I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the whimsical way it was written. The female narrator did a fantastic job of portraying emotions and the voices of others compared to the main character. The male narrator, however, did not. All of the voices he did for each of the male characters sounded so similar and with the same emotion behind it that I could not get behind any of the male characters.

Overall the story was great, but I had a hard time listening due to the male narrator.

This was such a fun concept and I loved the romance. The multi pov at the end was great, I loved it, i wish it was sprinkled in along the way though. I can't wait for more!

I enjoyed this! The pacing was a little hard for me. The questions kept mounting which kept me hooked in the beginning but I started getting frustrated when I was left with far more questions than answers to the point of confusion at some points. The character chemistry and stakes did help keep me in the story though and kept me from losing the plot. The narration was excellent, Corvin could read me a nutrition label and I’d be happy!

I have mixed feelings about The Stars Are Dying. On the one hand, it has the makings of an exciting romantasy. All the elements are there. But on the other hand, the book was a little too similar to other romantasies. Not enough was done by the author to make this book stand out.

Did I like it? Yes.
Did I think it was amazing. No.
Will I read the next in the trilogy? Probably. It depends on whether or not I find a better series first.

I was graciously honored enough to receive the e-arc to this book when it was first published, and I was so happy to get the audio as well! I felt that the narrators did a fantastic job at portraying the characters and moving the story along. I had a good time listening to this, it kept me entertained throughout the whole book. I would recommend this to all fantasy romance audiobook lovers!

I had to DNF this book. I am little tired of the Romantasy genre. It is overdone, sloppy, and it relies too heavily on tropes. And that is exactly what this book has done. I mean COME ON. The Male MC drops the “who did this to you” within their FIRST MEETING. This happens within the first 5% of the book. No thank you.

And as an added complain, I hate when audiobooks do that duel narrator thing where the man does EVERY male speaking part, even when the woman is narrating the chapter. Who decided to do that? It’s jarring and kinda annoying. No thanks.

I wouldn’t recommend this book. Don’t let the beautiful cover fool you.

I was really excited to start this book, especially since the audiobook was done in duet narration. Initially, the narration had me hooked, but as more characters were introduced, I found myself struggling—particularly with the male narrator. His voice didn’t have any range, so it was hard to tell the different characters apart. Plus, he read every line in this breathy, husky tone that felt more suited for steamy scenes than regular dialogue, which got old fast.

As for the book itself, I was pretty disappointed. It had a lot of potential, but it just didn’t deliver. The story felt all over the place, with too many plot lines that would suddenly get cut off, leaving me confused and lost. Even the trials, which I normally love in fantasy, couldn’t hold my interest. I found myself bored and forcing my way through just to finish it.

The characters, especially Astraea, were hard to care about. Her motivations were all over the place, and her actions didn’t make much sense. She never questioned anything around her, which made it tough to connect with her.

I get that it’s the first book in a trilogy, so some things need to be left unanswered, but it felt like the dialogue didn’t give us any real information.

Overall, The Stars Are Dying just didn’t do it for me. I wanted to love it, but it ended up being more frustrating than fun. If it wasn’t for the audiobook, I probably wouldn’t have made it to the end.

This book has been sitting on my TBR shelf forever, I loved the dual POV and narration.

I really tried to like this book, it took me a while to get through it. Had I been reading the book instead of listening to it, I most definitely would have DNF’d at the 15% mark. The book is literally ALL over the place, the FMC didn’t sleep but I definitely found myself falling asleep many times listening to the plot holes.

Thank you for the opportunity to review

The duet narration is fantastic. I really feel like this is the way of the audiobook future. I think my enjoyment in this book lies in duet narration. I think if I were reading it I might have had to put it down. I don't think it would have kept my attention. But the duet narration was able to keep my attention. It is a unique story which I very much like and respect. That said the pacing is...I don't want to say slow but it just kind of off. And again if it wasn't for it being an audiobook and narrated so well I don't think it would have kept my attention I did feel myself wondering a bit while listening. And then there were certain parts that sucked me back in but overall I think this book could be a little more cohesive. And I especially think that the beginning needed more to suck a reader in. I listened with my headphones on while doing a project so I was able to give it a really fair chance and get into it as it went on. But I might not have been able to otherwise. That said there are good qualities the narrators did a fantastic job. The story is unique and different and there are parts that suck you in through out that keep you reading/listening. And It's a great concept. Great narration. I would recommend this to people that are looking for duet narration fantasy romance listens

DNF

The story lacked a good introduction and setup; I even had to double-check to make sure I was reading book one. I attempted to continue reading, but I couldn't connect with the writing. Overall, not for me.

