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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love the concept of this book. The idea of magic inspired by astrology is so fun, and such a clever way to organize a magic system. Novilem is an interesting location too. I think the use of the Geminis to equate with the nonsensical hate experienced on earth is also great because it's subtle in its connection.
Which brings me to my first negative about the story. I understand this is young adult, and I might just not be the target audience. However, I think it underestimates its audience by doing a lot of telling rather than showing. Each lesson is sort of right on the nose, you know? It causes certain interactions and outcomes to come off as a bit corny.
Overall the story feels rushed. With more time and space, the plot and relationships would have developed more naturally. Casper and Helix are both likable characters, but I find their arcs to be pushed forward in a way that feels overly manufactured. The moments that they argue because of each of their respective emotional baggages, it feels a little forced to me, like it's meant to meet a quota of conflicts.
That being said, I appreciated Montgomery writing the kind of conversations partners should have in times of conflict. Active listening, empathetic understanding, and clearly acknowledging one another's feelings. Wonderful to read. I can admit, sometimes I want a bit more bite in romantic leads in a story, a little more complication, but it's good that fluffier, easier relationships exist in stories too. Again, I also think with more time and space, the ups and downs of their relationship, the development of their feelings for one another, could have come across as more natural.
The plot has a great setup, but similarly moves too quickly to an extent where the details get a bit confusing. My unsolicited advice to Montgomery would be to let the story be dynamic in its pacing. Let things move quickly in a way that is dazzling and maybe confusing to the characters in the story, disorienting even, and then slow down to show the outcomes of these moments. There are a lot of great ideas and messages in the writing, so that's great! Just slow down to stick the landing.
Which brings me to my first negative about the story. I understand this is young adult, and I might just not be the target audience. However, I think it underestimates its audience by doing a lot of telling rather than showing. Each lesson is sort of right on the nose, you know? It causes certain interactions and outcomes to come off as a bit corny.
Overall the story feels rushed. With more time and space, the plot and relationships would have developed more naturally. Casper and Helix are both likable characters, but I find their arcs to be pushed forward in a way that feels overly manufactured. The moments that they argue because of each of their respective emotional baggages, it feels a little forced to me, like it's meant to meet a quota of conflicts.
That being said, I appreciated Montgomery writing the kind of conversations partners should have in times of conflict. Active listening, empathetic understanding, and clearly acknowledging one another's feelings. Wonderful to read. I can admit, sometimes I want a bit more bite in romantic leads in a story, a little more complication, but it's good that fluffier, easier relationships exist in stories too. Again, I also think with more time and space, the ups and downs of their relationship, the development of their feelings for one another, could have come across as more natural.
The plot has a great setup, but similarly moves too quickly to an extent where the details get a bit confusing. My unsolicited advice to Montgomery would be to let the story be dynamic in its pacing. Let things move quickly in a way that is dazzling and maybe confusing to the characters in the story, disorienting even, and then slow down to show the outcomes of these moments. There are a lot of great ideas and messages in the writing, so that's great! Just slow down to stick the landing.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
I enjoyed this very much. Did I have any idea what was going on in certain points? Absolutely not.
Getting kidnapped and taken onto the moon of another planet is the best thing that could have happened to Casper. He was thrown out and exiled by his family, friends, school, and everyone he knows for being assaulted on school property after a false narrative made him the responsible party. He ends up being taken somewhere where humans can have magic and turns out he's one of the ones that has access to all 12 forms of it. He finds out that everything isn't as it seems there and starts digging.
My favorite thing about this book that I've raved about in book chats was that during one point Casper and his love interest Helix, are in a life or death situation and are so very annoyed with the other at different stages of that adventure. So many books would have taken a minute to make it sexy and not these two. There's love there and they don't want anything to happen to the other but you HAVE to quit whining as we're running for our lives. I was delighted.
This is a duology but I felt like it ended in a good place without a bunch of hanging plot threads.
