Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by thepixiepaige
A Circle of Stars by Craig Montgomery
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Thank you very much to the author for sending me an eARC of this book through BookFunnel!
Lord what an adventure in getting locked out of my Amazon account and then having to re-find my review instructions to make an account here D:
My honest review, much like the situation that Casper finds himself drawn into, is complicated.
Our journey begins with Casper, a young boy dramatically alienated from his family and then his entire world as he's swept up into a complex web of political intrigue, danger, a sprinkle of hot-competent-struggling-to-make-the-right-choice love interest, and magic. We're swept along with him as he tries to juggle the stress of learning an entirely new set of skills and social norms, weathering the expectations placed upon him, and also grappling with the fact that, sometimes, status quos are meant to be broken.
The cast was diverse and overall lovable with several characters really standing out as memorable players that I would have loved to see more of (hint hint nudge nudge, I'm looking at you Helix and crew, honestly I could read an entire book about Helix's struggles to reconcile his privilege and The Right Thing and how he and his team came together), and I found it incredibly entertaining to watch Casper bully his way through unlearning his own Earth/American precepts to better navigate the world he's now being strong-armed into saving.
There were moments where the narrative felt clunky (namely not being entirely sold on Jacob's motivations and a couple times where Casper's attempts to be nuanced came across as a bit clinical and really lost his voice ) but ultimately I found myself drawn in enough by the world building that I kept turning pages just to see what would happen next. Every page offered something new to chew on and, while I had my immersion broken a couple times, the overall effect of the book kept me wanting MORE.
Overall the incredible amount of detail and obvious care that went into the world-building, magic system, and creating this cast of characters was enough to keep me engaged despite its few shortcomings and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the things are resolved in book two.
My honest review, much like the situation that Casper finds himself drawn into, is complicated.
Our journey begins with Casper, a young boy dramatically alienated from his family and then his entire world as he's swept up into a complex web of political intrigue, danger, a sprinkle of hot-competent-struggling-to-make-the-right-choice love interest, and magic. We're swept along with him as he tries to juggle the stress of learning an entirely new set of skills and social norms, weathering the expectations placed upon him, and also grappling with the fact that, sometimes, status quos are meant to be broken.
The cast was diverse and overall lovable with several characters really standing out as memorable players that I would have loved to see more of (hint hint nudge nudge, I'm looking at you Helix and crew, honestly I could read an entire book about Helix's struggles to reconcile his privilege and The Right Thing and how he and his team came together), and I found it incredibly entertaining to watch Casper bully his way through unlearning his own Earth/American precepts to better navigate the world he's now being strong-armed into saving.
There were moments where the narrative felt clunky (
Overall the incredible amount of detail and obvious care that went into the world-building, magic system, and creating this cast of characters was enough to keep me engaged despite its few shortcomings and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the things are resolved in book two.