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A review by fulltimefiction
The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence
2.0
My experience with this book summarized:
“This is cool
Can’t wait to know what happens next
Wow interesting
What... what’s happening...
Hey why are you doing that!
I’m so bored, do I still have many pages to read...
Of course! Still tedious.
Last page: ahaa, I wonder what next...”
then the books ends.
It saddens me to say that The Girl and the Stars that started so promising and exciting, ended up being so disappointing and boring. And not because of lack of action, from chapter one, the story consumes you and you want to know more. But we’ll discuss all that later.
>> A few things you might want to know before starting this book:
➊ The Girl and the Stars isn’t another Red Sister, which was a total badass and awesome book. Yaz isn’t another Nona Grey, she instead becomes one of those YA heroines we dislike (at least I did).
➋ I do not recommend this book if you haven’t read the original trilogy, Book of the Ancestor. I wouldn’t even recommend reading it if you have only read the first book because it has spoilers on specific matters. But nothing that ruins the book, of course. You can still read this book separately but it is a spin-off and you’ll probably find yourself confused from time to time.
➌ If you’re a solid Mark Lawrence fan, you’ll probably like this book. But then again, maybe not. It’s very different from his other novels since this one leans too much on the YA genre.
➍ I read this book without reading the description (which was vague when I read it later) and that is for the best, the action started from chapter one so it is better to know little about the plot before diving in. I think Goodreads’ description is perfect in that regard. I will provide however a small hidden summary in the minor spoilers.
————
This review will be broken into two parts: one free of spoilers and the other with minor ones because I can only be so vague on some of the issues I had with this book (of course there will be a warning).
The main reason why I wanted to read this book is because of Zole, she’s from the ice tribes and the world she lived in as well as her abilities were very interesting. Doubtless, since Yaz is from one of the ice tribes as well, we learn more about them but at the same time, so much more about the world that we didn’t know in Book of the Ancestor trilogy. Honestly, what is frustrating is that the novel could’ve been pretty good: solid world-building, likable characters (at first), action-packed, and a promising story. But the turns it later took and the paths it chose to reach the end were disappointing and questionable.
The book relied too heavily on the pace, it is not a character-driven book. Using philosophical lines now and then and monologues don’t make it so.
I really like Mark Lawrence and respect the man a great deal, he has undoubtedly made himself a name among talented fantasy authors. Although, I did not like Prince of Thorns (I couldn’t stand that horrible MC), I very much enjoyed Red Sister and its sequels. I wouldn’t consider Book of the Ancestor trilogy YA even if Nona was a teenager, not only because of the gore but not every book with a young main character can be labeled “YA”. Prince of Thorns, of course, isn’t even though the MC is 14. My point is “YA” books have a certain feel to them that makes them identifiable based on elements unrelated to the MC’s age.
I have no idea if authors determine the genre of their books, but in my humble opinion and as someone who has read many YA, this book undoubtedly can be categorized as Young-Adult. It certainly deals with darker themes than the usual, case in point, the tainted. But the fact remains that the Girl and the Stars, other than the title itself, features many YA tropes, such as:
✦ Most of the characters are under 18, not mature, and well teens. And behaved like ones. Not to say this is bad but Nona (Red Sister) was always mature beyond her years.
✦ Yaz is special.
✦ A love-square. Yep, and each guy is jealous of the other. Even if they only knew her for a few days. The heck?
✦ Yaz taking up leadership.
✦ Yaz wanting to risk everyone for her mission and not making a proper plan.
✦ We don’t kill killers mantra.
And so on and so forth.
Now I know these can be found in any book but they are the most prominent in YA. Sometimes, the MC being special doesn’t turn out bad but in this case, it kinda did. Those who share Yaz’s powers in Red Sister needed to train a lot to master them. Yet, here, although her power is rawer and not poised, she was able to use them too well for a newbie.
Conclusion: do not expect an “adult” book (this is mostly what this book is shelved under at the time of writing this review) and be ready for YA vibes.
The characters:
- I quite liked Yaz. At first. She was courageous, determined, and not the complaining type. But after a while, she wore me out. She was deadly focused on her goal to the point that she was ready to risk everyone and act without planning ahead. I hate when characters do this (this is again popular in YA). I mean hold on a bit (this is another issue that I’ll get to later, I think it’s more because of the pace if anything).
- The other characters were one-dimensional. I couldn’t care about any of them in particular. Maybe Therin. But the rest were meh until they surprise us with a “oh no, I didn’t see that coming”. It gets boring. Not that it made me like them any better. They were so many and none was given the needed amount of time for us to develop any feelings towards her/him.
Conclusion: the characters weren’t interesting nor relatable.
