Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for providing me with an eARC of The Stars are Dying by C.C Penaranda in return for my honest opinion.

I was a bit cautious going into this book because I was aware that readers were either loving or hating it. But The Stars are Dying has quickly become one of my best reads this year! I thoroughly enjoyed this dark romantasy! I have seen a few reviewers state that the pacing felt slow in this book, but I did not have an issue with the pacing at all. The world building and the politics in this book are really intriguing and sucked me in from the first chapter! The two main characters, Astraea and Nyte are incredibly easy to fall in love with.

As a reader, it was very easy to pick up the hints as to who both Astraea and Nyte's true identities were, so my only frustration was how long it felt before our girl Astraea figured out what was going on. However, considering she could only remember the last five years of her life, she'd just lost her best friend and was running away from an abusive relationship into a hunger games like challenge, I'll cut her a bit of a break. What I didn't see coming was a couple of the smaller twists, including where Nyte was and who betrayed him!

Despite their love being doomed from the start, you cannot help but root for Nyte and Astraea to get their happily ever after. This book is quite slow burn, there is a bit of spice though towards the end of the book! I cannot wait to see what happens next with these two, I hope they can figure out a way to both stay together! The bonus chapters included in this edition are amazing, I especially enjoyed the glimpse into two of my favourite side characters potential romance!

Thank you to Hachette Australia and New Zealand and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

In 'The Stars are Dying' we follow Astraea, a woman missing her memories of all but the last five years. She is held captive by a local assassin whom she believes protects her, and allowed limited contact with the outside world. However, when she is presented with the opportunity to travel with her only friend Cassida to the capital 'Central'. Cassida has been selected as a participant in the upcoming Libertatem, a once-a-century competition hosted by the king that decides which of the five realms will receive one hundred years of protection from the vampires that hunt their human populations. A series of events unfold that result in Astraea needing to impersonate Cassida, and take her place in the competition. All the while, she is haunted by the mysterious Nyte - a figure who keeps appearing to her in times of need.

As I'm sure it's evident from my star rating, I unfortunately did not enjoy this title. I requested it due to my usual enjoyment of fantasy, vampire stories and stories that involve trials or competitions. I also adore the cover design for this title. The writing style was not for me. I found it confusing and difficult to follow at times. I would frequently need to flick back several paragraphs or pages to see if I missed something, only to realise I didn't. The story was very 'tell' rather than 'show', with critical story elements repeatedly introduced bluntly in conversation. The world building was also lacking, even after completing the book I have limited understanding on the different magical elements of the story such as the star-maiden, celestials and why they cut themselves off from the other kingdoms. I guess this is something that could be expanded upon in future books, as this is announced to be a series. I'm also not familiar with the Greek myth that this book was inspired by, so I don't know if that would answer some of my questions.

The other thing I wasn't the biggest fan of was the overuse of tropes. The MMC goes for a 'who did this to you' within the first chapters of the book, before the main characters have even had a chance to get to know each other. The main romance (this is a fantasy romance) is advertised as 'enemies to lovers' but the MMC spends 90% of the book helping the FMC in her journey. Finally, the ending was very anticlimactic. Even knowing that this is just book one in a series, I usually expect some form of closure. Instead, the book just ended in what felt like the middle of a scene.

Unfortunately I cannot recommend this one, and I will not continue with the series.

I ADORED this book 🥹🤩
🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟

Let me pre-empt by saying my review is fairly spoiler free, it is mostly describing the start/premise of the book and backing up why this is a 5 star read for me 😁


Let me start off with saying.... I almost skipped over this book due to its negative reviews! Thank goodness I chose to read it to judge it for myself based on my own opinions...Never will I (nearly) make that mistake again! 😱💯💥

There are definitely some trigger warnings for this book especially strong themes of abuse so make sure you read those before starting!


🌟This book is written with gorgeous lyrical writing but in a way that still completely makes sense! I personally likened the writing style to that of Stephanie Garber's writing in both her Caraval and Once upon a broken heart series which I adore both, as I also adpre this!

I have a very hard time keeping attention span and reading books that bore me or drag on for longer then intended...THIS book was not at all like that and COMPLETELY CAPTURED MY ATTENTION from start to finish, I loved it so much! ❤️

.....

The story starts off with Astraea who knows nothing of her past and being essentially cooped up away from everyone by a horribly abusive jerk who is essentially keeping her captive, she doesn't entirely realise the meakness of her situation until she meets someone fleeting in the night 🌠, that sparks an immediate connection and she soon realises she needs to free herself from her "cage." This first part of the story is her journey of the realisation that she's in an abusive relationship and slowly coming to terms with that and eventually realising the extent of this...as an outsider looking in you sort of want to metaphorically, "slap some sense into her" but also understand that this is a realistic point of view to some people who have been abused, where they don't fully realise the extent until they're out of that horrible situation-also being fearful for what could happen to their loved ones if they relinquish their abusers control.

