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sabrinakreads 's review for:
Secrets and Stardust
by Jeannin Counts
ARC Review
3 STARS
2 SPICE
Multiple POVs, LGBTQ+ representation, love triangle, betrayal, quirky side characters, reluctant heroes, slow burn, SPICE
Secrets and Stardust, by Jeannin Counts, is an adult fantasy that follows three main characters on their journey to save humanity. Iyana is a healer for a small village and was trained her entire life by her grandmother. Under orders from the emperor, her village was attacked. Prince Zane, the emperor's son, led the attack. While watching the people in her village suffer, Iyana pleaded to the heavens for help. Her pleas were answered when a star named Altair was cast down to the Earth to help her. The impact of the star forced the enemies to retreat from the village. One soldier, Emmeric, was captured and left behind. It is then discovered that Iyana and Emmeric are bound to each other by both fate and magic. She is a magic wielder, the powerful Aztia, with powers kept hidden from her by her grandmother. Emmeric is her kanaliza, a human conduit meant to help amplify her magic. Although in the beginning Emmeric is reluctant to accept his fate, he later joins Iyana and Altair on their journey to strengthen her magic and stop the emperor. Prince Zane eventually turns on his father and helps Iyana on her quest to stop him.
I loved the multiple POVs in this book and LGBTQ+ representation. I found the concept of stars falling and taking human form super interesting. Iyana is caring, stubborn, and headstrong. She doesn't back down from a fight. Emmeric will do anything for someone he loves, even if it hurts. I loved his friendship and relationship with Talon, a side character who plays an important role. Talon was my favorite character. He is honest, flirtatious, and extremely loyal. He provided so much comedic relief and evoked the most emotions from me. Zane was another of my favorite characters. Although he was the emperor's son, he is very secretive with good reason. It takes a lot to break down his walls, and he arguably has the most character growth in the book. The side characters were my favorite and added so much personality to the book. It had a bit of a slow burn with tension until about halfway through. Once the book got spicy, it did not stop. It had a good amount of spice between characters that I thought contributed well to the story. I rated this book 3 stars because there were times I did skim through it. I wasn't completely hooked, and I didn’t like a couple of the main characters. I also didn’t like Iyana's quirks, such as the walking barefoot or constantly sticking her tongue out at people. She acted too childish for her age, which didn’t sit well with me. There were a lot of my favorite tropes and micro-tropes in this book, but I don't think all of them were necessary. Perhaps there were too many piled in, such as the randomly tossing in "good girl." Overall, I did like this book and there is definitely potential for this series. Possible trigger warning: There are mentions and actions of parental abuse.
This is an HONEST review. All opinions in this review are my own. Thank you, Jeannin Counts, for providing me with the opportunity to read this book prior to its release date! Good luck on your future writing journey. I will keep a look out for your future work!
3 STARS
2 SPICE
Multiple POVs, LGBTQ+ representation, love triangle, betrayal, quirky side characters, reluctant heroes, slow burn, SPICE
Secrets and Stardust, by Jeannin Counts, is an adult fantasy that follows three main characters on their journey to save humanity. Iyana is a healer for a small village and was trained her entire life by her grandmother. Under orders from the emperor, her village was attacked. Prince Zane, the emperor's son, led the attack. While watching the people in her village suffer, Iyana pleaded to the heavens for help. Her pleas were answered when a star named Altair was cast down to the Earth to help her. The impact of the star forced the enemies to retreat from the village. One soldier, Emmeric, was captured and left behind. It is then discovered that Iyana and Emmeric are bound to each other by both fate and magic. She is a magic wielder, the powerful Aztia, with powers kept hidden from her by her grandmother. Emmeric is her kanaliza, a human conduit meant to help amplify her magic. Although in the beginning Emmeric is reluctant to accept his fate, he later joins Iyana and Altair on their journey to strengthen her magic and stop the emperor. Prince Zane eventually turns on his father and helps Iyana on her quest to stop him.
I loved the multiple POVs in this book and LGBTQ+ representation. I found the concept of stars falling and taking human form super interesting. Iyana is caring, stubborn, and headstrong. She doesn't back down from a fight. Emmeric will do anything for someone he loves, even if it hurts. I loved his friendship and relationship with Talon, a side character who plays an important role. Talon was my favorite character. He is honest, flirtatious, and extremely loyal. He provided so much comedic relief and evoked the most emotions from me. Zane was another of my favorite characters. Although he was the emperor's son, he is very secretive with good reason. It takes a lot to break down his walls, and he arguably has the most character growth in the book. The side characters were my favorite and added so much personality to the book. It had a bit of a slow burn with tension until about halfway through. Once the book got spicy, it did not stop. It had a good amount of spice between characters that I thought contributed well to the story. I rated this book 3 stars because there were times I did skim through it. I wasn't completely hooked, and I didn’t like a couple of the main characters. I also didn’t like Iyana's quirks, such as the walking barefoot or constantly sticking her tongue out at people. She acted too childish for her age, which didn’t sit well with me. There were a lot of my favorite tropes and micro-tropes in this book, but I don't think all of them were necessary. Perhaps there were too many piled in, such as the randomly tossing in "good girl." Overall, I did like this book and there is definitely potential for this series. Possible trigger warning: There are mentions and actions of parental abuse.
This is an HONEST review. All opinions in this review are my own. Thank you, Jeannin Counts, for providing me with the opportunity to read this book prior to its release date! Good luck on your future writing journey. I will keep a look out for your future work!