This was a solid entry into fae YA. However, it needed a good edit, and for the pacing to be much tighter.

While I enjoyed Nausicaa a lot and her interactions with Arlo were good they took too long to get going and were too far in between at the start.

Everytime I picked it up again it took ages to be drawn back into the world.

I know a lot of people will really enjoy this, and I did like the inclusivity of the story. The world is developed a lot but something about it just didn't work for me.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
This was not was I was expecting at all. I was severely disappointed.

Well, that was so much fun! The world-building is fantastic and I loved how the author put their own spin on the faerie world. It's the characters that shine the most though, especially once all four finally come together. They spark off each other and it's absolutely brilliant. The ending has me hyped for the next book and I can't wait to eventually read it.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing an eARC.

I did not expect to love this as much as I did but I have a feeling that this will end up being on my favorite 2021 releases list! It was so good!

I must admit that it took me two tries to get into it as the world is quite complex and I really needed to pay attention to understand what was happening, but I‘m glad I decided to start over and give it a proper shot when I actually had the time to sit down and fully immerse myself in the world. It was definitely worth it.

A Dark and Hollow Star is an urban fantasy but packs so much magic and just incredible worldbuilding that I really didn‘t expect. I loved how the bustling and modern setting of Toronto was combined with epic faerie courts and ancient fairytales. There are different timelines and several POVs so it‘s a bit confusing at first but figuring out how things play together and to see everything click into place was awesome. After the first 100 pages, I was really hooked and couldn’t stop reading it! The characters try to solve crimes so following them as they uncover this mystery gave the book a lot of suspense. The flow of the story was great and really made me go “just one more chapter”.

I honestly really loved the cast of characters! Arlo, Nausicäa, Vehan and Aurelian are all queer which of course made me very happy but they were also just very interesting and unique characters. I really enjoyed learning about their backstories, their powers and their hopes and fears. The story is more focused on Arlo and Nausicäa (aka the sapphic ship of my dreams) but I wasn’t mad about that because I absolutely adored them. Arlo is such a realistic “chosen one” character – she doesn’t really believe in herself and doesn’t think she’s cut out to be the heroine, she’s a bit awkward and a typical teenager (which I loved) but she’s also incredibly brave in her own way. And Nausicäa… *dreamy sigh*. I saw someone say in their review that they’re not sure if they want to be Nausicäa or if they’re in love with her, and I feel the exact same way. She’s such an awesome character and so layered and for sure on the morally grey side but just so badass so, yes, I guess I‘m in love with her.
I really hope we‘ll get to see more of Vehan and Aurelian in the sequel because I really enjoyed their dynamic. They kinda already made my heart ache a lot so I‘m ready for lots of pain.

The LGBTQ+ rep in this really was one of my highlights. Getting two very angsty but also very shippable queer love stories really brought me a lot of joy. But I loved how we not only got both a f/f and a m/m romance but also several queer side characters. I especially appreciated how there were several non-binary/genderfluid characters who used different pronouns. We also got some (rather casual) mentions of depression and mental health which is so rare in fantasy novels. However, I do have to point out the lack of BIPOC characters.

A Dark and Hollow Star was a very promising start to a new urban fantasy series and I can‘t wait to read the sequel. Action-packed, magical and with the queer heroes I’ve been waiting for.
4.75 stars.

This book was pretty good, I enjoyed all the personalities of each character and how they worked together/against each other. It did take me a while to get into the story, I think because it throws so much information at you so early on, it was quite hard to process everything and for a while I wasn’t even sure what an ironborn was?? I think there are just so many characters and they’re introduced all at the beginning rather than waiting until you’re used to the first few characters it gets a bit chaotic. That being said, once I finally got into it, I did really enjoy the adventure they went on and our world vs theirs and the friendships made along the way. I’m not sure I’d read a second one but it depends on the story I guess.

A Dark and Hollow Star is a fast-paced fantasy filled with tons of action that will keep readers glued to their seats. The world-building is outstanding! This is a world where fae exist but are concealed to the rest of the world until there is a series of ritualistic murders threatening to expose faeries. There is excellent LGBTQ+ representation. The characters are fantastic and ones you feel passionate for. The plot was an exciting ride. Highly recommended to those who enjoy fantasy blended with mystery. Be sure to check out A Dark and Hollow Star today!

I liked all four of the main characters! We spend slightly more time with the girls, Arlo and Nausicaä, than we do with the boys, so we get to know them a bit better, and I really enjoyed both of their perspectives. Nausicaä is a former fury who hides her grief and truly atrocious mental health behind a veneer of not caring about the world around her, and Arlo is a half fae half human princess who’s mostly just trying to get through the day and decide whether or not she wants to go to university. I liked how they grew closer to each other after their initial mistrust, and gradually came to realise that they make a very good team. The boys, Vehan and Aurelian, get a little less focus, but I ended up loving them both just as much as I did the girls, if not more! Their relationship is more complicated than the girls’ is, and it’s something that I’d definitely be interested in seeing how it develops going forwards in the series.

There’s a lot of infodumping in this book. A lot of the description of the world could’ve been cut or reduced without losing anything of importance. Shuttleworth has built up a large and intricate world, and it’s understandable that they’d want to go into detail painting that picture, but much of it wasn’t necessary and made the book harder to get through. This kinda contributed to me feeling confused for pretty much the whole time I was reading. There was a Lot, and on top of that a lot of it wasn’t all that clear, which just compounded the issue. There was also so much description being thrown at me that I ended up missing what was actually happening, and I’m still not entirely sure how Arlo and Nausicaä ended up so involved with everything that was happening.

Honestly I think this book suffers from being the first in a series. More time gets dedicated to introducing characters and concepts and the world than gets dedicated to the actual story, but the flipside of this is that hopefully later books in this series won’t do that. One of my favourite series of all time does exactly this. The first book on its own is pretty meh, but when the whole series is viewed as one continuous thing it works really well! This book has got me curious enough to be willing to continue it, and hopefully this will follow that pattern.

Also, I got really excited when a minor character using xe/xem/xis pronouns popped up! I think this is the first book I’ve ever read that has a character that uses pronouns other than he/she/they/it, and it made me really really happy!

I would recommend this book to those who like urban fantasy, faeries, and all queer casts! But I’d maybe suggest holding off until more of the series is out first, as this book feels more like the necessary evil for being able to enjoy those than it feels like its own thing

A Dark and Hollow Star is a magically thrilling YA Fantasy set in the gritty,supernatural underworld of Toronto.

The murders of ‘Ironborn’ half-fae mortals have been plaguing the Fae High Council, but four strangers may hold the key to catching the killer.

Four very different characters (a half-fae outcast, a former Fury, a dutiful prince and a brooding guardian) must band together to stop these murders (and the killer) from exposing the existence of fae kind. In order to succeed they must put their differences (and animosity ) aside or risk destruction,of faerie and human worlds alike.

When I saw it described as The Cruel Prince meets City of Bones I knew I had to read this and it didn’t disappoint. Faeries,Furies,Deities and Reapers. Magic, alchemy and nefarious plots. This remarkable Urban Fantasy has it all;a vast kickass LGBTQ+ cast of characters and witty pop culture references galore- I couldn’t help but love it.

The story is told primarily from the four protagonists’ POVs, though we do get a glimpse at the antagonist’s POV in some of the chapters. This does make it easy for the reader to quickly work out the identity of the antagonists’ main cohort,which was quite entertaining- in a pantomime kinda way (especially when the main characters are trying to work out the villains identity).

Ashley Shuttleworth’s epically detailed world building and magic system made this an incredibly enjoyable (and addictive) read. I’d recommend to fans of YA Urban Fantasy or Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.

And also just wanted to give a huge thank you to Hodder&Stoughton and Net Galley for the Digital ARC of this book.

2.5🌟 DNF - originally received as an ARC on Netgalley but didn’t get around to reading it til now. Spoiler-free and a pretty in-depth look at why I DNFd.

This book was so promising, great blurb and great cover. However, I was put-off straight away by the tone of the first character introduced (Alecto), it tried a little too hard to be cavalier and badass all at the same time and, to me, missed the mark.

This book was so slow! I felt like people were just rehashing the same conversations over and over again. I was initially really interested in the world building and it’s complexities, it was possibly the best thing about this book. The world was a unique take on the fae, it was just the writing and characterisation that let it down - which is unfortunately a big part of any book.

All of the characters seemed to have the same personality bar Aurelian. I found Alecto/Nausicaa incredibly grating and her personality matched Arlo’s except in confidence (also why so many names beginning with A? Even harder to tell them all apart). I liked Celadon, Aurelian and Vehan the best, I would have continued on with the story for them alone but then the goblin market scene happened and it was way too on the nose. 90% of what I read was either 1. description (which completely bogged me down) or 2. telling me something instead of letting me infer it or showing me it. The first I could have ignored. It the second just felt like bad writing. Every little thing was spelled out and repeated over and over - I know this is a YA book but it doesn’t mean you have to dumb down the writing, a few signposts is fine but you don’t have to literally say ‘their fists were clenched, they were upset’ or something like that.

