Our Dark Stars

by Audrey Grey and Krystal Wade

SLEEPING BEAUTY MEETS FIREFLY in this fast-paced and addictive new Sci-Fi by USA Today bestselling authors Audrey Grey and Krystal Wade!

While she sleeps, the whole universe changes.

Princess Talia Starchaser has it all. Wealth. Status. Adoring citizens. But on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she’s forced to publicly betray her best friend, a companion mock she’s had since birth, setting events into motion that lead to the destruction of the humans, and the princess floating through space, a remnant of a time when humans ruled over droids.

One hundred years later, half-mock captain Will Perrault and his ragtag crew discover a device floating in space. When a very human Talia emerges from its depths, Will suspects she’s the key to buying his way back into the regiment he once commanded against the last remaining rebel humans—and the ruling mock queen’s good graces.

Both Talia and Will would rather get space-tossed than trust one another, but with the queen’s forces chasing them across the galaxy and the fate of both worlds hanging in the balance, they’ll forge the unlikeliest of alliances to survive.

• ISBN10: 1945519177
• ISBN13: 9781945519178
• Publish Date: 6 March 2018
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Imprint: Blaze Publishing, LLC
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 324
• Language: English

Reviews

[kalventure]

3.5 stars, solid fantasy tale that reminded me of Battlestar Galactica.

It's the future, humanity has taken to the stars after Earth was destroyed, robots and humans have been at war, and there is just one hope. The story is told from two points of view (one written by each author, I presume) and jumps between the past and present a bit. The writing is consistent, although it feels a bit disjointed at the start. There are little nuances that come through that probably would have been better told from first person rather than third since there are literally two different voices authoring the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and while it reminded me of themes explored in sci-fi (particularly BSG) it brought its own creativity to the table of the genre. Unfortunately I found Talia's narrative point of view a bit more difficult to read, perhaps because of her inner monologue but I couldn't really place it. Will's POV seemed more fast paced and certainly less whiney, which considering this is YA I can forgive. What I had a difficult time with was some plot/continuity/logic holes that didn't seem to make sense: why Talia never thought to ask what a flesher was, why they didn't tell her what year it was, Talia's sudden distrustfulness/hate of mocks ("the last person she ever thought she'd received comfort from was a mock" which is disingenuous considering her best friend was one and earlier parts of her narrative indicate her struggling with reconciliation, if a brain was destroyed how are they the same person with their memories when made into a mock. It seemed that the only reason everyone was content to not clue the other in was for no other reason than to create conflict. As the book progressed the pacing improved, and I do think that the authors hit a stride that will serve a sequel well in that regard.

What I liked: I am always for sci-fi that takes a look at how we as a species determine the value of another life, whether it be to subjugate those that are deemed inferior or to outright eradicate them. Themes of assigning meaning and value to other life forms, holding grudges, free will, and sacrifice.

I would be interested in seeing what is in store for Talia and Will moving forward and hope that this becomes a series.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher, Blaze Publishing, for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.