4.5 ⭐️

This should be picked up for a show!! I received the ALC, so listening to it really made this come to life for me, and I can't stop thinking about how good of a mini series or movie this would make. 📽📺

Anywayyyyy, a romantasy with a "chosen one" plotline can go either way, but this kept me roped in! The trials were bloody and described so well, so entertaining. The magical elements were so easy to follow but still different enough to make this story stand out. It was an easy read with modern-day dialogue.

Tropes:
✨️ Chosen one
✨️ Magic system with magis, gods, and mystical creatures.
✨️ Trials (for a short amount of the book)
✨️ Rebellion, deceit, secrets, political uprising

My only critique is that the romance could have been a little better. I wasn't 10000% convinced of their love, BUT I do realize that there is another book 👀 where things may build up/change, so I will definitely be reading the next book! Highly recommend if youre looking for a fun, quick-paced, romantasy read. ✨️

I didn’t care for this one - it was written as if the reader should already know the back story and like it was obvious. I would’ve liked to see more world building and suspense rather than one thing happening and her asking ‘what am I’ and someone answering ‘starlight heir’…

Book Review: The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard ★★★☆☆

I would like to thank NetGalley, HarperAudio Adult, and the author for providing me with an audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was genuinely excited about this new fantasy, and the cover artwork alone is absolutely stunning!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the narration of the audiobook. Overall, I would give this a rating of 3 stars. While the book boasts several strong elements that I appreciate, I ultimately found it difficult to connect on a deeper level.

The story follows Suraya Saab, a blacksmith's daughter whose family operates an inn. Her life takes a surprising turn when she receives a court invitation, summoning her as a potential bride for the prince. Although she doesn’t want to marry him and feels she lacks the qualities of a princess, Suraya sees this as an opportunity to escape her mundane life and embark on an adventure in the capital.

Upon her arrival, however, she quickly realizes that she doesn’t make the best impression on the court or the royal family. Surprisingly, instead of being sent home, she is allowed to participate in a bridal trial that comes with dangerous stakes. As she tries to blend in, she inadvertently draws the prince's attention. But she soon discovers that the true goal isn't to find a bride for him, but rather to identify the Starkeeper—a mythical girl believed to possess the magic of the stars, and they think she is that girl.

Before their plans can unfold, a rebel faction dissatisfied with the royal family attacks the castle, and Suraya escapes with the help of Roshan, the prince's charming illegitimate half-brother. Now, they are on the run from the queen and the prince, who are determined to capture her and harness her uncontrollable magic to awaken a forgotten dark god with sinister intentions for Suraya and her world.

While the book has a strong concept and I liked the characters and plot, I struggled with the pacing and the writing. Initially, the descriptions were quite detailed, immersing me in the setting. However, as the story unfolded, the descriptions became rather simplistic—like stating that the characters were in a red sandy desert without delving deeper. I didn’t feel fully immersed in the scenes, which made it hard to visualize the world.

Additionally, the pacing felt a bit too quick—not rushed, but there were opportunities to explore and engage more with the characters and events. Another peculiar element was the use of contemporary phrases like "toxic masculinity" in a romantasy set in a less modern world; this felt somewhat out of place.

Overall, I believe many readers will enjoy The Starlight Heir, and it has a lot of potential. However, personally, I felt it lacked the depth I was hoping for.

The Starlight Heir

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2.75 stars rounded up to 3

I was really excited to get into this Persian mythology-inspired romantasy. There was the promise of a contest, a fiery romance, a prince, a rebellion, etc., but unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me.

The book instantly starts out with a massive info-dump of names, place, deities, and the magic system. It was an overwhelming amount of knowledge that I struggled to keep straight in my head. Even with the terms being used frequently throughout the story, I never got a full picture of the geography of the world, how the magic worked, or who was who.

The characters were also unimpressive. I had a hard time connecting with the fmc. The mmc was slightly more interesting but not by much. I didn’t feel the chemistry between the two and struggled to buy their connection. There was a decent supporting cast and an attempt at found-family that didn’t land.

The plot itself felt a little disjointed. It was all over the place. The fmc made a lot of really bad decisions that put herself, her family/friends, and the mmc in unnecessary danger. It was all easily avoidable. It bugged me endlessly when the fmc escaped her rescue party after her father and hometown plus the mmc and his army came to her rescue and managed to get her out of the palace. She ran right back into danger for no reason other than she was angry at the mmc for telling a very necessary lie and had to be rescued again, this time with fatal consequences. It’s hard to root for a character with such horrid decision-making skills.

