I want to tell you a quick story before I get to my review. Charlie is one of my most favorite authors, and I stalk her new releases religiously. Well, I saw Star Father on Netgalley last month (of course I requested it), and I got to sleuthing. Why would Charlie put book 2 on Netgalley and not book 1? So because I *stalk* I mean, know she’s released books on Kindle First before, I suspected book 1 would be a Kindle First read. I made a big announcement about my suspicions to my s/o and teen, because rewards feel grander when you’ve let other people in, and I patiently waited 2 weeks. Then, BAM, there it was on October 1st. I did a happy dance and then reshuffled my TBR to fit this in. Now I can’t wait to start Star Father. Let’s get to my review.
In Star Mother, we follow Ceris, who has volunteered to birth a star for the Sun God. She won’t be coming back after she gives birth, but it would be an honor for her and her village. But when she wakes up after the birth of her star, she realizes she’s more special than she thought. That’s because no one has survived giving birth to a star. As she ventures back to earth, she realizes she’s been gone for over seven hundred years. Her new world is fraught with war and change. When she meets Ristriel on her quest to find family, she accepts his help on the dangerous trek.
I was so excited when I saw this as a Kindle First read as it had been in my wishlist since the moment I realized Charlie was releasing a new book. With a bit of lore, and incorporation of certain gods, Charlie has given us a mythological fantasy in an imaginative world that is so in-depth, you can see what Ceris sees and feel what she feels. A beautiful read to sit with, and I cannot recommend this enough.
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Star Mother is available for preorder on Amazon, Bookshop, and B&N, it releases November 1st.
About the Book:
When a star dies, a new one must be born.
The Sun God chooses the village of Endwever to provide a mortal womb. The birthing of a star is always fatal for the mother, and Ceris Wenden, who considers herself an outsider, sacrifices herself to secure her family’s honor and take control of her legacy. But after her star child is born, Ceris does what no other star mother has: she survives. When Ceris returns to Endwever, however, it’s not nine months later—it’s seven hundred years later. Inexplicably displaced in time, Ceris is determined to seek out her descendants.
Being a woman traveling alone brings its own challenges, until Ceris encounters a mysterious—and desperate—godling. Ristriel is incorporeal, a fugitive, a trickster, and the only being who can guide Ceris safely to her destination. Now, as Ceris traverses realms both mortal and beyond, her journey truly begins.
Together, pursued across the Earth and trespassing the heavens, Ceris and Ristriel are on a path to illuminate the mysteries that bind them and discover the secrets of the celestial world.
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