Getting kidnapped and taken onto the moon of another planet is the best thing that could have happened to Casper. He was thrown out and exiled by his family, friends, school, and everyone he knows for being assaulted on school property after a false narrative made him the responsible party. He ends up being taken somewhere where humans can have magic and turns out he's one of the ones that has access to all 12 forms of it. He finds out that everything isn't as it seems there and starts digging.
My favorite thing about this book that I've raved about in book chats was that during one point Casper and his love interest Helix, are in a life or death situation and are so very annoyed with the other at different stages of that adventure. So many books would have taken a minute to make it sexy and not these two. There's love there and they don't want anything to happen to the other but you HAVE to quit whining as we're running for our lives. I was delighted.
This is a duology but I felt like it ended in a good place without a bunch of hanging plot threads.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It read a little too much like a young adult for me, but not so much that I couldn’t enjoy it. I loved the characters, and the mystery. I really enjoyed how things might have ended early if the two mmcs had communicated, but that it wasn’t a lack of communication but a lack of knowing that information needed to be communicated. It was very well done. There was a lot to love about this story and I’m excited to read book two.
adventurous
emotional
fast-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:
Complicated
I think everyone around age 15 should read this book. The writing style and porous world building make it firmly YA, but WOW the lessons and examples in here are gold, including:
- How to positively communicate in relationships, romantic and otherwise
-How to actively listen
-How to be open to self-reflection after criticism
-How to be there for those who have suffered trauma
-The idea that even the people we love can make bad decisions
-The idea that you aren’t defined by who others want or expect you to be, but by your own standards
-That queer love is perfectly normal and looks just like straight love
- How to positively communicate in relationships, romantic and otherwise
-How to actively listen
-How to be open to self-reflection after criticism
-How to be there for those who have suffered trauma
-The idea that even the people we love can make bad decisions
-The idea that you aren’t defined by who others want or expect you to be, but by your own standards
-That queer love is perfectly normal and looks just like straight love
Books like this are one of the reasons my goal for this year was getting more books through Libby because I’ve noticed that a lot of authors are good at writing a compelling beginning that’s enough to last the kindle sample so I buy the book, but then the rest proves it was a poor purchase.
Casper’s story starts out pretty tragically and you immediately feel for him and want more for him. Unfortunately, he just gets more people trying to change him and use him. It also takes forever for the main love interests to meet - I know I stopped reading at a quarter in, but I skipped ahead a bit and it looks like they still haven’t met by a third of the book in - unless I missed it.
The world building is exhausting and really kills the pace of the book. There was just way too much going on with the magic system (or whatever you want to call it) and this led to a bunch of info dumping and the protagonist, Casper, simply playing a role equivalent to a kindergartener sitting in an algebra class. He was confused. I was confused. And it was all just very boring.
Unfortunately, there was also the opposite problem of things happening that don't get explained until much later making it hard to follow what was going on and understand why it mattered.
The Novilems are entitled assholes and I really found it hard to care about their world as a result. The rebel factions also seem like assholes, so I didn’t care about them either.
So, ultimately, it was an overly complicated world filled with characters I either didn’t like or didn’t care about (except Casper) and an outcome I didn’t really care to reach.
Casper’s story starts out pretty tragically and you immediately feel for him and want more for him. Unfortunately, he just gets more people trying to change him and use him. It also takes forever for the main love interests to meet - I know I stopped reading at a quarter in, but I skipped ahead a bit and it looks like they still haven’t met by a third of the book in - unless I missed it.
The world building is exhausting and really kills the pace of the book. There was just way too much going on with the magic system (or whatever you want to call it) and this led to a bunch of info dumping and the protagonist, Casper, simply playing a role equivalent to a kindergartener sitting in an algebra class. He was confused. I was confused. And it was all just very boring.
Unfortunately, there was also the opposite problem of things happening that don't get explained until much later making it hard to follow what was going on and understand why it mattered.
The Novilems are entitled assholes and I really found it hard to care about their world as a result. The rebel factions also seem like assholes, so I didn’t care about them either.
So, ultimately, it was an overly complicated world filled with characters I either didn’t like or didn’t care about (except Casper) and an outcome I didn’t really care to reach.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was good, it could have been great.
I really enjoyed the world building and magic system. I’m a huge lover of complex rules, and I felt the system was expanded in a cool way. The impetus for why the earth-based zodiac applied to this moon across the universe did not make sense, so I treated it as a naming system based on what these originally Greek and Egyptian people were used to.
I thought the characters were really strong; I loved all the POVs and never minded when the book switched to a different one. The politics of Novilem struck true, if a bit cliche, and I liked how power was constructed and manipulated. I liked the PTSD rep, and as someone with an abusive father, Casper’s experience rang true for me.
Unfortunately the plot was very predictable which is a shame because it had enough detail and political intrigue to lend to some really satisfying reveals, but you just know who the bad guy is immediately, and not much surprised me throughout.
I also felt a suspicious lack of reflection on Casper’s part for how weird it was to be off-planet. There was a lot of that in the beginning, and then at a certain point he seemed fully adapted and never really thought about it again. Also, this might just be a personal thing but I got major ick from the sexual memory sharing between Theo and Casper, and still don’t really know what the purpose of that was. (To be clear, we’re supposed to feel icked, and Casper feels very weird about it, I just don’t know what that delivered to the narrative).
Overall I mostly had a great time and had difficulty putting this down, but I think it could have accomplished a lot more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Violence
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
All Casper has ever wanted is to belong. But after being outed, his family and friends have abandoned him and when something mysterious happens that results in his abduction by the Novilem, he has nothing left to lose. He is teleported to a world far from Earth, where a civilization that originated on earth lives inside of another moon and they are granted magic from the stars (and thus the astrological signs). Casper has the rare ability to draw power from all twelve astrological signs, quickly resulting in Casper being used as a political pawn in the Estellar Council. Novilem ends up making Casper feel even more isolated.
As the city sits on the brink of rebellion and distrust is sown within the Council, Casper meets Helix who gives him hope and makes him feel seen. They work together to uncover Casper's power and full potential while trying to bring peace and safety to Novilem. A Circle of Stays is full of political intrigue, space/magic, and romance.
I really loved how real Casper was to me - Craig Montgomery perfectly captures the sweetness and angst that lives simultaneously and in every teenager. Being the savior of a world beyond his own didn't change who he was as a person, and he demonstrated how expansive the love of a young adult can be, the possibility they see in any world that they may be a part of. Both Casper, Helix, and their friends go through A LOT and both Casper and Helix give each other so much love and support that was really endearing to read as their romance blossomed. Also, the cover of this book... is just absolutely stunning.
As the city sits on the brink of rebellion and distrust is sown within the Council, Casper meets Helix who gives him hope and makes him feel seen. They work together to uncover Casper's power and full potential while trying to bring peace and safety to Novilem. A Circle of Stays is full of political intrigue, space/magic, and romance.
I really loved how real Casper was to me - Craig Montgomery perfectly captures the sweetness and angst that lives simultaneously and in every teenager. Being the savior of a world beyond his own didn't change who he was as a person, and he demonstrated how expansive the love of a young adult can be, the possibility they see in any world that they may be a part of. Both Casper, Helix, and their friends go through A LOT and both Casper and Helix give each other so much love and support that was really endearing to read as their romance blossomed. Also, the cover of this book... is just absolutely stunning.
I don't know why I thought I wouldn't enjoy this book as much as I did, but it was interesting and kept my focus. The magic system with the different zodiac signs took a while to understand, and I can't say that I understand all of it but it was unique in its own way. My only gripe with this book was that at some points it did read like a YA novel and some plot points could be easily seen coming. Overall I enjoyed this book and hope to read a sequel.