A review by paperprivateer
Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

 

I hadn't read the other two books in the series before I read this one. After I finished it, I went back and read the other two and I think that changed my opinions on this one. The fact that I went back and read the first two after reading this meant that I enjoyed it. However, I thought less of it after I finished the first two. 

 

There’s a lot about the world I was picking up on without reading the first books, so I assumed those would fill in when I read the other books. That’s true to an extent. Because a few years have passed since the events of the first two books, there’s a lot that has happened that wasn’t in the other books. There’s a lot of background that we don’t fully get explained. Why is Misha Brie’s best friend, for example, and has he really liked Jas for a while? And if he liked Jas and trained her closely, why wouldn’t he notice that the girl he was with wasn’t her? There’s a lot of unanswered questions and it feels like being thrown into something without a lot of information. 

 

This book is also darker than the others, with a lot of mentions of PTSD and torture. Because of her trauma, sometimes Jas doesn’t make a lot of sense. She’s somehow both trusting and naive and absolutely hates everything about the fae. While Brie has a lot of hatred for the fae in the first book and the reasons for both of their feelings make sense, but it’s frustrating. Jas is so reluctant to change her mind about things — even with her own sister being a fae and living around fae for the last few years — that she’s making decisions that have horrific consequences. It makes it hard to like her or root for her, even as traumatized as she is. I also found myself frequently frustrated with Hale, especially when we learn more about his motivations. 

 

Because of this, I like Felicity a lot better, even though I had a difficult time understanding her backstory and felt like there was a lot that was left out. I also found myself rooting for her relationship with Misha a lot more than I cared about Jas and Hale. 

 

The big reveals were… disappointing. The biggest problem was it felt like the characters all should have realized these things a lot sooner, and I found myself frustrated with everyone. 

 

After reading the other two books, I started to have a few additional complaints. It seems like all the male love interests are essentially the same. They’re obsessed with the female main characters (sometimes for very unclear reasons) and are somehow always perfectly understanding, lovely, snarky, and flirting. There’s not a ton of variety between them. 

 

The book ends in a cliffhanger, or even a double cliffhanger for both POV characters. I don’t mind cliffhangers if it feels like a plot wraps up to some level as a book. This I didn’t feel like that was satisfactory, so I found the cliffhanger more annoying than a reason to read the next one. 

 

I will gladly read the next one when it comes out because I did enjoy the overall experience and I want to see what happens with the characters, but I do think there are a lot of things about the book that aren’t as strong as they could have been. 

 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own and were not influenced by receiving a copy.