LOVE! Aboslutely honored to receive an early copy of this book. Was already excited going in but it definitely lived up to the hype I had for it.
The magical system that Amalie Howard had created hooked me right from the star(t), how everything was related back to the cosmos was interesting. The slooowwww burn - oh, so good! Not sure if I would classify MLC as morally grey but he was SWOON worthy nonetheless. I loved watching the relationship between Suraya and the MLC grow. This book was a solid five stars for me, and I'm so grateful the author ended with enough of a HEA while still letting the audience know there was more to come!

One thing I did find bothersome at first was the use of some random modern day phrases. It didn't seem like it fit the time period or the overall vibes, but it never states what time period it was in so could be completely relevant. It wasn't too distracting from the rest of the book and was still a FANTASTIC read. Can't wait to continue on!

This is a solid fantasy book with some romance built in - I wouldn't call it specifically a romantasy, but there is definitely spice. The spicy parts don't overwhelm the entire story though so I'd still recommend you try it out.

Suraya gets an invite to the palace as part of the prince's marriage search. Prior to leaving, there are some signs that she should reconsider, but she feels compelled given the request came straight from the king. Once she gets there, things really hit the fan. The world building and magic system in the book is easy to understand and kept me interested throughout. There were some unresolved plot points at the end of the book so I'll be interested in seeing where it goes from here.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

This world is immersive and well built, set in a desert kingdom where Jādū shards are believed to be the only remaining magic left from the gods. The story is brimming with adventure, magic, political intrigue, secrets, and betrayal as Suraya discovers that the marriage selection she has been requested to attend to choose the bride of the crown Prince, is a competition and death trial set to discover the starkeeper of the gods: her. Someone she previously thought was nothing more than a children’s fable.

Fantasy novels often remind you of other worlds in the genre. While this novel was no different, it also brought a fresh take I haven’t seen much of before in other aspects. The prose fluctuates between descriptive moments and plain language and reminded me of a more YA style of writing. Both the adventure and world building are fast paced, but the author manages to avoid information dumps throughout the novel and even gives you a breakdown of the faction houses of hierarchy at the font of the novel and a glossary of magical terms in the back, which I loved!

Suraya is a loyal, intelligent, and strong woman with a sharp tongue. While I enjoyed Suraya’s character and her journey as she discovers her powers, I would have liked to read more about her learning about, training, and harnessing her gifts. It felt as though she learned to harness the majority of her control from only some sporadic training. I think this would have also opened Suraya up to more personal growth, as I felt that at her core, she did not have much personal character development outside her gifts.

Roshan is a wonderfully layered and compelling character laced with secrets. He is a fiercely loyal protector, and despite being the illegitimate heir to the throne, he only wants what is best for his father’s people. His relationship with Suraya is a slow-burn, with lots of tension, and well paced in a way that makes the connection feel earned.

The book does not end on a cliffhanger, but several threads are left loose, so this could be a stand-alone novel or the first of a series. Hopefully, it is a series as I am interested to learn more about how the god of night ties into Suraya and Roshan’s world.
—
✨Romantasy
🗡️Desert landscape
🐦‍🔥Death trials
✨Chosen one
🗡️Prophecy & destiny
🐦‍🔥Political rebellion
✨Female bladesmith
🗡️Embued magical objects
🐦‍🔥Magic & runes
✨Astrology
🗡️Adventure
🐦‍🔥Magical mythical animals
✨Open-door
🗡️Love triangle?
🐦‍🔥Sporadic 2nd POV throughout
—
Story by Amalie Howard: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration by Anais Inara Chase:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration by Ramiz Monsef: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
—
Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager, HarperAudio Adult, and NetGalley for these complimentary ARC & ALC - all thoughts are my own! 📚
Publishers release date 1/7/2025

This book was really interesting, and I enjoyed reading it! However, it's really a difficult one for me to rate and review, as I felt very different about the story at different points.

I absolutely loved the beginning and the world-building based off of mythology. It reminded me of Egyptian and Indian mythology mixed, and the magic system was really unique. I loved the side characters and the premise, and it had me hooked for the first 20%.

It kind of got a bit Dune Part 2 toward the middle, not in a bad way... but the pacing just changed in a way I wasn't expecting.

We had some twists and reveals at the end, and it set things up for book 2 quite nicely. I think I would have loved more explanation on what was going on with certain perspectives that did become important toward the very end, though!

I think fans of Powerless would love this book based on the love story and magic system!

One thing I have noticed with romantasy is that many of them keep the world building to a minimum. The Starlight Heir does not. The map needs to be consulted, I could have used a more extensive directory because the one provided was very simplified.. However, this is still an excellent read.

The romance is hot with extreme levels of adventure. It was hard to figure out exactly where it was going, although the leader of the Dahaka was pretty obvious throughout the story.

All in all, a pretty enjoyable romantasy.

Thank you to Net Galley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the DRC. All opinions are my own!

I think the modern slang and the insta-list threw me off the story and I wasn’t able to enjoy it properly.

DNF @ 22% I just don’t think this one’s for me. I’m just really hating the use of modern phrases such as “resting bitch face,” “princesplaining,” “thick thighs save lives,” etc. because it’s really just taking me out of the story. I’m also really not a fan of insta love, and it’s coming across that way since the FMC is immediately lusting over the MMC and imagining them doing shit together after meeting literally twice. Like where is the tension, the yearning?? The world is really interesting though, and I love the middle eastern mythology. Also can we talk about the gorgeous cover?? I think this would be somebody else’s cup of tea but I just can’t get immersed in the story unfortunately.

Can we talk about how STUNNING this cover is? Thank you netgalley, the publishers and the author for my gifted copies of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really loved the premise of this book. I felt like in some ways I knew what to expect and others I did not! I really appreciated Suraya’s strength but would have loved to see her try to control her power more in this book. I hope we see what she can do in the next one!

There is definitely a little instalove..or instalust? I like Suraya and Roshan together but I wish we would have gone a little more in depth on their relationship.

I’m interested to see where this story goes next and the secrets yet to be uncovered! This one is out January 7th and if you like romantasy could be right up your alley!

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

In a world where there are only Jadu shards left to be the only things left with magic that the gods have left, but is it? This book has adventure, a great magical system, politics, betrayal and romance. You will meet Suraya and Roshan who are the main characters and they’re well done, but so are the side characters that you will get to know more throughout the book. In this fantasy world nothing is what it seems, and you will have to uncover a lot of secrets and betrayals to get the truth out.

I really enjoyed Howard’s book, I found the world building to be interesting and engaging throughout the book. I liked that there wasn’t an info dump on, but information was given out throughout the book. I found the politics in this book not to be a bore, but really helped to add the urgency of the mission. I thought the author did well with world building and made sure that the book was fast paced but still gave the readers what they wanted. I found the glossary in the book to be helpful and I did find myself flipping back and forth a few times just to understand the words sometimes. I thought the characters were well developed and even though I was blown away with how many layers Roshan wears to hide himself, I loved getting to know him more and more throughout the book.

Suraya, she is a blacksmith, helps her father at his tavern, but when she finds out that she has been selected to attend the marriage selection for the crown Prince. Her world is turned upside down and right away she feels as though she is not worthy of the invite, but finds out that the story she grew up thinking was a child’s fairy tale is true, and she might be the key to saving the world or will she burn the place to the ground? I liked her character right away, I found her to be easy to connect with and I found myself able to relate to her feelings of feeling like why me, I’m not special. I liked that she was smart, she didn’t hold back her wits and kept people on her toes, but you still will see her vulnerable moments come through as well. I thought her character's growth throughout the book was well done, and it was mostly done when she was learning to harness her abilities and trying to understand everything that is thrown at her.

Roshan is a character that gave off vibes of being an onion, you would figure out one layer then, soon realize that there is more to go. I found the author did a great job making sure that the readers were not quite sure what to think about him. At times I wanted to love Roshan, other times I wanted to shake the heck out of him, but I loved getting to know each layer that was shown to us. I liked that he was protective of Suraya and wanted to make sure that she understood her power and what she meant to the world. I found him too sweet and caring, but at the same time I still made sure that I was on the fence with him because I had been stirred the wrong way before lol. I love that you really get to see the chemistry between these two grow when they go on the run and just develop from there.

I can’t wait to see what book will bring us, because with that new character that was hinted to us feels like he will be a big player. I know that you will see a few places in the book where you see his character being built up, but it’s not until the ending when you really see it all fall together.

I want to thank NetGalley and Avon Harper for the opportunity to review this book.

❗️Disclaimed: This review isn’t to tell the author that their work is bad or not. This review is simply based on my own personal opinion of the book. I do suggest you give it a chance before you form an opinions about it and decide whether you like it or not.❗️

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for the ALC and ARC of this book.


