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ghiblistas 's review for:
Stars Above the Never Sea
by Evelyn Flood
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
thanks to netgalley and the publisher for granting me ARC access!
I took away a star for each unforgivable act this book committed. 1. opens up with a brutal genocide and the sole survivor living in sex slavery for 10 years. hey! thats not fun. would have preferred literally anything else have happened to her in those 10 years like she couldn't have just been locked up somewhere? idk im very sensitive to human trafficking and the first part of this book almost made me stop altogether. 2. there was too much happening with the magic systems and the mysteries and the gods and fate and I just felt like there were so many plot holes and things that got ignored for sake of thats how the story plays out. the main character basically doesnt try to figure anything out when she makes it back to her home and relies on her random magic to lead her. 3. ended on the biggest bitch of a cliffhanger without even a hint of happiness truly just a horrendous ending. so ultimately very little joy to be found in the book besides the rare moments characters eke out that have the most ominous chekhovs gun lurking in the background.
I think there are interesting parts to this story but if this is the story the author wanted to tell I think the book needed to be longer with more care given to character development, there was some attempt and I found the voices of characters string but there just wasn't much growth besides the romance aspect which I dont love given how recently the main character fled sex slavery! Feels like she should get a minute. idk i think this book has a lot of potential and if other people are able to look past the things that bothered me they would likely enjoy it! wasn't my cup of tea in the end. very vivid imagery and strong author voice, the writing and prose itself weren't a problem i am just not a fan of how the plot shook out.
I took away a star for each unforgivable act this book committed. 1. opens up with a brutal genocide and the sole survivor living in sex slavery for 10 years. hey! thats not fun. would have preferred literally anything else have happened to her in those 10 years like she couldn't have just been locked up somewhere? idk im very sensitive to human trafficking and the first part of this book almost made me stop altogether. 2. there was too much happening with the magic systems and the mysteries and the gods and fate and I just felt like there were so many plot holes and things that got ignored for sake of thats how the story plays out. the main character basically doesnt try to figure anything out when she makes it back to her home and relies on her random magic to lead her. 3. ended on the biggest bitch of a cliffhanger without even a hint of happiness truly just a horrendous ending. so ultimately very little joy to be found in the book besides the rare moments characters eke out that have the most ominous chekhovs gun lurking in the background.
I think there are interesting parts to this story but if this is the story the author wanted to tell I think the book needed to be longer with more care given to character development, there was some attempt and I found the voices of characters string but there just wasn't much growth besides the romance aspect which I dont love given how recently the main character fled sex slavery! Feels like she should get a minute. idk i think this book has a lot of potential and if other people are able to look past the things that bothered me they would likely enjoy it! wasn't my cup of tea in the end. very vivid imagery and strong author voice, the writing and prose itself weren't a problem i am just not a fan of how the plot shook out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Self harm, Sexual assault, Trafficking
Moderate: Death, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation