Original and engaging YA fantasy novel

This fantasy novel, the first of a series, is original in many ways and introduces a whole batch of different and interesting characters. The plot centers around Yaz who lives among many clans on an ice world where some are rejected by the "authorities" and thrown down a pit. From there a heap of adventures ensue but some of the original ideas are too much and the novel could have benefited from fewer twists and turns and new concepts. Virtually the whole plot takes place underground and, maybe I've got some innate claustrophobia, but this environment is not appealing to me. However, by the end of this novel, I'm now interested about where the series goes next so, in that respect, it is engaging. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found the pacing a little off in places, with some days having a lot of things going on and others barely anything, but other than that it was a good read.

As someone new to the author's work, I'm pleased to know that you weren't required to read his previous series in order to understand and appreciate the magic system, but from I've understood from other reviews is that it's the same magic system as is used in a different series, which I think will make that series easier to navigate when the time comes to read it!

The Book of Ancestor is one of my favourite fantasy series, so I was thrilled when it was announced that Mark Lawrence was creating a new series set on the same world. The series do stand up separately, so you don’t have to read one before the other (although I would highly recommend both!). But it was fun to see the same magic system in use in this story.

The Girl and the Stars takes place on the ice. It’s tough up there, and if children are exhibiting some more unusual talents they are thrown into a hole in the ice. Yaz ends up down there, and discovers just what happens to those abandoned children.

This is a story that’s wonderfully woven together. We see things from a whole new perspective, meet a fantastic cast of characters and learn what happens under the ice alongside Yaz.

I’m thrilled that this have lived up to my (very high) expectations. I’ll definitely be continuing on with this series, and can’t wait to see where the story goes.

4.5/5

I’m a huge fan of Mark Lawrence’s work, The Ancestors trilogy is definitely something I internally screech over…forevermore, haha.

Yaz is part of the Ictha tribe, and they gather with the others every four years near Black Rock so that the Priesthood may conduct a sort of cull. The weak and ‘broken’ children are thrown into a pit, it is a kinder fate to die swiftly than to die out on the ice.

At least, that’s what they’re told.

Yaz finds herself among the broken, the problem being that broken or not, they’re certainly very much alive.

They have created their own tribe, and even have their own adversaries, ‘The Tainted.’

Needless to say, without giving away too much, Lawrence once more made me feel like I was in Abeth, I was with Yaz in the darkest world I’ve yet to read, while still being one of the most fascinating and beautiful.

Not to mention the ruins of a City of The Missing is, mildly put, more than it seems.

While this started as a sort of rescue mission once Yaz found herself in this world, it becomes much more and all the larger players of this are drawn to Yaz.

I loved Yaz’s heart so much, she has so many strengths and weaknesses, so many emotions, and her careful handling of hope is pretty beautiful to experience as a reader.

The only thing I ‘scored’ off was the pacing, because the second day of the book seemed to have so much crammed into it, that I actually took note of it, haha, but other than that, perfection! I also gave it 4.5 stars because Mark Lawrence was inherently evil with that ending and took a few years off my life span.

Anyway, it’s definitely a new favourite fantasy of mine from an author that has once more won my heart over. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVoyager UK for a copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the blog tour.

Mark Lawrence, a past master at world building, transports us back to this amazingly lived-in, beautiful but dangerous land of slippery ice, moaning winds, dangerous whales, devious demons, giant coal-worms and what not (Lots more of such interesting constructs, that I could write a whole different book on that.) But what he does, brilliantly, while organically building out this amazing planet of Abeth, is also to hang the heavy flesh and bones of the character-study of this young girl called Yaz. She's the star of the show. The naive girl whose world above the ice, made her dream of a domestic life that would probably have been only a little variation of her own mother's, transforms herself into an absolutely fearless leader by the end of this first book. Her character arc is absolutely stunning, a powerful girl who doesn't realise her own strength, till she's challenged and forced to save the life of her loved ones.

The subterranean world of the Broken, that Yaz discovers under the harsh polar ice-cap, deep inside is also fascinating. The other characters like the brave Quell, the idealistic Thurin, the sly Maya or the mysterious stranger Erris from the 'City' all of them add depth and meaning to Yaz's transformation. But ultimately serve as catalyst to her own discovery of self. And the secrets, oh my God, the secrets that she discovers - it's like Mark has finally opened up that Big Chest of Secrets that he's been hinting at over the course, of perhaps his first 9 odd novels. It's terrific, feeding into the yarn of the Missing, the first order of Men or God-lings who possibly were the architects of a lot of marvels that we encounter hidden deep under the belt of ice.

I absolutely adored the character of the wise and charming Erris. I wouldn't delve deeper into him, for fear of spoilers but trust me, this guy was such a hoot. Yaz remains steely-eyed and determined, her legendary Ictha will-power and her affinity for magic ( She's a marjal, equipped to dip into the streams of magic that float all around us!) making her the ideal leader of the Broken. So Erris is the perfect foil to her. And there's Thurin, a quantal with his own skills for working the ice, a wonder boy who has had the demons purged from inside him. For most parts, Thurin is the driving force that propels Yaz to push herself and believe that she can finish her mission. Mark almost made me believe that it becomes a love-quadrangle by throwing in Quell, into the mix. But this isn't that story. It's turns out to be a compelling narrative about redemption and a self-discovery. I wouldn't call it strictly YA either, despite the age of Yaz.

As the story progresses at a breakneck pace ( the whole story perhaps is set only over a few days time-span but the amazing character arc evolutions makes us feel like, a lifetime has passed. And indeed, there are certain "dream" sequences that possibly spans across centuries, but I am not giving away any spoilers on that here.) Mark touches upon elements of a possible class system - the haves above the ice, again regimented into following their own fears and superstition, while the have-nots deep inside the cradle of the earth, have their own issues, struggles of power, civil wars and the persistent issues of 'demons' [ remember, the demon from Grey Sister within Nona?]

Mark's style of writing remains top-notch. Hitting us time and again, with such beautiful turns of phrases that hints at some heavy truths of life, that you discover as you go along. The pacing is very even and fluid, grabbing us from get-go - in that character voice of Yaz - and then taking us on a heady wild ride, deep into the centre of this world of ice. Twists and turns galore, my only grouch of course, would be the damn cliffhanger. We need book two, like right NOW.

Anyways - in the Girl and the Stars, Mark has basically brought together a lot of mysteries and ideas that he's been hinting at, in his previous novels. It is explosive stuff, an impossible scintillating mix of fantasy, adventure, science, mythology and even horror to some extent. Signature Mark really. But I truly, truly loved the Girl and the Stars for what it does to the genre. Invent something new that expands the boundaries of this genre. Maybe we should stop calling That Thorn Guy and refer to him as That Ice Guy, huh?

I've always wanted to read this author so when I saw this book (and blurb!), I grabbed it with both hands!

The Ictha are an Ice tribe and, in order to progress from childhood to adulthood they need to be assessed to be sure they arent 'broken'.

Yaz is 16 and has her whole life in front of her with her parents, her brother Zeen and Quell but fears she might not make it and instead be thrown into the Pit of the Missing.

And that's where it all starts. We journey with Yaz under the ice to experience the horrors of the place and The Tainted. The struggles, the battles and the secrets.

It felt like there wasnt a dull moment from the plethora of characters to the world building to the authors fabulous writing style. And of course there is Yaz. I simply loved her.

‘The stars, ‘they burn brighter when you’re near.’

There’s a reason I recommend Mark Lawrence to everyone I know that enjoys fantasy – it ticks so many boxes and the world building is something special.

I’ve already read and loved The Book of the Ancestor trilogy and The Girl and the Stars is set in the same world, though I can’t tell exactly when in the timeline this features as there’s no cross over that I could spot.

Yaz is another strong female main character, her strength being in endurance and going against the flow where required. She’s from the strongest of the clans out on the ice of a frozen world, where any children with differences are launched into a ceremonial pit (this is Spartaaaaa, anyone?) but when she reaches the bottom, she finds a whole new world to navigate.

A lot of what she experiences was described fully in The Book of the Ancestor series, which puts the reader in a position of knowledge while Yaz is learning blindly about the world she never knew existed. If you haven’t already read the previous trilogy, it’s easy enough to follow without the background so you’re not missing out on anything essential to the plot.

While down there, being a Chosen One sort of girl, she forms strong bonds with some of the people she meets while making strong enemies. I really liked the background information about the others and their powers, which gives us a good idea of what to expect further down the line as well as some great insights into the past of Abeth and those who came before.

For a book that’s very reminiscent of Wendy and the Lost Boys, but with teenagers, there’s nothing more overtly sexual than admiring a boy’s cheekbones and some light fuzzy feelings and blushing. This is excellent if you like all action without any romance detracting from that, but it does seem strange that there are so few hormones in a clan of underground teens living without parental supervision.


The book focuses on the power of the stars and a deeper conspiracy that Yaz has so far only scratched the surface. I’m all in on this series and desperately awaiting the next instalment!

By far my favourite Mark Lawrence book. The world building was great and the story kept you interested with plenty of twists and turns. Only minor niggles let it down such as falling into the slight cliché of multiple male characters competing for the attention of the female main protagonist.

If Mark Lawrence writes, then I will read. He has a fantastic writing style, creates interesting and flawed characters and has an expansive imagination that holds together the threads of complex world-building. But ... and I hate that I'm writing this, something in this book felt hollow, like going through the motions of writing. The complexity was there (and perhaps too much of it) but I didn't quite get the characters I was hoping for. In fact, they began to feel like any other writer's sci fi fantasy creations and a lot more YA than I was expecting ...

In the endless ice, there is the pit of The Missing, where broken children are thrown. These children cannot survive on the ice - they live to fast, or take up too many resources, or slow the ice tribes down. For the survival of the tribes, where individuality cannot live, these children must die.

Yaz has known this for years, she has felt the the change beneath her skin. She knows that when it comes to her turn, she will be thrown down the pit by the Regulator, and her life among the ice tribes will end.

But she find more in the hole in the ice than she ever anticipated. A whole community of The Broken, struggling to survive under the ice, each with their own unique set of gifts and abilities that would see them shunned in the world above. Is Yaz their instrument of change, or of destruction?

The good:

Deep, complex world building. You don't need to have read the previous Book of the Ancestor trilogy, but it definitely helps. It gives a little more context to what's going on but you can manage without it. There's an awful lot going on below the ice and, in true Mark Lawrence form, you gather as much information as you can, knowing and trusting that all of these threads will tie together eventually. You're there for the journey and it will be EPIC.

Lots of interesting characters, from different ice tribes, with different abilities. There's a wide and varied cast.

Excellent twists - didn't see them coming, particularly at the end. I love it when writers can manage that - it makes me point, shout and beg for the next book.

The bad: Disclaimer: this is my own opinion - I'm sure people will have strong positive opinions, as they should - Mark Lawrence is a great writer! - but here are my issues ...

Yaz has too much spinach. She can do EVERYTHING. She is also an agent of change to an unbelievable extent. No one thought about going into the pit before Yaz. No one has gone against the ice tribes' or the priests' ruling before. If she wants something, everyone goes along with it. She also has too much power. The whole point of different bloodlines with different powers, and The Path (or the river that flows through things) is that you can't repeatedly access it. But apparently she can. OFTEN. Within days. Despite barely anyone EATING. And the power that she produces is TOO MUCH.

TOO MUCH HAPPENS. It's something that frustrates me in novels by less-established authors, so I really can't forgive it happening here either. But too much happens in the space of just a few days for there to be any realistic character development or relationships. To rush the plot and action along (although something that I love about Mark Lawrence's writing - there's something to always pull you into the next chapter), characters were taking people to places that they wouldn't normally go for the sake of author-led urgency. And then when the MC reflects that this has taken place in just a few days, that's jarring too ...

It also gets a bit YA love triangle, or is it a square?? There's too much going on for that kind of distraction and I just can't be dealing with it. There are too many boys of an age with Yaz that instantly have some kind of connection with her - surely there must be other people of the same age? Where's the conflict?

I think, overall, the world swamped the characters - there was so much backstory and detail to share that the characters became tropes rather than individuals.

I'm really sorry, but it's a 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. And that's only because I trust Mark Lawrence to deliver next time. (Please don't break my trust).

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

If you asked me at 25% if I was enjoying this novel, I would have said no. If you'd asked me at 50% if it had gotten better, I would be non-committal. Come back to me at 75%... the tables have turned, this is fantastic!

Once again I should attribute a little of my reluctance to the C-word situation we find the world in right now. That aside, if I hadn't agreed to review The Girl In The Stars I probably would have given up early on- But I did so I didn't!

To quote a fellow blogger this is a 'dense read'. You need to commit. The setting is beautiful but there is a lot of description around this and not enough of the characters appearances, they didn't all fully form in my imagination. There's only so many times I can read about pretty ice caverns and shiny stars.

There are many tribes, leaders, gods, enemies , powers and who knows what else so at times it was hard to keep track. Respect to Lawrence for the depth of his world building but I would've preferred he cut back a little description in favour of explanation.
The Tainted were my favourite plot line whereas The City felt half formed.

What changed the tide for me was the character relationships and war waging. After some rather unfocused (interdimensional?) jumping around and wandering about, the story roars to life.
I raced to the explosive ending, desperate to find out what happens next.

The Girl In The Stars is very much 'moralistic female warrior overcomes weakness to save all'.
Lawrence reps ableism, POC and a heart warming gay relationship.
If you're looking for a fantasy to escape into during this confusing time I definitely recommend, but bring your A game- this is no light read.

On Abeth the world is ice. To survive, only the strong are tolerated.

Sixteen-year-old Yaz travels with her clan to a gathering at the Black Rock. Here all of the clans across Abeth gather to be judged by the Regulator. If they are deemed 'broken' in any way they are thrown down the 'Pit of the Missing'. Unsure how she passed her first judgment, Yaz is certain to fail the second as she knows she is different from others in her clan and uniqueness is not allowed.

However, when the Regulator separates Yaz, not to be thrown into the pit, she is forced to watch on as her younger brother is shoved into the pit. In her grief and desperation, and lack of willingness to be one of the many who watch and do nothing as children are thrown to their deaths, Yaz jumps into the pit to follow her brother.

When she lands and finds herself alive, she desperately seeks her brother but discovers a whole new world, miles beneath the ice she knows. This world is haunted by demons who take hold of children and force them to do their bidding - known as The Tainted. While war wages in more ways than one - will Yaz find her brother or will he be taken by the Tainted?

This book was quite a challenging read as it is constant action with very little in-between. As such it's had to judge how well developed the characters are because we have no real chance to get to know them. Normally we could judge a character by its choices but as so many are Tainted, their choices are not their own. With a large number of characters, this also made it hard to remember who was who and not get them a bit muddled up, especially in the beginning. I would have liked more time after Yaz first fell, where she is getting to know her new surroundings and the people that inhabit it.

The book really comes into its own in the second half where everything starts to come to a head but we don't know how things will end or if anyone is going to survive. For the first half, it was good enough to keep going, the second half was too good to put down.

I really love the concept of the story and I am looking forward to the next in the series. The end was a great cliffhanger and a bit of a twist too which I didn't have the slightest inkling of, so that was pretty fab.

I received a pre-release copy of #TheGirlAndThe Stars by Mark Larence for free from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Published by #HarperVoyager this book is available now.

The Girl and the Stars is another fantastic fantasy novel from Mr Lawrence, and it was so engrossing that I couldn’t put it down as when I did my mind was playing scenarios over in my head. An excellent cast of characters, superb world building,and writing that mesmerised from the very beginning. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

The Girl and the Stars in a claustrophobic, intense fantasy about a brutal ice-scape where children who are different are thrown into a hole in the ice to die.

A little slow at the beginning to allow for some detailed world building, this book soon picks up. Once the action starts, it pretty much doesn't stop as our protagonist, Yaz, fights for survival in a harsh reality.

From the blurb I wasn't convinced that this was a book I would enjoy, and I'd never read anything by Mark Lawrence before. However, I'd heard a lot of positive things so I tried to go into the story with an open mind - and was completely blown away.

Billed as a young adult book, Girls is definitely aimed at slightly older teens with a plot that gets a little complex (and gory) in places. However, with vivid descriptions and impressive characterisation I think it would be an enjoyable read even for those with a weak stomach.

At points I'm not sure I completely understood what was going on, and I think there are a lot of parts that won't make sense until questions are answered in later books. Overall though, I thought it was a captivating read!

This review has been posted to Goodreads, Amazon and Waterstones.

A scintillating start to this new series!

"Omens are difficult and open to interpretation but if the oracle that touches your newborn dies moments later, frothing at the mouth, it is hard even with a mother’s love to think it is a good sign. In such cases a second opinion is often sought."

If the old adage that you’re only as good as your last book holds true for authors, then it’s hardly a surprise that one of my most highly anticipated book releases of the year was The Girl and the Stars. Full disclosure, that’s a complete understatement. Mark Lawrence delivered an emphatically stunning and satisfying conclusion with Holy Sister, finishing off his The Book of the Ancestor (TBOTA) series in some style and simultaneously pushing my hype levels for his next project through the roof (although I am still not over some of the heartaches he caused me). I did not think I could be more excited. That was until I heard that his new book was set in the same world as that previous series. It’s safe to say that if I had access to a Delorean, I’d have read this quite a while ago.

*For those who have not yet read TBOTA series, you are welcome to read The Girl and the Stars first. You won't be missing out on anything that will take away any understanding or enjoyment from this read.

Abeth is a cruel frozen wasteland, and the tribes that live on the ice are as hard as it gets. They know that a child born broken will die on the ice as their bodies do not have what it takes to survive. Growing up, the weakness in these children will grow too and become a burden on the tribe and themselves. Whether it presents a lack of stamina or resilience, whichever form it takes, it only results in the inevitable. Death. Thus the tribes gather every four years so that the regulator, Kazik, may pass his pale eyes over the children of the clans and give his judgement, weeding out those he finds wanting. When you walk on the ice you are either pure or you are dead. Like a frostbitten appendage, these chosen children are cut from society, thrown down a hole in the ice never to be seen again. The tribes call this hole the Pit of the Missing. There is no place for the weak on Abeth.

‘It’s a dangerous game to rid yourself of weakness. You never know what else you might be losing in the deal.’

When we meet Yaz, she is journeying with her tribe, the Ichta, towards the Black Rock. The time for the testing has arrived again. She is on the brink of being declared an adult and won’t have to endure the regulator’s scrutiny after that, but she knows deep down that her chances of evading the long dark fall towards death are slim. At the age of ten, she started seeing a river in her dreams, and eventually, she started glimpsing it in the waking world too. A river of the mind that runs through all things. Unexplained magic at the tips of her fingers. It was at the same age that everything that made the Ichta legendary started deserting her. Her strength, endurance, resilience against the cold. Yaz is different, and out on the ice being different is too dangerous.

"The thousands stood without sound. Even the wind stilled its tongue. Still, no one spoke. And then a single high keening broke the silence. A mother’s cry from somewhere far up near the crater’s rim."

As with previous books by Mark Lawrence, the characters are brought to life through his remarkable talent, never failing to make strong impressions through every individual put on-page, but none more so than the compelling Yaz, who seems to be of the same mould as Nona from TBOTA. I don’t want to say much more about Yaz though, as her development throughout is part and parcel of the plot of this character-driven narrative, but where the other characters shone like stars, Yaz shone like a sun and I can’t wait to read more about her.

"She would not surrender, not go gentle into her fate."

The planet of Abeth is as fascinating a place as ever. Ice-tribes in a frozen world, people with exciting magical skills, a missing civilization, sentient cities, mysterious technology, monsters and mysteries galore. Life is never dull in a Mark Lawrence novel. Fully established in TBOTA, this world at the end of its life provides a plethora of unanswered questions and I have a feeling many will remain so, but hopefully, others will have their answers dragged into the light. I for one can still not figure out where on the timeline The Girl and the Stars takes place, although I have seen other people stating confident and completely opposite answers from one another - some claiming it is after TBOTA and others saying it takes place before that series. I found nothing that answers it for me unless I missed it, so I will wait and see. Glimpses of a shared universe present themselves occasionally, as a certain character shows up in this who is present in all of the author’s series. As for Abeth, the world is still suffering its last throes in concert with the dying red sun that orbits it. The planet is known to be completely sheathed in iced from the lack of heat, but the rumour persists that a sliver of a corridor, green and warm, remains around the equator. Whether this is true or used to be true is up in the air for now.

And where other stories on Abeth take mostly place above ground, Lawrence has dropped us beneath the miles-deep ice for this setting. This inspired choice adds a dark, foreboding quality to the tale that easily lurks in every sentence thanks to the claustrophobic tunnels that seem alive with menace, the ever-present weight of hundreds of millions of tons of frozen water pressing down on every side and the never-ending drip, drip, drip of water. Luckily there are cannibals and monsters and worse to keep our characters' minds away from these things, all part of the gripping story and bookended with some rather dramatic moments!

If you have not yet read one of his books, the author has some skill at putting together sentences too, and it’s a joy to read.

"Even so, it held a beauty and a peace: black rock, ice in every shade of pearl between white and clarity, the marbled seams of stardust glowing in all the colours that can be broken from the light. Beneath the many-tongued voice of falling water lay a distant glacial groaning, as timeless in its way as that of the wind."

Stacked with highly quotable sentences, sharp insights, and various themes ( friendship, finding yourself and found family are prevalent throughout), the writing in The Girl and the Stars exhibits that certain unputdownable quality that great authors seem to imbue their stories with, keeping us reading when we really should be doing that other thing we were supposed to do hours ago. Don’t judge me - pyjamas can be worn ALL day I tell you! I had a wonderful time reading this, and can confidently say that the sequel will most definitely occupy my most anticipated list, just like it’s predecessor. An easy recommendation to anyone who loves SFF or is looking to give it a try.

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Unfortunately, this book really wasn't for me as it reminded me too much of a game than an actual book.
One thing that is good for the author and not necessarily for me is that he follows the trends very well so if you're into the usual orbit book plots, it's then a good book for you. However, it wasn't for me. It reminded me too much of Senlin Ascends but a bit more simple in plot and writing and overall, this is another book by this author that just dint work out for me.

If you know me you know how much I love the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. So obviously when I learned that Mark Lawrence was writting a new series set in the same world I was over the moon. In the Book of the Ancestor I discovered a world so interesting but still full of mysteries at the end. In the Book of the Ice, some of these mysteries get answers while new ones arise and it just made me even more captivated by this universe. I wanna know everything!

While being set in the same world, these two series happen at completely different places, which brings new wonders for both old and new readers. The Girl and the Stars starts on the ice, where entire clans live scattered on it. Every four years, these clans gather together and broken children, children who will not survive the ice, are thrown into the Pit of the Missing. Yaz from the Ictha clan — stronger than everyone else since they live on the northest and coldest part of the ice — knows she will be thrown into the pit. She is ready for it. What she was not ready for is what she will find there, all under the ice.

With Yaz, we discover a whole new world and when we think we understand enough we find yet another layer with new questions and answers and I am so so curious about this entire universe? I need to know more I can't wait to read the next books just to understand a little more (and probably unravel new layers again).

With all the world building and this entire universe I am in awe of, my favourite thing is of course Yaz (baby you're my angel) and her whole character and also the relationships between the people. Yes to the found family trope it is the most precious I swear I would die for all of their little group. And Yaz's love for her brother? Everything she does is to save him and she was so determinated, ready to do anything for him. This is the kind of dedication that kills me every single time.

Honestly I just think Yaz is an amazing main character and I loved to see her grow and discover her strenghts and I feel next book she is going to be even more great. Wow. I can't wait. (I especially can't wait because of how the book ended? I was yelling that's a very cruel thing to do to me.)

All the other characters are also full of layers and when you think you know some of them you discover you are wrong, but most of them are amazing. Apart from Yaz my favourites were Erris (his whole story is just so interesting??? tell me more tell me more), Maya, and, of course, Quina (listen. I saw Quina and my heart went ‘you. I'm going to love you with eveything I have’ and the feeling just grew the more I was reading so. Quina. Quina. Quina. Thank you).

Also if you were wondering if you have to read the Book of the Ancestor to read this, short answer: no you don't have to. Long answer: if you do you'll have maybe more understanding about the magic system (the four tribes and all) and a little more quickly but it's perfectly fine if you don't read it first. Obviously I recommend you to read it but it's what I'm doing every day of the year so. But these two series have different characters and different settings and they are both wonderful on their own ways.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. HarperVoyager for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Girl and the Stars’ by Mark Lawrence in exchange for an honest review.

“In the ice, east of the Black Rock, there is a hole into which broken children are thrown. Yaz had always known about the hole. Her people called it the Pit of the Missing and she had carried the knowledge of it with her like a midnight eye watching from the back of her mind.”

The Ictha tribe live in the far north of the planet Abeth. Every four years the tribe submits its children to examination by the Regulator. If they are found to be unfit in any way then they get unceremoniously chucked into said hole. Fate unknown. Yaz’s destiny is to “learn that her weaknesses are another kind of strength. And she will learn to challenge the cruel arithmetic of survival that has always governed her people.”

Without going into spoiler territory this is the basic premise of the novel. This is the first book in Lawrence’s The Book of the Ice series and is set on Abeth, the same fictional world as his The Book of the Ancestor trilogy. However, as this is the first novel that I have read by Lawrence I had no idea about Abeth, its history and peoples.

While I understand that Lawrence has a huge following, I feel that he and his publishers could have taken note of the common practice in crime fiction of providing some background to an existing location and appreciating that not every reader of ‘The Girl and the Stars’ are going to be familiar with the world of the Ancestor trilogy.

So basically I felt lost from the start. I also found its timeline strange. Yaz does not get chucked into said pit, but ends up there by her own volition on a rescue mission. Once there though she gains and practically instantly masters major magical powers and is acknowledged as a leader. This felt odd. Also, is it magic or advanced science? I wasn’t sure and didn’t find it a particularly successful blend of science fiction/fantasy.

