Reviews - A Circle of Stars

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184 reviews for:

A Circle of Stars

Craig Montgomery

3.93 AVERAGE

teenytabris's review against another edition

3.5

funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

hrhbradlee's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

sarahfaethsanders's review against another edition

5.0

This book was wonderful for so many reasons. It's well-written, fast paced, has excellent world building (it occurs in a hollowed out moon orbiting a distant and dangerous planet--what!), a unique magic system (based on the zodiac!), and characters that will stick with me for a long, long time. The main character Casper is relatable and lovable in so many ways; seeing him overcome family estrangement, religious trauma, abuse, and homophobia was inspiring. Seeing him get to take his place in a world where homophobia basically doesn't exist was so satisfying. And then he gets the healthiest and sweetest relationship EVER?! My heart! This book has PLENTY of tension, drama, magic, violence, a dystopian vibe, all of it--but love wins in the end. Also, this is part of a duology, but can absolutely be read as a standalone. I highly recommend this wonderful debut book!

stubbornvulpix's review against another edition

4.0

Really great story, would absolutely recommend to anyone who likes YA
Has both Hunger Games and City of Embers vibes while being very gay

I liked the communicating through trauma and conflict and the coming to terms with the idea that someone you love dearly can also have done major damage to other people.

Fave quote: It told him that this too was a moment that created a before. As Patricia joined him on the mattress, he was arriving at an after.

genhuggins's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

teddymasters0's review against another edition

3.0

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

I thought this book was quite interesting, but I think it tried to take on a little bit too much. That was confusing to me since this is a duology. The sheltered life of the telcos slowly revealing the cracks beneath. Some of the mystery elements were really well done, foreshadowed and executed. The problems come in with the criticisms of the world. I found them to be quite heavy handed. Like they showed the flaws, even had a while rebellion, yet the narrator keeps highlighting the problems. I know why this place is bad. It felt a bit like I was being talked down to. Another issue was the pacing. I felt like things went so fast. There were so many parts that this could have ended in anticipation of a second book, but it just squeezed everything in. Even more bizarrely, the falling action dragged on for ages. We got multiple chapters from both of the POV characters. I still enjoyed the book and the characters, and I will probably still read the sequel.

bookristies's review against another edition

5.0

A very fun and wholesome YA Sci-Fi story with plenty of queer representation, a fun magic system, a corrupt political system, and deep characters. A Circle of Stars tackles a lot of relevant issues of today and I love that all three character POVs tied together seamlessly and helped to further enhance the story while also providing readers with different lens to see the world of Novilem through. I love me a good betrayal in just about any story and this one really made you think about it from the start.

Slight spoiler I suppose? One thing I really, really, *really* appreciated was the author's commitment and efforts towards emphasizing the importance of COMMUNICATION in a healthy relationship. The vulnerability, authenticity, and understanding shown by our two male leads towards each other was just *chef's kiss*.

Overall, I'd say this was a very impressive debut novel and I could tell that a lot of love went into this story and especially the characters. There's a lot of worldbuilding in this one so the story didn't quite take off for me until about halfway through (and what an exciting and fast-paced second half that was), but I'm grateful that the information was presented to us in a way that didn't feel like straight-up infodumping.

Needless to say, I will definitely be on the lookout for book 2 in this duology! Hooray for Space Gays!

Note: I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. (But I will definitely consider buying a physical copy. Have y'all seen that beautiful cover??)