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novella42's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
My favorite of the Kingston Cycle! This book picked up momentum and was the most exciting and satisfying of the three for me.
I feel like CL Polk wrote the other books in order to get to the story she really wanted to tell: the revolution. I think that's where Polk's heart has been this whole time, and while they want their characters to be well-rounded, while they want to balance mystery with romance, at the core their story focuses on what it takes for people to transform a nation and reckon with the ghosts of their past. I think the mystery and romance aspects of the story aren't as well-rounded as they could be sometimes, but the elements that she did include felt good and real to me. (I'm taking away a half star for that, partly because I kept coming out of the story when I expected Robin to orient herself towards her love interest and she just... sort of dissociated right back into the work she had to do. It was understandable, and it was addressed in the book with a delightful example of healthy communication, and... I guess I should redirect my frustration at the book cover since it builds expectations for a romance when it's more of a political urban fantasy with some romantic elements.) As I said, the mystery and romance elements were good when they took center stage, it's just that these were eclipsed by the greater love story of revolution—the work we do for people we care about because we want a more just world for them.
This might be a bit of a tangent, but I feel like the progression of this series, particularly the last two books, would be especially satisfying for an Enneagram 1. Or for any person who cares very deeply about what it means to be a good person, and how we all struggle with right and wrong, and the story of convincing others and making an imperfect world a better place for us all.
(Also, hooray, respectful representation for BIPOC, queer, gender non-conforming, and polyamorous characters!)
I feel like CL Polk wrote the other books in order to get to the story she really wanted to tell: the revolution. I think that's where Polk's heart has been this whole time, and while they want their characters to be well-rounded, while they want to balance mystery with romance, at the core their story focuses on what it takes for people to transform a nation and reckon with the ghosts of their past. I think the mystery and romance aspects of the story aren't as well-rounded as they could be sometimes, but the elements that she did include felt good and real to me. (I'm taking away a half star for that, partly because I kept coming out of the story when I expected Robin to orient herself towards her love interest and she just... sort of dissociated right back into the work she had to do. It was understandable, and it was addressed in the book with a delightful example of healthy communication, and... I guess I should redirect my frustration at the book cover since it builds expectations for a romance when it's more of a political urban fantasy with some romantic elements.) As I said, the mystery and romance elements were good when they took center stage, it's just that these were eclipsed by the greater love story of revolution—the work we do for people we care about because we want a more just world for them.
This might be a bit of a tangent, but I feel like the progression of this series, particularly the last two books, would be especially satisfying for an Enneagram 1. Or for any person who cares very deeply about what it means to be a good person, and how we all struggle with right and wrong, and the story of convincing others and making an imperfect world a better place for us all.
(Also, hooray, respectful representation for BIPOC, queer, gender non-conforming, and polyamorous characters!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Death, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Classism, and Trafficking
Moderate: Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Chronic illness, Suicide, Genocide, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, War, Blood, and Alcohol
There was no antisemitism or ableism in this book, but if you struggle with themes related to the Holocaust or the forced institutionalization of people with disabilities...therainbowshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
I really enjoyed the last installment in this queer trilogy. The characters are fun and the action is continuous as political unreast over the sudden loss of electricity (among other things) reaches a boiling point. Great genderqueer and BIPOC rep. I might have even enjoyed this book more than the first two, and look forward to reading more by Polk soon!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Classism, Police brutality, Violence, Confinement, Cursing, Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Racism and Sexual violence
Minor: Pregnancy
Toxic parent, execution by hanginghailstorm3812's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-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? No
4.5
Every book in this series has a different vibe but I truly loved this one. It focused on the politics more than the romance to great effect, but even with it being not focused as much on romance it really sold it and I loe Zelind. I also love the casual use of khe/kher pronouns.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery
clarabooksit's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Police brutality
Moderate: Slavery, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Confinement
Minor: Rape and War
purplepenning's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
Moderate: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cancer, Gaslighting, Genocide, Biphobia, Medical content, Child abuse, Homophobia, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Rape
romiress's review
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The change in tone from the previous book is staggering. It feels like there is very little magic, and parts of the stories world just get glossed over in a big way. The old characters were sidelined, and the character development felt scant in comparison. Also just, in general, a ripped from the headlines depressing book with an all-ends-tied happy end did NOT land.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Slavery, Confinement, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Colonisation, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
Forced impregnation is a major plot point.booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
SOULSTAR is the hard work of keeping promises and transforming from survival to thriving. It’s where the characters have to figure out a way to actually solve problems for people imprisoned, displaced, or otherwise affected first by the aether network and then by its removal earlier in the series. It stars a new narrator, Robin Thorpe, who should be recognizable from the earlier books.
