DNF @ 46%

The author seems to lack interest in fleshing her narrative out properly. Scarcely are we aboard the Titanic that it has struck the iceberg and is going down. We're only just getting to know Capt. Rostron when he springs into action, turning his passenger ship into a rescue vessel.

Everything happens far too quickly, and far too blandly, for one to really give more than half a hoot about the events.

I really enjoyed this book. Rebecca Connolly is a talented author and this book displays her talent perfectly! The story of the Titanic has always piqued my interest so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it! I love that it is based on a true story, but even more alluring is that it includes the story of the Carpathia. Most retellings of the Titanic focuses solely on the ship and its passengers, however, Connolly includes the Carpathia and its Captain Arthur Rostron in addition to a passenger on the Titanic, Kate Connolly. I really enjoyed getting to explore the different perspectives of each person.

Captain Rostron is bewildered that the unsinkable ship is calling for help. After deciding to come the the rescue of the Titanic, he must push his ship to unthinkable and never tested speeds as they are four hours away from the location of the Titanic and pray they don't come in contact with icebergs along the way.

Kate Connolly is a passenger on the Titanic. She is lucky to get a spot on a lifeboat, drifting in the darkness, listening to the screams of fellow passengers in the freezing cold water, and hoping for a rescue to come quickly.

If you enjoy stories based around the Titanic, this is a MUST read!

As a child I was fascinated with the Titanic. Rebecca Connolly has reignited that passion with this gripping novel. Told in multiple points of view, you won't want to set it down. 5/5 stars!

In A BRILLIANT NIGHT OF STARS AND ICE, REBECCA CONNOLLY gives us the story of the sinking of the Titanic, together with that of the Carpathia, whose captain, Arthur Rostron, bravely turned his ship around when the cry for help was intercepted by the young Marconi operator, Harold Cottam, late at night on the fourteenth of April 1912, when he was uundressing for bed. I like the way the godly captain did not hesitate to hasten to help the Titanic’s passengers, pushing the Carpathia to greater speed even as they had to move carefully around icebergs. I like the excerpts from Arthur Rostron’s book together with those from survivors of the ordeal. I also like the way the author gives us closure on some of the survivors who are the main characters in the novel by telling us what happens to them afterwards.
Kate Connolly is a young Irish girl who is travelling third class on the Titanic with a group of new found friends when the unthinkable happens - the unsinkable ship is going down! She escapes on lifeboat thirteen. After the horrors she experiences she knows she will never be the same. She feels guilty to have survived when so many haven’t. This horrific ordeal reveals what the people involved are made of. In this early twentieth century world, rife with class distinction as shown in the haughty and entitled attitude of Sir and Lady Duff-Gordon, it is “Amazing how compassion could bridge the divide of classes when nothing else could.” I like to see how the passengers on board rhe Carpathia join the crew in making things as comfortable as possible for the shipwrecked survivors even giving up their cabins in some instances.
It is a sensitively told and well researched story in which we really feel the characters’ anguish.
It is an interesting and inspirationl read and one I highly recommend.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Shadow Mountain Publishing The opinions in this review are completely my own.

In the stories and legends surrounding the Titanic, the Carpathia, the ship that picked up the survivors from the disaster. In this novel, Connolly imagines the story as it unfolded aboard the Carpathia the night of April 15, 1912; the decision of Captain Arthur Rostron to push his ship to its structural and engineering limit to reach the survivors as quickly as possible and then alternates his story with that of Titanic lifeboat passenger #13, Kate Connolly, who is traveling to America from Ireland for a new life. Even though we already know the ending, readers will be reading with a white knuckle grip. And I have to wonder if author Rebecca is a descendant of Kate’s.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy for review!

I am absolutely obsessed with the Titanic and I read every book I can find about it so I was so excited to see this book on the NetGalley website.

Though A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice is a historical fiction book, it was obviously well-researched. Rebecca Connolly did an excellent job of tapping into the emotions of the survivors aboard Titanic as well as the captain of the Carpathia who had to come to the aid of the survivors without knowing what situation he was getting into. A lot of Titanic books I've read have had a romance at the center of them but this one focused more on friendships and the rescue efforts, as well as the trauma of the events.

I think this is the Titanic book that has touched me most deeply. Connolly does a great job of exploring the heartwrenching decisions that passengers had to make, the grief of losing loved ones, and the horror of splitting families apart. I definitely had tears in my eyes while reading some of the lifeboat scenes.

There were a few mentions of religion scattered throughout the book that made sense in the historical context which I didn't mind too much. However, there was one chapter that was a whole religious funeral that I ended up skimming which affected my enjoyment of the book a bit (but that's just personal preference).