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erinsbookshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Genocide, Confinement, Medical trauma, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Murder
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
Two years after the invasion and near-total genocide of humanity, and alien and a human bond over the power of music and a love of stories while they try to save the people who are left.
I love Ellie and I like Morris, their relationship takes enough time to deepen for it to not feel like trauma bonding, which is really important given the massive power gap when he's part of the alien invasion and she's trying to survive. This does a lot of great things well that I haven't seen much in YA, from frank and non-judgmental discussions of whether they've had other partners, to actually addressing how dressing for the apocalypse results in some physically uncomfortable and very hodge-podge outfits.
This has lot of really great characterization. Ellie repeatedly uses a calming technique to try and avoid panic attacks in stressful situations, or try and calm down when one is starting. I loved this narrative choice, because it conveys how anxious she is without constantly relaying her anxious thoughts. Switching between two narrators helps keep the lying from getting too stressful, especially when there are things that Morris doesn’t feel like he can tell Ellie, or Ellie isn’t ready to trust Morris with. They’re reliable narrators as individuals, but not always to each other, especially in part two, but part of the point of the story is how they work though that and learn to trust each other as they get closer. Part One felt a bit uneven with a lot of infodumps and a lot of explanations. It was trying to handle a lot of world-building really quickly, and it did a pretty good job, it just wasn’t to my personal tastes. Part Two had more room to maneuver now that the backstory was set up, and got into the first phase of the adventure. It also features a different kind of tension between the protagonists. Part Three focuses on the way their relationship is changing, and Part Four is about a final confrontation and what happens next. I liked the second half better than the first, but the plot arc is solid and I'm pretty happy with how it turns out.
I think I would love this book rather than just like it if I cared more about music. The story is extremely up front about being a love/save-the-planet adventure about connecting through music and books, and I loved the book bits and didn't care about the music bits, but they seemed to be well done. It's definitely a me thing, not anything wrong with the story. If you're a bit meh about music and connecting with people through it, then this won't be the book for you. If you're reading this review and slightly aghast that anyone wouldn't care about music, then you'll probably love this.
I love Ellie and I like Morris, their relationship takes enough time to deepen for it to not feel like trauma bonding, which is really important given the massive power gap when he's part of the alien invasion and she's trying to survive. This does a lot of great things well that I haven't seen much in YA, from frank and non-judgmental discussions of whether they've had other partners, to actually addressing how dressing for the apocalypse results in some physically uncomfortable and very hodge-podge outfits.
This has lot of really great characterization. Ellie repeatedly uses a calming technique to try and avoid panic attacks in stressful situations, or try and calm down when one is starting. I loved this narrative choice, because it conveys how anxious she is without constantly relaying her anxious thoughts. Switching between two narrators helps keep the lying from getting too stressful, especially when there are things that Morris doesn’t feel like he can tell Ellie, or Ellie isn’t ready to trust Morris with. They’re reliable narrators as individuals, but not always to each other, especially in part two, but part of the point of the story is how they work though that and learn to trust each other as they get closer. Part One felt a bit uneven with a lot of infodumps and a lot of explanations. It was trying to handle a lot of world-building really quickly, and it did a pretty good job, it just wasn’t to my personal tastes. Part Two had more room to maneuver now that the backstory was set up, and got into the first phase of the adventure. It also features a different kind of tension between the protagonists. Part Three focuses on the way their relationship is changing, and Part Four is about a final confrontation and what happens next. I liked the second half better than the first, but the plot arc is solid and I'm pretty happy with how it turns out.
I think I would love this book rather than just like it if I cared more about music. The story is extremely up front about being a love/save-the-planet adventure about connecting through music and books, and I loved the book bits and didn't care about the music bits, but they seemed to be well done. It's definitely a me thing, not anything wrong with the story. If you're a bit meh about music and connecting with people through it, then this won't be the book for you. If you're reading this review and slightly aghast that anyone wouldn't care about music, then you'll probably love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Genocide, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Vomit
TW for Harry Potter reference (pages 68, 179, 363, 409, 425).cactuscloudsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I. Loved. This. Book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
water_violin's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, and Racism
rorikae's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-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 Sound of Stars' by Alechia Dow is a heart filled science fiction story about the power of art.
The story follows Ellie Baker, a girl on the cusp of adulthood in a near-future where Earth has been taken over by aliens. These aliens have banned art and keep tight control of humanity. Executions happen often and the aliens have also started distributing a vaccine that strips humans of their emotions. Ellie runs her own library, keeping stories alive for the people that live in her apartment building. But one day, one of the aliens finds one of Ellie's books and she is suddenly pulled into a search for a way to save humanity.
There are so many things that I love about this book. There is a song that is an important part of the story and we slowly learn more about it throughout the book through interviews with the artists. Dow incorporates this song as well as beloved books to talk about how important art is to expressing emotion and to the core of our humanity. There are a few spoilery parts of the story that I don't want to ruin but that pulled everything together in an incredibly satisfactory fashion. I really love the friendship that develops between our two main characters though I didn't love that it developed into a romance. I also really appreciated the anxiety representation.
Dow has created a poignant sci-fi story that explores the importance of art (particularly books and music) and how they ground us in our humanity. It's a really wonderful, uplifting story, despite some of the harder subjects that it touches on.
The story follows Ellie Baker, a girl on the cusp of adulthood in a near-future where Earth has been taken over by aliens. These aliens have banned art and keep tight control of humanity. Executions happen often and the aliens have also started distributing a vaccine that strips humans of their emotions. Ellie runs her own library, keeping stories alive for the people that live in her apartment building. But one day, one of the aliens finds one of Ellie's books and she is suddenly pulled into a search for a way to save humanity.
There are so many things that I love about this book. There is a song that is an important part of the story and we slowly learn more about it throughout the book through interviews with the artists. Dow incorporates this song as well as beloved books to talk about how important art is to expressing emotion and to the core of our humanity. There are a few spoilery parts of the story that I don't want to ruin but that pulled everything together in an incredibly satisfactory fashion. I really love the friendship that develops between our two main characters though I didn't love that it developed into a romance. I also really appreciated the anxiety representation.
Dow has created a poignant sci-fi story that explores the importance of art (particularly books and music) and how they ground us in our humanity. It's a really wonderful, uplifting story, despite some of the harder subjects that it touches on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcoholism
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