A Dark and Hollow Star
Ratings17
Average rating3.7
“Beautifully written and deliciously complex…I couldn’t get enough.” —Nicki Pau Preto, author of the Crown of Feathers series The Cruel Prince meets City of Bones in this thrilling urban fantasy set in the magical underworld of Toronto that follows a queer cast of characters racing to stop a serial killer whose crimes could expose the hidden world of faeries to humans. Choose your player. The “ironborn” half-fae outcast of her royal fae family. A tempestuous Fury, exiled to earth from the Immortal Realm and hellbent on revenge. A dutiful fae prince, determined to earn his place on the throne. The prince’s brooding guardian, burdened with a terrible secret. For centuries, the Eight Courts of Folk have lived among us, concealed by magic and bound by law to do no harm to humans. This arrangement has long kept peace in the Courts—until a series of gruesome and ritualistic murders rocks the city of Toronto and threatens to expose faeries to the human world. Four queer teens, each who hold a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer behind these crimes. If they fail, they risk the destruction of the faerie and human worlds alike. If that’s not bad enough, there’s a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal Realms, and one of these teens is destined to tip the scales. The only question is: which way? Wish them luck. They’re going to need it.
Tags
Content Warning
Series
Featured Series
4 primary booksHollow Star Saga
Hollow Star Saga is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2021 with contributions by Ashley Shuttleworth.
Reviews
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DNFed midway through.
I messaged a friend and she told me the rest of the plot and let me just say, it was weird, doesn't make sense or add up.
What bugged me the most about this book is the lengthy descriptions lasting more than an paragraph to a whole page, about places and people we only see once. It wasn't engaging snd I zoned out for most of it, but towards the end I skipped.
Oh and the fantasy names! I really struggled with some of them, so my review is going to be the names I ended up giving them in my head.
Naus — AKA the Celena Sardothian of this book. She was bad ass, an immortal in a mortal body and downright rude. I liked her at first but other than trying to force the character to be the stereotypical badass female character “I'm not afraid of anything” there was nothing to her personality.
Aleco— the most wet wipe of a character there has been. No backbone (yet she can sneak into a club?) let's people push her around and ugh I hated her. She's 18 and still lets her mother ground her. Like wtf? She's 18!
Alrau... something. — as a quiet broody character he was fine. Could be better but fine.
Vehan — on the best one out of them all! Decisive, confident and determined to find who's behind the deaths. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE! But what really pissed me off that all the issues between Al and Vehan could have been resolved if I don't know they actually spoke to one another?
3.5/5
I really enjoyed the setting and characters of this book, but i found the world building a little had to understand at first.
I am sometimes a bit sniffy about YA, but this one I thoroughly enjoyed. This one uses an Urban Fantasy/Fae setting but the stakes and the fantasy are really well constructed. The title refers to two of the main characters the ‘Dark Star', a fallen immortal who has a tendency to create mischief, and the ‘Hollow Star', a half-fae half-human who has been chosen by Luck as their champion and removed from the whims of Fate. The mythology and world building is one of the strong points of this story. Ashley Shuttleworth has created a very well realised Fae world within the real world. Various Fae courts representing the different seasons have built their secret lives into some of the major cities.
The main plot involves a sinister plot by some disgruntled Alchemist (a forbidden science in this world) that affects both the Fae and the human world. Our protagonists are drawn into this plot as the King of the Fae Courts refuses to get involved. There is a good sense of peril throughout as the various creations of this alchemist are let loose on the world. The interactions and motivations for the main characters are also interestingly portrayed. Even the love interest (which is usually the weakest part of any YA) is done in a way which is sympathetic and not too teenage angsty.
One criticism - this book could easily have mass appeal, but the cover art is not the most enticing to people outside of the usual Fae fantasy market.
