Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book for my honest review.


I struggled to get dragged into this book. It's aimed at younger teens and as such, I struggled to engage with the characters.

And having the book written in mostly conversation is just not my cup of tea.

Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For starters, what pulled me to this book from the description was purely the mystery-fantasy elements to it, I'm always done to read fantasy romance books. However, the Stars of Mount Quixx wasn't exactly what I was looking for. It lacked some elements I had in mind but it wasn't a bad book by any means. Maybe the pace wasn't for me.

The book is pretty slow, and for someone who likes to be engaged from the very beginning it was a bit hard for me to keep on reading. But there are things I genuinely appreciated in this book. Like the sisterly bond between the two sisters, and the small mysterious town vibes. I somewhat liked S.M Beiko's writing style safe for one thing, the pace. However, I feel like this book is geared toward the wrong audience. I feel like it suits a younger age group than the one advertised.

There was also the problem with the writing of the characters themselves. Three were times when the personalities of several characters sounded super close that I wasn't able to differentiate between them. developing a unique voice for some characters seemed like a problem for the author.

I also disliked the fact that most of the story was told through conversation rather than an actual description. I love imaging books while reading, it was hard for me to do this with this book since the majority of it was done through conversation, not actual descriptions.

Overall, I feel like this story lacked in terms of character development and it was aimed at the wrong audience. I feel like a younger audience would definitely enjoy this story.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

This book was an eARC from NetGalley. I did not end up finishing the book. The book was slow to start and didn’t catch my attention. I tried to get into the book, but decided the writing was not for me. Overall, this YA book has a good story line and I look forward to reading other reviews on this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and ECW in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly this book was very hard to get into at the start. I was stuck at the first 15-20 pages for weeks because I just could not get into the writing style of the book and pondered if I should DNF or give it a chance so I powered through. The story seems to be set in a 40s-50s sort of era in a quaint but quirky town so the language by itself was strange to get used to. It didn't help that the characters felt very young - they sounded about 11 or 12 to me but trying to seem like they were older.

I could not tell the sisters apart for a good quarter of the book because they both sounded exactly the same. I steamrolled through the story as fast as I could, and while it was marketed as YA fantasy, nothing about it seemed to fall into the category considering the modern setting. What I did not expect was the monster romance. I'm not averse to it but I rather *know* beforehand about it before going in to a read. The other characters were seethingly annoying and while there may be unique readers who enjoy this sort of story, this book really just wasn't for me.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this. I just couldn’t connect to the story. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. It was much appreciated.

I really struggled with this book unfortunately. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t amazing.The book does have enjoyable moments but there were a lot of parts that I struggled with. I didn’t feel like the story pulled me in. I felt the pace was off and I struggled to see where the story was trying to go. I felt that the blurb didn’t match the story too well.
I do recommend trying this book for yourself as it might just be down to the reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for the eARC of The Stars of Mount Quixx!

A Queer YA Fantasy! It has a lot of potential but overall the book was not for me. I couldn't get into it, but that's not to say that others may love this book! Definitely reminiscent of books that I read when I was younger- so upper middle grade or lower high school readers may enjoy this book more than I did. Younger readers will love this quirky and whimsical story!

I really wanted to like this book because I loved the premise, but ultimately it just wasn't my cup of tea. I decided not to finish it around the 30% point. The formatting made it hard to follow (very long paragraphs on Kindle), and I didn't feel captivated by the story enough to keep going. I won't be publishing this review on Goodreads, as I don't feel as if it's an accurate representation of the full novel.

This story was so delightfully weird! I loved the sister relationships and the way they connected with each other and how everything changed during the story. I hope I can read more from this author in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press for this ARC.

I tried to get into this one, but DNF.

It just was not for me. Readers, please don’t let my opinion keep you from reading.

Again, thank you NetGalley and ECW Press.

I had a hard time getting into this book, I felt like the pacing was overall a bit slow. However, I did enjoy the small town atmosphere and the imagery.

This was not an easy book to get into. The pace felt off and therefore I found myself having to reread paragraphs to grasp the story. There were some moments that were magical like the small town in the shadow of the mountain and the monster love interest, but they were not as many as I would have liked. I loved the concept of the story, but it was a different read than I was expecting from the synopsis.

DNF - Couldn't get into it, and too long and boring

Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

I don't know what I expected but it was not what I got.. I had a hard time with this one, it was definitely not the right book for me. I found much of the dialogue stilted in an almost forcibly formal manner, the characters somewhat flat, and the story to meander more than I personally enjoy. This just wasn't a good fit between book and reader...

It took me a good while to get into this one. Overall, it had good moments but felt bit forced in places, like trying too hard or taking itself too seriously. Just ok for me.

