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ninetalevixen 's review for:
Of Kindred and Stardust
by Archer Kay Leah
I received an advance review copy through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest. Quotes come from the ARC and may change upon publication.
3.5 stars.
I requested this ARC to ward off my impending post-Wayfarers book hangover, since I just could not get enough of queer characters in space; Of Kindred and Stardust turned out to be totally different, an interesting reading experience in its own right.
There are some really great quotable passages; some readers might find them a bit much, but I felt they were well incorporated into the narrative flow and beautifully written.
I also appreciated the representation [listed below, under a spoiler tag] which is not at all mainstream. I hadn't been expecting the pagan elements to be as prominent as they were; while I can't speak to their integrity, I found them really interesting, and they added some more dimension to the characters. (On the other hand, I was aware of and excited for the polyam representation — I've always loved that the fantasy setting means that cis-het-monogamous doesn't have to be treated as the default.)
At times Dath's narration (and the chapter titles) are reminiscent of Percy Jackson — if he were older and swore like asailor astrobiologist. It's sarcastic, slightly self-loathing ... and if I'm being honest, a bit cheesy in parts.
Unfortunately the POV switches felt a little unbalanced: somewhere between a primary POV supplemented by others, and a traditional split-POV. This made it a little difficult to connect with the characters and took some of the suspense out of the story, but it hardly ruined the narrative.
Finally, I found the resolution a bit abrupt/choppy. Actually the plot in general wasn't as compelling as I had hoped, especially considering my love for second-chance romances and, again, my appreciation for the diverse characters and relationships. There's a lot of emotion flying around, but I just wanted more out of this book.
content warnings:
rep:
3.5 stars.
I requested this ARC to ward off my impending post-Wayfarers book hangover, since I just could not get enough of queer characters in space; Of Kindred and Stardust turned out to be totally different, an interesting reading experience in its own right.
Maybe that's what we all were in the end: individual leaves on the universal tree, dancing, waving, and taking in the light until the universe let us go, giving us its blessing to find our own way and a place to fall, rest, and leave the world with whatever we'd done along the way.
There are some really great quotable passages; some readers might find them a bit much, but I felt they were well incorporated into the narrative flow and beautifully written.
I also appreciated the representation [listed below, under a spoiler tag] which is not at all mainstream. I hadn't been expecting the pagan elements to be as prominent as they were; while I can't speak to their integrity, I found them really interesting, and they added some more dimension to the characters. (On the other hand, I was aware of and excited for the polyam representation — I've always loved that the fantasy setting means that cis-het-monogamous doesn't have to be treated as the default.)
My feelings were set on Fucking Complicated, while my body was set to Shitastic and quickly moving onto Freshly Frozen Hell.
At times Dath's narration (and the chapter titles) are reminiscent of Percy Jackson — if he were older and swore like a
Unfortunately the POV switches felt a little unbalanced: somewhere between a primary POV supplemented by others, and a traditional split-POV. This made it a little difficult to connect with the characters and took some of the suspense out of the story, but it hardly ruined the narrative.
Finally, I found the resolution a bit abrupt/choppy. Actually the plot in general wasn't as compelling as I had hoped, especially considering my love for second-chance romances and, again, my appreciation for the diverse characters and relationships. There's a lot of emotion flying around, but I just wanted more out of this book.
content warnings:
Spoiler
referenced loss of loved one (sibling), explicit sexual contentrep: