Reviews with content warning for Child death - A Dark and Hollow Star

From the minute the prologue introduces us to Nausicaa to the ending Epilogue, I was hooked. The characters brought me in and the story had me guessing all the way through. Who is responsible for the gruesome deaths of the Ironborn children, and why are the adults not doing anything about it? It is up to for queer teens to solve the mystery, which is only the beginning.

This is a book I wish I had when I was growing up, surrounded by those who told me I was wrong for being anything other than cishet. That the four POV characters in the novel are all queer and that many side characters are as well, it made the story all the better.

This is not a perfect book, but for a first novel? It was amazing and I'm so glad I finally read it. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. A definite recommended read of the year, and probably one of my favorite books so far.

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marleywrites's review

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-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

4.5

Nobody asked me to do this but here’s a list of the main characters and the songs from Taylor Swift’s Midnights album that remind me of them:

Nausicaä - Anti-hero

Arlo - Snow on the beach (ft. Lana del Rey)

Aurelian - You’re On Your Own, Kid

Vehan - Maroon

Now onto the review:

After finishing A Dark and Hollow Star, I immediately ordered the next in the series, A Cruel and Fated Light. My favorite things about this book were A) the character development and B) the world building. Both were teased out so precisely and delicately and I found myself completely enjoying just vibing out with the characters as they had their little moments with each other (I’m partial to Nausicaä’s banter with Arlo). It felt like each moment held significant weight that added to the story.

The world building is slow paced, and the four main characters don’t meet until over halfway through the book, but it just makes sense as you read through it. So to the reviews saying they DNF, etc, they really missed a beautifully written story with lots of humor and quirky character moments. I really enjoyed this about the book, so for me it definitely worked. If you’re looking for a high intensity, action packed book, this isn’t the book for you. There are little pockets of those things throughout the story but overall I did find the pacing slow, yet enjoyable.

Some tropes/things this book features:

-slow burn f/f romance beginnings

-m/m friends to ??? enemies but wanna be lovers???

-lots of laughs

-sarcasm

-grumpy/sunshine

-kick ass fight scenes

-great descriptions of internal thoughts

-excellent setting descriptions

I rated this a 4.5 out of 5. The .5 that was missing for me was that I wanted to see more in the m/m relationship teased out in book 1, so I have high expectations for book 2!!

Content Warnings

noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Content Warnings: Grief, violence, depression, disownment, murder, ableism, suicide [off-page], racism, body horror, child neglect and abandonment, death, human trafficking, blood/gore, and drug use.

This book has been on my radar for a bit, and as book two was recently released I knew it was time to dive in. Right off the bat, I knew Shuttleworth was an author who cared about their readers. At the very front under “Author’s Notes,” they discuss the heavy topics that will be covered in the book along with content warnings.

I’m always so excited when an author ensured content warnings are listed within their book or on their website. As someone who’s used reading as an escape for years [woohoo childhood trauma 😅], it’s important that I avoid certain subjects or at least have ample warning to prepare myself, emotionally, ahead of reading. Any author, or publisher, that puts that little bit of effort to list potential content warnings will always have a special place in my heart.

Nausicaa, formerly known as Alecto, is a fallen fury. Taking vengeance into her own hands and exacted revenge on those responsible for hurting her dearest sister so badly that her sister ended her own life, she had no regrets. Nausicaa now spends her immortal life finding new ways to annoy and anger the Fae.

Arlo the daughter of a Fae mother and a human father is determined to find her place in the world. Never fully fitting in with the Fae, as so far she’s shown very little ability in magic, she’s struggled to find where her strength lies and where her future will take her.

Vehan, the prince of Seelie Summer, has had questions for the last few years so when things start happening he’s set on finally finding answers and solving the mystery that’s haunted him.

Aurelian, Vehan’s retainer and steward in training, is determined to protect the prince at all costs…even if that cost is creating distance between the two. Hiding a huge secret is hard but Aurelian will do whatever it takes to protect the prince physically, mentally, and emotionally.

We also get to see the inner thoughts of someone who despises the ruling Fae and is set on a path to destroy them… but I don’t feel like writing about them. 😋

I enjoyed seeing pieces fall into place and forces joined though we definitely don’t get every question answered in this book. Shuttleworth has set up quite a few questions that I’m thinking will be elaborated on and answered within book two. I didn’t quite get the found family trope I was hoping to get within this book, as all four characters I talked about aren’t super close yet, but I’m hoping that we’ll see friendships and relationships continue to grow in book two which will give that overall found family feeling.

Overall getting to know all the characters, except the one I refuse to write about 😤, was so much fun and I look forward to seeing where book two takes us. If you’re looking for a fantasy where most of the characters are still finding themselves and finding their inner strength, I recommend giving this book a go!

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1quillb's review

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh my GOD this was incredible. Super diverse characters, interesting plotlines, and sooo much pining—an absolutely amazing read.

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fionaisbored's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

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jama_vata's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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jennamcclendon's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

***SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK.***

I heard this book was like a queer ACOTAR and that immediately intrigued me, and I’ve been wanting to read it for quite a while. Turns out it was everything I was hoping for and more. It definitely did feel a little like ACOTAR, but also a little bit of The Cruel Prince (from what I remember from that book). But God, I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down when I really got into it.

I will admit that at first I was confused about the whole fae/faerie/folk system and their magic and how all of the Courts and families worked, but that’s pretty typical of a fantasy book so it’s something I can look past. I immediately fell in love with Nausicaä and that love only continued to grow. She’s so snarky and I love that she’s so morally grey, but underneath the surface, you can tell she has a soft spot for the people she loves. I mean, she literally burnt down a boat for Tisiphone, she can love people. I also really liked Celadon at first (Arlo was kind of 50/50 at the beginning) but I couldn’t deny that this book had you already loving the characters as soon as they were introduced. And Aurelian and Vehan had such a compelling dynamic (PRINCE/BODYGUARD FORBIDDEN ROMANCE TROPE) from their first introduction and I shipped them probably instantly just from them describing each other. I’m usually not one for the friends-to-lovers trope but with them... yes. I could spend hours talking about how in love I am with Nausicaä and how amazing these characters are.

The only real complaint I would have with this book (hence the half star) is that it seemed a little slow in the beginning. There had to be a certain setup of events, like Hero meeting his Hunter and the Reaper in the cafe so Nos and Arlo could meet and Lethe being introduced with his past with Nos and everything. There was a lot of setup and the main squad didn’t even really meet until the latter half of the book. I would have loved to see more of them together. At the end in the lab, their dynamics (AURELIAN AND NOS ESPECIALLY) were so entertaining and I feel like it could have gone so much deeper. It just felt super long at the beginning only to pick up with the major conflict at the end.

However... the ROMANCES. There wasn’t a lot of it, but it still definitely was there. Arlo and Nausicaä had that tension from the beginning in the cafe, and then at the Faerie Ring with Nos being all protective, and then finally at the factory? With Nos being even MORE protective, and also THE KISS??? THE TITLE, THEIR KISS, AND AN ITALICIZED “oh.” ALL ON THE SAME PAGE. I love them so much. I’ve already checked for fanfics and there AREN’T any which should be a crime. And then Aurelian and Vehan. I mentioned it earlier: usually, friends-to-lovers isn’t my thing, but the way they’re so clearly in love with each other but if Vehan’s mom picks up on it Aurelian is going to die? If that happens in the next book I may combust.

Some of the other things I really liked were the way that gender and sexuality were presented. Vehan, Aurelian, and Nausicaä were all CANONICALLY AND EXPLICITLY STATED to be bisexual, gay, and lesbian respectively, and the author said Arlo is later going to come out as pansexual. All of the conversations about the deities and their pronouns and their gender fluidity were very straightforward too, and it was great to see they/them pronouns. Also the neopronouns (Vesper and xe/xem)! This was the first time I had ever seen neopronouns in a book and it was super cool! All of the pop culture references took a second to get used to (as is the case with urban fantasy) but all of the Pokemon and Dungeons & Dragons (I want that die so badly) and Lord of the Rings and SHE-RA references were great.

I think I’ve said all that I’ve wanted to say, but this was such a great book. Once you get sucked into it, you really can’t put it down and you fall in love with the characters (Nausicaä please marry me). It was all super cool and to be honest, I would rather read something like this than something like ACOTAR and The Cruel Prince (although I do want to reread those). Absolutely amazing, 10000/10. I CAN'T WAIT FOR A CRUEL AND FATED LIGHT THIS SUMMER.

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