As I briefly mentioned, the pacing was way off to me. Mega slow and there was lots of times when action was happening or something dangerous and they randomly break away from the action to have a long chat about something snarky or irrelevant. It just didn’t work for me.

I think that what this book needed was a very thorough editor to reshape the plot, shake-up the pace, and develop the characters more. Would probably be better for younger, less experienced readers except for the murders. Such a shame.

I loved the setting in this book. Because it is an urban fantasy, it felt very nostalgic as I haven’t read one in a while. I really missed that trope. So that was probably my favorite aspect about the book.
What I didn’t love as much was the plot. I found it dragged at some points, so I wasn’t as excited to pick it back up as I would’ve liked.
Other than that it was a nice and enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of this books.

Rating 4.5

I debated whether to give this 5 stars or not but I still don't know so I will leave it at 4.5 and decide later.

I enjoyed "A Dark and Hollow Star" more than I thought I would and I'm very much surprised at how good it was.

As a whole, this is an amazing read that just grabbed me from the very beginning and didn't let go of me until I finished it and the audiobook is also amazing!

I loved the story which gave me strong urban fantasy vibes which I love. There is a lot about the world that I'd love to learn and some hinted things that I've began to guess and I can't wait to see revealed.

While the plot was simple, it was very well done and kept me interested the whole time. I fell in love with the 4 main characters and Celadon from the very beginning and I can't wait to read more about them. The story seems to be getting a lot more serious and darker, so I'm very excited for the sequel.

me realising what the title actually means: waaaaaaaaaaaaaah gay

I mean, this could be a good summary for like 80% of this book! Queer found family investigates murders mystery, and, oh right, fairies. Also a ton of other fantasy or mythology related things, which pleases my little heart, this is what I live for.

We also have a F/F romance with the sunshine/grumpy trope (where the grumpy is soft for the sunshine) AND a M/M romance with the prince/bodyguard trope (with secrets and misunderstandings...) everything I love!!

This is the first book in a series and it shows with the plot for the main story wrapping at the end BUT we learn there's actually a lot more behind doors about all this! Kinda really excited to read the rest of the series.

Also I've grown attached to the characters (especially Arlo my child I will protect you with my life) and I'm so interested to see where/what they'll do next! (I wasn't that enthusiastic about Vehan and Aurelian though and was glad we had far more chapters from Arlo or Nausicaä)

AND really grateful for the content warnings at the beginning of the book, more authors should do that.

I have pretty mixed feelings on ADAHS, but I’ll start with the positives. I loved our main cast of characters and how they interacted and changed around each other, especially Nausicaä. She was absolutely hilarious and also heartbreaking, I love her to bits. The queer rep in this book is also fantastic and I really feel everyone will find someone they can relate to here. On the other hand, I felt the worldbuilding very hard to keep track of. For example, it took me the longest time to pin down that fae and faeries are two very different species, and I still struggle to explain the difference between sidhe and lesidhe. Maybe there are just a few too many info dumps and a convoluted world building style that isn’t easily presented. Overall I did enjoy reading ADAHS and will be waiting for the next book for more Nausicaä.

This book sounded amazing and i thought it would be a new favorite. Unfortunately it wasn't the case. I had a hard time getting into the story, i didn't really care about any of the characters. As part of the LGBTQ+ community i was so happy to see representation but i would have loved more diversity (especially racial diversity).
I really liked having a trigger warning at the beginning of the book which is always a good point.
My main issue was the writing, i'm sure many people will love it but it just didn't click with me.

Okay first up, the cover… purely because it’s so perfect. It shows one of our main characters, Nausicaä (Nos), who is the Fury, in front of the Toronto skyline as most of the story is set here. She’s one of favourite characters I’ve ever met because she’s just great. She’s full of sass and kick-ass and yet when it comes to people she cares about she’s a cute cinnamon bun. She has a very dark past and she’s clearly suffering with depression and trying to put on a front for the majority of the book but she’s just… awesome.

My daughter, you were meant for so much more than this.
But I’ll digress before this ends up being a review on how much I loved Nos.

