The Stars Are Dying

Valerie - vanelena.reads

Wonderful Story of Star Crossed Lovers

""Once upon a time there was a war between stars. What started as a beautiful collision turned out to have the most dire consequences for the world" I absolutely loved this first book in a new fantasy series by Chloe C. Peñaranda. This is a tale of truly star-crossed lovers, twined with a journey of stunning revelations and devastating betrayal. Like her previous series, An Heir Comes to Rise, we are given bits and pieces throughout the story, little hints that lead us towards a thrilling end. This book was no different, and I enjoyed every minute of it! We follow Astraea, a young woman who has no memory of her past, only that she was found and kept hidden for the last few years. The world is inhabited by vampires, fae, humans, and celestial gods live and rule beyond the Veil. When she finally breaks free to travel with a friend to the Central city, her friend is brutally murdered and Astraea must take her place in a ruthless game to compete for the safety of her region against the ruthless vampires. Meanwhile, she is followed by a presence that she both trusts and is wary of. Nyte is as helpful as he is confounding, mysterious and familiar, both present and not at all. Astraea find herself drawn to him more and more over the course of the book. He is using her, but is helping to keep her alive through the trials as well. Can she trust herself, while her memories are still fragmented? Or Nyte, who promises to keep her safe but keeps his past hidden from her as well? "We're only just getting started on the impossible, my Starlight." I gave this book 4.5 stars, only because it felt a little slow in the beginning, which is completely understandable as the first book in series. We have to go through a lot of worldbuilding first, and since we follow Astraea, who has very little knowledge of the world due to her lost memories, we are learning a lot along with her. But things pick up and move very quickly towards a thrilling ending that also left me wanting more in this world. I adored Astraea's growth in this book, as she comes to terms with her past and who she is today. And Nyte! Such a wonderfully complex, morally grey character, and I cannot wait to see more from him - definitely new book boyfriend material! ["

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July 11, 2023 Verified Purchase

syrena

Extremely Slow

"I love fantasy and world building but I feel like a lot of what was in this book could have been condensed to allow for a better high point. It felt like a slow climb only for the book to end on a cliff hanger of information that the reader wants to know but it’s so spread out in the book it provides very little actual world building altogether. You get tidbits. Our female lead had little to no growth and what growth did occur was due to her counterpart being around. When bigger issues occurred, it was like she just went right back to how she was in the beginning. Her character growth was poor in my opinion as she heavily relied on others more than anything else, she didn’t grow as well as she could have. Now, our male lead has that morally gray side which is great but I don’t feel like he was used as well as he could have been. There is still a lack of knowledge with the straggling pieces of world building we allowed and are left with so many questions and maybe that was intended but the grasp on the world and knowledge of its past and present is weak. The reader doesn’t have a strong hold on the actual world and is left with a “Who/What are they?” question as we build into the why if how the balance works and all. I feel like we missed an opportunity to know more of him if our female lead would have had more growth. Overall, it was a okay book. I will probably read the second when it’s published just to know their history and what actually is going on in terms of the world, magic, gods and how it all balances. ["

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August 20, 2023 Verified Purchase

Linds S.

A MUST READ for all fantasy lovers.

""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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September 18, 2023 Verified Purchase

Moldoll13

Can we get their orgin story?!!

"PHYSICAL BOOK: Absolutely gorgeous! I love the artwork and design. I have the first two and can already tell the 3rd one will match beautifully. STORY: This is a good fantasy book, but i didn't get wrapped up in it like I wanted. There was a disconnect. There were sentences that just didn't make sense which caused a break in reading. And there was very little build up to the main events going on the we were just thrown into the preexisting relationship. Astrea was drawn to Nyte, but I wish that was elaborated more. He was a tease (though it was just a cover), and I wasn't really sure why she was so attached to him. They have a past that she doesn't know about, and he would appear when she needed him there; I just wish they had more moments of emotional connection instead of it just being the "draw." TBH I would have rather read their original story. It would have been heartbreaking and raw and devastating and epic! EDIT: I just started the next book and it starts with some background, so fingers crossed! ["

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June 19, 2025 Verified Purchase

Rita Marie

I loved it all!

"Usually a 6 star read for me is a book that pull me in and I can't put down or feel unwell if I do. This book I had to put down, because it was a heavier read with lots of knowledge that are heavier to consume. But I always wanted to pick, and a part of me struggled to put it down, even if I did need a small break. So this was a 6 star read for me. It has a massive world, history and lore. The characters I loved, even the villains was written well. They are not evil just to be evil, they are complex. They have a reason for what they do, even if that reason might not be the best, it's still a reason. There was nothing I did not like at all, I loved it all. I especially loved the mental health aspect, how someone constantly have to "fight" their own mental health. How it can be hard to know what is true or nit when you have been manipulated. ["

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April 7, 2026 Verified Purchase