I have totally loved all of Howard’s regency romances, so I was really looking forward to her Romantasy - so many authors are hopping on this bandwagon… but this one didn’t work for me!

Suraya receives a summons to what is basically a season of The Bachelor at a Royal court, but is secretly a search for an ancient bloodline that was supposedly stomped out, which a prophecy says is still around - a Starkeeper who will change the future and fate of the world.

The Prince and his half brother live very differently, but the one, Roshan, befriends Suraya. The story of their friendship and everything they go through to protect her secret is the extremely long and drawn out story we get here.

It’s not mentioned if this is part of a series when you go into it, but the way it ends with nothing resolved, it definitely seems like it’s going to be multiple more long and drawn out books. I wasn’t a fan of the storyline, characters or feeling of this world, but I do like Howard’s writing so still give it about a 3 to 3.5 rating. The narrators of the audiobook, Ramiz Monsef and Anais Inara Chase, both new voices to me, did a good job in their roles.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for the early listen copy. This is my honest opinion.

While the plot of this book is interesting, the characters just lack depth and the intimate scenes are cringy. While I get the reliance on certain tropes in romance and fantasy - one room/bed, miscommunication, the found heir, etc. - this one just felt too "I'm following the prescribed steps." The FMC's friend is mentioned SO much with modern slang, and it just took me out of the experience each time. This book needs, well, more. More editing, more characters, more personality.... IDK. DNFd around 50%

With a review from Rebecca Yarros, Jennifer L Armentrout, Brigid Kemmerer and Danielle L Jensen I was thrilled to start this audiobook. The story quickly begins and you're instantly swept into the world. With a beginning that reminds me a lot of Wrath of Dawn, I was excited to see this Indian folklore inspired Selectionlike bride competition. It was disappointing how fast this book moves through the plot and world. It makes it difficult to believe in the romantic relationship - which felt very instant love, forced, and juvenille. The writing was okay. I was thrown out of the story many times with strange discriptions or modern phrases. The fantasy elements of this book are incredbile and I was yearning for more of the world building and understanding the magic. Sadly, this was too fast leaving me disinterested as I could predict much of the story and became annoyed with some of the characters. If the open door scenes were removed, this would make for a great YA book.

Opendoor cringey quotes:
“a delicious stretch in my untried passage”
“I feel the o everywhere from my finger tips to my hair follicles”

Thank you Netgalley and HarperAudio Adult for this advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to HarperAudio for the alc. all opinions are my own.

Soraya is called to see if she is to marry the prince, along with many other women born around the same time. From there, this was all a bit muddled for me. I found not enough details on some things and too much on others. There were some surprising plot twists. But for the most part followed a standard Romantasy formula. The love story wasn’t very believable and sort of just fizzled out.

This was a really fun romantasy with a cool magic system. I enjoyed the plot and the characters. The MC was a little over the top with her desires, but I still found it enjoyable.

Absolutely loved this! I loved all the characters and the narration. The plot moved quickly with out too quick and it felt like something I haven’t read as much in fantasy! Will highly recommend!

A fun and unique romantasy! I enjoyed the setting and getting to know the characters. The narrator was fantastic! I would love to read more of their audiobooks.

The Starlight Heir is a captivating romantasy filled with magic, political intrigue, and slow-burn romance. Suraya, a talented bladesmith who can infuse weapons with magic, is thrust into the royal court, where she crosses paths with the mysterious Roshan. Inspired by Indian, Persian, and Caribbean cultures, Amalie Howard creates a rich, immersive world. While some moments feel familiar to the genre, the vibrant setting and engaging romance make this a compelling read for fantasy lovers. The audio for this was chefs kiss!

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperAudio Adult, HarperAudio, Blackstone Publishing, Avon Books, Amalie Howard, Anais Inara Chase (audio narrator), and Ramiz Monsef (audio narrator) for the opportunity to read and listen to the audiobook of The Starlight Heir in exchange for an honest review.

Suraya works in a forge. She finds her craft regarded highly, especially as she is one of the few people left in the word with the ability to imbue magic into what she creates. While it is certainly a surprise to receive an invitation to court arrives, she suspects her craft is being sought. Rather, she is being invited as a potential bride for the crown prince. Say what? She doesn't even have the first notion of what it means to be royalty, let alone comingle with those of the court!

Suraya accepts the call to adventure. What could go wrong? It's not like she had a prince in her sights in the first place. When she meets the crown prince, she finds him to be a rather pompous prick. What truly draws her attention is his half-brother, Roshan. Suraya has too many secrets to become involved with either, but a rebel attack leads Suraya and Roshan to flee together. While they aim to set things right, their draw to each other may be too powerful, and both of their secrets may lead to the others undoing...

