"It was all real, Starlight. Everything we've been through. Everything I feel for you is real. When the dawn comes, please remember that."
4.5 ⭐️!!
✨ Tropes & Themes ✨
✔️ Star-Crossed Lovers
✔️ Villain Gets the Girl
✔️ Vampires, Fae, Celestials & so much Magic!
✔️ Secrets, Twists, & even more Secrets 🫠
✔️ Slow Burn goodness 🔥
✔️ Forbidden Romance
✔️ A total and complete mental SUCKERPUNCHHHH
*screams into the void*
I’ve seen this book poppin’ OFF on my socials, and so I decided to satisfy that mood reader voice in my head that told me to drop everything and dive in. And I did. And I loved it.
This book was so much fun, omg. And listen, I was confused a lot of the time. 🤣 turns out, you’re supposed to be a little confused the entire time. Trust 👏🏻 the 👏🏻 process 👏🏻
We start off by learning about baby girl Astraea, our silver-haired, skittish FMC. She only remembers the last five years of her life, and we don’t know why. She’s hidden away, manipulated and used by he who must not be named. No really, what was his name? (😏🤣) and her only freedom is sneaking out to go visit her best friend, Cassia.
The world is dangerous, vampires run amok and pray on humans for more than just their blood. Cassia is planning on competing in the King’s Games to protect her people and keep the vampires away. Astraea plans to come along with her.
Spoiler territory, so I’ll start talking vibes in a minute. I thought I was predicting what was happening - but I was wrong, horribly wrong. 🥲🥲🥲 and poor Astraea, she goes through so much. She starts seeing someone, but this person isn’t totally there. He goes by Nyte, and he’s everything we love in our MMCs, but this one is like the true villain. 🤌🏽
He shows up when she needs him, but he isn’t really there - and yes, we do find out why. Just waaaay later.
I was very confused and had to read over pages a lot in this book - it could be bc I’m a little dumb, or it could have been the author’s narrative style being sneaky and making us confused so she can drop reveal bombs on us later that ROCKED OUR WORLD. 🤣🤣🤣
Beautiful story, incredible banter, slow burn but with a delicious spicy scene, ugh! I loved this book, I really did. My physical copy is otw now so I can treasure it always until the next book launches. A must read for romantacy readers everywhere!!
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Reviews with images
Star Crossed Lovers
“The dark belongs to the stars who can’t shine without out it. It’s where passion burns brightest. It’s peace and it’s company.”✨✨Astraea has spent the last five years with broken memories, illness, and protection through her captor yet savior Hektor. When Astraea is given the chance to join Cassia on her journey to the King’s Central, she decides to break free from her cage. However, things do not go to plan and Astraea is faced with an unimaginable choice: become a competitor in the Libertatem or run.✨✨Peñaranda crafted an engaging and complex story with The Stars are Dying. There was a lot going on with the plot which kept the pace moving at a pretty steady pace through most of the story between Astraea’s time with Hektor, reaching Central, competing in the Libertatem, and after. I do wish more time was spent on the trials and riddles. Having to figure out the clues was one of my favorite elements of the entire story. Overall, I do believe some of the plot points became unnecessarily confusing especially some of the scenes early on with Nyte. I was able to figure out what was happening but there were times I had to reread the scene to fully grasp what was happening.I really enjoyed the cast of supporting characters especially Cassia, Zath, Rose, and Davina. I enjoyed Astraea but wish we saw more development from her. Given the issues with her memories, I’m hoping to see a lot more growth from her in the next book. As far as Nyte, I’m still on the fence how I feel about him. Given that he’s written in the morally grey/villain vein, I don’t think that’s wholly unexpected.There are several fan favorite bookish tropes features throughout the story:One horseWho hurt youTouch her and dieMemory lossMagic trialsStar crossed loversOverall, I enjoyed the story and plan to continue the series. There was enough political intrigue, mystery surrounding Astraea, betrayals, and twists to keep my interest.
Top reviews from other countries
Clara
A Beautiful Start to A New Series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2023