3.5 stars rounded down! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC.

The Stars Too Fondly follows four friends doing an amateur investigation into what happened to the Providence I launch that would take 200+ souls to a new planet. Earth is dying and the mission was supposed to be the hope for humanity. Cleo and her friends accidentally launch the dormant rocket and shoot off on their own space journey while struggling with new powers and the increasingly horrific mystery of the disappearances.

I really wanted to like this book and have been trying to read more sci-fi, especially queer sci-fi. While I think the characters were fun and the friendship between them was the main focus, the mystery and subsequent reveal kind of took a lot away from my enjoyment. Maybe I should just stop giving sci-fi a chance, and that's not to say the book was THAT bad. It truly wasn't. Maybe I just like more explanations and lore instead of small inferences to what the dark matter engine is and what the "Other Place" is. If it's explained more, I must have missed it.

I really like this one. The author does some interesting things with narrative format that I didn't love at first but actually became a feature by the end. The book switches between Cleo's perspective, archival documents, and some omniscent third person perspective and does so fairly frequently and without any context in the beginning. Complicating matters, the third person perspective exclusively refers to the characters by their last name -- so in the beginning this was quite confusing, especially as you're learning the full cast of characters. But as the book progresses the different perspectives make sense for how they add to the narrative development and the reveal about who the omniscient perspective is is excellent and the archival documents are an interesting way of conveying important backstory.

I thought the book read a little young at first. Cleo is pret-ty annoying at times and a lot of the early fights the friends get into felt quite immature at times. I read the acknowledgements and the author noted that they started writing this story when they were 22 and that really showed in the book. They felt way more like early 20s than late 20s to me. And a lot of the early exposition feels a little heavy handed. But I came around on Cleo and I loved Kaleisha and Ros (especially their journey to learn their new powers). And I loved Billie the hologram from the first page she shows up.

I really liked the central mystery and felt invested in figuring it out. The central romance is a leeeeetle insta-love-y but that's also sort of the point in this book. At it's core its a fun sci-fi space romp with a dash of mystery and a side of romance and it's just a fun time.

Hamilton’s novel is a fun, friend-filled space romp where four STEM-affiliated Queer friends in their late 20s take an abandoned spaceship, infamous for its disaster where its crew disappeared, for a ride. Along the way our main character, Cleo, falls in love with the AI representation of Captain Lucas, the face of the failed mission, Cleo and her friends develop strange powers, and the mysterious disappearance of the 200+ crew investigated.

The sci-fi element leans more to the soft side than hard, with enough explanation given to physics and technology used in the story without going into full jargon and some topics (e.g., falling in love with an AI, climate catastrophe on Earth) handled lightly. Those that favor more hard sci-fi and tough, moral and ethical dilemmas may not enjoy this aspect, but it suited me fine, as the characters and their relationships are the heart of the story.

Man I really wanted to like this book. The mystery set up in which the crew of the Providence I all disappeared before their mission to save the earth is fantastic. However, that fun momentum did not carry through the book. I think the first thing that threw me off was how our core cast was written, there was just something about their dialogue that made them feel like teenagers. It made the characters and by extension their relationships feel less mature. What I feel like was the major downfall of this book was that it couldn't decide if it wanted to be an epic fantasy space story, like The Locked Tomb series, or a sci-fi romance, like Winter's Orbit. Straddling the line between these two genres meant that the characters and the story felt underdeveloped. I personally think that they should have leaned into the romance aspect because Cleo and Billie were supposed to be the core of this story and I didn't feel any strong emotions for them. This is the author's first book though so hopefully they improve and I get to enjoy their second release.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Scifi mystery with a group of young adults accidentally launched into space and attempting to solve a mystery (and survive.

Decades ago a private company was set to launch 200+ people, crew and civilians, into space to find a new beginning for humanity. Instead there was a flash and everyone on board the ship disappeared. A year later the enigmatic engineer goes missing in a suspected suicide.

Now four friends are exploring the ship when the brush of a finger sends them hurtling into space on a trajectory they can't stop. Then a hologram loaded with all the memories of the ship's captain pops up.