**minor spoiler in this next paragraph but it happens within the first 20% of book**

Thankfully Astraea has a close friendship with her bestie that's like family in this this story who supports her and helps her free herself from her "captor" 🥳🙌
Definitely glad she got out of that scenario but also understand how it's important to the FMC's character arc!


Though the first part of this book captured my interest, it was after the 18% mark that the storyline takes off that I absolutely loved 😍
but don't want to spoil any of that so you'll just have to read that for yourself 🤩

Throughout the book Astraea frequently seeks comfort in the night sky and stars, inadvertently seeking comfort in the things she has connections to from her past without realising why (at first).

The story has fae, vampires, celestials and humans. The premise of the story is that there was a war 500 years ago between the fae+vampires against the celestials and the celestials have been locked away behind the veil to their land ever since. Because of this the vampires wreak havoc on the humans while they have "free reign" because the celestials aren't there to fight back.

Every 100years there is a contest in which 1 person from each of the surrounding lands competes in trials to be the "winner" and that winner earns safety for their land and its residents from the vampires for the next 100years until the next contest. Naturally each one of the lands wants their competitor to win and low and behold one of the competitors who is competing this year is our FMC's best friend-Cassia who brings Astraea with her to the capital (where the contest is held) while putting Astraea on the path to freedom and to start the rest of this fantastic (definitely very adult 🌶) fairytale 🥰 all my most favourites parts happen after this point 👌


My most favourite parts:
🌟connection/chemistry/banter of FMC and MMC
🌟friends who are family
🌟the different magical races: fae, vampires, celestials and how they all work..super interesting and different!!
🌟the whole story!

I am soooo looking forward to book 2's release 🥳🤌

Thank you so much to Netagalley and the publisher for accepting my request to read and review this book.

I was super excited for this one as I saw some of the tags on goodreads were 'fantasy', 'romance', 'romantasy', 'fae', 'vampires' and adult and new adult - its rare that I find books with these tags and dont at the very least ENJOY them.

But this one sadly just did not work for me at all. In fact I couldnt even get to the end.

For starters I felt like I couldnt actually connect to the characters on an emotional level. I didn't feel like they were REAL people and I didnt care for their fates. It created a distance that ultimately meant I wasn't invested in where the story went.

Next, I wasn't a fan of the structure of the book and the pacing, it felt plotless at times and left me feeling slightly bored to pick it back up again. it felt like we were just following them but there wasnt much of a 'point'.

There was potential with this book, I felt like the excecution was just not there and it could have used some editing to polish it off.

Your soul is magnetic. There won’t exist a time or place where I won’t be drawn to it.’

Alright alright alright, there’s secrets, there’s puzzles, there’s some Hunger Games inspired selection and trials. A lot of ‘will they won’t they give in’ star crossed lovers and a little enemies to lovers in the side characters. There’s gods and magick and wings to propel you through a detailed plot, which sometimes was maybe a bit too detailed and I tended to forget some things along the way. Some parts action packed and others I admit I skimmed a bit as it didn’t quite hold my attention. Overall I liked the story, it kept me reading, I needed to know every characters story and how they ended up in this whole situation and how they’re going to get out of it 😂

I tell you though, I now imagine all the characters with Gretchen Wieners hair BECAUSE THEY ARE SO FULL OF SECRETS. So if you want to be in on the secrets and reveals, give this story a go!

I was initially intrigued by the blurb for this book, as the story sounded interesting and right up my alley. If you look at the start and finish dates for my reading of this title, you will see it took a long time for me to get through it, but I'd like to add a disclaimer to say that was because I had to read it on my PC, a chapter here and there. I added it to my e-reader but couldn't read it on there because the artwork on the first page of each chapter in the ARC I received, while beautiful, caused such heavy delays of close to 10 minutes to turn the page to start each new chapter that it was driving me insane with frustration. Even on the PC in Adobe Editions it took a good 20 seconds each time, but at least that was better.

So, my reading experience was a bit disjointed, but I did my best to read at a steady pace on days I was at home and on the PC. The story idea was indeed captivating and full of potential, which was one of the plus points for this book. I also found the relationship between Astraea and Nyte reasonably enjoyable despite the heavy reliance on insta-lust and romantasy tropes. However, I struggled with the prose style and the pacing/structure of the narrative. There was a lot going on, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but to make that work, especially in a book of only 400 pages, you need the pacing to be tight and the structure to support the multiple POVs and the world building elements, and I didn't think that was entirely successful as there were several plot holes and other moments when I was left confused about where things were heading. There was definitely a good story in there, but the book needed a structural edit to bring everything into focus and allow those good points to shine through.