While this novel isn’t marketed as Teen/YA, her insta-adepthood and leadership status along with the seemingly obligatory lurve-triangle trope that has Yaz getting weak at the knees over dreamy bare-chested guys felt out of place. Priorities, Yaz!

There also are a lot of supporting characters thrown into the mix, the majority of these just started blending into one other for me.

Lawrence’s descriptions of his settings were vivid and there were plenty of running about and battles even if the nonstop action was exhausting and often felt jumbled. Its cliffhanger ending though is the epitome of a cliffhanger.

I will admit that there were a few times when I considered DNFing it though found that I was invested enough in Yaz’s story to want to continue reading.

I know my experience is likely to be in the minority but my hopes for the premise were not met. I felt that more time could have been given to Yaz’s integration into the under-ice community and her abilities over one action sequence after another.

However, even if I had issues with some aspects, I did deeply appreciate the theme of Yaz’s questioning of her peoples’ attitude towards those who don’t meet their standards. We learn that even infants are discarded. While it’s clear that life on the ice is harsh, this seems extreme though does sadly reflect attitudes of some even in our supposedly enlightened society towards those who are physically different and judged as broken and deserving of culling.

Overall, this was a novel that I ended up liking but not loving. I am uncertain about continuing the series though have bought the first of The Book of the Ancestor trilogy in order to learn more about the background of Abeth and to get a better sense of Lawrence’s style. So The Book of the Ice is currently in the wait and see column for me.

Review; The Girl and The Stars by @mark___lawrence
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
In this book, Yaz's life on top of the ice is dramatically interrupted by an unexpected and shocking event that has her throwing herself into a daring rescue. During her journey beneath the ice she finds new, surprising parts of herself, as well as uncovering many secrets along the way. The world, Abeth, is featured in Mark's previous trilogy, The Book of the Ancestor (Red Sister, Grey Sister, Holy Sister) which I had read and highly rated before reading The Girl and the Stars. You do not have to have read The Book of the Ancestor, but if you do, you will notice many recognisable aspects of Abeth shining though and will perhaps understand a little more about the world as a result of the ice-tribe's unique, magic-related mythology which punctuate the story throughout.

The world above, and under, the ice is depicted in a creative way that enables the reader to fully visualise the ice-cold, dark and often claustrophobic environments that Yaz has to traverse, but also to feel the warmth of bright spots which serve to engender a sense of wonder and intrigue at the mystery that unfolds around The Missing.

The story is ended on a tense cliff-hanger but I am hopeful that, as Mark is a very active writer, it will not be a long wait for the next book. I highly recommend this! And, if you haven't read it yet be sure to put The Book of the Ancestor on your To Be Read list.

I received a electronic advanced readers copy of this book via NetGalley and Harpervoyager in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful and intriguing story filled with gorgeous descriptions and a phenomenal world.

3.5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis: In the ice, east of the Black Rock, there is a hole into which broken children are thrown.

On Abeth the vastness of the ice holds no room for individuals. Survival together is barely possible. No one survives alone. To resist the cold, to endure the months of night when even the air itself begins to freeze, requires a special breed. Variation is dangerous, difference is fatal. And Yaz is not the same.

Yaz is torn from the only life she’s ever known, away from her family, from the boy she thought she would spend her days with, and has to carve out a new path for herself in a world whose existence she never suspected. A world full of difference and mystery and danger. Yaz learns that Abeth is older and stranger than she had ever imagined. She learns that her weaknesses are another kind of strength. And she learns to challenge the cruel arithmetic of survival that has always governed her people.

Only when it’s darkest you can see the stars.

CW/TW (May contain minor spoilers): Death/gore/loss/abelism

The Girl And The Stars, by Mark Lawrence is a beautifully written story. We follow Yaz, a strong female lead, as her life is turned upside down and she learns more than she could ever have imagined. The story is written from Yaz’s perspective, a good choice as the perspective is a very strong one that is full of mystery, tension and surprise. It is an effective perspective as Yaz is quite a compelling character, she is strong, determined and clever but she has flaws and makes poor decisions at times – this is realistic and her behaviour is believable particularly as she is not an ‘adult’ in our sense of the word, she is a teenager.

However, after a while Yaz’s character becomes slightly static, she develops well initially but by about halfway through she seems to deviate from a raw and realisitc form of develop and instead quickly becomes the characters that masters their unknown power with a supernatural ease. This felt too easy to me particularly because it is a powerful form of magic (again this is a bit trope heavy, Yaz has a rare power as it is but the strength of her power is even more surprising and rare.) Now, I don’t mind that her powers fall into this trope, in fact I found the magic that Yaz possess to be incredibly intriguing and unique and I loved learning about it, but I do feel that she should have struggled with coming to terms with it, she should have needed to learn how to control it – instead she seems to know what to do quite naturally and this took away from her development.

On the other hand, Lawrence writes some incredible settings. His writing is well paced and the descriptions are rich and beautiful, you truly become immerse in the world he has created and the setting really comes alive be it the bleakness of the ice or the beauty of it. Everything about his descriptions are perfect, from above to below the ice, it is atmospheric and evocative.

The Girl And The Stars has a very intriguing story and world; On Abeth the tribes travel the ice, in order to survive the harsh conditions you cannot be different. If you are too tall, too quick, too ‘broken’ then you will be thrown into the hole, the hole of the missing where all broken children go. To be different is to seal your fate, because being different means you will die on the ice after wasting resources and that endangers everyone. This was a very interesting set up and quite unique especially as the story starts because there is a lot of mystery bought up around this. Nobody knows what happens to the children thrown into the hole, it is assumed they die. However, as the story goes on a larger picture is drawn and you start to realise that their are ulterior motives to every action and event.

There are a lot of twists and turns throughout this story, some more shocking than others but each works together to create an epic story full of betrayal and control. I did enjoy the general plotline and found the truth behind it all very fascinating, it also sets up for some bigger reveals later on in the series. Overall it is an intriguing and unique plot with multiple sides to the story being slowly revealed and I appreciated the different stories that developed throughout the book. This story as a whole is a faced past adventure full of action scenes from fights to escapes. This makes it quite a quick read that you can race through while still enjoying it. The story does end on a cliffhanger, and a excellent one at that setting you up for another action packed adventure in the next installment.

I loved the multi-dimensional story that has been crafted. Where nothing is as it seems and the more that is revealed the more you want to know. Not only that but there are multiple forms of antagonists creating a story that appears to blend the sub-genres of fantasy to create one epic tale; with Yaz having to face off against metallic/technological monsters, demons in the ice and people who are crueller than they appear. There is a lot to this world and this feels like the beginning of something pretty extraordinary, from the different forms of magic to the Gods/Godessess/Ancestors, to the way their society is structured and controlled.

The cast of charcaters is pretty decent throughout the entire story and actually pretty diverse with a disabled side character, an m/m couple consisting of two side characters, and more. I really appreciated the diversity in this story with each marginalised character proving themselves to be productive members of society despite the abelist and narrow views of their society. Each character comes into the spotlight at different times and you get to appreciate them as the story goes on and they build relationships and friendships. The only problem I had here was the love triangle/square thing that was going on with Yaz – I am not a fan of this trope and this book unfortunately has not change my mind about this, it felt a little unnecessary and cringe-worthy at times. However, despite this the cast is relatively strong with multiple strong female characters featuring throughout the story as well.

Overall, this is an intriguing start to an epic series, full of action and its fast pace makes for a quick and excellent fantasy read. While this was not perfect (to me personally) it is an enjoyable read with excellent writing, beautiful settings and interesting characters. This will be a popular read with a lot of fantasy lovers and is one that I would recommend to those who love action packed fantasy with multiple layers.

*I received an eARC of #TheGirlAndTheStars by Mark Lawrence from #netgalley #HarperCollinsUK #HarperVoyager in exchange for an honest review*

I want to start off by saying I gave this book 4*. It was brilliantly written, with some likeable and intriguing characters. I had never read anything by Mark Lawrence before and this just wasn't what I expected. He builds a magnificent world of Ice and Stars, where good and evil may not be as simple as it seems.

The only thing I didn't enjoy, and its a pretty big thing, was the magic system. I really struggled understanding what was happening with Yaz's powers. I'm quite a visual reader, and like when I can visualise the magic working. It helps me bond more with the characters and the book. However, I just did not get that with The Girl and the Stars. I understood the basic concept, like with Thurin's power being able to control water. But the rest just wasn't clear cut enough for me. It kept jumping between different parts of the magic and didn't really manage to explain it as a whole.

Because of this I simply didn't love the book. I would definitely pick up book two, if only to find out whether Yaz's magic gets explained more thoroughly.