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just_one_more_paige 's review for:
Soul of Stars
by Ashley Poston
This review originally appeared on the book review blog: Just One More Pa(i)ge.
“Love didn’t have to be a big thing. It just had to be present…”
Followed up quickly on my reading of Heart of Iron with the sequel, and the wrap-up of the duology, Soul of Stars. Since the first one was so nonstop, it left me wanting to get to the end of the story as soon as possible. So I grabbed it from the library the next day (thankfully it was available and I didn’t have to sit on a waitlist for it) and here we are.
At the end of Heart of Iron, the whole crew of the Dossier is together, new members and all, with the exception of Di… His “body” was taken over by the evil HIVE. And Ana will take all the risks in her desperation to find a way to save Di. When those risks lead the crew into some even worse situations than before, they end up having to go to every extreme not only to save themselves and Di, but also their entire world, from an even bigger evil than they thought: the Great Dark.
The story that began as a reasonably familiar one, that of the “lost princess” Anastasia, took some massive turns away from the recognizable in this follow-up. Which, honestly, is good. I feel like Ana finding out who she really was ended the tale we all know…and how she takes up her new mantle is a new story. In this case, it comes with defeating the Great Dark and saving her world. So, overall, I really liked that redirect in the story. And, where I ended the last one being very confused about the Great Dark and what the story behind that evil is, this one mostly cleared that up. I still think there isn’t a good enough “back story” to why the Great Dark exists, what its goals are, where it came from, etc. but I am willing to accept that it’s been around so long that legends of its origins are forgotten. It’s an easy out, but for the sake of the story, I’ll go with it. On the other hand, the explanations about the combination of magic and technology/science that make up the HIVE and the Great Dark were much better elaborated on here. That combination is one that I don’t often see (really the only other example of it I can think of it Charlie Jane Anders’ All the Birds in the Sky, which was not my favorite), but at least I ended up understanding it by the end. So again, I’m reasonably happy with that. The last plot point I’ll discuss, and vaguely, in an effort to avoid any spoilers, is the ending. I like the semi-open-ended-ness of it all. The fact that this was not, necessarily, the be-all-end-all of the Great Dark was unique. And it helped avoid too much heavy-handedness a far as “chosen one” and “the one way to destroy it” tropes. Maybe not everyone is into that, but I liked the distinctiveness of it. It may have been done a bit too vaguely, but I applaud the effort.
As for the rest, the characters definitely stole the show for me. As I said before, I am a sucker for a rag-tag outlaw group, so the bonds of crew of the Dossier remains my favorite aspect. I loved that they added a new person, Elara, and the role she played…and her Metal, Xu, but they were more of a background character than anything else. I loved what we learned about Siege’s background, the continued impressiveness as far as the reach of her connections, her love for her crew, and the way she has “adopted” Ana, Jax and, now, Robb especially. In connection with that, what we learn about Di’s background, basically his origin story, if you will, was incredibly interesting (and enlightening). Ana’s story, while ostensibly the primary focus, was good as well. Not my favorite of the bunch, after we are finished with her Anastasia parallels, but that’s personal preference more than anything else. But the biggest thing I want to point out, a repeat from my last review (and repeated again here, louder, for those in the back) is: ROBB and JAX 4EVA! Yaaaaaassssss – I love them both. Their stories separately are two of the most compelling, as far as growth, and their story together just hits all the right swoon vibes. They’re definitely my favorites – the highlight(s) for me, for sure.
I have to be honest, I thought this duology opened a bit stronger than it finished (as in, the first book was better than this second installment). But even still, the pacing and action of the plot in this second book was nonstop and the character interactions and relationships were all well written and generally compelling. I liked the way everything was wrapped up – it was satisfying and emotionally evocative (I teared up a bit). A very fun and entertaining YA sci-fi duology, one that I quite enjoyed overall.
“Love didn’t have to be a big thing. It just had to be present…”
Followed up quickly on my reading of Heart of Iron with the sequel, and the wrap-up of the duology, Soul of Stars. Since the first one was so nonstop, it left me wanting to get to the end of the story as soon as possible. So I grabbed it from the library the next day (thankfully it was available and I didn’t have to sit on a waitlist for it) and here we are.
At the end of Heart of Iron, the whole crew of the Dossier is together, new members and all, with the exception of Di… His “body” was taken over by the evil HIVE. And Ana will take all the risks in her desperation to find a way to save Di. When those risks lead the crew into some even worse situations than before, they end up having to go to every extreme not only to save themselves and Di, but also their entire world, from an even bigger evil than they thought: the Great Dark.
The story that began as a reasonably familiar one, that of the “lost princess” Anastasia, took some massive turns away from the recognizable in this follow-up. Which, honestly, is good. I feel like Ana finding out who she really was ended the tale we all know…and how she takes up her new mantle is a new story. In this case, it comes with defeating the Great Dark and saving her world. So, overall, I really liked that redirect in the story. And, where I ended the last one being very confused about the Great Dark and what the story behind that evil is, this one mostly cleared that up. I still think there isn’t a good enough “back story” to why the Great Dark exists, what its goals are, where it came from, etc. but I am willing to accept that it’s been around so long that legends of its origins are forgotten. It’s an easy out, but for the sake of the story, I’ll go with it. On the other hand, the explanations about the combination of magic and technology/science that make up the HIVE and the Great Dark were much better elaborated on here. That combination is one that I don’t often see (really the only other example of it I can think of it Charlie Jane Anders’ All the Birds in the Sky, which was not my favorite), but at least I ended up understanding it by the end. So again, I’m reasonably happy with that. The last plot point I’ll discuss, and vaguely, in an effort to avoid any spoilers, is the ending. I like the semi-open-ended-ness of it all. The fact that this was not, necessarily, the be-all-end-all of the Great Dark was unique. And it helped avoid too much heavy-handedness a far as “chosen one” and “the one way to destroy it” tropes. Maybe not everyone is into that, but I liked the distinctiveness of it. It may have been done a bit too vaguely, but I applaud the effort.
As for the rest, the characters definitely stole the show for me. As I said before, I am a sucker for a rag-tag outlaw group, so the bonds of crew of the Dossier remains my favorite aspect. I loved that they added a new person, Elara, and the role she played…and her Metal, Xu, but they were more of a background character than anything else. I loved what we learned about Siege’s background, the continued impressiveness as far as the reach of her connections, her love for her crew, and the way she has “adopted” Ana, Jax and, now, Robb especially. In connection with that, what we learn about Di’s background, basically his origin story, if you will, was incredibly interesting (and enlightening). Ana’s story, while ostensibly the primary focus, was good as well. Not my favorite of the bunch, after we are finished with her Anastasia parallels, but that’s personal preference more than anything else. But the biggest thing I want to point out, a repeat from my last review (and repeated again here, louder, for those in the back) is: ROBB and JAX 4EVA! Yaaaaaassssss – I love them both. Their stories separately are two of the most compelling, as far as growth, and their story together just hits all the right swoon vibes. They’re definitely my favorites – the highlight(s) for me, for sure.
I have to be honest, I thought this duology opened a bit stronger than it finished (as in, the first book was better than this second installment). But even still, the pacing and action of the plot in this second book was nonstop and the character interactions and relationships were all well written and generally compelling. I liked the way everything was wrapped up – it was satisfying and emotionally evocative (I teared up a bit). A very fun and entertaining YA sci-fi duology, one that I quite enjoyed overall.