I really enjoyed this book, it's so incredibly unusual in the best way! I love the queerness of the characters and how well the author makes it just feel like just one aspect of a personal (which it very much is)! the characters feel so full and I adored the touch of romance and mystery.

To be so unique and yet somehow feel so incredibly nostalgic makes The Stars of Mount Quixx such an interesting read. It has everything I enjoyed about reading growing up, reminding me of all my old favorites that I haven't thought of in so long. Except better, because it's queer.

Mount Quixx, a character all on its own, serves as the mysterious and whimsical backdrop of this story which follows the Ivyweather sisters as they are sent away for the summer by their disengaged parents. Staying at a borderline abandoned boarding house run by a woman lovingly referred to as Batty Miss Bee, the girls quickly realize their vacation led them into a town unlike any other. The setting is so rich, with the ever-present fog covering the landscape, the strange stories of monsters on the mountain, and the townspeople and major landmarks all seemingly coming from a different time. Honestly, above all else, the setting is what makes this book worth reading.

The plot itself is fun, and the characters are all quirky and eccentric. The romance is a subplot so there isn't very much to it, but it's simple and sweet and fitting for the two characters. The mysterious past of the town was compelling, and it was fun to put together the pieces slowly as I read.

Given that this book is at the younger end of the young adult genre, I did have trouble identifying with the characters. I would go so far as to say that this story is appropriate for middle school kids. This is no criticism, but it felt much younger than what I usually read so there were aspects of the story that fell short for me. Overall though, for the genre and age range for which it was written, it did a beautiful job of enchanting me with its cozy setting, eccentric characters, and whimsical magic.

Thank you ECW publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Picking up this book, I already knew by the description that I would like the book.
This book is a perfect mixture of fantasy and romance, following two sisters Constance and Ivy who
move in a new town filled with supernatural elements, the language simple and utterly delightful.
If you consider yourself a person of small town mysteries and fantasy romance this book could be your next read filled with tasteful characters and a old-town setting.
But I must say there are some portions as a reader I could not understand.
The characters seem to be toward the middle grade category than rather young adult for starters
I felt the language wasn’t directed toward the young adult category but towards middle age rather
Secondly there was a kind of sense in the book that the characters were quite rather and I as a reader couldn’t understand the love interest, a tacky mechanical man sort.
All in all , setting aside all the negatives the book definitely deserves some amount of reading as to the fact the book emits vibrancy of relocation with it lying in the old town backdrop.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminded me a lot of Once Upon A Broken Heart, which I read recently and was very disappointed with. Much like that book, the Stars of Mount Quixx left much to be desired.

This book was described as a young adult fantasy with elements of found family, sisterly love and romance. I felt that while I could see the direction the author was heading, it ultimately didn’t deliver.

Personally, I felt the writing of this book to be extremely childish. It felt as if I were reading middle grade fiction versus a young adult fantasy. The characters all felt very young in terms of the way they spoke as well as their overall attitudes and personalities.

Overall, I think this was the biggest hurdle for me to overcome while trying to finish this book. I felt as though I was reading dialogue the whole time and that the majority of the story was told through overly quirky characters and their conversations rather than description.

While I knew going into this that there was going to be a spider/humanoid character I wasn’t aware they were going to be the main love interest. If I had known this from the book jacket I wouldn’t have requested this arc. It was an off putting love interest to say the least but the book didn’t have me rooting for the characters to get together at all.

Where this book did shine for me was the aspect of found family. I think this story would’ve been very successful had it focused more on the relationship between Connie and her sister Ivory and their connections with the town folk and less on the weird spider boyfriend.

Thank you to Netgalley & ECW press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book, about two sisters moving into a small town in the shadow of a strange mountain, felt like it crept up from my childhood nostalgia and made a comfortable home in the present moment. It reminded me of all the odd little books I absorbed as a child, stories about relocation and small town mysteries, with whimsical magic and a sense of place that was both of our world and distinctly not. This book genuinely charmed me so much and felt like a continuation of all the odd books that had been my bread and butter growing up while still absolutely being its own vibrant and distinctive thing.

The atmosphere of the book was lovely, the ending was so perfectly delivered, and I was so utterly charmed by all of the characters (even Slanner by the end!). It felt deeply comfortable, like soup in the autumn, while still having vibrant characters and a story that dealed with harsh and true to life fears. It was just potent and lovely and I am going to hold this book close for ages.

Also!! For those who care, it was a genuine monster romance!! A whole nice genderfluid giant spider scientist and and an anxiety riddled perfectionist prep-school girl! Left me so genuinely delighted and happy! Huge kudos to this book for being so whimsical and so vibrant and lovely!