Empress Margaraux has had plans for her daughters since the day they were born. Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz will be queens. And now, age sixteen, they each must leave their homeland and marry their princes.

Beautiful, smart, and demure, the triplets appear to be the perfect brides—because Margaraux knows there is one common truth: everyone underestimates a girl. Which is a grave mistake. Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz are no innocents. They have been trained since birth in the arts of deception, seduction, and violence with a singular goal—to bring down monarchies— and their marriages are merely the first stage of their mother’s grand vision: to one day reign over the entire continent of Vesteria.

The princesses have spent their lives preparing, and now they are ready, each with her own secret skill, and each with a single wish, pulled from the stars. Only, the stars have their own plans—and their mother hasn’t told them all of hers.

Life abroad is a test. Will their loyalties stay true? Or will they learn that they can’t trust anyone—not even each other?

Wow. This book took my breath away and stomped on my heart many times. This book is just as good as the first one in the series if not better. The three POVs, amount of betrayal and political intrigue made the reading experience unforgettable. I only wish that I liked all of the povs the same. I preferred Beatriz to Daphne and Violie to Daphne, so I wasn't as excited to keep reading with a pov I didn't like as much. Also, I was waiting for NICOLO! I needed more of him in this book! I don't care fore barrie much or even Leopold, but Nico wasn't even in person! so sad but I' excited for book 3.

Stardust in Their Veins picks up right where Castles in Their Bones left off. With how quick it was to dive into the action, I wish I had taken the time to sit down and reread the first book, especially with how intricately Laura Sebastian weaves the plot threads of the three sisters' stories together. If it's been a while since you've read the first book, I would definitely recommend a reread or at least reading a summary of the plot before you dive in.

I was on a plane when I started my read and didn't have access to the first book, so I barreled through doing my best to reorient myself as the details came back to me. Even with all that, I was still instantly hooked and enjoyed every minute I spent with Beatriz and Daphne, and really enjoyed how they worked in Sophronia's storyline after the events of the first book.

So often middle books in a trilogy suffer from middle book syndrome and I did not find that to be the case here. That said, the focus of Stardust in Their Veins was on dealing with the fallout of the first book and moving the sisters into position for the third book, but it managed to do it in a way that felt like the story was unfurling and growing rather than it only serving as a stopgap for the final book.

I would 100% die for Pasquale who continues to be The Best(TM).

Fair warning to anyone about to pick it up, it ends on a cliffhanger, not as big of a one as Castles, but enough of one that the wait for the sequel is going to destroy me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of Stardust in Their Veins. I loved every minute of it and am so excited for my preorder to arrive!

I was looking forward to this one, especially after the cliffhanger of the first book! It was so wild and I needed to know what would happen next.

This was a pretty solid sequel. I liked the multiple point-of-views once again. There has been a new one added too. I think I liked that one the most because we learned more about what happened in Temarin. It also gave Leopold a voice too. Do I think there will be romance between the two? Maybe. I kind of hope so, but there are a lot of feelings to get through first before I could see that happening.

The other point-of-views were good too. Daphne is learning to have her eyes open when it comes to the sisters’ mother. Beatriz is trying to fight for her life as well as her sister’s. It isn’t easy when you are in the lion’s den and someone is always one step ahead. There were so many plot twists because of it. The relationships they have found themselves in are very complicated, more so for Daphne. Nothing has ever been finalized yet and I am curious to see if Daphne will let anyone in. She definitely is trying and maybe that’s why I like her the most. She is very complicated.

I will say that the book felt a bit slow at times and for some reason or another I wasn’t as enthralled by the sequel as I was with the first book. It was still good though!

Overall, this was a good edition to the series. There is still a lot to be unraveled it seems and I am sure the next book will be action packed! I hope so at least.

Rating: 3.5 stars

I love this series so much. The way Laura Sebastian writes both the competition and love between these sisters is so real. This story broke my heart in the best possible way and I did not realize that this was going to be a trilogy and was instantly devasted upon finishing to realize I'm going to have to wait to see how it goes. I love the sisters and their bond which holds both jealousy, appreciation, and deep love and the complexity of the relationships that Sebastian writes. This series has crawled under my skin and I know it will stay with me for a long time.

I was so excited to continue this series, and i wasn’t disappointed. I do admit the first quarter or slow was a little slow, probably because i had to re-immerse myself into story. The characters remained who they were, but with some growth. The intrigue got murkier and the plot more dangerous. I loved it.

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

Hello my friends! Today I bring you good tidings. While book 1 in this series I liked but didn't love, this one I really liked.

There are quite a few reprecussions in this book from book 1, and I was a bit sad as they played out. There was one part that made my heart ache so much. While we still get Beatriz's and Daphne's POVs, we also get Violie's as well. I like her as a new POV character and I found her intriguing. I also liked Gisella to an extent.

I didn't find Pas or Ambrose all that convincing in this book, and felt that they didn't add a lot to the book.

Daphne's character is a bit infuriating in this one -- you kind of just want to shake her and say "what is wrong with you?" but it's easy to forget that she has been manipulated her whole life, and so of course she's going to struggle when people tell her the truth.

Beatriz is a great character, through her we find out more about the empyrea, and what relevance the stars have to magic. I loved these little revelations that we got.

This book starts tying more threads together, and it works well. The plot is well done, and has made me curious what will happen next. This book continues with court intrigue and reminds me a bit of GRRM and GOT in how things play out, but in this story we know who the good verus the bad guys are.

Characters from book one make an appearance in this book, and more secrets are revealed. I was impressed to say the least, and I think that this book is better than the first one.

I am eager to read the third book!

I enjoyed this book and really wanted to pick up with the two surviving princesses. This book wasn’t as good as the first in terms of keeping my attention. The sisters were slightly annoying and we still don’t really have a full motive for their mother’s actions. I hope we get more closure and romance in third book.

Laura Sebastian does it again, and completely blows me away with her magnificent writing and brilliant world building and character development! Can’t wait to see what else she has in store for us ^_^

#StardustinTheirVeins #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out!

Stardust in their Veins is book 2 of Castles in their Bones.
We get a a good mix between Daphne and Beatriz’s POVs with some other POVs sprinkled in.
There is a lot of world building and character development in these books which make the “payoff” of the books worth it. These were not books I was able to binge, but ended up rating both 4/5. This one would have rated even higher if there wasn’t a lull towards the middle of the book.
I loved Daphnes POV the most but want more of Violie and Gisella in book 3.
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There are forced marriages, betrayals, unique magic and powerful female MCs which I love.
I was lucky enough to get approved by NetGalley for book one which is why I think I got book two. I didn’t realize it was the same story until I started reading it because the covers were so different but I’m hoping I get approved for book 3.
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I would recommend this series to fantasy lovers who don’t want a focus on romance. It is YA so even though I think the characters are well developed, there is no smut (if you care about that). I’m not sure how I’ll be able to wait for book 3!
#fantasy #worldbuilding #yafantasy

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the ARC of Stardust in Their Veins.

After the heartbreaking finale of the first book with Sophie dying, I was ready for some major action to take place. Unfortunately I still felt that the beginning of the book was a bit slow. It did start picking up and getting more interesting by the middle of the book, and by the end I could not put it down! Laura Sebastian is making me feel so frustrated with her cliffhanger endings. Once again, the last two chapters are where so much happens and my heart breaks all over again.

Bairre and Daphne are my favorite couple right now! Even though they don't explicitly state their feelings towards each other well, you can tell through the little things they do and say that they are both head over heels in love with each other. This is a slow burn with no spice, and I cannot wait to see their relationship grow.

There were several moments through the story where I wanted to facepalm, because it seemed like the character was being SO dumb! But then I have to remember that they are all 16 or 17 years old and it makes sense that they could be that oblivious.

I am so excited about the third book in this series! I will recommend this series to anyone who enjoys fantasy YA series. I love it!

Laura Sebastian excels at world building in this dazzling female driven fantasy. The reader will be captivated by the court intrigue and espionage, the many murder plots, and don't forget the magic. Definitely recommend!

'Stardust In Their Veins' is a solid second entry in the 'Castles in Their Bones' series, featuring even more twists and turns, uncovered secrets and court intrigue, and a new POV to follow. Eagerly awaiting the next book in this series!

I highly recommend this series for fans of YA Fantasy books with magic, royals and court intrigue.

**3.5 STARS**

Content Warning: kidnapping, poisoning, grief

Stardust in Their Veins is the sequel to Castles in Their Bones, which I read last year and found very unique and intriguing. The story continues in this story filled with political intrigue – this is what I thought about the book:

+ One sister is gone, and two are left. I did love Sophie’s story in book one. I feel like Beatriz is the beauty and Daphne is the brains but Sophie was the heart between the three of them. So I was sad she wasn’t in this story but I think it was time to get to know Daphne much better. There is more time in this book to get to know both sisters actually and surprisingly the stories adds a third voice, Violie.

+ There is a lot of political intrigue going on in this story because of the different kingdoms and how Daphne’s mother wants to rule them all. The remaining daughters now realize they need to team up and take their mother down – but what will it take?

+ I liked Beatriz’ story in this sequel because we get a better idea about how they were created and the whole magic about the stars and constellations. I’m curious to see how Beatriz’ power helps or hinders their mission in the next book. Daphne was never my favorite because I felt she was the last one to break from her mom but I think there is a lot of growth in her in this sequel.

~ It took me awhile to get into the story. I think it lags in the middle but starts to pick up a lot closer to the end – and of course it’s another cliffhanger ending.

~ There is no romance in this one. Bairre and Daphne are going through some things and Beatriz and Pas was on the run, plus Pas is with Ambrose. I think there will be more in the next book maybe? But this one had nothing.

~ Did they really have to change the cover style? I feel like the first book and this one do not match at all!

Tropes: sisters trying to take down their evil mother

Why you should read it:
*you enjoyed the first book in the series
*I think the magic with the stardust and how the girls were made is very interesting and unique
*the bond between sisters

Why you might not want to read it:
*didn’t like the first book

My Thoughts:

The story continues with more political plots to foil and not knowing who to trust. Can Beatriz and Daphne outsmart their own mother? We get more time with Beatriz and Daphne and see their characters grow. I miss Sophie but now there is another voice in the mix, Violie. I’m definitely interested to see how this story ends and I hope there is a bit more romance in the next book as well. Despite the lag in the story in the middle, I still found it entertaining and look forward to book three!

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

I've been waiting for what feels like forever for this book. When the first book ended, I thought "SURELY that didn't just happen. Laura did not just do that!" She did. She did in fact do that, and it's still upsetting.

Princesses Sophie, Daphne, and Beatriz have been raised since birth to marry their princes, destroy their monarchies, and help their mother rule the continent. But their mother has been lying to them, and now her plans are beginning to come to fruition. Sophie died at the hands of a mob, leaving Beatriz and Daphne to complete their mother's scheme.

I have to start this off by saying: I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A DUOLOGY AND NOW I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SOMETIME IN 2024?! I have no logical reason for thinking it was a duology, so that's on me, but still.

I loved the character development in this one; Beatriz starts to explore her abilities and find her own strengths, and Daphne starts to come up with her other opinions abut things, rather than being a carbon copy of her mother. The moment in the middle, on the lake? Broke me. No spoilers, but I absolutely sobbed.

The pacing was semi-decent, but there were stretches that got a bit slow. I appreciated that we got a deeper look into the worldbuilding and that more was explained about pulling down stars. But again with the cliffhanger! It wasn't quite as dramatic as the first one, yet still enough to make me hate waiting a long stretch of time.

This book is great for YA fantasy lovers. I definitely will be continuing the series.

I didn't think the second book in this series could be every bit as strong as the first, but it absolutely was. The sisters are still the main characters, but Violie has added in her viewpoint as well. The betrayals and governance are as well written here as they were in the first book, but the character growth and development are even better. I can't wait to see where they all will go from here.

I love this series and was so glad to have the chance to read Stardust in Their Veins! Middle books can be really tough in trilogies, but ai loved this one and felt the story continued to flow perfectly. I don't want to spoil anything so I will just say that this is another excellent read from Sebastian and I can't wait for the next book!

this was the perfect sequel to Castles in their Bones!
I loved its predecessor so I was super excited to read this book, and it exceeded all of my expectations! I loved the romance and all the characters in this book, and was happy with the development with them
overall, I would really really recommend this I loved it so much

***Many thanks to NetGalley & publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review. All comments and observations are my own.

***May contain some minor spoilers if you haven't read the first book!

Stardust in Their Veins is the second installment to Laura Sebastian's Castles in Their Bones trilogy and IT.IS.FANTASTIC. The novel quickly picks up from the conclusion of the first book and it never slows down. I found myself more emotionally invested with the main, and even secondary, characters because now they have to deal with the consequences of first-book-fallout.

Sophronia, Beatrix, and Daphne have one Hell of a mother to contend with who's spent basically their entire lives training them to help her reach her ultimate goal of world domination. What mommie dearest *sort of* didn't put into account was how the world was going to influence her "sheltered" daughters. Freedom opens one up to new ideas, new perspectives and so it comes to no surprise that the sisters would inevitably go against their mother. Lauren Sebastian created FMCs who've lived in a morally grey area, one shadier than the next. I enjoyed how she framed the siblings as being completely different from one another and yet their bond is very strongly felt throughout. You cheer for them not because of their potential to being good but because you want them to use the worst of themselves to take their mother down; they own who they are and don't apologize for it.

Stardust is a novel where the chess match gets raised in every chapter and paranoia hits you fairly quickly. It took me a little longer to finish this book not by any narrative-related issues but because I was too scared/anxious to read what was going to come next. With that being said, I cannot wait for the final installment of this series and one can only hope that *most if not all* of my favorite characters survive.

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, multiple POVs, magic, political intrigue, scheming, morally gray characters

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 11/12 and have been posted to my review blog and Instagram as of 11/29.

I’m super excited that I got an ARC of this, and I’ve been wanting to know what happens since I read the ARC of Castles last year. The sequel definitely lives up to the first one and we get more political intrigue and machinations, more plots, and more of the sisters.

If Castles was Sophronia’s book, then this one is Beatriz’s. The book starts off a couple days to a week after the end of the last one, and while Beatriz is upset at all that happened in Cellaria, she hasn’t been beaten. We see this throughout the course of the novel, where again and again Beatriz manages to get back up and scrape together a new plan. She has a better understanding of her mother in this one as well, and she’s not about to make the mistake of underestimating her (or feeling safe) again. At the same time, she is also dealing with a new revelation and with Sophie’s death.

Pasqual makes a reappearance as well, and he’s fully on Triz’s side in this one. He definitely grows more confident in doing things that aren’t necessarily moral (though ‘moral’ really depends on who you’re asking). Ironically he also seems much more at ease, though that could have to do with being out of Cellaria. I liked how willing Pas was to help Triz in her endeavors, and it was nice to see that his softness was still there after everything (as was Ambrose).

Daphne is still a badass, though it was frustrating to read her POV at times because she is still so in her mother's pocket. She's been thoroughly trained to see things her mother's way, and that reflects in how she'll push aside what multiple people tell her and any evidence that her mother is wrong. That being said, I still love Daphne and she shows a lot of growth in this book. I'm very happy that she gets some closure on things, and I'm very interested to see where her and Bairre's relationship goes considering everything that happens here. I'm also really really looking forward to book 3 since I know that will be Daphne's book and we'll get to spend a lot of time on her journey and seeing how things go with Friv and Bairre and the rebellion.

It's kind of hard to get a good handle on Bairre since he's hiding a lot and doesn't get his on POV. He's still working with the rebellion, though Daphne keys in on some of his naivete regarding them, but he also clearly cares about Daphne. He seems to want transparency with Daphne, but even when he gets some of her truths, he's reluctant to provide his own in turn. That being said, I like him and he's very solid as a character. I suspect he'll have some make-or-break decisions in book 3 based on where everyone was and what the situation was like at the close of this one.

Leopold shows up in this one! And Violie! We know from the ending of Castles that Sophronia used magic and scheming to get the two of them out of the capital of Temarin prior to her execution, but we didn't get to see if she'd succeeded. I'll be honest, I was so so hoping there was some kind of trick or magic or something that meant Sophie was still alive, but she's definitely, unfortunately dead.

Violie gets the third POV in the book, and it was interesting to see her view on things and learn about her own life. Her upbringing mirrors the triplets' in a way, since she was also trained in the same sorts of things by Empress Margaraux, but obviously isn't a princess and didn't have the same mission. Violie feels a lot of guilt over what happened with Sophie, but as the book goes on, she gets some closure and is able to heal from that. Violie will almost definitely be playing a major role in book 3, and I'm very curious to know what happens there.

Leopold also has some guilt and some growth in this book. He, too, feels guilty about Sophie, particularly since he was the one who let his mother run Temarin into the ground, which resulted in the riots. He handles everything pretty well all things considered, though he's definitely more sober than in Castles. Leopold even ends up running some schemes of his own, and I liked seeing the side of him that we saw toward the end of the last book.

Nigellus, Empress Margaraux's empyrea, gets a larger role in this book as well. He guides Triz a little bit and it seems as if he does care for the girls in some sense. At the same time though, he kind of spirals into his research and the things he's hearing from the other empyrea, and his actions there are less than savory. Aurelia, Bairre's mother and another empyrea, also shows up with a larger role in this book. It's somewhat unclear what her goals are, but since she'll be around Daphne in book 3, I suspect we'll figure more out then.

Nigellus' role does reveal a connection between some things that had been mentioned in passing and not really touched upon. There was some very interesting foreshadowing going on here and I'm both curious and nervous to see where it goes in the last book of the trilogy.

A lot of things are poised to come together in the final book, and I really feel that things could go fantastically right or catastrophically wrong. Margaraux is a hard one to beat and she seems to have people she's turned and spies everywhere. There's also something going on with the stars and prophecies, which could serve to help or hinder Triz, Daphne, and co. And that's not even touching on the things going on in Cellaria and Temarin.

I really enjoyed this book and think it's a fantastic sequel. I look forward to the final book of the trilogy and need 2024 to get here quick!