This was a though book for me to rate. The start of the book I would say is a 1 maybe 2 stars. I would say because the book reads like a YA even though it isn’t, so the spice scenes surprised me and gave me whiplash even though I knew it had spice. I also found myself quite bored at the start and didn’t care for any of the characters or the story, making me almost dnf at 30%, I found myself zoning out and forgetting stuff because I wasn’t interested in the story but I powered through and don’t regret it. Towards the middle of the book it becomes a 3 star because I can ignore the fact it reads like YA and we are also slowly leaving it behind in my opinion.The story gets interesting there and I found myself actually liking the characters more. I also zone out less and actually start to like the story. Then comes the end of the book which is the best part in my opinion and why I will probably continue this series. I loved seeing more of the magic and the action scenes where really well described. I liked the romance even though I’m rooting for another romance (if you know you know 👀). I do think the romance was very insta lust and a bit rushed for my liking but it didn’t ruin the story for me. In the end I do think I like this story and I will probably continue this series because the ending left me intrigued. I also think we can only go up from here and that this series could become a 4 star maybe 5 star series. If you are like me and find the start difficult to get into I would suggest you power through because it goes up from there.

Thanks to my friends at Avon Books for a free ARC of this book! All thoughts are my own!!

I really enjoyed this book, and I’m very excited to read the next one! I actually didn’t realize this was going to be series, especially because I feel like this book ended in a way that I wouldn’t necessarily expect one. It wasn’t super open ended, but I’m excited that there will be more to this story.

Suraya is an interesting main character. I feel like she didn’t have a ton of characterization outside having her powers and knowing how to make weapons. We see her with her family and best friend for a very limited amount of time at the beginning, leaving me not super invested in those relationships. When Lelah dies near the end, I couldn’t really be sad about it. We barely saw her in this book. The same goes for her family, who we saw a bit more of. I knew that Suraya loved and cared for them, as evident in her motivations for the choices she makes, but as a reader there wasn’t much to endear me to her family. I actually thought for a while that her father was going to end up being one of the bad guys. His willingness to leave Amma behind was strange to me, seeing as we were told that they were in love with each other.

Suraya goes on quite the journey in this book. I really enjoyed watching her learn about the other groups of people and how they weren’t what she thought. I liked how she had to confront what she was raised to believe. Every time I wanted Suraya to make a smart choice, she did not. I was extremely frustrated and thoroughly entertained by her decisions. I know that for the plot it needed to be that way. She really comes into her own during this book, especially towards the end. Her relationship with Roshan was sweet, and I love how he was never afraid of her power. I’m a little worried we’re going to end up with a second love interest and a love triangle later on, as there was so much emphasis on “soul-fated” and how he wasn’t hers. With all the comparisons to a certain other fantasy series, I worry that it’s going to follow the same format. I really hope that isn’t the case because I feel like they have a really good dynamic and bond with each other. I’d be really disappointed if something is manufactured to push her towards the “shadow daddy” type character that we meet periodically throughout this book, especially when Roshan has been a great character in this book. I hope my predictions about his character are true, but I will be waiting to see what Amalie does with that.

Can’t wait to see what these characters get into in the next book!

This was promising start of a new romantasy series. A little predictable at times, but with some very interesting characters and mythology to support the story.

This was an amazing book! I have not previously read anything by Amalie Howard, but I will definitely have to check out her other work for sure. The story was a bit slow to build, but it took off and kept on going! The slow-burn was so good, the tension was perfect. I was very drawn in to the world building and the politics. I definitely had some Divergent feels (minus the dystopia) with the houses and such. Thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC!

I've been into romantasy lately, so I was excited to pick up The Starlight Heir because I enjoyed Amalie Howard's books in the past. And I was drawn to the beautiful cover. I found the premise, inspired by South Asian mythology, intriguing, and I liked the worldbuilding. But I thought the pacing was a little slow, and the romance was just ok. Although The Starligh Heir was an enjoyable read for the most part, it didn't stand out in the sea of other fantasy books to me. In my opinion, Howard's historical romances are better written than her first foray into romantasy.

This book hit me like a hurricane.

“𝘽𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙧, 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪,”

It’s a complex, fast paced, action packed, unexpected, and immersive roller coaster of emotions wrapped into a book, that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. 😮‍💨

⭐️ 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞
⭐️ 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲
⭐️ 𝟐𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐌𝐂
⭐️ 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐌𝐂
⭐️ 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲
⭐️ 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞
⭐️ 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬
⭐️ 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞
⭐️ 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩

Spicy 🌶️
The spice is an A +++ 🥵

“𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.”

The banter was top notch. Not only between the FMC and the MMC, but with other characters as well. The relationship between the FMC and her best friend was so special. I loved seeing female friendship represented in such a real way. Their teasing conversations, and interactions brought so much life to the story, and really sucked me in. That was probably one of my favorite parts.

“𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡, 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧.”

The verbal sparring between the FMC and MMC was spectacular. The FMC is quick, and witty, with a foul mouth. She’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind. My favorite kind of character. 😏 And the MMC can be just as filthy. Perfection. 🙌🏼 The tension builds nicely. Although there is instant attraction, and that can put a reader off, in this case, it’s done in a way that isn’t a turn off. The relationship develops over time as they are thrown into a forced proximity situation, and it feels natural.

Amalie truly has a way with words. Her descriptions of food had me ready to take a bite out of my kindle. 🤤😅 The prose was beautiful. She turns regular sentences into something breathtaking. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her words.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙙.”

The ending. 😳 I have so many questions. I’m broken. I’m healed. I’m scared. I’m confused. I’m intrigued. It’s really not fair Amalie... I’ll be waiting with bated breath for book 2. 😤
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

❗️Modern language in a fantasy setting might turn some purist readers off, it didn’t bother me in the slightest.

Thank you to Netgalley, and the publisher, for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. Solid romantic fantasy with a girl with godlike powers she has to learn to control vs an evil queen and her son, assisted by the good prince who has a secret. I'll gladly read the next in the series, but was a bit distracted by some of the contemporary language.

I really appreciated the inspiration from Persian and Indian mythologies, as well as the lady blacksmith aspect of the story (though I wish she'd had the chance to do more of it!). We have Suraya, the magical girl; Roshan, the half prince; Zarek, the evil prince; and a mysterious shadow lover. Though I assume we'll get more of the mysterious shadow lover in the next book, it was all too much hinting without answering in this one.

But I had a fun time reading this - adventure, fantasy, and a little romance.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoy romantasy when it is done right, and Howard was sooo close with this novel. There is a lot to like here if you are a seasoned pro in the world of romantasy, and I could see this being a great introduction to the genre. However, there were a few things I did not like. The first being usage of modern language that takes shape as colloquialism and slang. I found it off putting and it took me out of the fantasy world being built around me. It was jarring in some instances, Could you imagine enjoying Romeo and Juliet and suddenly being hit with a modern turn of phrase?

Great novel if you need something quick and fast as a palette cleanser before you dig into other more engaging romantasy novels.

I was very excited to receive an ARC of The Starlight Heir, as fantasy romance and romantasy are my favorite genres - however, being an avid romantasy reader may be the reason this read wasn’t a hit for me.

The Starlight Heir follows Sura as she’s invited to the capital to compete for the crown prince’s affections, which comes as a surprise as she is but a blacksmith from a normal family in a normal village.

It quickly becomes apparent that the crown prince isn’t looking for a love match; he is bloodthirsty and searching for a partner prophesied to have special powers.

For anyone well-versed in the genre, it’ll come as no surprise that our girl Sura miiiight have special powers awakening and that her parents were hiding a secret about her lineage…but again, perhaps being well-versed in romantasy is the reason this felt like a miss. I could see this being a very good entry into romantasy, or even fantasy in general, as it’s very fast-paced and reads easily! I believe it’s a standalone, which also makes this a good starting point for newer romantasy readers - my only caveat is that if the goal is to read a little bit of spice, this won’t scratch the itch.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for review!

The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games (at least for the first third of the book).

Suraya Saab does not want to marry a prince. She just wants to work at her forge. When she is one of the few girls in her town to receive an invitation to meet the prince, she couldn't say no. Suraya ends up going through a Hunger Games-esc set of trials, and finds that she could be the prophesy-fated Starkeeper. To survive she must trust the bastard prince, Roshan, and go on the run.

It is obvious that this book is written by a romance author. There is a medium amount of spice, but many of the fantasy elements felt lacking. It was easy to follow, but the god is name Saru and the main character's nickname is Sura. There is no way her parents were actually trying to hide her if they gave her a name that close to the god she embodied. While the story was relatively basic and predictable, it was an easy read and I did enjoy it. There is a clean ending, but it is left open for the Queen of the Night Sky (book 2).

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the Advanced Reader Copy.

IG and Tiktok Reviews to come

I am a HUGE fan of Amalie's books and was so excited when she announced a romantasy this year. However, while marketed as an adult, this feels extremely YA with the characters' mannerisms, actions, and thoughts. I loved that this was inspired by Indian mythology, and the world was interesting. But the mood seems serious, and then you throw in words like "prince-splain." it just takes me out of the story. I think modern speech works better for me if the story is part comedy. but this didn't feel like it was trying to be a comedy. I wanted to LOVE this, but I just didn't. The story is still fast paced and you are discovering things with the FMC along the way, but you may also find yourself screaming at her to see what's right in front of her face A LOT.

ARC copy kindly provided by Netgalley but all my humble thoughts are my own.