A review by nytephoenyx
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The cover of this book is really pretty.  I really like the neon pinks and blues.  The cover has a cool, almost retro aesthetic that is extremely tempting as a cover buy.  And The Sound of Stars was mostly a cover buy for me because, well… I was bored.

I’ll start off by saying that my boredom is not necessarily the result of a poorly written book, flat characters, or an uninteresting plot.  The thing that threw me off the narrative the most was the writing style.  In novels, there’s some level of balance between dialogue, description, and introspection in the writing itself.  Depending on the author, there may be a little more of one or the other.  In The Sound of Stars, there was a lot of introspection.  I felt like I spent more time in Ellie and M0Rr1S’s head pondering things than I spent anywhere else, and I struggled to continue the book.

Depending who you are, you may love this quality.  It just so happens I do not.

Other aspects of the descriptions irked me as well.  Dow leans toward over-explaining, information dropping. and informative lists.  After a while these are more exhausting than helpful.  I felt too much of The Sound of Stars was explained to me as the reader rather that allowing me to experience it.

Ellie and M0Rr1S came into the story fully developed, but they did not reveal themselves slowly and let the reader get to know them.  As such, motivations and behaviors and relationships were a little hazy.  Links between the characters and others were dropped like twists and felt less surprising and more unplanned, which was a little frustrating.  This book wasn’t written for me – I’m too old and even then I’m white and Ellie is Black – I don’t need to relate to this character, she exists for someone else.  But I struggled to get invested when I felt we were following the same thought cycles over and over and getting nowhere.

Despite the alien invasion setting, The Sound of Stars is a very quiet book.  It focuses on character development and the love story.  Please know this before going in – it’s not going to be a high-action sci-fi.  This book is about M0Rr1S and Ellie and their relationship.  It is romance first and science fiction second.

Readers seem to be extremely torn on The Sounds of Stars.  Folks either are bored like me, or they head-over-heels loved the book.  So, knowing that, I’m going to encourage you to read it!  Give it a change and if the first few chapters grip you, you’ll likely enjoy the whole thing.  Even if I didn’t love it, I encourage you to give it the benefit of the doubt.  It may end up your next favorite.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings