Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Stars are Dying

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Stars are Dying by Chloe C. Peñaranda

6 reviews

hiraethianlibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Astrae has been living the last five years under the thrall of her current lover. Her memories of the past are a haze just out of her grasp. Tragedy seems to follow her as she makes her way through an unforgiving world on the verge of war.

Part Romeo and Juliet, part Hunger Games, this romance has a bit of everything from civil discontent to starcrossed lovers. The themes approached are dark so do mind content. There are mentions of addiction and recovery, suicidal ideation, and abuse. That said, they were approached with care which was refreshing to read.

I wish I could give this 5 stars. I wish I could tip my hat to a great start to a trilogy, but Tor Publishing didn’t offer this rising star a proper editing team, and that is perhaps the most frustrating thing about reviewing this book.

Chloe C. Peñaranda offers rich world-building that is full of diverse and well-rounded characters. This immersive first act of a tale as old as time is filled with intrigue, social strife, and moral dilemmas. Astraea is relatable, unrelenting, and a gem. Her found family is complex and full of secrets ready to be unravelled. Her love interest is the villain of the story while remaining redeemable. It checks a lot of boxes for readers looking for their next dark romance, complete with a morally grey shadow daddy.

And can we talk about that cover for a minute? Combined with those sprayed edges, it’s a work of art worthy of becoming a book trophy to any collector/reader. I picked this book up because of it. I devoured and savoured it for days. I have zero regrets because it checks a lot of boxes for me.

The one thing her publisher should have to offer as part of the Big Five (MacMillan bought Tor forever ago) is a solid editing team. It felt like they failed to deliver. A good editor will praise where it is due and hone and develop skills as needed. The need to lean on “had” was a recurring issue that should have been caught and corrected. There were glaring typos, including a paragraph ending with “M.”. I hope that, for the following two books, a better eye for detail is brought on board.

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Content Warnings

lizzye33's review against another edition

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I found this book at my local little free library with no expectation for the story, but the appearance intrigued me, and I have not read a book of this genre in some time, so I thought, why not?
Before reading the book and adding it to my TBR, I hesitated because of the many vague and negative reviews that needed to be more encouraging. Also, this story has vampires, which I have had a bad run with lately in books. But aside from that, I wanted to give it a chance.

25% I am really glad Astrea has friends who are not only willing but more than capable of helping her if their motives are true. That being said, this book is very tense, and I don't love being constantly on edge or emotionally trampled. It's not ideal for escapism, but I do like the story's complexity, though I understand why many stopped reading, finding it confusing. I think it is fairly well written in getting into Astrea's perspective. Perhaps that is because of vaguely similar reliability on my part. That said, reviews saying it is a try-hard book with too many tropes are both true and false. It does feel like trying to put a little too much on one page without giving what we need at this point in the book, but the characters are not wanting too badly in that way yet. The premise is rather predictable; we have a clear idea of what she is, and Hecktors controls more than she realizes with her medicine and forcing her under even though they have not addressed it yet. But I'm still curious enough to see where this goes. (Nyte for the win; Hecktor, there are special places for you.)

Okay, I DNF'd!!!
I tried not to, but I could not continue!
I tried to connect with the characters and visualize the settings and their perspectives, but this story is vague in the places it needs detail, the characters lack substance, and there is very little actual chemistry.
The worst part is that I was bored. It felt like a chore, and there was no direct plot to follow. It also never really had too much clear plot or motivation aside from leaving Heckor in the first part and reeling from it. Of course, there is more after, but I could not bring myself to care, and I wanted to.
This book had potential, but it was so dark. For once, I pushed that aside to try to get into a story I wanted to like, but it was definitely not worth it!
It was a little confusing, and I did not route it to anyone. I tried to find some answers online to what was happening, and it turns out there is no real resolution!?
No one has many more answers than Astrea does by chapter 15, even in the end. I skimmed through the rest and felt disappointed in the time I spent trying to get out of my reading slump with a book that did not provide escapism but trigger warnings without anything a book should to make it worth it or able to overlook them.
The writing was also lacking the more the book continued.
Anyway, enough about my rant. I am glad some people enjoy it, but sadly, I am not among them.

Content Warnings

cryosphinx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This had so much potential that I feel like the author didn't fully grasp at the beginning. The first half was meandering and oddly paced (and I caught some typos, ugh). It did finally find it's footing and the twist towards the end was fine and I do like call backs to puzzles, but it took half the book to get there. With editing, this book could have been 100 less pages and all the points could have gotten home all the same. The biggest bother was random one off paragraphs where Astraea would remember something about her past, trying to relate it to whatever was happening, and then would move on. There was no need and it kept happening.

I did enjoy Astraea and Nyte's banter though Astraea's motivations seemed off they she just accepted Nyte's tagging along without questioning anything and the whole first relationship was really confusing. She was TOO naive. They also didn't really "grow" and were the same in the beginning as the end. And Astraea gets

ONE friend who does early on. We get a setup for a second on but clearly isn't as developed.

It seems like most of the care went into the physical art of the book, which is gorgeous. I'll probably read the next one because by the end I was definitely invested and the writing did improve, I just hope the next one is cleaner and we get some more character attention because I DO love the world and the magic concepts.

Content Warnings