Dark and Hollow Star

, #1

512 pages

English language

Published Aug. 21, 2021 by McElderry Books, Margaret K..

ISBN:
978-1-5344-5367-8
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3 stars (4 reviews)

The “ironborn” half-fae outcast of her royal fae family. A tempestuous Fury, exiled to earth from the Immortal Realm and hellbent on revenge. A dutiful fae prince, determined to earn his place on the throne. The prince’s brooding guardian, burdened with a terrible secret.

For centuries, the Eight Courts of Folk have lived among us, concealed by magic and bound by law to do no harm to humans. This arrangement has long kept peace in the Courts—until a series of gruesome and ritualistic murders rocks the city of Toronto and threatens to expose faeries to the human world.

Four queer teens, each who hold a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer behind these crimes. If they fail, they risk the destruction of the faerie and human worlds alike. If that’s not bad enough, there’s …

3 editions

reviewed Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth (The Hollow Star Saga, #1)

Review of 'Dark and Hollow Star' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2021. A fae world and queer characters? Sounded perfect. Not to mention how gorgeous the cover is. However, after about 25% in, I realized that this book just wasn't for me. The pacing felt so slow and I didn't really have any attachments to the four main characters. The plot itself felt like a drag, and perhaps I just don't enjoy murder mysteries? I took me forever to get through this book and it felt very early 2010s YA Fantasy in its character and world building, This was really a let down and I'm still on the fence whether I will read the sequel. Part of me wants to give the author another chance but the other part of me just found the entire book unenjoyable.

Review of 'Dark and Hollow Star' on 'Storygraph'

No rating

I love Fae and Greek mythology, so when I realized this was going to give me Tisiphone and the High Court all in one book I was intrigued. Ultimately I’m stopping because it feels like it’s trying to do too much, and by trying to remember the many characters and track the complex blend of two already massive paradigms/pantheons... it got to be overwhelming. The Furies are great, and the Furies plus the Faerie Courts would be really cool, but the Furies, the Greco-Roman creation myth, complex systems for inheritance, political machinations, a serial murderer (or murderers), and the marginalization of the faeries (which are different from the Fae), and the persecution of the Ironborn (which could variously be considered Fae, Faerie, or human?)... it’s a lot. It would be a lot for even a trilogy to establish gradually, it begs for the room to have major details conveyed simply …

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rated it

5 stars
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rated it

1 star