The language at times took me out of the story. There is no reason why the phrase “thick thighs save lives” should be in a fantasy novel. It makes zero sense in regards to the vernacular of the rest of the story.

We also had these odd inserts from a random god’s POV that were never really explained. The deity system in itself was way too complicated and not described well. I never was able to understand the difference between a star, a god, a guardian, and a starkeeper.

The story did pick up toward the end and became more exciting but not enough to redeem its other faults. All in all, it had the potential to be a very cool fantasy novel but didn’t quite get there in the end. I doubt I will read any other books in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC.

3.5 rounded up.

The Starlight Heir is a perfect fantasy for someone new to the genre that is worried about being overwhelmed by world building. I appreciate that the novel jumps right into the action. There are enough familiar beats of popular tropes for fantasy readers, but nothing really new or groundbreaking. It’s an enjoyable read, but nothing life changing. I would read the sequel, but won’t necessarily seek it out.

Anais Inara Chase gave it their ALL to the narration and was a delight to read. Ramiz Monsef was fine, but his costar stole the show.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard

I’ve been getting into romantasy a lot more so I was very excited when I received an advanced copy of the audiobook!

The narrator’s did a wonderful job! They really kept my attention and left me wanting more.

There was so much going on in the story! I couldn’t stop listening. So many twists and secrets!

When Suraya receives the court invitation, she looks at it as a chance for adventure. She ends up being interested in Roshan who is the princes illegitimate half brother. I like the romance between these two! It seemed like Roshan really cared for Suraya.

I feel so lucky to have received an ALC of this book. If you like romantasy, I’d definitely recommend this book! I’m looking forward to the next book! Thank you so much NetGalley, Amalie and HarperAudio Adult | HarperAudio for the ALC!!

Publication Date: January 7th 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you like romantasy, I suspect this book will be a hit. It has all the elements of a strong central romance, defying fates, a kingdom on the precipice of war, and evil lurking within those in power. Like much of the romantasy genre, this focuses more on the romance than the worldbuilding. Tried and true fantasy readers may struggle with a lack of coherent magic system and other worldbuilding elements, whereas romance and romantasy readers will enjoy the romantic chemistry and not mind those gaps. That said, Howard's strengths as a historical romance author show through in her romantasy: the background of Suraya's world supports rather than interferes with the plot and romance threads of the book.

I have always found that I prefer listening to Amalie Howard's books, and this is no exception. The audio narrated by Anais Inara Chase and Ramiz Monsef was enjoyable to listen to, and I'd recommend it as you approach to reading this. (Readers concerned with understanding names and places can tandem read the print or download the audio's accompanying pdf for maps and characters.)

DNF at 46%

I was taken in by this gorgeous cover, and my current mood for romantasy. However, this was a disappointment. From my understanding this is the author's first foray into fantasy elements, and I feel that makes a lot of sense.

The dialogue is very much contemporary-based and can be a bit jarring. However, this doesn't really bother me a whole lot. What does bother me is that the characters and the world building feel very flat and uninteresting. The world and the lore that is being built so far feels very cookie-cutter to me. It is very much kitchen sink world building where it feels like a whole lot of elements are just being info-dumped and tossed at the reader, hoping something will stick. We have a chosen one plotline, and it is just not being done in a way that is different or new enough for my taste.

I could have pushed through those issues had I felt like the characters or their romance was compelling; however, I did not. It feels like an insta-lovey yet slowburn setup, which is unusual. While there are some moments of good banter, and some intrigue, it wasn't enough to become invested at this point in the story. The main character feels very much like a run of the mill, YA heroine, just aged up and horny. There isn't enough character building for me to say anything about their personalities either, which is frustrating.

Overall, I can see this working for someone who is new to fantasy-elements in their romance, and perhaps this ends up being more of a slowburn and the characters get fleshed out more. However, for me, this was not working and I am choosing not to push through to the end.

The Starlight Heir
A Novel
by Amalie Howard
Narrated by Anais Inara Chase; Ramiz Monsef

I received an ARC of this audiobook book through Netgalley.

This was an interesting fantasy novel. It had elements that were similar to Hunger Games and Dune and even greek mythology.

