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A review by rosska22
All the Stars and Teeth: Owlcrate Exclusive by Adalyn Grace
3.0
I received this book in my monthly Owlcrate subscription.
I have mixed emotions about this book, largely hinging on the fact that it felt a little familiar. If you've read enough YA fantasy series, I suppose after a while they're all going to start to feel the same. By chapter five, I had already figured out all of the "surprising" plot twists, and so nothing in the book shocked or 'wow'-ed me. However. The saving grace was the fact that Adalyn Grace wrote characters that were just interesting enough to keep me hanging on. Characters that I expected to dislike were given just enough character growth that I never wanted to toss any of them off the side of a pirate ship.
I liked Amora's journey, and I appreciated that she was forced into a little bit of introspection and began to question the world around her for the first time in her life. She wasn't a simpering, puffy pink princess like some eventual YA heroines, and she wasn't that terrible stereotypical "I'm not like other princesses!" character either. She managed to settle nicely into the middle ground - feminine, strong, occasionally damnably stubborn, and truly good-hearted.
Bastian is the reason that I didn't put this book down. Though I had followed the threads and figured out his story long before Amora did, I wanted to see him reach his goals and see his inevitable confrontation with his past. I had hoped for a little more information on the time after he left his island and before he met Amora, but perhaps this bit of his background can achieve a little more screentime in the sequel. He's handsome, smart, strong, has a mysterious backstory, and a ship. What more could you ask from a YA love interest?
I will probably purchase the sequel, and I will probably read it. I might even enjoy it.
For a book that purports to be about princesses, pirates, magic, and mermaids, there are hilariously few instances of princesses, pirates and mermaids. One each!
The world was well-developed, and I was always interested to see people use their varying magics.
If you really like the comfortable YA fantasy setting, this is the book for you. If you're looking to be dazzled by stunning plot twists, this is probably not your book.
I have mixed emotions about this book, largely hinging on the fact that it felt a little familiar. If you've read enough YA fantasy series, I suppose after a while they're all going to start to feel the same. By chapter five, I had already figured out all of the "surprising" plot twists, and so nothing in the book shocked or 'wow'-ed me. However. The saving grace was the fact that Adalyn Grace wrote characters that were just interesting enough to keep me hanging on. Characters that I expected to dislike were given just enough character growth that I never wanted to toss any of them off the side of a pirate ship.
I liked Amora's journey, and I appreciated that she was forced into a little bit of introspection and began to question the world around her for the first time in her life. She wasn't a simpering, puffy pink princess like some eventual YA heroines, and she wasn't that terrible stereotypical "I'm not like other princesses!" character either. She managed to settle nicely into the middle ground - feminine, strong, occasionally damnably stubborn, and truly good-hearted.
Bastian is the reason that I didn't put this book down. Though I had followed the threads and figured out his story long before Amora did, I wanted to see him reach his goals and see his inevitable confrontation with his past. I had hoped for a little more information on the time after he left his island and before he met Amora, but perhaps this bit of his background can achieve a little more screentime in the sequel. He's handsome, smart, strong, has a mysterious backstory, and a ship. What more could you ask from a YA love interest?
I will probably purchase the sequel, and I will probably read it. I might even enjoy it.
For a book that purports to be about princesses, pirates, magic, and mermaids, there are hilariously few instances of princesses, pirates and mermaids. One each!
The world was well-developed, and I was always interested to see people use their varying magics.
If you really like the comfortable YA fantasy setting, this is the book for you. If you're looking to be dazzled by stunning plot twists, this is probably not your book.