This book gave me a similar feel to The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson. I quite enjoyed it over all.
Of Fire and Stars follows a split POV between Mare and Denna. Denna is a foreign princess betrothed to the crown prince of Mynaria, and Mare is the princess of Mynaria, but they fall in love, despite Denna being promised to her brother.
It contains, secret magic, war and politics, and a breathtaking slow-burn romance.
I absolutely adored Mare and Denna’s romance, and it never felt too rushed or too slow for me. The plot also captivated me. Though it was slow at times, it never dragged or bored me. The ending did feel a tad rushed and chaotic, and some things seemed to get wrapped up in a bow a little too neatly to be believable, and I saw most of the plot twists coming from miles away. None of these things particularly bothered me, though.
The one major problem I had with the book was the secondary and side characters. Mare and Denna were well developed and I had an easy time connecting with their narratives and they felt fully fleshed out and individual. The same can’t be said for any of the other characters. The only other character I formed any attachment to was Nils, and minorly, Ellaeni. Everyone else just felt as if they were there to play their role in moving the story forward and nothing more. They lacked dimension, motivation, and character. They were very shallow and two dimensional.
This didn’t take away from the story majorly for me, but I definitely think, had the side characters been fleshed out more, Of Fire and Stars would have been one of the best novels I’ve read and an easy 5 star rating.
Over all, it definitely has flaws, and you can tell it's a debut novel, but I definitely still highly recommend it if you’re looking for a sweet, romantic fantasy, or if you’re a fan of The Remnant Chronicles.