***Thank you to NetGalley, C.C. Penaranda, and Macmillan Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

Thank you to netgalley for this audio arc.

Trials
Amnesia
Vampires
Duo voice actors

I really wanted to like this because it sounded so interesting and the promos made me feel like it would be something I would love. Unfortunately I was extremely bored and had to force myself to finish this. The trials really didn't interest me and I'm a bit done with how much this trope is done in romantasy. I did love the voice actors and how they had a person voice Astraea and Nyte to help immerse yourself.

In the end if you are a fan of romantasy this may be up your alley if you are looking for something with all the main tropes in the genre. It takes a bit to setup but the ending does make me want to consider reading book 2.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars


I want to say thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for allowing me to listen in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book but I think that maybe the writing style was just not for me. I did really enjoy the concept of this novel. I mean who doesn't love a vampire story? I guess the pacing was a bit off for me. We don't get many answers until at least the first 250 pages or so. While I did enjoy the Astraea I wish she was a bit of a more proactive heroine.

I did enjoy the fact that this was not another ACOTAR rip off. I have noticed that a lot of romantasy novels just seem to borrow so much from SJM.I plan to continue on with this series. The fantastic voice acting by Corvin King and Jacci Prior really were excellent.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly I had to put this one down and idk if I’ll pick it up anytime soon.

I did not feel any chemistry between the MC and I was bored for most of what I read. I felt like although there was a plot the FMC forgot about everything once she met the MMC. Also I’m not a fan of insta love so that took the enjoyment away from the romance.

First I want to say thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the opportunity to listen to this book for my honest review.
I really wanted to love this book and really thought I was going to but I was pretty disappointed. This book has a lot of potential. The world is interesting and the characters have room to grow and evolve. I almost DNFd a few times but then kept letting my FOMO get to me and continued on but I wish I would have stopped and just realized it wasn’t for me. I often found myself bored during this book. The only character I really enjoyed and connected with was killed pretty early on. I feel like maybe there was just too much going on in this one book and it just felt confusing to me. I will be reading the second book because I already have it preordered so I’m hopeful that maybe the author will have worked out some of the kinks from book 1.

I found this book to be a frustrating read. The dialogue felt very forced. And there are many instances where the plot doesn’t match up with what was previously in the story. This was a DNF for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Stars are Dying. This book had a lot of twists and turns, and though the tropes were nothing new and some of the reveals were painfully obvious, I still enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend to others who enjoy romantasy. Looking forward to further installments because I am dying to know who else she is bonded to and if Nyte is going to end up a hero or a villain.

I DNF’d this about 10% of the way through. However, I’m giving it two stars because I did enjoy the narrators and that it was a dual narration

That being said, this just didn’t draw me in. I really wanted to like it, but it just felt so generic. The FMC wasn’t very interesting and I didn’t feel compelled to find out what happened to her

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC.

Corvin King (holy moly fire) and Jacci Prior were splendid.

I loved this book. Nyte is morally black and I want things. With him.

“I’ve known many centuries of torture,” he said so quiet it touched me gently. “And yet the greatest agony is you."

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the audiobook ARC. This book has been on my TBR for a while and I was so excited to get the ARC to listen to it. The audiobook for this was so well done. The duel narration was spot on and made the story so immersive.

Astraea doesn’t remember her past, she has been living with the man she believed saved her for the past five years but is realizing that she is living in a prison and needs to escape. With the help of the mysterious Nyte she manages to escape her prison but she finds herself mixed with the deadly trials and political intrigue of the kings court.

This book had political intrigue, vampires, deadly trials, amnesia, star-crossed lovers, and twists I wasn’t expecting.

I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, Nyte was such a great MMC and had the best protective vibes. I really liked his character. Astraea has an amazing evolution over the course of the book and goes from continuously doubting herself and feeling unworthy to recognizing her power and importance.

My biggest problem was the lack of focus Astraea had. Over the course of the book many questions arise and instead of Astraea working to solve the questions she just lets them go or searches for the answers half-heartedly. Also, after everything she has been through she seemed way too trusting. It was a struggle to identify Astaea’s motivation for her actions. Without a deeper motivation to keep the story moving it lagged. I understand that we are watching her character develop and watching her move from a traumatized victim to a powerful woman but it felt disjointed.

Overall, I think the world building of this book has set up the sequel to be a really intriguing read. Although there were some issues in pacing and character development I think the story was compelling enough to overcome those and I look forward to the next book.

The audio for this book ate! I’ve never listened to one where it’s read out with different actors like a movie. I do think this book would have been a tad easier to follow if I was physically reading it but it was super intriguing and I’m excited for book 2!