Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Scavenge the Stars

SCAVENGE THE STARS is a Count of Monte Cristo retelling which uses the source material as inspiration and a loose outline, but diverges from the plot and precise premise in way that is delightful to those who are unfamiliar with the inspiration, but delicately balances reference and surprise for those who know it well.

There are two main characters, Amaya (known early on as Silverfish), and Cayo (son of a nobleman who wronged her). Amaya is working with a man named Boon, who helped her find a fortune and offered it for her use as long as she helped him with his aims. Cayo is a recovering gambler who is trying to get back in his father's good graces after losing a large portion of the family fortune to games of chance.

Amaya and Cayo's sections have distinct narrative voices and it was pretty easy to track what was going on. There are some well-laid surprises in the structure of the chapters, especially for someone like myself who has read The Count of Monte Cristo (or someone who has seen one of the movie versions).

The repeated missteps as Cayo and the Countess kept assuming things about each other's actions worked well and made a lot of sense in context. They never built enough to be extremely stressful for me when reading, but they were a completely understandable level of small but well-intentioned miscommunications which would result from these characters getting to know each other when they haven't yet put all their cards on the table.

The worldbuilding is pretty good, it feels like there's a lot of political ground laid that will pay off in the sequel. At times the asides discussing politics with other countries felt a bit distracting because they mostly didn't go anywhere until the very end. None of the characters (so far) were at a level to affect international politics, and while their actions gradually built so it might be possible in RAVAGE THE DARK, it made it harder to know what details mattered to the main plot. I like the handling of the quarantine and plague, there's an excellent payoff for it, as well as ongoing impacts to the main characters.

This was good overall and I'm looking forward to reading RAVAGE THE DARK. I'm happy to read a retelling which had room to surprise me with its plot, using the bones of one of my favorite books in a new way.

Content Warnings

eleanorefiore's review against another edition

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3.0

⚔️ wonderfully queer
⚔️ kinda boring but also not?
⚔️ probably would have liked it more if I'd read The Count of Monte Cristo

TW: descriptions of violence and abuse, one scene of a character being drugged

This book is so wonderfully queer. There's so many LGBTQ+ characters and inclusion and I just loved it. One of the main character is bisexual, there's at least one trans side character, ace side character, and more.

I picked up the book for the ace rep (I'm doing a project for my blog) and I really liked the rep. The character wasn't around for super long (side character) but there were a couple of lines that indicated they were ace that I really appreciated. I wouldn't put it up towards my favorite ace rep, simply because there wasn't a ton of personal detail about them, but it was nice to feel included.

I won't lie, I got bored in the middle. I wonder if it would be more interesting for those who have read Count of Monte Cristo. You might have more fun dissecting what was inspired by what, but for me it kind of dragged.

I was invested in the mystery but struggled with the characters. I liked Cayo a lot more, and I felt more invested in his story with his sister and his character. I didn't dislike Amaya. But thinking back on the book, I can't find a specific character trait to assign to her. I don't think she was defined enough for me to remember (or maybe I've just read a ton of other YA protags like her) and I was way more interested in her family mystery than in her.

Again, I wonder if I'd read the original book if I'd have more of an idea who her character was supposed to be.

I'm not sure if I'll read the next book. The ending made up for the sagging middle and I'm invested in certain characters, but I have a lot of books to get through this month. I'll have to wait and see if it'll keep my interest after a month.

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brookey8888's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this. I’m not going to lie it was a little slow at times and I didn’t fully connect with the characters and the story. I do love the revenge plot. I also have never seen or read the count of monte cristo so I have no clue if this is a good retelling. I do love all the different representation in this(asexual,bisexual,trans, gay, nonbinary). I also think mostly everyone wasn’t white which is great. I did like silverfish for the most part and Cayo but he was a little boring. I also wish there was more of the water bugs.

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nmcannon's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I’m squeaking this in right under the wire for Pride Month! Scavenge the Stars was delivered to our home in an Owlcrate box…last year, but better late than never. And I’m glad I can immediately dive into the sequel because WOW what a book.

In a fantasy world that I’m 75% sure is the Mediterranean Sea, Moray stands alone as a neutral island between the two massive Rain Empire and Sun Empire. Distinguished for its premiere access to waterways and important trade routes, Moray is also known for its Vice Sector, which is full of delights, and its massive economic inequality and rampant ash fever plague, which are decidedly less delightful. As a young girl, Amaya was sold to a debtor ship. These ships function as floating debtor prisons, with children forced to work off their parents’ debt in time/labor or any treasures they find while pearl diving. After seven years, Amaya can almost taste freedom, but her plans go quite sideways when she fishes a noble covered in marigolds out of the sea. Meanwhile, back in Moray, Cayo Mercado is out of money: recovering from gambling addiction, he finds out his family’s coffers will be further strained when his sister contracts ash fever. The required medicine is deathly expensive.

Strangely, the weakest part of the novel is the world-building. I say “strange” because I read the Timekeeper Trilogy earlier this year, and that world-building is top-notch. Throughout the novel, Sim describes the world beautifully, but often couches these descriptions in reference to fantastical places I couldn’t match to reality. For example, so-and-so has Sun Empire and Khari features, or this building has a Rehanese architecture style. Fantasy novel locations don’t need to have to be a 1:1 match to someplace in reality, but buildings, fashion, and people kept being described as “Khari,” “Rehanese,” or “from the Sun Empire” or “hailing from the Rain Empire” and I didn’t know what that meant. It’s a descriptive tic in the story, and I itch for a world map. My best guess is Khari is India, Rehanese means Chinese, the Sun Empire is on the African continent, and the Rain Empire is…all of Europe? Cause Europe is wet? Maybe it would have gone better if I’d read the Count of Monte Cristo instead of just watched the movie. In addition, there were some logical holes: if trade contracts with the Empires are forbidden, who does Moray trade with; when the big scheme is revealed, I failed to see how that’s easier than a military takeover; this character has been with the Navy for a few weeks and somehow he’s fully trained and trusted, etc.

Leaving all that aside, however, I enjoyed this book. The plot is immense and interlocking, but Sim is in control. I could feel my head spin at some points, but a quick breath and I grasped the tail again. The characters, if not the brightest bulbs in the bunch (looking at you, Cayo) are painfully doing their best and lovable for it. As I’ve said in other reviews, sometimes I become exasperated with overwrought teenage antics, possibly because my overwrought teenage antics went less traditional directions. Remarkably for me, the Scavenge the Stars teenagers act like teenagers, but I never wanted to put the book down. Amaya is an especial delight, with many layers. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. AND, making this a perfect Pride Month read, we get some excellent asexual and bisexual rep.

In conclusion, if you’re looking for adventure, if you like your justice bloody, if you want schemes upon plots upon intrigue, pick up Scavenge the Stars. I’ve already requested Ravage the Dark at the library.

Content Warnings

plumpaperbacks's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I’ve been eager to read more from Sim since the Timekeeper trilogy ended a few years ago. While Scavenge the Stars was good, it didn’t hook me the way Timekeeper did. I liked Amaya and Cayo and was interested in their stories, but not truly invested. The world was interesting, but could’ve been developed more. As for the story, though it was intriguing, it was also slow, and didn’t truly pick up until the final third of the book. The characters are the main, maybe only, reason this is getting more than three or three and a half stars from me. However, I think the sequel could be good given where this one left off, so I’ll read it at some point.

Edit, the next day: I lowered my rating from 4 stars to 3.5 stars because it felt more fitting.

Representation

biracial demisexual protagonist
bisexual protagonist
side characters of color
queer side characters (includes asexual, trans, and sapphic rep)

Content Warnings

caidyn's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

On the reread I liked this better! It probably helps that I read the source material. It's a solid book and I definitely plan on reading the sequel.

CW: slavery, violence, death, murder, drugging, alcohol use, and deception

So, I got an ARC of this. Decided I wasn't that into it and put it aside. Then Owlcrate chose this book for January and I decided to give it another try!

Overall, it was a good start to a series. The characters were interesting. The plot had a good clip to it. There was a good amount of twists and turns. The ending was satisfying; no huge cliffhanger but it was open for more to the story.

But... It was just lacking for me. I didn't love it. I liked it. I never got that attached to the characters and I found the romance between Cayo and Amaya very forced. Plus, the story felt like there were almost too many twists for my liking and that made me get a little bored by the end.

So, it was a fine book that I enjoyed reading, but I don't know if I can see myself picking up the next book.

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