I am giving it 3.5 stars. There were several elements I liked, and I thought the story had great potential, but the execution needed to make it sparkle wasn't quite there.

Astrea can only remember the last five years of her life. She is contained, manipulated and she initially believes loved by Hektor, who regularly reminds her how he saved her. She is supported by a couple of friends who she interacts clandestinely with and a mysterious male character Nyte who stirs up the sexual tension.
Peñaranda has created a detailed and rich world that is layered with complexities and intrigue. There is massive potential to deliver an engaging series that could be highly compelling. I did struggle with the rhythm of the text, and I did read some sections out loud to try and get into the swing of it. It seems Peñaranda was aiming for a lyrical prose style but there are times when it is over prescriptive and meanders too long. I am sure many will have no problems in the style and will be absorbed.
The story is told through the point of view of Astrea and we spend an inordinate amount of time in her thoughts. She tries to remember, cannot, so she dismisses it and moves on to the next thought. Having only five years’ worth of memories, you would think it would be the main driving force, that Astrea would be desperate to know who she is and how she came to be under Hektor’s influence. As a victim of abuse, with five years exposure to mental manipulation and physical mistreatment, you need to appreciate that Astrea does not have a strong sense of self. This certainly shines through the and the only thing that Astrea becomes sure of in her journey is that she wants to be her own person not controlled by anyone.
It is apparent that Nyte and Astrea have a previous connection and it is the primary focus on the story. Will he reveal it or will Astrea figure it out? As we only see her point of view, she does not understand Nyte’s cryptic hints, and this causes the tension between the two. He does not want to repeat the errors of the past, she does not know what those errors are, and they keep dancing around these issues over and over. Nyte is crafted as the perfect do I trust him or run away screaming for my life love interest? The dynamics between the two are explosive with potential but it is hard to sustain that level of interest over a prolonged period.
It is obvious that Peñaranda is passionate about her writing, the characters and world she has created. I suspect that this book is the groundwork for the rest of the series as there many hints of bigger elements at play. For those who are looking for slow dive into a series, where much is hinted it and soon heats up to dramatic pace with promise of more, this is for you.

The Stars are Dying by Chloe Penaranda took
me on an exhilarating experience with Astraea. The last five years is all she can remember, and during that time she has been like a bird trapped in a cage. Then Nyte appears and her world changes. Along her journey she is faced with bloodthirsty, soul-seeking vampires and those who wish to use her and see her as a tool. This story is filled with trials, forbidden love, betrayal, and self-discovery. The world Chloe has created had me turning the pages well into the early hours of the morning. I could not get enough!

I have tentatively DNF'd this book at 25%.

As NetGalley requires me to give this a star rating I have given this 1 star. I do not however, feel this accurately represents my reading expereince. For what I managed to get through, I would perhaps more accurately rate this 1.5 stars.

I am not enjoying it, I found it confusing. The world-building is poor. It is rushed and under-developed and it honestly feels as if I had begun reading 100 pages into a book and am missing those crucial pages.

I may pick this up again before its release date, but that is purely because I am mildly curious about the plot. I will not be giving this a star rating on StoryGraph as I do not feel that is just when I DNF'd 25% in. I may mention it as a DNF in my monthly wrap-up on TikTok, but I could not in good faith recommend this book.

I picked this up despite not being a huge paranormal fantasy reader for I love Greek Mythology and Greek Mythology re-tellings and inspired stories. I was not deterred by the vampire element though it is not something I normally read about. I feel I could really have enjoyed this book if it was better written and developed. I am disappointed for I was really excited to read this

Firstly I would like to thank Chloe and her team for sending the ARC for me to read and review.

I Unfortunately have to mention that the readability of this book was tiresome. The manner in which the writer structures her sentences had me confused and made me feel like I was missing something 90% of the time. Things never really flowed together, there are plenty scenes/ moments in the book that could of been fantastic had there been some sort of consistent continuity and build up to them. instead however things just seemed to occur almost randomly and it consistently broke my immersion in the story.

It felt like the more you read, the more it was just words being put together for the sake of filling space, which made the book perplexing and prevented any sort of clarity to the story. The story to me was basically a puzzle within itself, and a very confusing one.

On a more positive note, some things I did enjoy were the characters, their development and the friendships and relationships that they have. This connection to the characters compelled me to finish the book to see where things went with them but overall it was very disjointed and lacking to say the least.