Reviews with content warning for Grief - These Burning Stars

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

2 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.

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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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