Very easy and entertaining read

Amaya is a girl trying to claw her way up from a dark, clouded past and get revenge on the man who took her childhood from her. Cayo is the son of that man. Their stories twist, tangle, and intermingle as Amaya's thirst for answers grows and Cayo comes into clarity regarding his family's wealth. They both struggle with the concept of right and wrong -- revenge and complacency -- and stumble across a bloodthirsty, vengeance-driven plot that threatens to destroy their entire city.

This book is rapid-paced, LGBTQ+ affirming, and character-driven. It left me more than eager for book two. I think the twists are a little bit predictable (even the ones I suspect will be revealed in book two), but in more of the fun ah-hah! way. My only gripe was with the ending-- I think I've been especially picky about endings lately, so maybe take this gripe with a grain of salt if they aren't so important to you. It felt rushed. We were building and building and then BOOM. Events. Action. Betrayal. Gasp. I had to re-read a good bit of the ending to make sure I hadn't missed something. But all-in-all...highly recommend. Can't wait to hand this off to one of my students.

reread: i actually enjoyed this even more the second time

DNF. This one just isn't doing it for me. I'd rather read The Count of Monte Cristo again.

Overall, I a liked this book, but i did not love it. I did like both very different POV and loved the court policies that were the main focus of this novel. I thought however the pacing was not as strong and the book did not grab my attention from page one. There was some flashback moments that I wish had been clearer. I liked the sexual representation in this read overall. I also really liked the elements of found family and the sea themed elements. I like the ending however and we be checking out book 2!

Scavenge The Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What an adventure! From the first page I was drawn in to the enthralling story of Amaya and Cayo. This gender-swapped retelling of Count of Monte Cristo is refreshing in its tale while still bringing out nostalgia from the original source.

This book shares the struggle of identity as the world Amaya and Cayo have known shatters with truth. As Amaya seeks revenge for her lost childhood, Cayo searches desperately for ways to fix the world around him. They dance around each other, their stories intertwining and propelling each other forward.

I did struggle with timeline as it’s not always clear when things are happening in relation to the story’s present. Some of that is obviously intentional, but it wasn’t resolved well when Amaya and Cayo’s stories finally converge.

Overall a fantastic read though for fans of the original or not. I cannot wait to read the sequel.

*3.75 stars

This was a harder one to rate. I enjoyed it, although I felt like it was a little disjointed. Like it was maybe trying to tell too many stories at once - or no, maybe just that the stories it was trying to tell didn't really seem to mesh? I'm not sure. It ended up working out in the end, and the vibes were cool, very 2005 Pirates of the Caribbean, and I did enjoy it overall, although the title I felt was a tad misleading. Where was the scavenging? Where were the stars? And even as a metaphor, it didn't really work - it felt, again, disconnected.

I'm complaining a lot for a book I gave (on goodreads' whack system anyway) four stars. I really did like it, and I will continue on and will definitely read more from this author. The prose was really smooth and nice to read, and I like the characters. A solid pirate novel.

I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

That was….underwhelming. Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim is the first book in her series of the same name. It is touted as a gender-bent retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. That alone is why I wanted to read it, but it fell short on so many levels.

The story opens on a debtor’s ship where Silverfish, formerly known as Amaya, spends her days hunting for pearls, waiting til she has enough to buy her way to freedom. When one day, so close to freedom, she helps save a man that is drifting and drowning in the sea, Silverfish finds herself running for her life. Boon, the man she saved, offers her a deal. Let him train her, and she can return to Moray, her home, with his wealth. There’s one catch though: she must help him bring down the man he feels responsible for his own situation, Kamon Mercado.

Amaya is a contradiction of a character. She is ruthless in her pursuit for revenge, not caring who she brings down in the process. Yet she cares about the other kids left on the debtor’s ship. So much so that she bargains with Boon to buy the ship and set them free. They are now under her care where they will stay until her job is finished. Amaya is easy to like. While she operates in a gray area of the law (and morality), she is focused and determined, loyal and caring in her own ways. I immediately rooted for her.

Then there’s Cato, the infamous son of Kamon Mercado, who Amaya is tasked with befriending. I’m not really sure how I feel about him. He used to spend his nights in the Vice Sector of the city gambling, drinking, and having relations (to put it nicely) with anything with two legs. He drug the family name through the mud, and now that they are broke, he is trying his best to live up to his father’s expectations and help rebuild the family name. Cato is hard to like. He wears a mantle of shame around and has very little self-esteem. I felt bad for him, but a lot of what happens to him in this book (and his past) falls squarely on his shoulders. His own actions bring about a lot of the trouble he faces. I really wanted to reach through the book, smack him and tell him to take responsibility for his actions.

While I like the characters and premise of the story, it fell apart for me in its execution. The first portion of the story is action-packed, then when Amaya returns to Moray, the plot and action stop. The back and forth POV between Amaya and Cato is distracting and does not flow well within the plot. While eventually these two separate storylines, converge, until they do, Cato’s story seems to serve one purpose: make the reader empathetic to him. It failed with me, and instead I found myself skimming his chapters to get back to the main story.

Overall, Scavenge the Stars was an okay read for me. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. I would have enjoyed the story more without Cato’s POV. I liked Amaya and her self-made mission. While her morality lived in the gray in-between area, she is laser-focused on her own goals and what she wants from the rest of her life. If you enjoy dystopian fantasy, I believe you may enjoy this one.

This review first appeared on Mom with a Reading Problem. To see it and other reviews, follow the link.