Big thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC!

The ending almost saved this book - but as much as I wanted to love it, I just couldn't. While Star Mother was a surprise and rather beautiful, this sequel doesn't have the same charm for me. I struggled with enjoying Aija as a main character; though she did have some growth near the end, she was both an independent / stubborn / feminist type woman while also being Bella-of-Twilight level obsessed with the man (god) she loves. I couldn't understand her, and I had trouble even liking her. It was upsetting to read at times, the lengths she was going for a being she had known for essentially a week. I couldn't see why all the celestial beings were so enamored with her. She seemed like a regular, obnoxious mortal. Selfish and immature - so very foolhardy.

Saiyan (the sun god) also lacked dimension here. I enjoyed and was fascinated by him in Star Mother, so was looking forward to his story, but I wasn't swept away by this love story. It fell flat. I'm looking forward to reading reviews and discussing with others, but overall - the mortals were difficult and the gods were far too human. It felt almost irreverent, despite being fantasy.

I'd recommend Star Mother, but probably wouldn't have finished this except to review.

This book is well written, but not really my thing. I also didn't realize it was the 2nd book of a series. I should pay more attention when I'm requesting these books! This one works fine as a stand-alone, but I might have gotten more out of it had I read the first book.

I received a free eArc of this work in exchange for an honest review; thanks to 47North Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity.

Note: When I picked up this title I was unaware that it was part of a duology - there is another work called Star Mother which precedes this story - and while events of that story are mentioned in this book, this story works just fine as a standalone. That being said, since I did enjoy this story I am now going to check out that other one because I am a completionist and I want to know more about this world.

What wouldn't you do, to be with the one you love?
The answer in this book, is... quite a lot. A rather epic amount, actually. And this heroine shows her work!
Star Father is an adventure, and a love story - the saga of a woman who is willing to do and sacrifice whatever it takes to get her heart's desire.

I discovered Holmberg through her Paper Magician series and I have read quite a few of her other books as well. Normally, I really enjoy this author's work when I'm in the mood for something lighter with good romance and dramatic tension - they have a great narrative voice and the stories are all usually very satisfying. What was particularly a pleasant surprise for me as I read this was the more mythic, darker shift in tone of this particular story. I am pleased to find that this author is able to write so well in a somewhat different style/vibe than the other work of theirs I have read.

In particular, this story reminded me a lot of the classic fantasy I read when I was younger - it had a very Sword and Sorceress vibe to it (the anthologies do have a problematic association because of their editor but I still have deep fondness and nostalgia for classic fantasy stories with female heroism tropes) but it definitely is an improvement on that era of writing - there's a deeper social awareness of problematic topics that I see in this more mature style of work that weren't present in the stories written in the 1980's and 1990s.. TLDR, this ain't a modern formulaic YA adventure fantasy story, and I'm glad for it.

For one thing, I find it slightly refreshing that our main character is older (in her mid-thirties) and brings her life experience and past trauma to her problem solving. Her empathy, kindness, devotion to family, and artistic passion are well established and utilized effectively in the story - these things all show deeply in her actions and relationships with others. The romance is handled very well - it's not instalove and seems based on reasonable things. I like that she is sassy and forthright. I also really like the characters that make up her companions - and I think it is also nice to see some ace representation in a major side character.

I really like both the earthly world and the celestial world that we experience in the story. We spend much of the time in this story on the earthly plane, though I suspect that much of the first book in the series is spent on celestial matters, which probably adds some lovely symmetry to the story telling and world building of the duology itself. The use of time was very well handled as a story point. The hierarchy of supernatural creatures and powers makes sense - I love the diversity of beings we get to meet and that the pantheon doesn't conform to the more well-known mythologies we see historically. We do see some tropes related to beauty and villainy but it works because this reads very like a fairy tale.

I would recommend this for fans of the author who want to try something a little bit different in tone, or for fans of Anne Leicke's Raven Tower or Kevin Hearne's Seven Kennings series who want something a bit lighter. If you normally read YA like Kiersten White's Chaos of Stars and want something a bit more grown-up, this would be a good one to try.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.

I am a huge fan of Holmberg. This one was good, but not my favorite. I understood the symbolism and sacrifice but even then found Ai's willingness to give up everything and put her family through this difficult.