I am OBSESSED with this book. It absolutely changed my brain chemistry. The space travel aspect? The science? The lil found family group of nerds trying to navigate mistakes? BILLIE?! Ugh. Love.

I was very much not the audience for this book. The characters came across as very, very young and spoke in a way that came across as forced. Also, the use of current social media and trends just seemed really out of place for sci-fi. The world building itself was not strong enough for me and the romance wasn't my favorite either. I think this has an audience but it just wasn't me.

Ah, I was really hoping I’d enjoy this one more because the cover is so pretty, but there were a few reasons why it didn’t quite land with me.

The Stars Too Fondly is a science fiction (or science fantasy) novel that follows Cleo, who’s been obsessed with the story of the Providence for as long as she can remember. Twenty years ago, the spaceship crew vanished without a trace, and the history books are spotty, to say the least. One day, Cleo and her friends find themselves aboard the ship and after touching some dark-matter engine thing-y, the engine starts on its own…and they’re off. Now they’re somewhere in space, with no idea how to get home. Good thing there’s a hologram — with the face and memories of the missing captain, Billie, to help them. As Cleo spends more and more time with holo-Billie, trying to find out what happened, both now and twenty years ago, she starts to feel their relationship turning into something more.

I think the first thing was just the plot itself. I’ve never thought of myself as a stickler for the rules, but I think this book could have benefitted from having clearer world-building around the science. While reading, I really wanted to put some pieces together myself about what was going to happen or what happened twenty years ago, but it just felt impossible because I had no idea how anything in this world actually worked. As the book went on, it felt like things would just happen that there was no way to predict.

In terms of characters, they’re…fine. The side characters don’t really stand out, but Cleo was especially difficult to connect to. The book just tries a little too hard to paint her as “special” and “different” from other people, because of how much she researched and loved the Providence. I had trouble connecting to her and to the romance, which I just couldn’t buy into, knowing that the love interest is technically a hologram. The equating of the machine to the person didn’t really translate to me, so it feels like I never really got to meet the actually Billie. This might’ve been a good opportunity to actually do dual perspective, which would’ve also helped in rounding out the plot and world-building.

I think the part this book succeeds in the most is probably just *vibes*. I genuinely loved the premise of a group of friends that find themselves stranded in space, and there’s a feeling of magic and chaos that came along with it. I would have personally preferred more structure, but I can see this still being a good read for science fantasy enjoyers.

This book was touching in its own way, and had its moments that surprised me. I liked the sci-fi romance element, and thought the characters were crafted with care.

This was such a unique story. I absolutely loved the elements of science fiction, found family, examination of human greed, and unexpected love. This was such a cool concept, and the idea of a group of college graduates sneaking onto an old spaceship is so cool. I really enjoyed this, and the characters were well written & unique. I would definitely recommend this!

I’m going to start this review by saying I’m not really much for scifi books, but every once in a while something piques my interest enough to give it a try, and The Stars too Fondly fell into that category. This ended up being an overall enjoyable reading experience even as this is very firmly in scifi (and therefore out of my comfort zone). I liked the mystery elements, though I saw the reveals coming relatively early on, and I’m not sure if that’s a sign of well-crafted story or not in this instance. I really loved the found family and the various dynamics between Cleo, Kalisha, Abe, and Ross, as well as Billie. I appreciated the ways things were executed to keep the pace of the story fairly quick; it would be all too easy to have turned the journey on the ship into something overly drawn out, or skipped too much and made it hard to stay connected to the characters. I definitely think I’ll be keeping an eye out for Emily Hamilton’s future works because I did have fun with this, and I enjoyed the romance arc as well.

The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton is a beautifully atmospheric and poignant novel that explores themes of love, loss, and self-discovery. This story is deeply emotional, has fantastic prose, and follows a great cast of characters. I enjoyed this and thank you for the opportunity!

This book was a lot of fun and surprisingly cozy! I really loved the grumpy sunshine dynamic between Cleo and Billie, but I loved the friendships the most! I did struggle with the beginning of this book, but overall enjoyed the journey and I thought it wrapped up so nicely!

*The Stars Too Fondly* by Emily Hamilton is a captivating and emotionally resonant novel that blends historical fiction with lyrical storytelling. Set against the backdrop of a turbulent era, the story follows its protagonist as they navigate love, loss, and the quest for personal identity. Hamilton’s writing is evocative, filled with vivid imagery that transports readers to another time. The character development is rich and compelling, with the protagonist’s emotional journey drawing readers in. Themes of longing, resilience, and the complexities of relationships are beautifully explored. *The Stars Too Fondly* is a thought-provoking and poignant read for fans of historical fiction.

I was so excited to read this book, and it absolutely delivered! From the very first chapter, the engaging plot and strong pacing kept me hooked. Cleo and her friends accidentally stealing a spaceship set the stage for a thrilling story filled with mystery, adventure, and heart. I loved the mix of perspectives, with Cleo’s point of view, an omniscient tone in italics, and messages and transcripts in bold, all working together to unravel the mystery of the ship, its missing crew, and their journey home. The found family theme was beautifully done, with Cleo, her friends, and eventually hologram Billie forming strong bonds. The romance between Cleo and Billie was sweet and well-developed, though a late twist left me slightly conflicted. Still, the ending was emotionally satisfying and tied everything together perfectly. This book was such a joy to read, and I highly recommend it!