The Starlight Heir contains a nice blend of romance, political intrigue, and high-stakes action, and it will certainly hit the needs of romantasy lovers (low spice). The various twists are sure to pull at the reader's heartstrings. The end is something to be questioned, though. While there is currently no information on a sequel as of this post, it seems like there is more to the story of the Starlight Heir and her princely lover.

This novel explores self-identity and destiny, and is the perfect read for those craving their next adventure of heart and magic.

This book had a lot of potential with a captivating plot and intriguing influences from Indian and Middle Eastern mythology. While I thought the book had a unique premise, I found it hard to connect with the story. I wanted stronger connections between the main heroine and some side characters. I think it would have made the ending more impactful. Also, I thought the contemporary dialogue felt out of place in this fantasy setting. It kept pulling me out of the story. Despite these issues, the book had its moments. I also wanted more of a focus on the trials. Overall, it was a good read, but it did feel a little formulaic for a romatasy book.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for the audiobook ARC.

I had a hard time getting invested in this weird amalgamation or the bachelor, Cinderella, and hunger games. The premise kept me better than the book itself.

The first 25% of the book had a great plot, really seemed different from other books I've read and kept my interest. The FMC ends up having to enter a contest to vie for the prince's romantic interests. I loved the banter with the MMC and the attraction between them. Our FMC is also a bad ass knife wielder.

The story just got very boring for me less than halfway through. I struggled to finish it. This toes the line between YA and NA. There is one more graphic sexual scene but the rest of the book read as a YA.

I was able to listen to an audiobook version of this book thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio. The narrators Anais Inara Chase and Ramiz Monsef both did a fantastic job. I would love to hear more books read by them.

3 to 3.5 stars

Suraya Saab, a talented bladesmith with ability to infuse magic (jadu), receives an unexpected invitation to the royal court in Kaldari. She is excited to travel to the place her mother once lived- at first.

The royal marriage trials are more dangerous than Suraya anticipates, and danger doesn’t even bother to lurk- it menaces, for the true purpose of the marriage trials are not to find a bride for the crown prince, but to reveal the hidden identity of the legendary Starkeeper, a girl believed to possess celestial magic. Foretold through her birth chart, girls across the nation born under certain celestial signs have been summoned to the palace, and the danger they are forced to face reveals Suraya’s hidden magic talents.

While trying to survive, Suraya finds herself drawn to the crown prince’s illegitimate half-brother, Roshan. Forced to flee together when a rebel group attacks, Suraya and Roshan struggle against their growing attraction while grappling with the possibility that Suraya is the Starkeeper. As Suraya's latent powers awaken, she also attracts the attention of a malevolent immortal, whose interest may prove just as deadly as Suraya’s unbridled powers.

This is a coming-of-age love story set in a vast desert kingdom, where magic can be mined, and certain substances ingested to induce addictive euphoria. I wish I had liked it more, as the editing and ideas were solid. I just didn’t really connect with the characters- they felt more like teenagers than adults and were a little boring. Perhaps better for younger audiences. 3 stars. I think readers of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, the Dragonian series by Adrienne Woods and The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson would enjoy this novel.

DNF at 84% but mentally clocked out at about 40%

I really tried with this book because I was so excited for a romance in a world inspired by Indian and Middle Eastern mythology but the writing had me cringing too much for my tastes.

There are two major things that bothered me about this book. The first one is the use of modern-day lingo in a high fantasy world. It just threw me out of the story every time and made me cringe so much. I hate it when high fantasy books use modern expressions it murders something inside my soul.

The second thing was the smut. I didn't think I would ever see the day coming that I would disapprove of smut but it has happened.
This is going to sound very hypocritical and double standard of me, I'm aware, but i was very surprised to find such detailed smut descriptions. I wasn’t expecting it because i’m not used to having detailed smut in the Indian or Middle-Eastern inspired fantasy books I’ve read. But especially in this book I found that the smut didn’t work. The smut felt vulgar to me in a way I'd never experienced before. It felt out of place and icky. Moreover, it lacked the tension I crave in a romance. There was no build-up, all tell-not-show. Slow burn was nowhere to be seen.

I can’t really talk about the plot since i kinda clocked out at the 40% mark and then passively listened to the audiobook so I barely know what happened because i simply wasn’t interested.

Overall this was a miss for me but i tend to be very critical of books that get labeled as romantasy. Other romantasy lovers might enjoy this more than I if you’re not really picky about it.

Empowering, mystical, insightful, colorful, adventures

The imagery of characters and their adventures is the perfect balance. It's enough to give you an idea while allowing your imagination to fill in the rest. The storyline was colorful as well as humbling and I look forward to continuation.

thank you net galley for this arc!

pretty enjoyable, i just hate how modernized it made fantasy seem? just not my favorite writing style and felt a bit cheesy, like i couldn’t really connect with the story. romance was okay and i could appreciate the tension between the two main characters. decently paced, but probably won’t pick up anything else from this author.

I was so excited for The Starlight Heir and I while some of it wasn't what I was expecting, I still wound up enjoying it in the end!

This is definitely a book for people that like world building. We are constantly learning new things about the lore and putting pieces together as the story progresses. It's personally not my favorite style of fantasy but once everything is finally revealed I found I was mesmerized by the world and background. The final moments of the world clicking into place is so satisfying!

So in all honesty, the FMC annoyed me most of the time. This was the thing really keeping the book from a full 5 stars for me. As an Indian woman I was pumped for the South Asian representation. But this female protagonist was not what I had hoped for (at least for a majority of the book). She was constantly resistant and reluctant to investigate things when she discovered mysteries that directly affected her. From the beginning, she's given enough information to, at the very least, attempt to look into some secrets but she basically did nothing. Then, when things start being revealed and the puzzle pieces start to fit together, she denies denies denies. Being in denial when crazy things are happening to you can absolutely happen, but it was like she was constantly shutting down things that people were telling her and it happened every time she realized something new rather than her researching and learning things.

And frankly she let herself be delusional about people in her life even when they were like "you don't know everything about me" and she's all "I don't care". I can understand her being a little dumb when her whole life is being turned upside down, but it's just another instance of her not looking into things when she clearly should be.

Okay, so I still kinda loved Suraya in the end. As I said, she annoyed me most of the time... but she really comes into herself during the last few hours of the audiobook and she winds up being the fierce girl I wanted to root for. I really wanted her to be a badass from the get-go since she's a super cool bladesmith, but she clearly needed help along the way to become her awesome, strong self. Once she's there though, SHE IS THERE! The climax and final few hours of the book are awesome! We really get to learn more about all the people, the world, the magic, and everything. I loved the magic style and how many cool powers we get to explore too.

I thought the narrator for the audio was great! I liked it best at 1.5x speed but it was definitely a phenomenal listening experience regardless. I felt like the pacing was really good too. The ending does seem on the long side but it doesn't drag, there's just a lot of new things happening during the conclusion and as I previously stated I really liked all the big reveals at the end.

I found all the side characters and villains to be compelling. The romantic lead was pretty swoon-worthy as well. There's a tiny bit of spice but it's pretty much confined to a single scene.

Overall this was an interesting listen and I'm really glad I stuck with it!

Thank you HarperAudio and NetGalley for the ALC!

2.5 Stars

I wanted to like this, I really did, but it was so unoriginal and poorly written. The book was the same generic romantasy book that you can read anywhere, the characters were the same characters you can find anywhere, and the plot was the same you could find anywhere. The magic system/gods were interesting and cool, but we didn't get enough to really pique my interest. This book also committed one of my biggest high fantasy book faux pas, which is include colloquialisms and modern slang/sayings. If you are creating a unique high fantasy world, do not, and I repeat, do not include phrases such as "book boyfriends are better" or "thick thighs save lives" in your story. The main character kept using words and phrases popularly found on Tik Tok which would completely take me out of the story. If you have to make up swear words for your world where your characters say something other than "oh my god", then you shouldn't use any other modern/real world cultural expressions.

I enjoyed this book, but the longer I am away from it, the harder I find to recall details. I liked the rich world building, however some of the modern language REALLY took me out of the high fantasy world. In my opinion "resting bitch face,’ and ‘thick thighs save lives’ don't belong in a world full of magic and political intrigue. These phrases reminded me that I was reading, instead of being immersed in the story.

I liked the audiobook narrator. I will be continuing on with the series. I just hope I can remember enough to enjoy the sequel without having to reread.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC of The Starlight Heir. First of all, I loved the world building and the different magic system. I enjoyed the mystery of who the God of Night is and how he is involved. I liked that this was a different plot and there were some twists. I had the understanding this was a standalone however was very happy to see that this story is not over for Roshan and Suraya! Ready for book two.

Spice- 2/5 (some scenes more spicy than others and dreams were fantastic!)
Plot- 4/5
Narration- 5/5