Review: All The Stars And Teeth

Discussion

Let’s Talk “The Book Stall-out”:

For whatever reason – the world right now, me, the book itself … the world right now, I really struggled to finish All The Stars And Teeth, after the beginning really captivated me. I’ll start out by mentioning this because after sitting on this review for over a week I still cannot decide if it was outside influences preventing me from fully sinking my teeth into the story or if the story itself bored me a little and I never wanted to sit down and … sink my teeth into it.

Like I said, the beginning had me hooked with the unique, glittering magical system, the excellent display of inclusivity, intriguing premise, and just the promise of some fun, pirate-y adventures. But somewhere in the middle I really stalled out and it took me well over a week to finish this 300-odd page book.

Let’s Talk Maybe It’s Me, Maybe It’s You:

Did it have a likeable, strong heroine? Yes.

Was the magic system unique? Sort of.

Was the imagery detailed? Yes.

Were there interesting side characters? For the most part.

Was the romance sizzling? Ummm…

I liked Amora, I thought she was the right combination of strong, spunky, and determined … her headstrong, inability to listen did become a bit grating as she continued to speak down to everyone, but I guess she is a queen so that is to be expected?

The magic system is fun and I was quite dazzled at first – giving me strong vibes from The Belles and Four Dead Queens. Unfortunately I did find this fun magic was set aside for an overly drawn out battle that lasted for over 100 pages (a lot considering this is only 380 pages to begin with).

I really enjoyed the side characters of Ferrick, Casem, Vataea, and, for the most part, Bastian (who really is just the literary reincarnate of Hook from Once Upon A Time). But I was confused by the romance to be honest, especially after the ending … it felt like part way through the novel the author changed her mind about the character’s feelings? Somehow it just overwhelmingly fizzled rather than sizzled for me.

Overall Thoughts:

While I did enjoy this fun YA fantasy that grabbed me right away with its glittering imagery and unique magical system, I found myself stalling out half way through, either through my own lack of focus or the book itself … I’m not sure. A fun, fast plot started to flounder under an overly extended war/battle sequence that continued on for well over 100 pages. I really wanted more of the fascinating magical adventure and political intrigue that launched this story (which was quite reminiscent of The Belles and its unique brand of twisted magic). An excellently fun, yet surprisingly gory, well written YA with a strong heroine at its heart. I’m interested to see where this one goes, hopefully with more from the incredibly likeable supporting cast of characters.

TBR Ranking: Middle

For Fans Of:

Dark Shores

Written by Danielle L. Jensen

Published by Tor Teen

Full review HERE.

You can find it here: Bookshop.org