As a love story - it could have been better.

I think the character development and secondary characters could have been done better. This audiobook has all the bones of a stellar novel, but it just fell short for me.

I think sometimes authors try so hard to edit out the more mundane scenes, the less action-packed parts, that they end up taking away the parts I need as a readee to connect to these characters. I want more writing. I want more background.

It’s a good book.

An intriguing start to a new romantasy series! I have so many questions and I *need* the next book now. While I devoured the first half, it slowed down for me a bit in the second half, which made the climax a little less exciting? Maybe should have slowed down my read, maybe my feelings all make sense because of where it is building to?

The narrators did a fantastic job, they matched the characters well and kept me interested!

Received this as an audiobook ARC and it went by rather quickly. It was easy to picture the world building and focused more on character description than creating a whole new fantasy world with multiple layers or complicated details to remember.

The story is told almost completely by the FMC, but every few chapters was a secondary character. I wish there was more about them or gave some additional context as who/what they were and their importance throughout the story.

I really liked the narrators for this book, they do a great job and bring it to life. I listened to this audiobook in a single day. There was a lot of information and a lot happened at the end that left me with so many questions, it didn’t have a cliffhanger, though I think the story will go in a different direction for the next book. I liked the way the magic within her was explained and can’t wait to see where that goes once Suraya starts to explore it more.

There were some dragon type creatures in here that I am excited to read more about in the next book, and I’m curious about the second POV. In all this story consumed me as I did not want to stop once I started it. The only thing is I wish the trials would have lasted longer and been a larger part of the book since they were a big reason I requested this book, but it didn’t take away from the experience in the end.

The Starlight Heir is a great romantasy read by Amalie Howard. I’ve previously read Howard’s Historical Romance reads and was incredibly excited to have the opportunity to read her debut romantasy early. It had everything I want in a romantasy — solid world building, great banter between characters, surprising twists, and betrayals. There’s plenty to grab your attention and hold it from the first page to the last. I especially loved the first half of the book. The relationship between the FMC and MMC was a little too instalove for my tastes, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the story. Also, everyone deserves a best friend like Laleh. She had me laughing from the very onset. I combo read this between the ebook and audiobook. I really appreciated the choice in using two different narrators for the audiobook as it helped me immediately recognize the shift in the story when Ramiz Monsef stepped in. I also felt like Anais Inara Chase did so well in voicing the vast majority of the audiobook. She brought plenty of depth and emotion to the characters. Overall, I really enjoyed reading via both formats, and I don’t think you’d go wrong with either one. I’m also really excited to see where Howard takes the story next.

I was drawn to the description of this book. It included many fantasy romance elements that I’m a big fan of. A seemingly normal girl with prophetic power and a good guy prince that is on her side. I also enjoyed the world building. The country seemed vast with many different factions, but I was able to maintain clarity even while listening to the audiobook. The magic system was easy to understand.

Suraya was an overall likeable character. She struggled with having her world turned upside down in a matter of days, which was realistic. Sometimes, I really wanted to shake her! She could be a bit too naive and trusting.

I look forward to what the next book in this series will bring. I have so many theories running through my head of what can come next! I am especially interested in what role the gods play in everything that is happening in Suraya’s life. What will be her fate?

4 Stars! 🌟 A huge thank you to HarperAudio and NetGalley for the ALC of The Starlight Heir! This book was SUCH a thrilling, action-packed rollercoaster that left me craving more! At first, I totally thought it was a standalone, but then around the last 20-30%, so much was happening, and I was like, wait… is this part of a series? 😂 But no, it’s a standalone (though the epilogue definitely left me with a huge question mark 💫✨).

Tropes? Oh, I've got them:
✧ Forbidden Romance 💓
✧ Slow Burn 💗
✧ Enemies to Lovers 💘
✧ Dangerous Trials 🏹
✧ Hidden Powers ⚡
✧ Secret Identity 👀
✧ Forced Proximity 🛡️

Suraya Saab is the ultimate badass bladesmith with a starry secret, and her journey? Pure fire. 🔥 She's invited to a super shady competition for the crown prince’s bride, but it turns out, it’s actually a hunt for a girl with magic in her blood—aka the Starkeeper. And guess what? Suraya’s that girl! Oh, and did I mention Roshan? Swoon 😍 He’s the crown prince’s half-brother, and the chemistry between them is instant! 🌠

Can I just say? The world-building had me OBSESSED! The mix of Persian and Indian mythology is chef's kiss. 🫶 At first, all the godly stuff felt a little overwhelming, but once it clicked, I was totally hooked! So many secrets, magical elements, and a creepy god lurking in the shadows trying to steal Suraya’s powers.

Now, the romance was cute, but I felt it could’ve packed more punch. It was a slow burn that didn’t quite reach the fiery level I was hoping for. That said, I LOVED Suraya’s strong personality and her internal struggle. Roshan, though? I wanted to adore him, but I feel like there was something missing with his character—he was sweet, but I needed more depth from him. 🤷‍♀️

The plot though? SO good! I was on the edge of my seat, especially toward the end (still recovering from that twist). 📚

Also, huge props to the narrators, Anais Inara Chase and Ramiz Monsef! They did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. Anais's narration captured Suraya’s strength and determination perfectly, while Ramiz’s voice really brought Roshan’s complexity and charm to the forefront. Their performances were so engaging, making the tension, drama, and romance feel even more intense. 🎧✨

CW:
- Violence
- Death
- Some Dark Themes

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s fast-paced, the stakes are sky-high, and those plot twists? Ugh, so good. If you're into fantasy romance with a sprinkle of mythology and hidden powers, definitely give this one a go!

I loved this book!! The narration was perfect. I felt like the plot moved along at a good pace and kept me engaged the entire time. The twists in the plot were done well. Some I saw coming, some I did not. I saw some reviews call this a slow burn romance. I'm not a fan of slow burn and would not consider this book a slow burn. I found the characters very likeable.

My one "complaint" is that I didn't realize this was going to be a series. It seemed like a stand alone story. The ending was done well enough that if I didn't end up reading the next books, I would feel happy and content with the ending. That being said, I enjoyed the story and characters enough that I will definitely want to be reading the next books that come out.

I definitely need to reread this because, by the end, I was left feeling really confused about what happened. I did enjoy the romance though! Roshan is definitely my favorite character throughout the book. Suraya, despite having powers, felt a bit lackluster to me. She mostly just goes along with whatever Roshan does and comes across as quite gullible. I’ll likely reread this when I have more time, as I think it’s a good story—I just need to pay closer attention next time.

ALC Review: The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard
Pub Date: January 7, 2025

I have loved Amalie's historical romances for the most part so was so excited for her foray into romantasy! I didn't know much going into this other than it was based on Persian and Indian mythology and that the FMC was a bladesmith.

I was pretty immediately sucked in! There were pretty high stakes and even though I didn't know exactly where we were going, I was intrigued by the characters and the world. I really liked the magic system even if I didn't fully understand it! I did like the relationship between Roshan and Suraya and thought they had pretty good banter - I'm interested to see where their relationship goes in the next book. And of course, because it's Amalie, the spice definitely delivered even though I would have liked to see another scene or two to really see the progression of their relationship.

I do think this book falls into some of the common pitfalls of popular romantasy - there are betrayals, secret identities, and other typical tropes from the genre. It was pretty predictable in a lot of ways, particularly toward the end. And the world building felt pretty incomplete to me personally. I don't mind being dropped into the world and having to figure some things out but I do think just a little more world building would have been helpful.

I liked the narration by Anais Inara Chase in particular. I'm still a little bit confused at this being called "dual POV". There is narration by Ramiz Monsef but it's just interludes before chapters that last less than a minute in most cases. Perhaps we'll learn more in the next book about this POV but for now I'm still just confused.

This does end on a bit of a cliffhanger - I haven't really decided if I'll read the second book. I'm somewhat intrigued but I also know by the time the next book publishes, I'll have forgotten what happened in this book.

Thank you to Harper Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I don't mind fast pace, but it felt more rushed than fast pace in the beginning, and then the world building was boring or just really lacked imagery. I really need more descriptive imagery in my fantasy reads, so this one's not really for me. And I have complaints about the female main character that I won't go into details on because they're spoilery. I'm bummed this one isn't for me but I did live the narrator.

This is a fantastic novel, and the audiobook is also well done. There are two narrators, but it is not duet narration. The female narrator is predominant with the male narrator only contributing on rare occasions. This did not detract from the story for me. I found it quite enjoyable.