Week 3 Review: A Dark and Hollow Star

From Goodreads:

The Cruel Prince meets City of Bones in this thrilling urban fantasy set in the magical underworld of Toronto that follows a queer cast of characters racing to stop a serial killer whose crimes could expose the hidden world of faeries to humans.

Choose your player.

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 a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal Realms, and one of these teens is destined to tip the scales. The only question is: which way?

Wish them luck. They're going to need it.

My Review:
I had the best time reading this book! I loved reading about this gang of characters, as they slowly link up with one another. I loved seeing how their stories come together, of how they were working towards a common goal of solving this crime!

I loved seeing how they handled representation in this book. All of the main characters have LGBTIA+ as part of their identity, and it was really great to see how they worked for rights that they should already have. And the situation is not really different between humans and the fae, which is a little sad, but if things get better in the future, that's hope for the real world!

These characters were all so great to read about! They might have had their problems and blind spots, from Arlo with her belief she doesn't have powers, Nausicaä with the whole situation with her sister and her knowledge that the belief that there's no mental illness or depression in the immortals is wrong. She is one complicated semi-bottled bottle of rage and chaos, a real storm of emotions. Oh, and for the boys, Vehan and Aurelian, there's Vehan's mom, who caused all sorts of trouble that only knew about.

This world was just so fascinating. We do start with Nausicaä, with her banishment to the mortal world, and I loved learning about the fae and the politics and the different fractions, as well as the immortals, the gods that have a complicated past with the fae! It was so interesting and intriguing and I loved how it tied into the mystery of the murders, with the alchemy and the history of it in this world!

Wow, that ending! It's a bit mindboggling, because this is only the first book, and so much happened. Which means future endings-and the series as a whole, is building up to something even bigger, and yeah, that just blows my mind! I can't wait to see where that ending goes from there, because I'm very apprehensive! 

This was such an incredible book, and I loved reading it! 

Author: Ashley Shuttleworth
Series: A Dark and Hollow Star #1 
Read: January 17th, 2021
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a DAC Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2021 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Expected Publication: February 23rd 2021

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars