise in writing and use it as an incentive to do better next time.

What an intriguing book. I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting with “Where The Stars Sing”, described and a queer coming of age story with superhero’s I was pretty much sold from the jump. I really enjoyed the era-less ness. Wary I’m in the book you’re told what year it is, but throughout you forget as the story feels both nostalgic and futuristic. This story is set over 3 separate ages of Charles: 12, 17, and 27. After the accident and Charles losing his father, I found the 17 year old story line the most intriguing. I’m terms of love interests I, obviously, was way more invested in Arthur then I was Francesca, but as the story went I was content with Francesca being the endgame. Then BAM that ending!! Wow what a cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the story to continue to find out what happens next!

I really wanted to love this book - the concept was a really great one, the title & cover were great, the author clearly has great ideas, but I couldn't really get into the book itself - maybe the writing style & character development were a bit too slow for my liking, and I wonder if it felt more dystopian than fantasy which threw me a bit. I did like how the world this was set in was familiar, but not ours, which is generally a trope I really enjoy.

There's a lot of promise in the series and author though, and I'm interested in what comes out next in this series.

I got this book off of Netgalley, these opinions are my own. I found this book to be really enjoyable. A book about people getting powers, what’s not to love! Aminah Fox did an amazing job at creating a book that took place in both a familiar and unfamiliar world! I’m not sure why but even though this book took place in the future the way my mind pictured it felt more in the past. Charles was such an interesting character and I enjoyed his perspective so much! He had to go through way to much at a young age! And Arthur was a mess but I couldn’t help but enjoy his character. And the ending… I didn’t see it coming! I’m excited to see where the series heads next!

It took me a while to write this review as I wasnt sure how I felt about the book, overall it was an enjoyable read and there was nothing particularly wrong with the book, the characters would have benefited from some more charcater building and some back story but that may just be my opinion, It has mysterious elements that I liked but generally I just didnt get a novel feel from it.

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The synopsis of this book sounded so good and something that I would have been really interested in, however, the execution just didn't do it for me unfortunately.

This is a dystopian themed novel about a boy called Charles Sykes and it follows him throughout his life at 12, 17 and 27. The plot of the story centers around an event that killed millions when scientists tried to send a star into space and it went horribly wrong. Those that did survive either ended up getting sick, or developed superhuman gifts.

I appreciate this is an ARC and not the final copy of the book, but there were so many grammatical errors, awkward phrasing and spelling errors that were hard to ignore and really took me out of the experience (e.g. using "road" instead of "rode"). I also found that the tense changed sometimes from present to past which was confusing. Another writing choice that I found very strange was when the main character would call another character by one name and then refer to them a few paragraphs later as a completely different name.

I would have liked more world-building as the whole story was centred around this catastrophic event but then not much detail went into explaining it or revisiting it. Also, the characters were lacking for me. I found them all very one dimensional and as a very character-driven reader, this made it hard for me to push through.

Overall, the author had a really good goal in mind and I felt like the story, in theory, was really strong, but it just wasn't executed in the way I had hoped. Although, this is the authors first book and I hope she continues to grow as a writer and I look forward to seeing what else she can do!