It's a bit in the weeds for me with the science side of it, but the characters are likable and interesting enough that I didn't want to stop reading.

The Stars Too Fondly is such a cute queer cozy story with found family and adventure. I recommend this for fans of sci fi.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Cleo and her friends sneak on board a spaceship on a mission to figure out why everyone aboard the Providence disappeared into thin air 20 years ago. The original crew had been tasked with traveling to Proxima Centauri in hopes of finding a new planet for Earth dwellers to call home. However, this group of present-day young adults manage to accidentally fire up the spaceship and the course is set for the same destination as the original Providence crew 20 years ago. Fortunately Cleo and her friends all seem to be capable of operating this spaceship and finding ways to survive the 7+ year trek to Proxima Centauri, though it helps that the ship’s hologram has taken on the form and memories of Billie (the previous captain). They must work together to problem-solve their way out of this long journey while also locating the missing crew and passengers.

Hamilton’s debut is a wild journey through space packed with queer, snarky characters that readers will instantly adore. (Seriously, the banter is SO GOOD.) This book is very character-driven and it focuses a lot more on the relationships between the current crew members and the burgeoning romance between Cleo and our ship’s hologram, Billie. If “insta-love” and “literally-cannot-touch-her” sapphic romance vibes are your jam, this is a great time! This book is marketed as both a space odyssey and sapphic rom-com, but it felt very much like a YA space romance for me (minus the one very spicy intimate scene near the end that was definitely adult). Overall, I enjoyed this read! The writing felt a bit immature at times (RE: the YA-feel of our new adult characters) and the first half was a bit of a drag for me, but the pacing picks up after a fun plot twist and there’s a tidy resolution by the end of the novel. If any of this sounds like what you’re looking for, check out this book! I’m looking forward to seeing what else Hamilton comes up with in the future.

When I picked up this book i was SOOOOO excited for a sapphic sci-fi adventure romance. I almost got it. Most of this book is adorable. that's my main way to describe it. Every character is adorable, the romance is adorable, but it feels a lot younger than an adult book. I would say this reads very YA with some adult themes. The writing felt a little disjointed at times with the perspective changes and a good amount of this book is spent with people just talking and watching 90's movies.

Overall i thought this was a fun read, love all the diversity and the science-y talk about dark matter, but a lot of things just left me wanting.

complimentary copy of this book was given through NetGalley but all thoughts are my own.

Thank you so much to Harper Voyager for sending me the Netgalley widget for THE STARS TOO FONDLY. This review is entirely my own thoughts and opinions based on the early copy I read.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

THE STARS TOO FONDLY is a wonderfully queer Sci-Fi romance about a group of friends who find themselves being launched into space. Twenty years ago, humanity was supposed to take it's first jump into deep space travel and attempt to colonize an exo-planet. But the day of the launch, something went terribly wrong. In a flash of light, the entire crew went vanished. Now, Cleo and her friends are determined to find out what happened. They sneak into the abandoned launch base and onto the space ship. While investigating the craft, the engine suddenly starts up and kidnaps them to space. Now they must work together, along with a snide hologram modeled after the ship's lost captain, Billy—in order to rescue themselves from space AND find out what happened to the original crew. It's a stellar mix of space adventure, sapphic rom-com, and mysteries abound

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

I really enjoyed this book. It was way more mystery/space adventure than rom-com, more than I expected which is bonus for me! I love a good adventure tale full of mysteries that need solving. Every member of Cleo's group of friends is lovable and relatable. There is depth to every single character, flaws and inadequacies that make them so loveable and heartwarming. Their relationship dynamics are a privilege to watch as they all learn to cope with the insane and find their strengths amongst the stars. Cleo and Billy's banter and growing to love each other was so much fun to watch.

I will say that the characters did give off a vibe of being younger than their 27+ years of age. The story itself read more like a YA SciFi and less of an NA one. But honestly, I was so invested in the plot and the mysteries around what happened to the original crew and what was happening with Cleo and the gang, that I ended up not caring too much. I'm a regular YA reader so It didn't bother me too much—except when the spicy scene appeared. I got thrown for a bit of a loop there. Additionally, since the writing was more YA level, that did mean the plot was a bit on the more predictable side (I literally guessed every big reveal), but honestly, again, this book was just so much fun that I didn't mind.

If you're looking for a fun read that is still heartwarming, def pick this one up!

DNF at 27%

I can't tell if I wasn't in the mood for it, or if it just isn't for me. I liked the supporting cast. I liked the transcripts of conversations. The jump between omniscient narration and third was interesting. I didn't really like Cleo all that much. The way she treats her friends and Billie was hard to get past. The concept was kind of neat, with a bit of a Mass Effect feel to it, but I wasn't invested enough to keep going. I think I may like it better as an audiobook.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

This is a really wonderful sapphic space romcom. I had such a fun time reading it! The connections between all the characters were A+, perfection, making this a lovely cozy, sometimes surprisingly deep book. However the biomedical research scientist in me did have to actively avoid using my brain because like. that is Not how biology works. I can't speak for the physics of the book but boy howdy was the biological science difficult to get through. I am used to that from fictional sci-fi books, though. God knows I'm not reading them for their accuracy, and the writing style was so engaging and the characters so fun I had a relatively easy time ignoring that. I just had a few other very small complaints (why for the love of everything are we still using TikTok in the year of our lord 2061 and WHY are we citing research articles from 1997????) which is the major reason this isn't a 5-star read for me. But if you're looking for something sapphic, cozy, and with surprising depth and heart, then this is the book for you.

While this book promises a space romance and a new genre of romantic fiction (spacemance), it fails to deliver on both counts.

Let's start with what I liked:
-The characters were diverse and it felt natural
-Set 40 years in the future
-The setup of the plot
-The excerpts of text conversations and reports

What I didn't like:
-Romance with a hologram
-The romance was very much "we don't like each other" to "I like you because I think you're hot" which I don't jive with
-The friends didn't seem like friends... I get it, you're stressed by the situation, but also I need to see that they care about one another
-The science didn't seem probable... and I get it... it's fiction... but the science was boring too, lol
-I predicted every plot "twist"
-The romance was really bad guys... like really bad

So yeah... I was bored. The book dragged. The characters were super one-note and annoying. I wishhhhh I loved it, but I didn't.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

The Stars Too Fondly was not at all what I was expecting. I went in with the belief that it would be a light-hearted queer sci-fi fantasy. And although that isn’t wrong, The Stars Too Fondly packs surprising depth and cosiness. But please be warned, the sci-fi aspect was lighter than I would have liked.

The Stars Too Fondly was an easy and entertaining read. The premise of this book is not original, but the writing, humour, and heart present made this read worth it.

One aspect I disliked was the insta-love feel to the romance – it seemed rushed and underdeveloped. However, the characters themselves almost made up for this in my eyes, and the banter between Cleo and her friends was top-notch.

Overall, this was a delight to read. I would recommend it to anyone after a light-hearted, sapphic space adventure.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm glad SF romance is getting to be a big enough genre to include speculative fiction about dark matter and falling in love with holograms. This book wasn't quite for me; it has a YA feel to it and leans very, very heavily on pop culture references from the 1990s/2000s even though it takes place in 2061. (This stuck out to me so much that I actually started doing math in my head about how old these people's parents might have been to have inculcated such a love for vintage media. At one point, I also considered the possibility that the characters were all living in a simulation and although they thought it was 2061 it was actually 2011, but no: the entirety of this book takes place in the 2060s.)

Besides the pop culture, what can you expect? An unexpected space ship journey, telepathy (but really it's dark matter, ooh!), a sapphic romance (with a hologram), and a fun mix of storytelling devices. I think this is definitely the book for somebody... just not me.

3.5 stars rounded to 4. This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

A sweet and cozy sci fi fantasy, I enjoyed this quirky book!

The premise is intriguing. While researching ways to evacuate humanity from a dying Earth, the planet worked to develop a dark matter engine that would advance space travel. On the day of its launch, and with the eyes of the world watching, the entire crew vanished inexplicably. Afterwards, the space program is completely shut down while the loving conditions on Earth continue to devolve. A couple decades later, a friend group of activist-minded academics and scientists break into the site to investigate, and accidentally trigger a launch. They're carried off to space on a one-way trip with only an AI construct of the mission’s captain for guidance and one hell of a mystery to solve!