I really really wanted to love this book! I’ve enjoyed a few lighter space sci-Fi’s & the representation in this book sounded (& is) excellent too! But I just didn’t mesh with the characters or the writing style unfortunately. The characters felt really juvenile which I couldn’t get past & the speech especially felt so forced, no one talks like that? Also I really hope TikTok doesn’t exist in that many years time, use of current social media I find really jarring? I dunno, wanted to love it, it ticked all my boxes in theory, but just didn’t hit the mark for me!

Solid "oh shit we broke into an abandoned spaceship and now it's taking off and we're in space, oh shiiiiiiiiiiit" novel with a friend group figuring out their dynamics now that they're in a small space for several years, falling in love with a hologram copy of someone you used to idolize, and some ~mysteries~ abounding. Some of the magical dark matter powers do enable a bit too twee of a resolution for my personal tastes, but this does seem to be trying to be a rom com so I need to give it that. Still a solid debut.

great ideas with characters that i could never fully get into. i would say the issue with this book is that the author spent TOO much time on world building and slotted in checkbox characters that never quite seemed to fit comfortably into the environment.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the space setting and the mystery of what was going on and what was going to happen to the crew, and I really loved watching Cleo and Billie fall in love. It had such a great found family, too!

This was a BEAUTIFUL debut!
A queer mystery space adventure! Ugh so fun!
It felt more YA than NA, but it was heartwarming and fun!

A very BIG thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for this e-galley! I think this will be one of my favorite books I have read this year! I have been recommending this book to everyone who will listen. This is so well written I was invested straight from the start. I love a sapphic romance and one that includes spaceships, mystery, and silliness, Yes, please. I could not get enough of this book; I can't wait to read more from Emily Hamilton!

An enormous thank you to everyone at NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel! I am voluntarily leaving a review, all opinions are my own.

This was an interesting book when all is said and done, it was good, but not AMAZING, if that makes sense. It’s one I’d recommend to fellow sci-fi, romance (especially LGBQTI+ romance) fans, but it didn’t hit every mark that makes it a 5-star read for me.

It was a debut, which does add to the impressive factor, with some great characters, an interesting villain, and more. Definitely recommend and can’t wait to see what people think!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced review copy! I was late with this review so I actually purchased a finished copy from my local bookstore. I’m so glad that I did because it will live on my bookshelves as a new favorite. I thought this book was so much fun and filled with so much heart. Parts were silly but in intentional ways that I appreciated. I loved the characters easily and even though they did annoying things sometimes, it made them more authentic. The AI romance line was a little out there but I saw the ending coming once a certain point of view was clarified. I will definitely be recommending this one.

I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

This book sounded so good, so I was really excited when I got the review request for this one and hopped over to Netgalley to claim my copy. It took me a while to get to it, but when I was in the mood for a science fiction book I knew it was time to pick this one up. This story grabbed me from the first chapter and kept my attention throughout. The pacing is really well done and there's always something happening. I also loved the found family theme. And the ending just ends everything on such a high note.

Cleo and her friends accidentally steal a spaceship. Twenty years after the failed launch of said spaceship and the disappearance of the whole crew, they sneak into the compound where the ship is. And while they're aboard the ship, the engine fires up and off they go on a years long journey the ship was supposed to take all those years ago. The set up gripped my attention and I wanted to know about the ship, the missing crew as well as Cleo and her friends and how they would ever get home again. It kept my attention throughout as the plot progressed and I enjoyed seeing it all play out.

The plot was so good and well written. I am not always a fan of the main story being interjected with bits of info and other perspectives, but it worked so well here and I felt the other parts really added to the story. There is Cleo's point of view and then these often shorter bits from an almost omniscient sounding point of view in italics and then messages and transcripts from either twenty years ago or now in bold. These different pieces of perspective together advance the plot and the mystery slowly plays out about what's going on, what happened twenty years ago and more. It was so engaging and I wanted to keep reading and find out more.

There's also a romance going on that I liked between Cleo and hologram Billie, who is basically a copy of the captain who was supposed to lead the ship. It was awesome to see them grow closer and spend time together and fall in love. There is an interesting twist at the end and while one the one hand it made sense, another part of me still struggled a bit with it. I can't really go into the why as that's too deep into spoiler territory. They made for a great couple and I liked their romance.

I really liked the found family theme of the story with Cleo and her three friends who spend so much time stuck together on this spaceship and trying to figure things out. I liked seeing them interact and how they are there for each other. There are some things that don't go smoothly or some things that need to get resolved, but even throughout the rough patches it was clear how much they all cared for each other. It was awesome to see and slowly Billie becomes part of that found family bond as well.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this book. The plot was so engaging and gripped me from the first chapter and kept my attention throughout. The main part of the book is from Cleo's point of view, with another point of view in italics and messages and such in bold. Together they progress the story and more of the mystery gets revealed. The found family theme was awesome and I liked how much these 4 character cared for each other and then slowly for Billie as well. The romance was well done and I liked Billie and Cleo together. There is a twist toward the end that partly feels a bit off to me in a way that didn't get addressed, but I really liked these two together. The ending is awesome and hits the right emotional tones which left me feeling happy and satisfied about how it all got resolved.

Uhhhhh this was literally perfect??? queer and cozy and in SPACE!! I devoured every page of The Stars Too Fondly. I fell in love with Cleo and her friends, each one well developed and interesting in their own right.

Thank you to the publisher and net galley for providing me with an ARC.