The world-building:
This is where Lawrence excels at in this book. It was well-developed and thank God, no info dump (though I did not like the gods' story parts). I quite love the world Mr. Mark weaved, it’s intriguing, creative, full of mysteries, and possibilities. Even if I already read the original trilogy, this book offered new revelations to the table and exactly what I wanted! We learn more about the missing, the black ice, the tainted, and so much more! If only the story took a different turn to reach the end!
The writing:
Undeniably, Mark Lawrence’s writing is rich and superb. Yet, the descriptions were often too long (and imagine how someone who haven’t seen much because of their living conditions trying to describe things they’ve never seen before). It was also confusing occasionally, at some points, I had to read the dialogue/paragraph several times to make sense of it and sometimes I didn’t. I don’t know if it’s my copy (ebook) but some commas were missing thereby creating run-on sentences
The pace:
The first 50% was addicting. I couldn’t stop reading. After the 60% mark, I was pushing myself to finish the book. I had lost all interest by then. Too much stuff going on and yet I was… bored. I think the main problem with this book is the pacing or lack thereof. It was certainly an action-packed book. Characters barely stop to take a break. But I think it was exactly what we needed: a break for us and the characters to absorb things (I’ll get into this more in the minor spoilers part).
The book somehow redeemed itself in a small way that made me consider reading the sequel, not by the last 80% which should be unputdownable in any fantasy book and make you unable to stop reading (because they bored me) but by the very last scene because… this book ends with a cliffhanger. Those who hate waiting for sequels when there’s a cliffhanger, you might want to know that beforehand.
Okay now to the minor spoilers part which includes bits about the plot and more characters names.
Starting with the more precise summary of the events (first few chapters):In the Ice, they have a tradition. They throw the “broken” children in a pit because they won’t be able to survive the hard weather. Some might be too fast, others too big and need to eat more, or simply suffer from a physical deformity.
Every 4 years, a priest examines the children from all the ice tribes and throw the broken into the pit.
Yaz always worried that this would be her fate, she tired too fast for an Ictha. Yet, on the examination day, she was spared only to have her brother Zeen considered unworthy. Not bearing to leave him to die, she jumps after him. While she doesn’t find her brother, she meets a whole new community of people living underground. These broken mostly didn’t die. Some, however, were taken by the tainted, those who have devils under their skins for contacting the black ice.
While discovering a new ability to be able to connect to the “stars”, she is determined to rescue her brother at all costs.
✦ So Yaz meets a whole bunch of new people. Yet, without knowing them even for a few days, she expects them to join her to accomplish her VERY dangerous mission. She didn’t even lay out a reasonable plan. That is very selfish and rash, people have been killed before on a similar mission and they were fighters who know a lot more than she does about the place (which is basically not much, one can only learn so much in 2 days). And the thing is, the plot works from time to time for her benefit regardless of her skills/action.
Her time with the Broken was too short. She barely learned about them when everything starts to happen all at once. At the very least, in my opinion, she should’ve spent a week with them before all the action started. We don’t even need to learn everything there is to know this week. But this is an unfamiliar place, therefore it would have made snese if she had time to unravel more about it. She needs allies. Contrary to popular belief, people who just found themselves miraculously alive, won’t be in a hurry to risk their lives for a strangerwhich they did anyway , it simply doesn’t make sense. Yaz should’ve been smart enough to realize that.
✦ Erris was simply too convenient.
✦ I honestly can’t get over how she made a very stupid decision only for things to work out anyway (regarding that decision). I hate what became of some characters because they wanted to help her. She didn’t just risk her life but theirs as well. And it didn’t end well at all for some yet she showed little remorse
✦ I absolutely can’t stand it when characters decide not to kill because oh they’re too noble or whatever. Alright, look, we live in a very different reality, I’m also against capital punishment. But in books, we rarely have easy access to prisons (aka filing a suit, prosecution, etc), or a fair justice system (at least in most countries when it comes to serial killers), they cannot simply rot in prison. No, they’d escape. Or they won’t get imprisoned in the first place. Someone who has killed dozens at least, if you don’t kill them, even if they were at one point human, they will kill again. They won’t care. So yes, better to kill them. Sometimes it does serve the plot like the save the hero somehow or become a better person or something. Other times, which is the most recurrent, they laugh and are ready to stab the hero again. I don’t think a cannibal has any hope for redemption. I couldn’t stand Yaz’s no don’t kill them!! Dude, they will kill people next time they meet one, you even witnessed it with your own eyes! This is simply foolish.
We also had a reference from the bible and another of a poem from our world personal theory based on these 2 things:does this mean Abeth is future earth and the Missing are us? Especially since we had words like electricity thrown. I do not think the people living there are us because they say the marjals, gerants, hunska, etc, came in ships to this world. Unless they mean spaceships, I don’t know how it can work so Lawrence better give us an explanation in the next book
This is it for now, I might add more to it later.
In sum, I’m angry at this book for its wasted potential, some of you won’t mind the turns Mark took and will enjoy it regardless. Sadly, I didn’t. I don’t know if I will be reading the sequel, there’s a considerable chance that I might, however, there will more love triangle rectangle whatever going on, and I do not think I want to read about that. I’m not even rooting for any of the candidates!
“This is cool
Can’t wait to know what happens next
Wow interesting
What... what’s happening...
Hey why are you doing that!
I’m so bored, do I still have many pages to read...
Of course! Still tedious.
Last page: ahaa, I wonder what next...”
then the books ends.
It saddens me to say that The Girl and the Stars that started so promising and exciting, ended up being so disappointing and boring. And not because of lack of action, from chapter one, the story consumes you and you want to know more. But we’ll discuss all that later.
>> A few things you might want to know before starting this book:
➊ The Girl and the Stars isn’t another Red Sister, which was a total badass and awesome book. Yaz isn’t another Nona Grey, she instead becomes one of those YA heroines we dislike (at least I did).
➋ I do not recommend this book if you haven’t read the original trilogy, Book of the Ancestor. I wouldn’t even recommend reading it if you have only read the first book because it has spoilers on specific matters. But nothing that ruins the book, of course. You can still read this book separately but it is a spin-off and you’ll probably find yourself confused from time to time.
➌ If you’re a solid Mark Lawrence fan, you’ll probably like this book. But then again, maybe not. It’s very different from his other novels since this one leans too much on the YA genre.
➍ I read this book without reading the description (which was vague when I read it later) and that is for the best, the action started from chapter one so it is better to know little about the plot before diving in. I think Goodreads’ description is perfect in that regard. I will provide however a small hidden summary in the minor spoilers.
————
This review will be broken into two parts: one free of spoilers and the other with minor ones because I can only be so vague on some of the issues I had with this book (of course there will be a warning).
The main reason why I wanted to read this book is because of Zole, she’s from the ice tribes and the world she lived in as well as her abilities were very interesting. Doubtless, since Yaz is from one of the ice tribes as well, we learn more about them but at the same time, so much more about the world that we didn’t know in Book of the Ancestor trilogy. Honestly, what is frustrating is that the novel could’ve been pretty good: solid world-building, likable characters (at first), action-packed, and a promising story. But the turns it later took and the paths it chose to reach the end were disappointing and questionable.
The book relied too heavily on the pace, it is not a character-driven book. Using philosophical lines now and then and monologues don’t make it so.
I really like Mark Lawrence and respect the man a great deal, he has undoubtedly made himself a name among talented fantasy authors. Although, I did not like Prince of Thorns (I couldn’t stand that horrible MC), I very much enjoyed Red Sister and its sequels. I wouldn’t consider Book of the Ancestor trilogy YA even if Nona was a teenager, not only because of the gore but not every book with a young main character can be labeled “YA”. Prince of Thorns, of course, isn’t even though the MC is 14. My point is “YA” books have a certain feel to them that makes them identifiable based on elements unrelated to the MC’s age.
I have no idea if authors determine the genre of their books, but in my humble opinion and as someone who has read many YA, this book undoubtedly can be categorized as Young-Adult. It certainly deals with darker themes than the usual, case in point, the tainted. But the fact remains that the Girl and the Stars, other than the title itself, features many YA tropes, such as:
✦ Most of the characters are under 18, not mature, and well teens. And behaved like ones. Not to say this is bad but Nona (Red Sister) was always mature beyond her years.
✦ Yaz is special.
✦ A love-square. Yep, and each guy is jealous of the other. Even if they only knew her for a few days. The heck?
✦ Yaz taking up leadership.
✦ Yaz wanting to risk everyone for her mission and not making a proper plan.
✦ We don’t kill killers mantra.
And so on and so forth.
Now I know these can be found in any book but they are the most prominent in YA. Sometimes, the MC being special doesn’t turn out bad but in this case, it kinda did. Those who share Yaz’s powers in Red Sister needed to train a lot to master them. Yet, here, although her power is rawer and not poised, she was able to use them too well for a newbie.
Conclusion: do not expect an “adult” book (this is mostly what this book is shelved under at the time of writing this review) and be ready for YA vibes.
The characters:
- I quite liked Yaz. At first. She was courageous, determined, and not the complaining type. But after a while, she wore me out. She was deadly focused on her goal to the point that she was ready to risk everyone and act without planning ahead. I hate when characters do this (this is again popular in YA). I mean hold on a bit (this is another issue that I’ll get to later, I think it’s more because of the pace if anything).
