Scan barcode
A review by eruanna317
The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is a book that centers around a real place—a cave in Belize known as Actun Tunichil Muknal (“The Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre”), or ATM for short—and focuses on storylines in three specific years: in 1012, it was a place sacred to the Maya people, and in this storyline we meet three young royals on the eve of an important ritual; in 2012, it is an archaeological site containing skeletal remains that tourists can pay to visit, and we follow a young American traveling to Belize on a quest for something she thinks she may find somewhere in its forbidden deeps; and in 3012, ATM is again a sacred site as part of a religion that takes hold in a post-capitalism and post-climate-change society, and we meet two philosophers whose ideological rift may transform the world as they know it. While spanning millennia and the globe, nonetheless this novel feels deeply intimate. All the stories are interconnected, the fates of these characters intertwined. This work has already garnered comparisons to Octavia Butler’s Earthseed series and David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, and I can see why, but it is really something altogether its own. Something new and daring, fresh and alive. And like the cave, which seems to draw people in with an almost magnetic force, this book will pull you in deeper and deeper, wanting to parse out its mysteries.
This story is not for everyone. In the author’s note, she mentions that there are scenes that contain cutting. There are also intense and vivid depictions of violent injuries, animal attacks, and rites of human sacrifice. These things are not pleasant, but I can definitely see why they are culturally and thematically necessary. It also contains detailed sex scenes, so depending on your personal threshold for that sort of thing you may want to take that into consideration. I will add that the author is white and cisgender, and writing about many characters who are not, but worked carefully with sensitivity readers to address any personal blindspots.
One other note: if you read this, please don’t make the same mistake that I did in the 3012 timeline. While flipping past the table of contents, I noticed that there was a glossary at the back of the book, explaining certain terminology used in this fictional future society. When reading the first 3012 chapter (the chapters alternate timelines in groupings of three), I made the mistake of coming to a word I didn’t know, immediately flipping to the glossary, and then jumping around to related entries before returning to the narrative. As a result, that initial chapter felt like a massive info-dump to me. Then what I found when I returned to the chapter was that a few sentences later, the term was put into context for me in a way that was much smoother and would not have taken me out of the story as much. Essentially, I should have trusted the author and stuck with the text for longer before flipping to the back for clarification, and I hope you will spare yourself my error and just trust that you’re in good hands. By the second 3012 chapter I had corrected course and enjoyed it much more.
I want to talk so much more about the characters, the themes, the imagined worlds of the distant past and far-flung future (the author’s note gives a great breakdown of the research and choices that went into constructing a story set within the ancient Maya culture, while ultimately acknowledging that many details have been lost to history and that as a result beyond a certain point any depiction is mostly a fiction). But at the same time I wouldn’t want to ruin anything. This is a book best discovered for yourself. One detail I will mention that I love so much is the way the chapters are structured like a descent into the cave. And the closer you get to the ending, to the depths of that inner space, the more you become drawn up in the interplay between the sacred and mundane, the practical and ideal, science and myth, past and present and future—this complex and glorious dance, this fervent tug-of-war, a dispersing and commingling that, by the book’s end, comes to a transcendent finale that I still feel thrumming in my bones weeks after reading it. Due out from Harper Voyager on September 14th, you can preorder a copy from your favorite book store or directly from the publisher here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-actual-star-monica-byrne?variant=33021717217314. I highly recommend it.
Full disclosure: I support Monica Byrne on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/monicabyrne) and was given early access to a copy of this novel in exchange for sharing my thoughts about it publicly before its release.
This story is not for everyone. In the author’s note, she mentions that there are scenes that contain cutting. There are also intense and vivid depictions of violent injuries, animal attacks, and rites of human sacrifice. These things are not pleasant, but I can definitely see why they are culturally and thematically necessary. It also contains detailed sex scenes, so depending on your personal threshold for that sort of thing you may want to take that into consideration. I will add that the author is white and cisgender, and writing about many characters who are not, but worked carefully with sensitivity readers to address any personal blindspots.
One other note: if you read this, please don’t make the same mistake that I did in the 3012 timeline. While flipping past the table of contents, I noticed that there was a glossary at the back of the book, explaining certain terminology used in this fictional future society. When reading the first 3012 chapter (the chapters alternate timelines in groupings of three), I made the mistake of coming to a word I didn’t know, immediately flipping to the glossary, and then jumping around to related entries before returning to the narrative. As a result, that initial chapter felt like a massive info-dump to me. Then what I found when I returned to the chapter was that a few sentences later, the term was put into context for me in a way that was much smoother and would not have taken me out of the story as much. Essentially, I should have trusted the author and stuck with the text for longer before flipping to the back for clarification, and I hope you will spare yourself my error and just trust that you’re in good hands. By the second 3012 chapter I had corrected course and enjoyed it much more.
I want to talk so much more about the characters, the themes, the imagined worlds of the distant past and far-flung future (the author’s note gives a great breakdown of the research and choices that went into constructing a story set within the ancient Maya culture, while ultimately acknowledging that many details have been lost to history and that as a result beyond a certain point any depiction is mostly a fiction). But at the same time I wouldn’t want to ruin anything. This is a book best discovered for yourself. One detail I will mention that I love so much is the way the chapters are structured like a descent into the cave. And the closer you get to the ending, to the depths of that inner space, the more you become drawn up in the interplay between the sacred and mundane, the practical and ideal, science and myth, past and present and future—this complex and glorious dance, this fervent tug-of-war, a dispersing and commingling that, by the book’s end, comes to a transcendent finale that I still feel thrumming in my bones weeks after reading it. Due out from Harper Voyager on September 14th, you can preorder a copy from your favorite book store or directly from the publisher here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-actual-star-monica-byrne?variant=33021717217314. I highly recommend it.
Full disclosure: I support Monica Byrne on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/monicabyrne) and was given early access to a copy of this novel in exchange for sharing my thoughts about it publicly before its release.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest and Self harm