A book that begins with some promising world-building, only to be brought down by stale characters, a nonsensical plot, and uninspired “romance.”

I don’t know why I keep trying romantasy when I’ve already been burned so many times. I don’t think there’s an inherent flaw in the genre, but there does seem to be an inherent flaw in all the new romantasy releases that get popular: the romance is Not Good.

From the very first time meeting the love interest, I knew I was going to have to hold out hope for the fantasy elements because the romance was doomed.

Picture this: You’re running through the presumably hotel-sized building (brothel) you live in. You’re not supposed to have left your room, because no one can know you exist according to your captor/abusive boyfriend. You’re attempting to make it back to your room before he knows you’ve left. But you’re in a long hallway and he could turn the corner at any moment. He will punish you. There’s a door nearby that’s marked unoccupied, so you slip inside. You turn around. There’s a man in the room, hidden in the shadows. There’s music playing. What is your first instinct? What do you do? Well, you sexy dance on over to the guy! And would you believe it? He’s hot.

The romance does not get better from there. I couldn’t even count how often “Who did this to you?” is said between the two main characters.

By the 70% mark I was over everything. It felt like the book had reached a good ending point but it just kept going. Everything that happened was just convoluted and dumb. Also did I mention the love interest is named Nyte?? Incredible.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for the ALC.

“The dark belongs to the stars who can’t shine without out it. It’s where passion burns brightest. It’s peace and it’s company.”
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Astraea has spent the last five years with broken memories, illness, and protection through her captor yet savior Hektor. When Astraea is given the chance to join Cassia on her journey to the King’s Central, she decides to break free from her cage. However, things do not go to plan and Astraea is faced with an unimaginable choice: become a competitor in the Libertatem or run.
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Peñaranda crafted an engaging and complex story with The Stars are Dying. There was a lot going on with the plot which kept the pace moving at a pretty steady pace through most of the story between Astraea’s time with Hektor, reaching Central, competing in the Libertatem, and after. I do wish more time was spent on the trials and riddles. Having to figure out the clues was one of my favorite elements of the entire story. Overall, I do believe some of the plot points became unnecessarily confusing especially some of the scenes early on with Nyte. I was able to figure out what was happening but there were times I had to reread the scene to fully grasp what was happening.
I really enjoyed the cast of supporting characters especially Cassia, Zath, Rose, and Davina. I enjoyed Astraea but wish we saw more development from her. Given the issues with her memories, I’m hoping to see a lot more growth from her in the next book. As far as Nyte, I’m still on the fence how I feel about him. Given that he’s written in the morally grey/villain vein, I don’t think that’s wholly unexpected.
There are several fan favorite bookish tropes features throughout the story:
One horse
Who hurt you
Touch her and die
Memory loss
Magic trials
Star crossed lovers
I reread this via audiobook, and I thought this was the best way to enjoy the story. The audiobook is done via duet narration which is one of my favorite audiobook styles. I also thought Corvin King and Jacci Prior played well of each other with their character narrations. Overall, I enjoyed the story and plan to continue the series. There was enough political intrigue, mystery surrounding Astraea, betrayals, and twists to keep my interest.
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eARC courtesy of Peñaranda/Tor in exchange for an honest review
ALC courtesy of MacMillan Audio
Rating: 4.5⭐️

I really like the narrators, I love dual narration and these 2 were perfect.
The first half did not feel as cumbersome as when I read it the first time and the pacing was actually quite good.
I hate Hector even now this time around and really can't wait for the next book.

DNF @ 25%. I really don’t tend to DNF, but I just really didn’t connect with this main character. I felt from the start that I was dropped in the middle of a book instead of the start of a series, I even checked to make sure I was starting book 1. There’s just a lot going on but not enough to help me root for the main character honestly, so I had to stop.

Alright the voices were nice , i like the tones and how you can clearly know who is who. Enjoyed that a lot, the plot was interesting and keep me hooked. Definitely want the second book really fast 😅. Overall enjoyed

I wanted to love this book so much. I had been looking forward to it since before it was released. I was granted the opportunity to listen to the audio book in exchange for my honest review (thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio). I found it to be somewhat confusing at times and it didn’t really hold my interest. I also struggled with the radical back and forth of Nyte. He’s good. He’s bad. He’s good. He’s bad. Do you trust me? I’m screwing you over again. Idk. It wasn’t really morally gray, just straight up confusing. Like which is it?

I struggled with the audio. It’s a duet narration and the way it is edited doesn’t sound seamless. Her portion sounded fine. His recording sounded weird so then when it went back and forth, it just sounded weird. Majority of his voices sounded the same.

As a whole, this one just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this audiobook even though I have already read the story before, hearing it with the audiobook was like reading the book for the first time again and experiencing it in a different way.

I love vampires, I love fae, and I love that society is finally combining the two of them.

This book is dark. Like super dark. It starts out with the FMC being SA'ed and then continues from there. So, if you don't like dark, then maybe this isn't for you.

However, if you like a game that has been created to grant immortality, a world where ever kind of monster exists, strong female characters who find their own inner strength, and a handsome love interest. You should 100% pick up this book. I loved every minute of it, it made me laugh, cry, and feel all kinds of rage listening to it. I need the second book like ASAP.

Love the story and the audio is great! You can hear all the different voices and it's very clear enough that you know what's going on.

Thank you to NetGalley, C.C. Peñaranda, and Macmillan Audio for this Audiobook ARC.

DNF

The opening of The Stars Are Dying hooked me. It is such a beautiful, powerful, and mysterious bit of prose, that it left me craving more. However, as I continued this story, the more and more I became disenchanted from the writing and the narrative as a whole.

I listen to audiobooks because I am a busy mom who doesn't have a lot of time to sit down and read. My least favorite thing to do with an audiobook is rewinding it in order to make sense of a story. I had to rewind this a lot. It was like I blinked, then suddenly we're going from a bleeding head injury to perfectly stalking someone.

I enjoyed the fan fiction vibes in the beginning, but the lack of cohesion, clarity, and confusing prose leaves this at a 2 star read for me.

Good story, but kind of confusing. I kept feeling like I was missing something throughout the story. And even the ending, I feel like I was left with more questions than answers. I really like the characters, they were great.

I received an advanced listener copy of this book from NetGalley. The audio narrators were great. The male is supposed to have a “gravely” voice which sometimes was too gravely and hard to understand.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this Audiobook ARC.

2.5 stars.

First, the audio was really well done. I loved the duet narration. I think sometimes it was confusing when it came to the male characters because the narrator never changed anything about his voice, but otherwise it kept it entertaining. Honestly, I don’t know if I would’ve kept going if it wasn’t audio.

When it comes to the story, I was confused the majority of the time because there are elements that you aren’t told. That was on purpose, but it made it hard to read.

I also could not vibe with the FMC because she was a lost puppy the whole time and took way too long to understand what she was.

This just wasn’t for me, unfortunately.

I had difficulty getting into this book. The beginning was slower, but things started picking up in the back half. This series has much potential, but after the first book I was left confused and with questions. The Stars are Dying touched the surface of world-building, magic systems, and, politics. I assume as additional books are released, we'll get more details.

I enjoyed the narrators of the audiobook. I appreciate it when there is dual narration for the male/female characters. They had a nice flow and helped the story move along.

The FMC initially gave me Poppy vibes, but she struggled to gain confidence and was all over the place with her emotions. I felt like she couldn't focus, which left me feeling jumbled. MMC is very similar to Rhys. Personally, it was difficult to get past the similarities of Nyte compared to other MMC in similar books.

Ultimately, I am intrigued to read the second book once it's released to see if we get more answers and a better path for the ultimate plot. This book is also the September 2024 Bookish Box read so I'm hoping I can re-read and get more details from the physical book vs the audiobook.

Thank you Chloe C. Peñaranda, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of The Stars Are Dying. All opinions in this review are my own and left voluntarily.

I’m not gonna lie but I had high expectations going into this one and I’m pretty disappointed. I wanted to love this so badly, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

I felt the storyline was messy and convoluted purely to “create mystery” but it didn’t quite work. I will say it was entertaining and tropesy so if you’re into that, you will most likely like this.

There was an insta-love feeling throughout which felt even more accentuated because of how the story was set up. It could’ve been solved with a duo-POV in my opinion.

I will say the tropes were done well and I liked them but I was hoping for a stronger story.

This was an enjoyable audiobook, The plot had my attention immediately - even though it felt a little too much like the crowns of Nyaxia. The dialogue got a little repetitive and the plot started to slow, so my interest started to fizzle around the middle. It redeemed itself about 75% through where I binged the rest!

It's possible that I've just read too much romantasy, specifically stories that involve trials or games, but it took everything in me to finish this book. I found the plot to be boring, repetitive, and full of abrupt scene transitions.

The writing itself was fine—dialogue-heavy, but I don't usually find that to be a bad thing. What drove me crazy was not the writing mechanics, but the repetitive nature of the dialogue.

The characters with any dimension felt recycled, particularly our hero. His name is Nyte, and I don't feel like I need to explain further. Astraea, the leading lady, is a bit more developed, but not enough to hold my interest.

Both voice actors did a great job, but the alternating style didn't work for me. I highly doubt they recorded at the same time.

Overall, this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you Chloe C. Peñaranda, Macmillian Audio, Tor Publishihng Group, and NetGalley for my advanced digital and audio copies. My opinions are my own.

Plot - 1
Writing and Editing - 3
Character Development - 2
Personal Bias - 1
Narration - 3
Final Score - 2

Great audiobook! The dual narration and writing is top notch! I preordered the special edition in print to add to my library.

Thanks Macmillan Audio for granting me an ALC!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Chloe C. Penaranda for the chance to listen to this audiobook.

I have had The Stars are Dying on my kindle since it became a hit sensation on TikTok back in January, but I hadn't gotten around to reading it. I personally tend to like to co-read/listen to books when I can.

I so highly enjoyed this book and the audiobook was fantastic. The voice actors did a fantastic job, and I was impressed by the characters' voices and stories.

I will 100% be re-reading this book before the 2nd comes out in January, seriously it is such a delightful book!

I enjoyed this book. It was king of like an unreliable narrator situation, with the Astraea not remembering her past. I didn't really like how things played out towards the end of the book but I am curious to see how it unfolds in the next book. The audio narrators were fabulous and brought the characters to life. Thank you to NetGalley for the Audio ARC!

This was such a good book and such a good story. I just dove in and could not get out of it. I so look forward to the next book in this series and bravo to the author that ending was amazing. Wonderful ending, cannot wait for the next one. I also got to listen to the audiobook, and the audio narrator did a fantastic job!