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This was fun! Honestly though, the best part was how delightfully, supremely bisexual Cayo is.
The setup here is centred around Amaya, who has been working on board a debtor ship since she was a young child, paying off her father's debts by diving for pearls. When we start off, she has finally paid off the debt and can leave, yay! She also happens to rescue a mysterious man, and he agrees to help her get revenge on the guy who was running this awful child labour scheme.
So, she disguises herself as nobility and tries to get close to the son of that awful guy, Cayo. Just as much of this story is about Cayo, who is struggling to work through his gambling addiction, his sister is sick, and his dad's got some business problems. Plus his ex-boyfriend has his own gambling problems and wants Cayo to help him out.
Just as much of this book is about Cayo as is about Amaya; the chapters alternate, and there's a romance that eventually develops.
This book was darker than I expected. There's violence and death and some kind of shockingly awful things happen that I'll be remembering for quite a while. There were also a couple of plot twists that surprised me! And the romance that was slowly developing definitely felt believable, gradual, and not forced or out of place.
Also I liked the bits of mental health things that come up--in particular Cayo's difficulties with gambling. It was great to see that kind of thing thoughtfully represented in a young adult fantasy novel.
The book didn't feel like the most original thing I've ever read, and the worldbuilding in particular felt quite bland, but I liked the characters, how fierce Amaya is, and, like I said, how delightfully bisexual Cayo is. There's also a very minor nonbinary character, and I liked how this was smoothly welcomed into the worldbuilding and easily accepted.
I'm tagging this as fantasy since it's a made-up world, but it's another of these in the new style of "fantasy" with no actual magic (at least not yet). I prefer lotsa magic in my stories... Also can't quite sort out what the title has to do with the story. What do stars have to do with anything, again? I'm not sure.
But I would recommend this for sure! Especially if you, like me, are on constant lookout for queer fantasy!
The setup here is centred around Amaya, who has been working on board a debtor ship since she was a young child, paying off her father's debts by diving for pearls. When we start off, she has finally paid off the debt and can leave, yay! She also happens to rescue a mysterious man, and he agrees to help her get revenge on the guy who was running this awful child labour scheme.
So, she disguises herself as nobility and tries to get close to the son of that awful guy, Cayo. Just as much of this story is about Cayo, who is struggling to work through his gambling addiction, his sister is sick, and his dad's got some business problems. Plus his ex-boyfriend has his own gambling problems and wants Cayo to help him out.
Just as much of this book is about Cayo as is about Amaya; the chapters alternate, and there's a romance that eventually develops.
This book was darker than I expected. There's violence and death and some kind of shockingly awful things happen that I'll be remembering for quite a while. There were also a couple of plot twists that surprised me! And the romance that was slowly developing definitely felt believable, gradual, and not forced or out of place.
Also I liked the bits of mental health things that come up--in particular Cayo's difficulties with gambling. It was great to see that kind of thing thoughtfully represented in a young adult fantasy novel.
The book didn't feel like the most original thing I've ever read, and the worldbuilding in particular felt quite bland, but I liked the characters, how fierce Amaya is, and, like I said, how delightfully bisexual Cayo is. There's also a very minor nonbinary character, and I liked how this was smoothly welcomed into the worldbuilding and easily accepted.
I'm tagging this as fantasy since it's a made-up world, but it's another of these in the new style of "fantasy" with no actual magic (at least not yet). I prefer lotsa magic in my stories... Also can't quite sort out what the title has to do with the story. What do stars have to do with anything, again? I'm not sure.
But I would recommend this for sure! Especially if you, like me, are on constant lookout for queer fantasy!
I'm just going to start off by saying I have not read The Count of Monte Cristo - I think I may have seen part of the movie, but I honestly can't remember. So, this book was all new to me. And it was pretty fun.
When we meet Amaya, she's serving out her debt sentence aboard a slavers ship. She spots a man overboard and goes against the captain's wishes and saves the man. Thus changing her life forever.
This story is told in two different times: the past and the present. And they mesh together in a way that I found a little confusing at first because when it's first presented, you don't think it's past & present but boy and girl. So that took a hot minute but it smoothed itself out fairly quickly.
This is a tale of revenge. Plain and simple. Although whose revenge is up for debate. Everyone has a secret and no one is who they say they are. Amaya wants to find out what happened to her family and get back at the Mercado family so she pretends to be a Countess. Cayo makes deals with devils to save his sister while stumbling on secrets that could destroy his family forever. Both are drawn to each other for very different reasons but by the end, the reasons are all the same. And I did love reading how they all came together.
I do have to say, for as smart as Amaya thought she was, she was pretty dumb. She trusted blindly and didn't question anything that she should have. But I guess that just goes to show that revenge does not bring the closure one needs. The ending left so much open that it pretty much guaranteed that I will be reading the sequel.
When we meet Amaya, she's serving out her debt sentence aboard a slavers ship. She spots a man overboard and goes against the captain's wishes and saves the man. Thus changing her life forever.
This story is told in two different times: the past and the present. And they mesh together in a way that I found a little confusing at first because when it's first presented, you don't think it's past & present but boy and girl. So that took a hot minute but it smoothed itself out fairly quickly.
This is a tale of revenge. Plain and simple. Although whose revenge is up for debate. Everyone has a secret and no one is who they say they are. Amaya wants to find out what happened to her family and get back at the Mercado family so she pretends to be a Countess. Cayo makes deals with devils to save his sister while stumbling on secrets that could destroy his family forever. Both are drawn to each other for very different reasons but by the end, the reasons are all the same. And I did love reading how they all came together.
I do have to say, for as smart as Amaya thought she was, she was pretty dumb. She trusted blindly and didn't question anything that she should have. But I guess that just goes to show that revenge does not bring the closure one needs. The ending left so much open that it pretty much guaranteed that I will be reading the sequel.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For a book inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo, the story itself was incredibly simple and told fairly straight-forwardly, but I think that works in its favor. I'm at the point where I'm starting to tire of long-winded society dramas so I appreciated it for having a bit of focus. Everyone's motivation is clear, with a natural twist or two popping up along the way, plus a great amount of casual queerness. Though the worldbuilding wasn't exactly intricate, there is a good sense of aesthetic and personality in the setting of Moray from its high status venues to the seedy gambling dens. I'm interested to see where the story goes in the sequel!
I really loved this book. It moves at a fast clip, and it's fun, if dark sometimes. Even when I was putting pieces of the puzzle together ahead of the MC, I enjoyed the ride so much that I wasn't bothered. The last scene feels a little cheap, just because it doesn't feel like the MC did anything to earn it. But still. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved everything about this Count of Monte Cristo retelling! The beginning was just predictable enough to keep up with the time jumps, but the middle to end was just so interesting—I felt like the story never dragged along. The characters were likable, the setting was spectacular, and the plot—The Plot!—was so well done with just enough deviation from the source material to keep it original, moving, and interesting!
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was a good book more inspired by Count of Monte Cristo instead of a reimaging. The book was intriguing enough for me to find the sequel.
3.5/5 stars
I enjoyed this one! Not a favorite, but quite an enjoyable fantasy.
I felt like the world-building was a bit lacking, but I also felt Sim develops her characters and plot well; I honestly didn’t know where the story was going to go, so I take that as a win
I enjoyed this one! Not a favorite, but quite an enjoyable fantasy.
I felt like the world-building was a bit lacking, but I also felt Sim develops her characters and plot well; I honestly didn’t know where the story was going to go, so I take that as a win