I will admit, I am not normally a lover of Science Fiction - I typically find it hard to read and even harder to enjoy. But this novel had all of the warmth and simplicity of a contemporary romance with such a fun setting that I couldn't help but love it so much!

That cover drew me in and I wanted to be in love with this so much!!! So I’m disappointed that I don’t. To start, Vika was cool for a hot minute in the beginning, but then she morphs into this super mega B that I just can’t stand. A little bit of bristling and snapping is understandable, but hot dang she really goes off the mean girl edge. And that, to me, was very off putting.

Sky, oh Sky… let’s discuss Sky for a moment. He had such potential!!! He could have been anyone he wanted to be, but it seems he couldn’t help being a simpering, timid, scared boy. Which is also fine for a hot minute, but gets annoying real quick.

I wish I could have overlooked the fact that I wasn’t into the characters, but they’re the main part of the story!! The plot was fine and I was fairly interested throughout, but the main characters!!!! They just rubbed me the wrong way and honestly brought the quality of this read down for me. So I settled on 2 1/2 stars rounded up.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Cristin Terrill for the opportunity to read this for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Vika Hale is a poor barmaid living with her family in a tiny flat, but she's got a secret: Since she was young, she's had a mystery benefactor who paid for her education and subsidized her family's livelihood. It isn't until his death that Vika realizes her was billionaire magnate Reginald Chapin and he's named Vika in his will. She's swept off to another planet to live in wealth and luxury… Even if it means dealing with Sky Foster, an assistant to the estate whose very presence vexes her. But when someone seemingly makes attempts to kill the beneficiaries of Chapin's will, Vika will have to team up with Sky to infiltrate elite society solve the mystery before it's too late.

I've heard some hype about Cristin Terrill's other books, but someone did The Stars Between Us dirty with the "Bridgerton meets Illuminae" comp, which suggests fast moving sci-fi adventure paired with swoony, forbidden romance. This book is... not quite that. There's plenty of mystery and intrigue in the plot, but it moves slowly and without a real sense of urgency. The pacing never quite found its footing— The plot doesn't begin in earnest until at least a quarter of the way through the book, meanwhile the big finale takes a few pages.

I will give the novel this, though: It has a couple of sharp twists that I didn't see coming! It's rare that a twist catches me these days, but this story did it.

Vika is an erratic MC. Not because she begins to buy into the world of the rich and pampered when it's laid at her feet, but because her moods change in accordance with the plot's needs, even if it’s nonsensical. For instance, she essentially Sky that he needs to stay away from her, then begs him to stop ignoring her once he needs to get close to her and involved in the plot. I could forgive her shallow tendencies if her behaviors made sense, just they often don't. The other characters are almost instantly captiviated by her and it makes no sense, because she's kind of a brat. Sky was a much more interesting character but unfortunately, we get very little from his POV.

As for the romance, it was cute but I wanted more of it. There’s so much frustrated push-and-pull and not nearly enough simple flirtation. We spend more time following Vika's failed dating antics then the actual romance that's supposed to endear us to the main characters.

I'm frustrated by THE UNRECOGNIZED POTENTIAL in this book more than anything else, I think. The worldbuilding was incredible, if only the action and romance rose up to meet the indulgent space setting. The story was fine overall, but fairly forgettable.

Let’s start with the negative. I just did not love the flow of some of the storyline, particularly the main romance. It just didn’t naturally progress in a way I would think. It would be an enemies to lovers trope (which I tend to gravitate towards), but it needed just a little more when bridging that enemy to lover gap. Also, some of the dialogue was, for lack of a better word, odd. The characters would say things that did not seem to be natural dialogue. I understand we are supposed to see a change in some of the characters' personalities as the story progresses, however, there were times where this did not work. Further world building would have been good as well. There were some gaps in the world building that left more questions than answers.

Now, here is the positive. I did like the worlds. Yes, worlds. There are two main planets involved and more planets briefly brought up. I did enjoy learning about the worlds and how they interact with one another. We do see one world as the poorer planet of the two. The leading lady, Vika, is from the poorer of the planets but has a chance to move up in the social hierarchy and go to the richer of the planets. Vika becomes an unlikable character as she loses sight of who she is and where she came from. She seems to have good intentions but truly is very selfish in her thoughts and actions.

There is a running mystery involving a murder and an explosion (not in that order). I will say I figured out the who behind everything, but could not completely pin down the motives behind the actions. All is revealed in detail in the end. I was thankful for this because it kept me interested and reading late into the night to have all the answers I desperately needed.

Overall, I do not think this is a bad book. I would like to read further on these worlds and learn more about them and their inhabitants. I also would read more by this author as I like her creative storytelling.

I did receive this as an arc from Netgalley, but all the opinions are my own.

The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill is a novel that was one of my most highly anticipated reads. Unfortunately, it just never quite worked for me. I think my expectations were too sky high. After all, Cristin Terrill's previous release, All Our Yesterdays, is one of my all time favorites. This novel is0 altogether different from that one, but I still had high expectations. It has a lot of potential, but the real deal breaker for me was the characters. I was invested in any of them and they were far too grating. The twists weren't exactly twists and were too predictable for my tastes. Plus, in the description it's described as Dickensian which I wouldn't really say it qualifies for. On NetGalley, it's compared to both Bridgerton and Illuminae which don't really work either. Like I said, it has potential, but it never quite delivered on any of it.

🚀 Book Review 🚀

#thestarsbetweenus
#cristinterrill
#genrebending
#NetGalley published 8/2/2022
#wednesdaybooks
#yascififantasy

🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀/5

This is one of the cutest YA books I have read in a really long time. Even though there is a very poor oppressed planet in the story. It was not written in a sad, depressing way. It's very matter of fact. It's a super easy read. No science involved. It is told in 3rd person. In the hashtags I called it genre bending. It's YA science fiction, fantasy, romance, and mystery all in one.

I'm not sure what else to say that won't give away the story. Just try it! You'll love it if you love those genres.

#stmartinspress
#bookstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendation #booknerdsbookreview #highlyrecommend #gottareadthisbook

Ultimately, this one wasn't for me. While I'm sure it's a fine book, I had a difficult time empathizing with the main character and I lost interest. This book uses tropes like will shenanigans and poor girl thrust into high society, and these are devices I normally enjoy. I would be curious to try picking this book up again at a later date, but for now I give it a three star rating.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill was a sci-fi, mystery YA stand-alone novel.
Vika’s mysterious benefactor has loomed large over her life, popping in and out unexpectedly and with no known reason as to why they were or weren’t doing the things they were. Until the death of a billionaire magnate and lawyers appearing at her home to let her know that she was chosen out of several other young women to marry the dead man’s son, in fact marrying her is a necessity for the son to inherit the man’s money.
Nothing like being a pawn in someone’s schemes.
Vika wrestles with the choices. She remembers life before, when her family was fairly well off and could afford luxuries, before the economy tanked and her father lost the job that kept them well off. This could be her chance to bring them even higher than they had been. Is she marrying for love? No. But who needs love when you have money?
About the time Vika comes to her decision she finds out the ship carrying her maybe-to-be-husband has exploded and there were no survivors. Ready to give up and let all her hopes go of a better life fate intervenes again and the couple that have now inherited the money invite Vika to live with them and get a taste of what she would have if her maybe-husband hadn’t died. Vika jumps at the chance and finds herself surrounded by wealth and glamour but realizes quickly that there is a dark undercurrent to it all. A darkness that may target her if she doesn’t start looking for answers and quick. Meanwhile she also has Sky, a young man she met shortly after the death of maybe-husband, that she keeps running into, Sky makes her uneasy, something about him sets her on edge and so she does her best to keep him at a distance while trying to get answers and maybe find a new maybe-rich-husband to finish what she had already planned to start.
***
A lot of people aren’t going to like Vika. They are going to call her whiney and she is, a little, but above all else Vika is ruthless. She is goal oriented and she has her sights set on a goal and she means to reach it. That goal is money, at the expense of her own happiness, because she doesn’t expect love out of this, she expects to at least help both herself and her family and that is enough for her.
Was this my favorite book of the year? No. Was it absolutely fun still? Yes.
This book was like a popcorn movie, you know? Like, not the best but fun enough it kept you with it. Pretty predictable and nothing entirely exciting or new but the writing style was good, and kept me going. It was fun.

While I have mixed feelings about this one, The Stars Between Us was a pretty fun read.

I loved the world building and the overall plot of the novel. From the beginning, the premise of a thrilling mystery set in a Dickensian sci-fi world caught my attention. The Great Expectations is one of my favorite classics and I was immediately drawn into the world.

However, I thought that the way the plot was executed fell flat for me. While I enjoyed some of the writing, it was slow most of the time and dragged on and on until the middle half of the book. By then, I really didn't care for any of the characters except for Sky because everyone, especially Vika, was so hard to like and root for.

While this wasn't my favorite novel, I did have a lot of fun reading it and I'm excited to explore Cristin Terrill's other novels!

Pitched as “Bridgerton meets Illuminae”, The Stars Between Us follows Viktoria Hale, a poor barmaid on an impoverished planet. After learning she’s been included in the will of a mysterious benefactor, Vika is ushered into a glittering world of wealth and lavish parties. But not everything is as it seems, and Vika soon learns someone may be targeting the heirs to the fortune. With the help of Sky Foster, a young man who works for her new benefactors, Vika must discover who is behind the plot before it’s too late.

While I wouldn’t quite say this fits the Bridgerton or Illuminae comps, I do think this is a decent YA sci-fi novel. The plot is engaging and there are plenty of twists to keep the reader intrigued. The writing is very accessible, and since the plot and setting are pretty basic, this would likely appeal to readers who may be younger or new to the genre. Vika is a decent main character and undergoes a significant amount of growth, although the side characters felt a bit one-dimensional. I also wanted a bit more from the mystery: there was one great twist in particular I didn’t see coming, but the actual mystery felt pushed aside until the second half or so.

Overall, while I didn’t like this as much as I hoped, I do think it’s a solid YA offering and will definitely appeal to some readers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing a digital ARC in exchange for a review.

The Stars Between Us tells the story of Vika Hale, an 18 year old barmaid on a desolate planet full of despaired people, including the family she lives with, her parents and younger sister. The main livelihood of the planet, mining, fell to the wayside when newer technology made the product obsolete. The nearby planet, on the other hand, is thriving, full of glittering cities, sunshine, wealth and opportunities. That planet only allows her planet's people to arrive for menial work. Her fortunes change when mysteries from her childhood are revealed and she is invited to explore and experience everything the wealthy Pluotos has to offer. As she enters their extravagant parties and lifestyles very much reminiscent of a futuristic Bridgerton, she neglects the family she left behind and wonders who can she trust in her new life? Can she even trust herself to make the best decisions? I loved the futuristic world-building and the mysteries surrounding Vika's life. As she endeavors to find a husband to support the kind of life she wants to live, readers will cheer her on to make the right decision and choose the one who truly loves her. As a futuristic story set on different planets, I was a bit confused at times why so much was similar to present day Earth (lightbulbs that need changing, horses/carousels, cars driven by people, etc) and wished there had a been a bit more of some of the descriptive "other planet" creations and customs that were sprinkled in there (like the animal encountered at a country house or the starships). Although Vika becomes unlikeable as she is immersed into the wealthy lifestyle of her benefactors, she leaves us to wonder how would any of us react in a similar situation, especially when young? How can we currently be aware of our current planet's needs and the needs of those who have less than we do? Some of the twists were easily deduced, but there were many more that kept this story hard to put down until the very end. Hoping this one will be a movie!

Before I get started I'd like to say the cover on this book is absolutely beautiful and fantastic and definetely one of my favourites I've seen recently.
The Stars Between us is about Vika Hale, a teenage whos always had a unknown beenfactor providing for her family since she was a child. She lives on the planet Philomenus a planet thats struggling immensely and seems to be were ' lower class ' is. Suddenly the benefactor dies and shes thrown onto Ploutous the more wealthy planet were ' higher class ' is. On this planet, she meets someone from her past Sky Foster.
I'm just gonna say it, but I hated Vikas character with a burning passion. She felt so bland, and spoiled and straight stuck up and it affected my reading expierence a bit because all I could think about was if she just stopped acting like this, things might just be a bit better in her life! She seems to think shes better than anyone else especially once she gets on Plotous and it just killed some of the story for me. For Sky, it was obvious from the start and thats all I have to say for that one.
The story wasn't bad, just super predictable and I wish I didn't see most of the plot coming but sadly I did. The ending felt super rushed and vauge and I wish there was more to it to solve the millions of questions I have.
Overall the book was okay and I did have a pretty decent time reading it even while hating Vikas existence.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc!


READING PROGRESS

Unfortunately I don't have much to say about this one. I didn't really enjoy anything about this book - the characters were all boring. I didn't find the plot anything new either and just couldn't connect it. Disappointed as I liked Terrill's previous YA book.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Super mixed feelings about this; the world building was decent, the premise intriguing, but the MC was annoying as hell. The story was good enough for me to keep on reading, but the Max grated on my beverage the entire time and I almost gave up on more than one occasion.

I was 100% drawn to this YA fantasy mystery/romance for the gorgeous cover but was pleasantly surprised by just how much I really enjoyed the story too! Set in space, this was a rags to riches type story featuring Vika, a poor barmaid who was betrothed to a rich heir. When its assumed he dies in a spacecraft crash his family reaches out and offers Vika a place among their household, introducing her to a life of wealth and riches she's only ever dreamt of before.

I loved what a relatable character Vika is! She owns how selfish and avaricious she is and isn't afraid to marry for money if it means helping change her family's circumstances. What she doesn't realize is Sky, the servant boy who turned up mysteriously out of nowhere is hiding a secret identity. While the storyline was a bit predictable I still really enjoyed both the romance and the mystery! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill, is one of those rare books that inspire me to search for all books written by this author because I have enjoyed this one so much. In the beginning, I was a little confused at what was going on and didn't particularly like any of the characters I read about.. But as the story moved along, I became quite invested in most of the main characters and was always anxious to get back to the book after I had to take breaks for work and chores. I always love it when an author inspires me to read more of their work and Cristin Terrill does just that.

The Stars Between Us is an intriguing scifi novel with some romance thrown in. Vika's life is completely upended when she discovers that one of the richest men in the universe has passed away and left a majority of his fortune to her, if she marries his son Leo. Before she can even meet her fiance, his spaceship is blown up, and her hopes of getting out of poverty go right down the drain. Luckily for Vika, the new benefactors of Mr. Chapin's will, his previous servants, take her in, giving her a chance to experience life in the world of wealth. Of course, she secretly plans to never go back to her old way of life. Along the way, she meets Sky, who is clearly keeping some big secrets of his own. Can they work together to discover who is trying to get their hands on the Chapin fortune, before someone else gets hurt? Vika was a bit of an unlikable protagonist, but it felt realistic in light of the circumstances she finds herself in. I enjoyed her character development, and the slow-burn romance with Sky. The futuristic scifi world they live in was detailed and pulled me right in. Enjoyable read overall.

The Stars Between Us
was A novel by Cristin Terrill and
narrated by Stephanie Willing. I listened and read this one. I thought the audiobook was better because Stephanie Willing was really good and perfect for this story.
Sooooo, I thought this was to long for what it was. It all could of been done with less stuff. I felt like it took forever for the romance and I struggled to care about most of the book. I also didn’t like the protagonist. She wasn’t very likable and these are my honest thoughts. I’m only going to give it 3 ⭐️.
Thanks Macmillan Audio St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

Interesting take on future. Very character driven. This follows characters as they struggle to make pierce with who and where they belong. Nothing heavy handed about their struggles. Easy to follow as events change them.

When I initially read the description for the book, my first thought was of The Inheritance Games, but set in space. I love The Inheritance Games, but I also really liked that while there is some similarity in the premise, this story felt very different and very much its own. I will say, I'm rarely a fan of sci-fi stories set in space or made up planets, but every now and then there is an exception, and this book happened to be one. It definitely felt very "space-y" with its terminology and technology, but it also did a good job of investing me in the characters and in their relationships. It's not a very fast-paced story and there were a few times I wish things had moved along a bit quicker, but between the romantic tension, the mystery, and watching these characters try to juggle and navigate different secrets, it was a really interesting read. In large part it's also a commentary on the role and impact of money in our lives, though not in an annoyingly preachy way. Vika is an especially interesting character to follow, because she really has to decide how much of herself she is willing to give up in order for safety and security, and I liked seeing how challenging it was for her to navigate that.

My favorite part of the story was the romance. Vika is constantly being pushed to decide whether she will marry for money or for love, but even when it comes to those moments full of wonderful romantic tension, there's so many secrets that affect how everything plays out. But I liked that within all of that, there were very cute and sweet romantic scenes that did make me root for Vika and her main love interest. It added a really fun element to the story for me.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel when I first started the story, but I did really enjoy it in the end. It definitely could have been more fast-paced and a little more thriller, but it did have some nice twists and interest characters that I enjoyed following. Any book that can make me like a story set in space is doing a great job. I'm definitely interested in reading more from this author.