Reviews with content warning for Death - These Burning Stars

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These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

9 reviews

eldane's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is exactly the space opera I was needing. This was a beautiful, powerful, and emotional book with some of the best-written characters I have ever seen. It takes immense skill to write bloodthirsty, cruel, murderers as your protagonists, but Bethany Jacobs does it well. The worldbuilding is incredible and detailed, and the plot is tightly woven and well-paced. I also loved the voice and writing style, and the descriptions were out of the world (ha). And the twist at the end? WOW. I was not expecting it at all. This has established itself as one of my favorite books of all time.

Content Warnings

avacadosocks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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brewdy_reader's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

T̨͈͗̌ͥḣ̖̻͛̓ẹ̿͋̒̕s̠҉͍͊ͅẹ̿͋̒̕ B̩͎͍̾ͅư̡͕̭̇r̴̨̦͕̝ṇ̤͛̒̍ỉ͔͖̜͌ṇ̤͛̒̍ĝ̽̓̀͑ S̵̙͕̀̃t̲̂̓ͩ̑ā̤̓̍͘r̴̨̦͕̝s̠҉͍͊ͅ b̬͖̏́͢y҉̃̀̋̑ B̩͎͍̾ͅẹ̿͋̒̕t̲̂̓ͩ̑ḣ̖̻͛̓ā̤̓̍͘ṇ̤͛̒̍y҉̃̀̋̑ J̶̳̀́̃ā̤̓̍͘c͕͗ͤ̕̕o̯̱̊͊͢b̬͖̏́͢s̠҉͍͊ͅ
𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 • 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 • 𝘋𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴
𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢 • 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤 • 𝘚𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘏𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴
𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘵 • 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘬𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 • 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 • 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦
𝘗𝘶𝘣 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦 17 Oct 2023

𝚃𝙻𝙳𝚁; 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎.

Why are we not seeing more about These Burning Stars?! This is now a front runner for my top read of the month. The best sci-fi debut I have read. Maybe because I went into it with little expectation, and found myself completely enraptured to the point that I blew past the buddy read schedule despite starting late. It was a "start late, finish early" type of a book.

Read if you love:
✨ morally dark grey characters
📿 space opera with queer rep
🛡️ baɖǟֆֆ FMCs
🔋 beautiful descriptions of casters, нα¢кєяѕ
🌌 intergalactic space battles
🌑 everything is not what it seems
🎭 politics, mystique, and intrigue
🕊️ genocide of a race translation to first families v. untouchables
🗡️ hunters versus hunted

This book kept me on my toes, then swept me off my feet, and ultimately blew me away in the best way possible. I can't wait to see what Bethany Jacobs comes up with next.

Content Warnings

kesreads13's review

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adventurous 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

4.5

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entropyseeker's review

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adventurous dark slow-paced

3.75

This book was so immensely slow, I didn't start actually being interested in the book until 60% of the way in, though it is a sci-fi novel so that's usually the case. While the first half was confusing with all the time skips, and it was a lot of world building, gore, violence, the last quarter of the book was rather great and built up to quite a few surprising twists that left me gaping. Will still read the second part of the trilogy. Definitely read the content warnings. Not for the front of heart.

Content Warnings

odunayo_y's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

Thank You to Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC

A very strong sci-fi debut, the prose and overall writing was tight. Despite being an ARC I didn’t notice any typographical errors. The characters were all interesting amd compelling in their own ways. But it seems I’m a black sheep in reviews as i HATED Esek, i get that she’s meant to be awful but gyatt dam she was grating. Lol and i was kicking my feet when Esek starts having a Bad Time.

I will say that the characters being ultra talented Badasses as teenagers was giving a bit YA lol. Like no a 16 year old is not going to be a galactic level mastermind. But other than that it was great!

I did enjoy that Esek & Chono’s relationship was purely platonic.

Another aspect I appreciated was how religion and religious people were treated. It was good to see Chono not be denigrated by the narrative for her beliefs. While still being realistic that there are people and institutions who cynically use the veneer of religion to justify their actions or hold onto power.

Content Warnings

brekaboujie's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was SO GOOD. Brilliantly captivating, so rich and full of depth, I was completely drawn in to this universe.
I've really foubd a love for sci fi over the laat few years and this was a perfect example of what I really love about the genre when it's done right!!!!! This was a particularly interesting one with a focus on politics and power structures over the more people and cultures centred vibes of Becky Chambers who I also love. This was also so DARK and very violent at times but I was honestly lapping it all up. Multiple instances of me sat on the train hand over my mouth in disbelief. Delicious.

Also can I just talk about that

tWIST AT THE END. Look, I read books pretty mindlessly and don't tend to try and work out the plot, I like to let it unravel with time. And the UNRAVELLING. That chapter of 1663 just was SO BRILLIANTLY DONE and made me question everything I'd read!!!! I was suddenly going back and thinking wait, who's perspective has it been from??? Surely we have had her perspective in 1664. BUT NOPE JUST GENIUS TRICKERY such clever writing! Especially as this is the first book so we don't have any preconceptions about Esek, so everything together just makes one picture and then BAM you realise it wasn't one picture at all!!! I honestly kind of want to go back and reread it just to see if there are any hints placed throughout the 1664 chapters. Just so interesting!!!!!

I am very excited by this being a series, I cannot wait to read more of this universe. Going to be recommending this one a lot!!!!

Content Warnings

queenmackenzie's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What a book! What a debut! I wasn’t going to request books on NetGalley anymore and then I saw people talking about These Burning Stars and I fell into temptation. I’m so glad I did… This is storytelling at its best, with vivid worldbuilding, characters that step off the page, and intrigue aplenty. It’s hard to talk about this book without giving anything away, though. The twists and turns are brilliant and I wouldn’t want to spoil them for anyone, so I will do my best to talk about it without doing so.

As the blurb says, These Burning Stars follows three characters: Esek, Chono, and Jun and the narrative jumps between past and present in a way that slowly and precisely develops their arcs and reveals their secrets. Before I talk more about those three – and the rest of the supporting cast – I want to mention the worldbuilding, because it’s brilliant. Unlike a lot of SF I’ve read that is set on other planets, there is no reference to Earth and a past connected to our own world, and somehow this made the setting feel even more real. There are mentions of the generation ships that brought the original population to the system of planets they colonised, but that event is so far in the past that it no longer affects daily life. And the planets we get to see are varied and wonderful; they each have defining characteristics (eg an ocean-dominated world, one known for its dusty landscape, etc) but they don’t suffer from the Star Wars effect of a planet having only one ecosystem.

The history is also very artfully crafted and contributed to the world of These Burning Stars feeling real and lived-in. There is one religion with six gods, and each planet prioritises the worship of one of them, and the system is ruled by the Kindom, an entity both religious and political with three factions: the clerics (somewhat like priests, and the ones most involved with communities), the cloaksaan (assassins and enforcers of law), and the secretaries (archivists and administrators). The Kindom is as corrupt as any large organisation can be, but it keeps the peace between the influential Families that, if unchecked, would wage constant war over resources and land. The Nightfoot Family is one of the most powerful due to their control of sevite, which powers the Gates that allow for fast space travel.

Esek is a cleric of the Kindom, but she is also a member of the Nightfoot Family and has always kept her ties to the family despite the kin being neutral. Esek does not play by the rules, though, and she is the most compelling character I’ve ever read. She is not a good person, and has very few redeemable qualities, but I could not stop looking away. There is such magnetism to her, and it’s not surprising that most of the events of the book are precipitated by Esek making selfish, cruel decisions. Chono has a quiet presence that is just as compelling: she was once Esek’s novitiate and is now a cleric herself. Though she is a good and selfless person, she has a history with Esek and been drawn into the older woman’s cruelties. Their dynamic was really interesting to read, especially because we get to see it both in the past and the present.

The main thing that binds Esek and Chono is their connection to Six, once Chono’s fellow student and the best in their year, but now a ghost who haunts and taunts Esek ever since she refused to take them on as novitiate. For someone who does not appear on page for the majority of the book, Six has quite the presence. They fill the thoughts of both clerics as they track down a memory coin containing information that could condemn the Nightfoots and divide the Kindom. As the past is slowly revealed, it seems impossible that it could be anyone other than Six orchestrating all that threatens the Kindom and Esek in particular, but there are still so many elements at play that are revealed piece by piece. Jacobs really knows how to build the tension, and how to reward a patient reader.

There is still so much I could say about what makes These Burning Stars such a good book, from the prose to the details of worldbuilding, but then this review would get too long. All I can say it that this is easily one of the best books I’ve read this year, and one of the best sci-fi books I’ve ever read, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Content Warnings

bloggingwithdragons's review

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adventurous dark hopeful tense

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

I received this book for free from Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Ever since reading The Blighted Stars and its recent follow-up, The Fractured Dark, I have been determined to break out of my predilection for the fantasy genre and to try to read more science fiction. When I read the blurb for These Burning Stars, a science fiction novel centering on three very different women out for revenge, I knew I had found my next science fiction read. And boy, am I glad I picked up These Burning Stars—it's a fast paced, relentlessly intriguing science fiction novel, brimming with morally gray characters. And it comes with one hell of a twist.

"It began as revenge but…revenge was not enough.*"

Though These Burning Stars is author Bethany Jacobs's debut novel, it is incredibly polished and tightly edited. If I didn't already know this book was a debut novel, I honestly wouldn't have believed it. Jacobs does a phenomenal job throwing readers into the middle of her unique, religiously-ruled science fiction universe without overburdening her audience with too much information at any given time. She masterfully doles out just enough information about the world and the characters as the story progresses, to whet the interest of readers. I always felt like I had a few pieces of the whole puzzle and was desperate to snatch more to put it all together.

And though the novel isn't quite linear, with flashbacks to the past interspersed between the present chapters, I found I didn't mind! Normally I can't stand when a novel jumps all over the place in the timeline, but in These Burning Stars, I was so incredibly invested in every part of the story that I loved, and even looked forward to, these glimpses of the past. These flashbacks allowed me to make more informed guesses at what was truly going on in the present.

"In these star systems, power resided in the Hands of the Kindom, and it resided in the First Families. She was both."

And while my mind was racing trying to figure out the true motivations or loyalties of the characters (and how those tied in with the organizations at play and the multiple different quests for revenge), I also got to enjoy not one, but multiple morally gray main characters. I'm a huge fan of morally gray characters and Jacobs provides so many different shades of them in These Burning Stars. Upon first meeting with the absolutely despicable Esek Nightfoot, one of the most powerful women in the world and a cleric serving the Kindom, I hated her. But as time went on, and I read from Esek's point-of-view and from those who knew (and also hated) her, to my horror, I found that I actually liked the character, in spite of her horrific deeds and even worse personality! Trust me, it's a testament to the author's astounding talent that I could even fathom liking this character, who is toxic from the very first page.

Esek’s protege, Chono, is a great contrast to her master, and an all around conflicted and sympathetic character, who finds herself perpetually stuck in the middle. Though she was a little too devout and honorable to be my favorite, I never knew quite what decision she would make next, which made her not only formidable, but something of a wild card, which was very exciting. Rounding out the three main narrators is Jun Ironway, an elite hacker and con artist, who is probably the most relatable of all of the narrators, and has a lot more to her than meets the eye.

"But you know the truth now, don't you, Chono? The Kindom knew. The Kindom always knows….So a year ago, you did what I did: You took vengeance into your own hands. You decided your loyalty to the Kingdom…has limits. Like mine."

Each of these characters provide unique viewpoints due to their vastly different life experiences and positions. I was so incredibly compelled by all of these characters that I wasn't even sure who I wanted to come out on top in the multiple games of cat and mouse being played. Even the side characters are quite interesting, with one woman a feared defector of the assassin branch of the Kindom (who happens to be missing an arm and is still every bit as deadly), and another a former pirate who just happens to speak the rare language of the group of people who were almost completely wiped out in genocide.

If you're looking for an edge-of-your-seat science fiction novel rife with multiple strong, morally gray female characters, revenge, queer characters and romance, plus political and religious intrigue, and brewing rebellions, look no further than These Burning Stars. I'll definitely be reading the next book in this series as soon as humanly possible and I'll also be on the lookout for any and all future books written by author Bethany Jacobs.

*All quotes taken from an ARC and subject to change at time of publication.

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