The science was easily digestible, and the sci fi/fantasy elements were likewise simple to follow. The cast of characters was quirky and snarky in a way that I love, with rapid-fire banter and close-knit bonds. The romance between Cleo and the AI captain was cute, but not developed enough for me to be overly invested. I enjoyed the mission and the friendships more than the love story. The plot wrapped up a bit abruptly, but the ending was satisfying overall.

This was an impressive debut in a uniquely niche genre, and Hamilton is an author I’ll keep on my radar!

I've been attempting to broaden my horizons in regards to reading different genres - so when I saw this sci-fi romance, I was really excited and hoped that it would be a good blend for me in dipping my toes into the genre. And there were parts that I liked - I liked the side characters and the queer-normative society.

The science itself was a bit...over my head if I'm perfectly honest. I don't know that it took away my enjoyment of the book but because I was listening to the audiobook, I felt myself spacing out quite a bit during the more science-y parts. I do also think that the characters feel a bit on the younger side. This is particularly evident during the arguments that the main characters have with themselves and with the side characters. The relationship itself was also quite the slow burn (sort of by necessity given that one of the characters is a hologram I suppose).

Thank you to Harper Voyager for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I love how The Stars Too Fondly feels like a science fiction with dangerous consequences meets locked room mystery. Cleo and her friends have always wondered what happened to the space mission which inspired their love for space. The space mission with a mystery that has never gone answered and still haunts the space program. Throughout The Stars Too Fondly, Cleo and her friends end up needing to solve the mystery, not only for curiosity but their own lives. I didn't see half of the twists here and it kind of exploded into something that threw me for a loop.

Being a huge fan of Star Trek and Captain Janeway her crew and their hologram I was excited for this book. A group of youths gets trapped and sent into space but ends up discovering secrets and skills they never dreamed of. Has a lot of pop culture references and even books we enjoyed. The journey and finding family part is fun. As a gamer who loves Sci-fi games like Mass Effect, I wanted a bit more tension and action instead of cozy moments and slow burn, but that's my personal taste, I love a frenetic always risking their lives kind of space story. This one deals with emotions understanding feelings and a cozy vibe. I wanted a little more of the action and adventure, YA and NA readers will appreciate the slow burn sapphic romance and the relationships developed.
Thank you, publisher and Netgalley for this e-arc.

It feels young. There is an explicit sex scene so it’s not YA but the characters feel like hyper high school kids and not like bright 20 somethings. It’s much more about the relationships than the science so for a reader who is specifically looking for a queer early adult science fantasy book this might be the right book. I did not hate it but I’ve read better science fiction recently and I’ve read better queer science fiction/fantasy stories so I wasn’t loving it either.

Narrated by Vico Ortiz

Genre: science fiction, sapphic space romance
Space between Earth and Proxima Centauri B, 2061

Cleo and her friends accidentally activate a dark matter spaceship engine 20 years after the original mission crew vanished...and it's earned them a 14-year round trip journey to the planet Proxima Centauri B - which is only as fast as it is because of the Dark Matter engine. They awaken a hologram of Captain Billie Lucas, who may have been put in place to help untangle the complicated web of time and circumstances that activated the engine and also vanished the previous crew. All the while, Cleo wonders if it's ok to fall in love - with a hologram no less - while the fate of her friends and maybe the universe is in balance.

I ended up really loving the amount of science fiction and romance alongside one another. A great balance, with enough physics, dark matter speculation, and multiverse theory to satisfy me and enough of Cleo and Billie pining (though also grappling with the uncomfortable nature of wondering if corporeality and non-corporeality hampers compatibility...). If you’re a romance reader, the central plot of The Stars Too Fondly is the romance. If you’re a SF reader, it’s the nature of the dark matter engine and saving the world. I was fascinated that for me, neither plot overpowered the other.

This was a great debut novel. Even though the main characters are in their late 20s, and this is a slow burn open door romance, parts of it read a little YA, so reader be aware. But overall I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook.