Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - These Burning Stars

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These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

2 reviews

brewdy_reader's review against another edition

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

bloggingwithdragons's review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

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