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wendy327 's review for:
Scavenge the Stars
by Tara Sim
I received a free copy from Disney Hyperion through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sold to a debtor's ship, Amaya has spent years serving under a ruthless commander as she tries to erase her debt. When she rescues a stranger from the seas, he promises her wealth and revenge on the man who ruined her life. In order to serve this revenge, Amaya must use the man's son, Cayo, but as she gets closer to Cayo and the truth, Amaya must make some hard decisions about what to do next and who to trust.
Billed as a gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo there are certainly undertones of the source material here. Since this is going to be a series, this felt like a mixture of the Edmond Dantès and initial emergence of the Count section of Dumas's novel. I say this because much of what transpired in Scavenge the Stars was a fact finding mission as Amaya learned how various threads in her life connected. Also, though she has been able to get revenge on some minor players by the end of the novel, the big three that seem modeled on Fernand Mondego, Danglars, and De Villefort are essentially still at large. I won't say who I believe each of Dumas's characters appears as in Scavenge the Stars since there are some reveals in the final quarter of the book that are worth waiting for.
The story itself is told from two viewpoints: Amaya Chandra and Cayo Mercado. If you enjoy dual points of view, this might be a great novel for you. As a reader, I felt the two perspectives allowed the reader to empathize with Amaya and Cayo who are also victims since they are both pawns in a larger game. I will say that I did find Amaya's viewpoint more intriguing as she grappled with her life on the debtor ship and then tried to reenter society.
This book was a bit slow as layers were added to a very complex plot that featured a large number of characters. In the final quarter of the book, the pace picked up and led to a climax that wraps up many of Amaya's and Cayo's discoveries and sets up the plot for the next installment. Overall, I did enjoy the novel and would read the sequel to continue Amaya's and Cayo's journey.
Sold to a debtor's ship, Amaya has spent years serving under a ruthless commander as she tries to erase her debt. When she rescues a stranger from the seas, he promises her wealth and revenge on the man who ruined her life. In order to serve this revenge, Amaya must use the man's son, Cayo, but as she gets closer to Cayo and the truth, Amaya must make some hard decisions about what to do next and who to trust.
Billed as a gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo there are certainly undertones of the source material here. Since this is going to be a series, this felt like a mixture of the Edmond Dantès and initial emergence of the Count section of Dumas's novel. I say this because much of what transpired in Scavenge the Stars was a fact finding mission as Amaya learned how various threads in her life connected. Also, though she has been able to get revenge on some minor players by the end of the novel, the big three that seem modeled on Fernand Mondego, Danglars, and De Villefort are essentially still at large. I won't say who I believe each of Dumas's characters appears as in Scavenge the Stars since there are some reveals in the final quarter of the book that are worth waiting for.
The story itself is told from two viewpoints: Amaya Chandra and Cayo Mercado. If you enjoy dual points of view, this might be a great novel for you. As a reader, I felt the two perspectives allowed the reader to empathize with Amaya and Cayo who are also victims since they are both pawns in a larger game. I will say that I did find Amaya's viewpoint more intriguing as she grappled with her life on the debtor ship and then tried to reenter society.
This book was a bit slow as layers were added to a very complex plot that featured a large number of characters. In the final quarter of the book, the pace picked up and led to a climax that wraps up many of Amaya's and Cayo's discoveries and sets up the plot for the next installment. Overall, I did enjoy the novel and would read the sequel to continue Amaya's and Cayo's journey.