Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Stars Undying

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Stars Undying by Emery Robin

5 reviews

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This wasn't what it was advertised as to me, but I'm glad I stuck with it because I quite enjoyed it. As some points I kinda felt like we just checking off historical events, but what really shine is the characters and their relationships. I love Gracia and Anita so much and can't wait to see more of them in the next book.

Content Warnings

aileron's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

anxiousnachos's review

Go to review page

reflective

3.5

No one is more shocked than me to hear me to say this: but I’m kind of disappointed?? I’m actually even predicting this could be on my most disappointing reads of the year list and it’s only January 12. Don’t get me wrong, I clearly still liked this by how high I rated it, but from what many of my mutuals have thought about this, I expected to be absolutely obsessed with this. And I just wasn’t. I kept waiting for all of the politicking and twisty complex plot and powerful character relationships to unfold and instead everything just seemed very surface level and predictable to me from a plot and politics level. I struggle to see the same complexity and thematic depth here next to books I’ve seen it compared to (Gideon, A Memory Called Empire.) I feel like the world itself is very complex and detailed, but the plot and politics and story itself don’t hold up to this and that’s what was missing for me. Moments I should care deeply about felt very distanced.

I thought the best character relationships were seen at the start and end of the book, Gracia’s relationship with her sister, Ana and Alekso. I love a complex god-mortal relationship and these discussions between Alekso and Gracia, and her journey with faith, I thought were particularly interesting. The scenes with these characters were the ones I felt really charged the book, but they were also the ones that we had much less of, with the book focusing on the relationship between Ceirran and Gracia. It does mean I’m excited for the sequel. But now I’m worried this is going to derail my entire month worrying about why I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would and whether I’m going into a slump or whether my mental health is about to take a dive, as this is what usually precludes that… Anyway, I’m glad so many other people loved this!! I wish I had loved it as much as you!

Content warnings: war, violence, gun violence, imprisonment/confinement, death of parent (past, discussions of), sex

Content Warnings

starrysteph's review

Go to review page

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The Stars Undying combines famous historical figures with theatrical charm and an expansive galactic & queernormative setting. It’s ambitious, lush, and subtly genius.

We alternate perspectives between two power-hungry leaders. Princess Altagracia has lost the throne of her planet Szayet & the Pearl that holds the soul (or AI) of her god Alekso Undying. She’s desperate to win back her queenship … and to do so, she must charm Commander Matheus Ceirran (and his lieutenant, Anita).

It’s a retelling of Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra (though more of that in the sequel) sparkling with easter eggs and jabs and teases ... but also lush enough to offer something bold, new, and brilliant. Gracia, Ceirran, and Ana orbit each other - and push and pull - in the most miraculous of ways. They’re incredibly complex and compelling, and their overlapping relationships and dynamics are fascinating to watch unfold.

Gracia tells you she’s lying. Many times over. And yet … you’re still inclined to believe her, still surprised when she doubles back and admits she’s been withholding, still rooting for her to maneuver her way out of every corner.

Though we did not get POV chapters from Ana (I expect we will in the next book), she had my whole heart.

Pulling back from the individual characters, the overarching questions about immortality and souls and religion felt very (charmingly) Jewish; you are not being led towards a “right” answer but instead encouraged to philosophize and wonder and challenge.

It is slow burn … with an emphasis on slow. A lot of the book is spent in rumination, slow conversation, and simmering political tension. Occasionally I felt this became detrimental to the pacing, and it seemed hints were laid out for the sequel that took away from the movement and fullness of the arc that should be the first book.

The Stars Undying also has some of the longest sentences I’ve ever read, which sometimes delighted me and sometimes challenged my attention and patience.

It’s so twisted and compelling. Things are never, ever laid out for you directly as a reader. You are entrusted with all the information, the conversations, and the schemes you need to know (and often are manipulated by unreliable narration) but you are meant to fend for yourself and interrogate these events through your own eyes. It was all so delightfully rich.

CW: death (incl. death of a parent & child death), murder, war, imprisonment, violence & gun violence, grief, colonization, classism

Content Warnings

azrah786's review

Go to review page

3.5

[This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**

CW: violence, injury, blood, gore, death, war, genocide, murder, slavery, confinement, alcohol, classism
--

A sci-fi epic for the history lovers, The Stars Undying is a ground-breaking debut that reimagines the lives and trysts of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony amidst the stars.

Through first person dual PoV, we follow Altagracia, princess of Szayet who is looking to reclaim her birth right from her twin sister, and the renowned Commander of the Galactic Empire of Ceioa, Matheus Cerrian whom she turns to in order to do so. It is a partnership that is mutually beneficial both in power and desire and was so interesting to watch unfold.

Now I went into this one with slightly different expectations. To put it simply, since this was described as a space opera I expected more space. The predominant sci-fi element is actually the technology, specifically the Pearl of Prophecy which is a computer containing the soul of the Szayet God that is passed down the line of succession of the Szayet throne. This had a likeness to the Imago technology of Arkady Martine’s Teixcalaan duology. However, the emphasis of this particular story lies more with the opera side of things as it is a lot more characters focused with a storyline full of drama, fit for the stage.

"..there was strangeness in the universe, astonishing strangeness, and brutality, and beauty, which occurred for no other reason than the whims of Fortune herself."

You are thrown into this very established universe from the get go and it took me some time to distinguish the planets, the languages and what was part of the Empire and what wasn’t. The worldbuilding for me felt less about the actual places and more about the individual cultures and histories that were being represented and Robin has done a fantastic job there.

Furthermore, there is also a beautiful balance in the narration in how Gracia and Cerrian have such different backgrounds and outlooks on life, yet mirror one another just so in arrogance and ambition. Though the most distinctive characteristic of their individual chapters comes down to how Gracia is very obviously recounting the story for the reader.

There is much scheming and political intrigue all intricately woven into casual conversations in such an impressive way throughout the book. What I was most fascinated by though was the divergent cultural backgrounds and attitude towards religion of the two characters, of the two nations and how they butted heads when it came to power and policy.

"You know why they behave like this, don't you? Insist everyone act as they do, believe as they do, enter into their wonderful liberation. They're a lonely people. Seeing someone without their ideals frightens them. They want to embrace him, to bring him into the fold. But however far they spread their thinking, the loneliness never goes away."

However, I am quite conflicted on how I feel about this book as a whole. The writing is easy to follow but quite often dipped into being overly verbose and I found my mind wondering and not fully comprehending what was going on at times. It is also quite slow paced without many action heavy scenes and when there were moments of action, they lacked the spark and tension that is usual of space operas. I found myself intrigued at the beginning, dragging myself through the middle and then hooked in again towards the end.

In this way it reminded me a lot of She Who Became the Sun, another book that didn’t exactly meet my expectations but brilliantly conveyed the socio political environment of the era it was based on and involved such clever and well written character studies.

"I don't know whether I believe in the immortality of the human soul. I don't know. That's true, Captain. But perhaps I do believe - in the the immortality of a man's name. Might that be the same thing?"

I definitely feel like if you are more familiar with the actual history that this story is inspired by then you will be able to appreciate the nuances and parallels more. Yet despite my personal knowledge of these historic figures consisting of the basics, Robin slipped in original twists alongside subtle foreshadowing to make this story enjoyably its own. Also it says a lot when you go into a story knowing it’s a tragedy and come out the other end shocked with how much it hurt. Those last 50 or so pages really got me.

Though I feel like this book wrapped up nicely, I am curious to see how the story continues so will definitely be checking out the sequel.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars

Content Warnings

More...