I’m loving romantasy at the moment and this book was so good. I loved the storyline and characters so much!

This was the type of story I love!

Enemies to lovers, he falls first, unconditional love. Heartbreaking tragic love.

It was hard to read about Astraea being confined and controlled in the beginning. The feeling of being trapped.

The slow fight and retaking of herself is fantastic to read. She slowly discovers her courage and power. It resonates with me and a past experiences.

And Nyte so dreamily mysterious! This book reveals and unravels deliciously.

I saw so many negative reviews on Goodreads for this book and am so dumbfounded! I absolutely loved it! The story is absolutely incredible and I am an absolute sucker for a villain love interest. I will definitely be reading more from this author ASAP!

Thankyou Netgalley and Hachette Australia for this e-arc in exchange for my thoughts.

The Synopsis of this book drew me in with its promise of deadly trials and star-crossed lovers. Unfortunately I was let down by this book and did not enjoy reading it.

The biggest thing for me was that I just found it so confusing. I'm not an editor, but a lot of this book was just hard to read. There was also a lot of dialogue, and much of it was repetitive. And even when I thought I knew what was happening, I was still so confused.

I was interested in the direction of the plot, with deadly trials held by the King. The execution did fall short mostly due to disjointed pacing and not ever being sure if what was happening was real or an illusion? The world building was a bit ambitious with complicated world building. It started off small and digestible, but quickly expanded and left me behind.

I won't be continuing the series.

A magical world that's filled with celestials, gods, vampires, humans, evil kings, fae and a swoon-worthy romance, this premise had me gripped from the start. Following the story of Astraea, we unpack her backstory as we piece together the missing fragments of her memory, whilst competing in a trial, assisted by the mysterious but handsome, Nyte. There's a host of friends that we meet along the way, and fall in love with, and morally dark MMC's who just say the most gutwrenchingly romantic lines.

Overall, I had an enjoyable time in this world - I'm a big fantasy girl, and when reading a new world, there's something enjoyable about trying to piece together the magic system, who's who in the world, and trying to guess where the plot is going to go. I adored some of the side characters, and empathised with what they were going through. The premise was intriguing and I found myself wanting to know more.

Where the book fell down for me slightly is the world-building and pacing of the plot. In a fantasy world, I look for a fleshed out, well-detailed world, where I understand the magic system thoroughly and can then fall in love with the novel. For me personally, it felt overwhelming trying to keep track of the many different elements, storylines and magical beings that were introduced in the book, and whilst I enjoy complex fantasy novels, I personally felt that the book suffered from how short it was, as we didn't get the most amount of time to become familiar with each of the different elements that made up this world, and so oftentimes felt like I was missing crucial information from the book, which led to a feeling of disjointedness.

Overall, I still had a good time with this book, but it felt slightly too similar to other well-known fantasy novels to really become immersed in the world. The writing was delightful though, and many of Nyte's lines had me giggling and swooning.

The Stars are Dying Review
Thank you to Netgalley, Hatchette Australia & Nee Zealand and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this title and provide my unbiased opinion.
This wasn’t an advance copy read, but as this series has been picked up for traditional publishing, I thought it was worth a go.
In a fantasy world where the King controls the vampire population, using them as threats to the humans under his rule, five combatants will be selected to compete in the Libertatem which will win their part of the empire safety from vampire attacks for 100 years.
Twenty-three year old Astraea has no memory of her life before she was found by criminal underlord Hector 5 years ago. Feeling trapped by her benefactor and his lust driven strictures, Astraea boldly decides to masquerade as a dancing girl and captures the attention of the mysterious Nyte, and makes an unlikely ally. She finds her escape alongside her best friend Cassia who travels to compete in the Libertatem amongst rumours that the King is losing his hold on the vicious vamps.

I must admit that this wasn’t my favourite fantasy read. I found the premise very similar to other popular fantasy stories and, as a primarily fantasy fiction reader, it was unsurprising, plot wise. I liked the side characters a lot but had a hard time investing in Astraea, with a lack of build in regards to her character.
The world building was convoluted and I just couldn’t make it work. I will compliment the author on the action scenes which were well written and the ‘celestial’ element which was original.

I'm a sucker for anything romantasy so before I even started reading this one I knew I was gonna love it! The world building was excellent, I felt so immersed into the story and the world. Nyte and Chloe have so much chemistry together and were excellent main characters. Apart from the romance though, the story in itself was so interesting and I didn't expect the cliffhanger at the end. I'll definitely be picking up book 2!

"Lovely reunion," he panted not slowing as he reached us. "Now f@#king run!"

This book! I have been craving an incredible fantasy read and this definitely met the criteria and then some.

The lore and the world building in this book is incredible, and the main character Astraea was just brilliant. i adored her character and her journey through this book.
The last 25% of the book absolutely blew my mind. It was like everything was turned on its head and I'm hoping there is a sequel because I need more answers. Everything was not as it seems.
The tension between Astraea and Nyte was incredible. Nyte is almost an astral projection for most of the book and I don't want to give away to much but the concept is fabulous. Down to the opposite matching tattoos.

A stand out moment that spoken and not just implied:
"Just remember you're in control. The moment you want me to stop, I will." I nodded still chasing my pleasure against him.
"Words, Starlight."
"Yes."
"You are in control."
"I am in control. I want this."

Its a single POV but in my opinion it needed to be, and is the most view from Astraea because we needed to know more about her.

I wanted to be swept away, and my emotions challenged and this book did exactly that. There were quite a few moments that took my breath away.

"You were born for the sky"

I really enjoyed this. It started out quite strong, I binge read the first half quite quickly. It did slow down a little around the halfway mark but picked up again in the last 20%.

The world building was fairly solid. I also liked that the whole way through I was never quite sure if our MMC Nyte was a good guy or a Villain, and honestly I'm still not even sure, it ended on a cliffhanger.
There are lots of twists, the author does a great job in dangling just enough information to keep us guessing.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the series continues and will be picking up book 2 when it is released.

This took me a while to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down and can't wait to read more by Chloe C. Penaranda! Her books get good reviews online and I can see why after reading The Stars are Dying.

“People fear the dark because they think it’s where monsters thrive. They're wrong. The dark belongs to the stars who can't shine without it. It's where passion burns brightest. It's peace and it's company. The darkness is you."

Vampires, magic and mystery!

Astraea, having no memories except the most recent 5 years of her life, lives a secluded life. After needing to escape the life she knows, she joins her friend Cassia to Central, where the centennial Libertatem trials are being held. Due to tragic circumstances, Astraea must compete, and the mysterious and ever-present Nyte offers her his help in a bargain. Nothing is as it seems.

I loved the premise of the book. Overall, the novel was fun and entertaining. There is a lot going on with the plot, and after finishing, I am still slightly confused on some plot points, and I have many unanswered questions, but I’m hoping I find some answers come book 2. Despite my confusion over some aspects of the plot and mysteries surrounding the world, I felt invested in uncovering the questions Astraea had, and I never felt bored, the story was captivating.

“He was so breathtakingly, dangerously beautiful that it was an effort to keep my wits around him. His guise could lure me in only to capture me. Yet with the way I fought gravity to be closer to him, to touch him, maybe I wanted to know if his claim on me would be bliss or torture.”

Nyte was a great MMC; mysterious, alluring, with a definite dark side, but also fun, witty and flirtatious. The chemistry between Astraea and Nyte was fabulous. I loved Astraea’s arc and I’m excited to see where she, Nyte, and the other characters go in the rest of the story. The ending came on fast, I need answers! I am looking forward to the next instalment in this series.

“Was it possible to belong not to any place, but with a person? To find home not on land, but in another soul?”

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy

Do You like Vampire's , Fae and Magic ?
Slow burn romance where the villian gets the girl ?
THEN THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU
I enjoyed this book so much
I think Nyte is my new book BF .

Chloe's book has provided a refreshing take on fantasy. 
Written in first person POV, some events in the first few chapters leading you with questions, as you're getting only the information Astrea has and can provide. Making things a bit difficult to follow. But trust me when I say to persevere because as Astrea learns more and continues through the story, the puzzle pieces slowly start falling into place, leaving a big "aha" moment. 
There's mystery, adventure, spice and a MMC that makes you think that maybe the red flags are worth running to. 
I defintely recommend giving it a read, just bearing in mind you may need to push through the start to get to the point where the snowball starts rolling and you start getting answer, the pace picking up and making it near impossible to put the rest of the book down. 

There's some great character growth, and im so excited to find out and unravel more of the secrets in book 2

enjoyed this book so much, but their was only one thing which I didn’t enjoy that much which was how easy it was for me to pin point exactly who the FMC and MMC were/ what happened to them. I still loved this story that was just the only thing I didn’t like.
I CANNOT wait until the next book ugh that ending!!!!
Thankyou for this ARC

I have to admit I was looking forward to reading this as I have seen it all over social media, as well as actually owning some of Peñaranda's other books (I enjoyed An Heir Comes to Rise!). Unfortunately this kind of missed the mark for me, as I felt generally lost and confused reading this, especially at the beginning where it felt like I had missed the first 50 pages or something. The plot and pacing felt a bit choppy at times, and felt as though it could have greatly benefitted from another round of editing.

This is honestly probably closer to a 2.75-3 stars for me. A 2 feels too harsh (as in, I didn't dislike the idea, characters, storylines etc... just found it confusing and difficult to get through at times), so it's about a 3 - not the worst, but not the best.

I did enjoy the premise, as well as Nyte and Astraea! It did leave me wanting to know more. I would certainly consider reading the next book in the series if some of the issues are improved upon or there's more clarity/editing.

The stars aren’t the only things that are dying. I am dying over how much I LOVED this book. I was thrown into the storyline right from the beginning, and I remained hooked for the entire time.

With some fantasy books, I feel like you get hit with a heap of world-building initially, then the character development and plot line generally start to build, and then you’re left with a really intense final scene. However, Chloe C. Peñaranda’s way of ebbing and flowing with incorporating all of these features demonstrated such magical writing. Overall, I felt like she nailed the pacing.

The dynamics between Nyte and Astrea had to be one of my favourite parts of this book. I didn’t expect their relationship to unfurl the way that it did. It was mysterious, but at the same time, we got little snippets of moments that had my heart beating and my toes curling.

The only reason it wasn’t a five-star read for me was because I felt like there were parts of the plot line that were super predictable. There were some moments that I didn’t pick out, but the meaty parts I felt hinted at really early! I wish some of this was held back until later. There were also a lot of characters and magical elements to learn, but by the end, it all of it had its purpose. I honestly can’t wait to continue this series once the next book is out!!

🌟🌟🌟🌟

*The Stars are Dying* by Chloe C. Penaranda is a celestial adventure that sweeps you off your feet! The writing style is like poetry in motion—lyrical, vivid, and oh-so-dreamy. The world-building is a cosmic delight, full of intricate details that make you feel like you're floating among the stars. Each page is a new discovery, with twists and turns that keep you glued to the story. It’s a journey through galaxies of emotion and imagination, and I loved every second of it!

I did not finish this unfortunately- I found the ebook version very hard to read due to the formatting.

I have not made a public review of this book - I loved the story for as much as I read, however the format of this e-ARC provided by the publisher made it difficult to read. I read my ARC's on my phone, and was unable to read this one without having to zoom in and line up every page because it had the printing marks on it.

I have rated this as a 3 - because the story was enticing, I genuinelly want to know what happens next, but I couldn't get over the barrier of reading it in the format provided. I will likely buy a paperback copy of this book so that I can still read it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get into The Stars are Dying. I made it about 20% of the way into the book, but the story just wasn't connecting with me and I decided to DNF. I was really excited by the story but I was finding myself a little confused with the portion that I read.