Robin’s arc is very different from those of Miles and Grace. Miles’s story is one of running away from power, of refusing to be used. Grace had to figure out what to do with power once she knew what it had cost. Robin is stepping up to accept power, trying to balance between new responsibilities and prior commitments. She’s bonded with her community, paying attention to their needs and trying to get the ruling class to listen. As busy as she is on the page, it conveys the impression that she’s even busier between scenes, every moment full of frenetic drive and concern that unless things materially change for the common people then the small steps won’t be much better than nothing at all.
There’s a major character, Zelind, who appears here for the first time, having been imprisoned in one of the asylums for the last twenty years. I love kher place in the narrative, khe has a sub plot which revolves around kher and becomes very important later in the book. The dynamic between the two of them is understandably strained, as the intervening decades and trauma has shaped them into different people from who they were, and they have to figure out what’s left and what they want now that they’ve been reconnected.
This wraps up a major thing which was left hanging at the end of WITCHMARK, developed but not solved in STORMSONG, and now finally addressed in a really great way in SOULSTAR. There's a few major storylines which begin here and weren't present previously, with a very major thing that's both introduced and resolved here. It is the last book in the series and feels very finished. The world has room for more stories in it, but there's a definite arc that has reached its conclusion, and a minimum of hanging threads. The main thing left is I'd love to see these characters thriving in the background of even more stories, but overall I'm satisfied by what's here. The main character is Robin Thorpe, who was a secondary character in the first two books (moreso in WITCHMARK than STORMSONG), and her narration is very distinct from the other two. One way that I noticed this is as a narrator she refuses to treat whiteness as a default, where the narrators of the other two books didn't comment on race at all. It's a subtle thing that fits the backgrounds and biases of the three narrators in the series and is just one example of the way they prioritize completely different things from each other.
This might make sense if someone started here and didn't know about the rest of the series. The main plot is pretty self-contained since Robin wasn't really involved in how things got to be this way (specifically but not only with regards to the aether crisis), so her perspective would likely help pull a new reader into the story. As always, this is the third book of a trilogy and I do recommend starting with the first book rather than beginning here.
I love SOULSTAR, on its own and as a strong ending to a great trilogy.
Robin’s arc is very different from those of Miles and Grace. Miles’s story is one of running away from power, of refusing to be used. Grace had to figure out what to do with power once she knew what it had cost. Robin is stepping up to accept power, trying to balance between new responsibilities and prior commitments. She’s bonded with her community, paying attention to their needs and trying to get the ruling class to listen. As busy as she is on the page, it conveys the impression that she’s even busier between scenes, every moment full of frenetic drive and concern that unless things materially change for the common people then the small steps won’t be much better than nothing at all.
There’s a major character, Zelind, who appears here for the first time, having been imprisoned in one of the asylums for the last twenty years. I love kher place in the narrative, khe has a sub plot which revolves around kher and becomes very important later in the book. The dynamic between the two of them is understandably strained, as the intervening decades and trauma has shaped them into different people from who they were, and they have to figure out what’s left and what they want now that they’ve been reconnected.
This wraps up a major thing which was left hanging at the end of WITCHMARK, developed but not solved in STORMSONG, and now finally addressed in a really great way in SOULSTAR. There's a few major storylines which begin here and weren't present previously, with a very major thing that's both introduced and resolved here. It is the last book in the series and feels very finished. The world has room for more stories in it, but there's a definite arc that has reached its conclusion, and a minimum of hanging threads. The main thing left is I'd love to see these characters thriving in the background of even more stories, but overall I'm satisfied by what's here. The main character is Robin Thorpe, who was a secondary character in the first two books (moreso in WITCHMARK than STORMSONG), and her narration is very distinct from the other two. One way that I noticed this is as a narrator she refuses to treat whiteness as a default, where the narrators of the other two books didn't comment on race at all. It's a subtle thing that fits the backgrounds and biases of the three narrators in the series and is just one example of the way they prioritize completely different things from each other.
This might make sense if someone started here and didn't know about the rest of the series. The main plot is pretty self-contained since Robin wasn't really involved in how things got to be this way (specifically but not only with regards to the aether crisis), so her perspective would likely help pull a new reader into the story. As always, this is the third book of a trilogy and I do recommend starting with the first book rather than beginning here.
I love SOULSTAR, on its own and as a strong ending to a great trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Police brutality, Gun violence, Confinement, Murder, and Grief
Minor: Slavery, Child abuse, Suicide, Drug use, Medical content, and Rape
ehmannky's review
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
I am of the opinion that each installment of the Kingston Cycle is better than the last, and this is an absolutely beautiful ending for this trilogy.
I deeply admire that this is a book that explicitly makes clear that those who are descended from those who perpetuated generational harm are explicitly responsible for making amends, even if they themselves did not do the harm. So few stories, especially fantasy stories, have this premise (the only other one I can think of is the ending of the Earthsea books?).
I also loved, loved Robin's perspective. I felt that Polk integrates both Miles and Grace from the pervious installments into the story while continuing their character growth while centering Robin. I know that some people don't like that Grace got her own book and a redemption arc, but I think Polk uses it as an example of what a real apology and effort to repair harm that you personally have done looks like. And having her be such an upfront support for Robin and her group's pursuit of justice while expecting nothing in return just furthers that development. Robin is such a fantastic character, I am so, so glad that we end this series with her front and center. Also Robin and Zelind are such a good couple, and I loved that their arc of healing as a couple worked alongside the narrative of healing as a nation. Also, the casual integration of Zelind as a nonbinary character and the use of the pronoun kher was so wonderful. It's never remarked upon as strange or other by any character, it just is. I could gush on forever about these books.
Also, the ending had me in tears, it was so beautiful. Polk is amazing, I will be reading all future books by them.
I deeply admire that this is a book that explicitly makes clear that those who are descended from those who perpetuated generational harm are explicitly responsible for making amends, even if they themselves did not do the harm. So few stories, especially fantasy stories, have this premise (the only other one I can think of is the ending of the Earthsea books?).
I also loved, loved Robin's perspective. I felt that Polk integrates both Miles and Grace from the pervious installments into the story while continuing their character growth while centering Robin. I know that some people don't like that Grace got her own book and a redemption arc, but I think Polk uses it as an example of what a real apology and effort to repair harm that you personally have done looks like. And having her be such an upfront support for Robin and her group's pursuit of justice while expecting nothing in return just furthers that development. Robin is such a fantastic character, I am so, so glad that we end this series with her front and center. Also Robin and Zelind are such a good couple, and I loved that their arc of healing as a couple worked alongside the narrative of healing as a nation. Also, the casual integration of Zelind as a nonbinary character and the use of the pronoun kher was so wonderful. It's never remarked upon as strange or other by any character, it just is. I could gush on forever about these books.
Also, the ending had me in tears, it was so beautiful. Polk is amazing, I will be reading all future books by them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood, Slavery, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, and Forced institutionalization
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