Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - A Circle of Stars

Gays in space, a teenager kidnapped and sent to a hidden civilization in a moon, magic based on the astrological sign you're born under, A Circle of Stars is a queer science fiction fantasy that I enjoyed reading. (And have lots of thoughts on!)
Casper is kicked out for being gay by his douchebag Dad, and just when he thinks his life can't get any worse; is attacked by coyotes, saved by strangers with magic, kidnapped, and put inside a plush prison and forced in the middle of political machinations. Poor Casper. He has to learn to navigate the new world he is now forced to be a part of, a difficult task because of the lack of information and truth he receives. Will he save their city, or destroy everything?
This book follows a lot of themes of rebellion, political schemes, and people willing to accomplish their goals by any means necessary, regardless of consequences.
Talleh was a surprise POV that I did not expect, and I actually ended up enjoying hers the most, which really surprised me! Her struggle and journey to

get her daughter back was so well done! I can't believe it was Daphne the whole time!

I also liked how Helix and his journey was handled, realizing his privilege and his world-view getting shattered was handled extremely well.
This book surprised me and I enjoyed that so much.
Typically by the halfway point or even in the beginning I find it easy to guess what is going to happen. The rug being swept out from under me made me happy.
I did have some trouble understanding

Jacob's

motivations. I wish we could have seen more of the reasons behind his actions, and a more complex understanding of his character, like what we got with Brissa.
My only major complaint is I would like to have seen more! It would also have been really helpful to have a glossary,THERE WILL BE A GLOSSARY AND MORE FOR THE BOOK RELEASE ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR!! as is the norm with science fiction you get a lot of new words thrown at you, and it would have been nice to know how to pronounce them. (And what they mean!)
I would loved to have seen more of the different signs interact with each other. I feel like there's quite a bit of mention of different castes and privileges, and I would have enjoyed to see more confrontational aspects to that in how different magics look down or up to each other. While most people seemed to afraid to speak about the Gemini's, there wasn't any other really visible tension between signs. (For example, discrimination to "weaker" signs, or places that won't do business or general bullying of poorer signs.) There is mention of families being cut off from society for having someone exiled, and I would loved to have seen more of that and the repercussions.
First, I did enjoy this book, and I do recommend you read it when it releases!
Let me take a moment here to try to eloquently speak (or type) about race.
There is a difference between having a ton of characters with different skin tones and races in your book, and having that character be that race. Especially when the book deals with a world without racism and with a different kind of segregation. It's the equivalent of saying a certain people have a specific hair type, it's like "oh great! I am so glad they are showing different hair types." But how are the they different? Their experience? Their life? The way they do their hair or interact with their families? Even if there is no racism, I didn't find enough distinct culture between the different magics to show the different cultures of the people. (And if there isn't, then I missed the point of having such a varied people if they are all in essence similar) This is always a tricky subject to discuss, because yes we need more diverse people in books but they need to be shown to be that race. If you take out a characters description in this book would you still be able to tell they were the race they were supposedly written as? What other aspects are mentioned that have them show their race? Could they easily have been white and nothing have changed about the character? Are you including them in your book for diversity points, or does having them be that race add context to their character and story? If someone reads the book without character descriptions would they know which person is Mexican, Black, or Asian, based on context clues? Words to think about.

Indie books always give me trouble to review, because I know how hard the authors have to work to do their own marketing, and they don't have the support/guidance of a publishing house. That being said I am eager to read whatever Craig Montgomery writes next, and I wouldn't be surprised to see his books in stores one day!

This book comes out June 16th and I do recommend it, especially for fans of queer fantasy, or science fiction.

I received this book as an eARC to read and review. As always, this is my honest opinion.

The Cover
This is the best indie book cover I have ever seen. The composition, design, even the font all work together to make a cohesive piece. I would hang a poster of this book cover on my wall guys, that is how pretty is.
It was really cool to see aspects of the city, it helped make a clearer picture in my head with the book descriptions.
Helix and Casper are over layed on top of one another, up in the stars above the city with Casper making eye contact with the viewer. Both of them seem slightly hunched over, as if they aren't ready or willing for the fight ahead.
The galaxy star background really makes you feel like you are in space and again is just so pretty! I always love to see a font that matches with the cover and the book and this is no different. It adds an air of fantasy to the overall very science fiction vibe of the book.
Seriously though, a 10/10 cover.
(I am not quite sure who did the cover, had some trouble finding that information)

Content Warnings

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