I’m alive – sort of. And I have come out of hibernation (who gave Africa the right to be this cold?) to review The Blighted Stars. I went into this book mostly blind, all that I knew was “space romance”. I was mildly disappointed.
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Quick Synopsis
When a spy is stranded on a dead planet with her mortal enemy, she must first figure out how to survive before she can uncover the conspiracy that landed them both there in the first place.
Perfect for readers who want:
- Dystopian sci-fi
- Zombies?
- Enemies to lovers
About The Blighted Stars
Title: The Blighted Stars
Author: Megan O’Keefe
Rating: 3 Stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Content Warnings: Parental death, torture, blood & gore, body horror
Pages: 544
Age Range: 17+
Publisher: Orbit
Date Published: 23 May 2023
Goodreads Description: She’s a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they’re found and Naira Sharp knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity’s expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.
He’s the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin’s father has tasked him with monitoring the mining of a new planet, and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.
Disguised as Tarquin’s new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy his ship before it lands. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she’s sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that’s bigger than both of them.
I received a review copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
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The Blighted Stars Review
I have to start off by saying that I had higher hopes for this. Sci-fi romance is one of my comfort genres, and I’m always looking for sci-fi romance that’s not too wild (looking at you, Ice Planet Barbarians). So when this was announced, I was really excited. Enemies to lovers, set against a race to save dying planets, sign me up.
Unfortunately, The Blighted Stars fell a little short for me. For one thing, it was way too long. The ending felt a bit clunky, like it should have been the start of the second book. I liked the characters enough, and I was invested in the romance, but somehow it also didn’t stand out for me.
Maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace to read this book. The worldbuilding and the storyline are compelling and the writing was fine, but I’ve already forgotten most of it.
I’ll definitely read the second book because I need to know what happens, but this one was mid.
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aw i’m so sorry this wasn’t the best 😭😭 i don’t read much sci-fi and have hated like 99% of what i HAVE read (most of which were combinations of ya romance mixed in with little bits of science but the science was so underdeveloped and felt more like magic?? BUT AM CURRENTLY READING THE MARTIAN which happens to be my first ever non-ya sci-fi AND IM ACTUALLY LOVING IT AHAHGHDBDCDB)
OH ALSO!!!!!! THE JOURNAL PAGES THEY’RE GORGEOUS