- The other characters were one-dimensional. I couldn’t care about any of them in particular. Maybe Therin. But the rest were meh until they surprise us with a “oh no, I didn’t see that coming”. It gets boring. Not that it made me like them any better. They were so many and none was given the needed amount of time for us to develop any feelings towards her/him.
Conclusion: the characters weren’t interesting nor relatable.
The world-building:
This is where Lawrence excels at in this book. It was well-developed and thank God, no info dump (though I did not like the gods' story parts). I quite love the world Mr. Mark weaved, it’s intriguing, creative, full of mysteries, and possibilities. Even if I already read the original trilogy, this book offered new revelations to the table and exactly what I wanted! We learn more about the missing, the black ice, the tainted, and so much more! If only the story took a different turn to reach the end!
The writing:
Undeniably, Mark Lawrence’s writing is rich and superb. Yet, the descriptions were often too long (and imagine how someone who haven’t seen much because of their living conditions trying to describe things they’ve never seen before). It was also confusing occasionally, at some points, I had to read the dialogue/paragraph several times to make sense of it and sometimes I didn’t. I don’t know if it’s my copy (ebook) but some commas were missing thereby creating run-on sentences
The pace:
The first 50% was addicting. I couldn’t stop reading. After the 60% mark, I was pushing myself to finish the book. I had lost all interest by then. Too much stuff going on and yet I was… bored. I think the main problem with this book is the pacing or lack thereof. It was certainly an action-packed book. Characters barely stop to take a break. But I think it was exactly what we needed: a break for us and the characters to absorb things (I’ll get into this more in the minor spoilers part).
The book somehow redeemed itself in a small way that made me consider reading the sequel, not by the last 80% which should be unputdownable in any fantasy book and make you unable to stop reading (because they bored me) but by the very last scene because… this book ends with a cliffhanger. Those who hate waiting for sequels when there’s a cliffhanger, you might want to know that beforehand.
Okay now to the minor spoilers part which includes bits about the plot and more characters names.
Starting with the more precise summary of the events (first few chapters):
Every 4 years, a priest examines the children from all the ice tribes and throw the broken into the pit.
Yaz always worried that this would be her fate, she tired too fast for an Ictha. Yet, on the examination day, she was spared only to have her brother Zeen considered unworthy. Not bearing to leave him to die, she jumps after him. While she doesn’t find her brother, she meets a whole new community of people living underground. These broken mostly didn’t die. Some, however, were taken by the tainted, those who have devils under their skins for contacting the black ice.
While discovering a new ability to be able to connect to the “stars”, she is determined to rescue her brother at all costs.
✦ So Yaz meets a whole bunch of new people. Yet, without knowing them even for a few days, she expects them to join her to accomplish her VERY dangerous mission. She didn’t even lay out a reasonable plan. That is very selfish and rash, people have been killed before on a similar mission and they were fighters who know a lot more than she does about the place (which is basically not much, one can only learn so much in 2 days). And the thing is, the plot works from time to time for her benefit regardless of her skills/action.
Her time with the Broken was too short. She barely learned about them when everything starts to happen all at once. At the very least, in my opinion, she should’ve spent a week with them before all the action started. We don’t even need to learn everything there is to know this week. But this is an unfamiliar place, therefore it would have made snese if she had time to unravel more about it. She needs allies. Contrary to popular belief, people who just found themselves miraculously alive, won’t be in a hurry to risk their lives for a stranger
✦ Erris was simply too convenient.
✦ I honestly can’t get over how she made a very stupid decision only for things to work out anyway (regarding that decision).
✦ I absolutely can’t stand it when characters decide not to kill because oh they’re too noble or whatever. Alright, look, we live in a very different reality, I’m also against capital punishment. But in books, we rarely have easy access to prisons (aka filing a suit, prosecution, etc), or a fair justice system (at least in most countries when it comes to serial killers), they cannot simply rot in prison. No, they’d escape. Or they won’t get imprisoned in the first place. Someone who has killed dozens at least, if you don’t kill them, even if they were at one point human, they will kill again. They won’t care. So yes, better to kill them. Sometimes it does serve the plot like the save the hero somehow or become a better person or something. Other times, which is the most recurrent, they laugh and are ready to stab the hero again. I don’t think a cannibal has any hope for redemption. I couldn’t stand Yaz’s no don’t kill them!! Dude, they will kill people next time they meet one, you even witnessed it with your own eyes! This is simply foolish.
We also had a reference from the bible and another of a poem from our world personal theory based on these 2 things:
This is it for now, I might add more to it later.
In sum, I’m angry at this book for its wasted potential, some of you won’t mind the turns Mark took and will enjoy it regardless. Sadly, I didn’t. I don’t know if I will be reading the sequel, there’s a considerable chance that I might, however, there will more love triangle rectangle whatever going on, and I do not think I want to read about that. I’m not even rooting for any of the candidates!