The story itself is an urban fantasy where most of it is set in the human world but the fae courts are all hidden within, ironborn (half-fae, half-human) are being murdered every day but the courts don’t seem to care. Nos realises that something weird is happening with their hearts and realises that alchemy is involved, so for the most part she’s just intrigued to see who’s actually committing the crimes.

So, the other main characters. We have Arlo, the half-fae outcast who not many fae seem to like (due to her being half-human) but her cousin Celadon is forever being there for her and you can see he thinks of her more as a sister than anything else. Cel is adorable too. He’s another of those sassy yet lovable characters and I’m just a sucker for sass. I loved Arlo’s character too because her personality is just so relatable? She’s very awkward and unsure of herself but at the same time she’s probably one of the bravest of our main characters, and she ends up being a lot more important than she thought she would be.

Vehan next up! The Seelie Summer prince. He’s just so… good. He’s immensely kind-hearted and gets super involved in helping to find the murderer because he feels like it’s his duty to do so. His mother though, well she’s pretty much gone out of her way to make it so he has no real friends. Her one intention with him seems to be to mould him into a double of her… It’s clearly affecting him but overall he’s still one of the sweetest.

I just want to protect someone the way no one wants to protect me.
Vehan’s guardian (as forced into by Vehan’s mother) is Aurelian… essentially, they both love each other but try to hide it and feel like the other doesn’t feel the same way about them. There’s slightly more to it but that could be breaching into spoiler territory but basically Aurelian will protect Vehan no matter what, which is why he follows him on the investigation in the first place.

Nerdiness is all within this book and my god I did love that! There were little references to things like Pokémon, Lord of the Rings, Zelda… and a lot of the story is basically like a dungeons and dragons game (with it being mentioned a lot also). I can’t help but love a book that makes excellent use of reference to things I love outside of reading so this was a definite plus for me. There were also times that reminded me of Fullmetal Alchemist and since that’s one of my fave animes… all the yes.

Heroes were the stuff of tragedies.
So, yep. I loved this, I need the second book like yesterday… It was perfect. I know that the content warnings provided are extensive but for the most part they’re quite minimal to the story and it was just such a good book. I’ve tried to describe how I feel as best as I can but if you’re into fae stories I think you’ll love this one as much as I did!

I can’t wait to grab a physical copy of this book, and I have a mega need to try my hand at making a custom Pop! of Nos… so I’ll update this post when I can!

Ashley Shuttleworth debuts with a fun, high-stakes magical adventure through modern day Toronto.

In A Dark and Hollow star we meet Nausicäa, Arlo, Vehan and Aurelian, four magical teenagers that get dragged into a brewing war between the Mortal and Immortal Realms.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Dark and Hollow Star. It’s a fun and magical ride with a good balance between a magical world, and a modern-day world. And a good combination at that - there are scenes where technology is the solution to a magical problem.

The characters were diverse and fun to read about. Nausicäa is the right amount of sassy, sometimes bordering on annoying, which is usually commented on by other characters. Arlo is realistically afraid of all the weird things happening around her but fierce in her stubbornness to help. Aurelian is the moody, angsty teen with a strong love for his prince, and Vehan is the prince that loves his people so fiercely, he will hurl himself into danger to save them.

One thing I wasn’t a big fan of, was the world building. It was all a bit too much, too convoluted. There were faeries, fae, the Folk, immortals, mortals, magic, alchemy, Titans, gods, deities, the Wild Hunt, and so much more. It was just too much, and I think Ashley would’ve been able to describe a much more coherent world, if they had narrowed it down just a bit.

Another thing that I disliked was the one Harry Potter reference that was made, especially since this book is so inclusive.

Other that than, I had a lót of fun with A Dark and Hollow Star, and I think it will be an incredibly fun read for anyone interested in a book with a fun (not too complicated or deep) story, and a cast of lovable characters. I’m excited to read the second book.

* I was kindly sent an eARC of this book in return for an honest review, a big thank you to Netgalley, Hodder Publicity and Ashley Shuttleworth.

This book was a whirlwind of action and fantasy creatures, that it had me absolutely captivated. From Fae to Pixies and then even Reapers, it's a whole magical universe set in the very human world around us.

Our main cast include:

Arlo who is an Ironborn (half fae - half human) and trying to find her place within the magical community, despite currently showing little-to-no magic. She seems to be the awkward, quiet type who just wants to get on with her life. Never wanting to get in trouble, she seems to find herself landing in the midst of it quite often.

Nausicaä, "The Dark Star", who is almost an anti-hero (she doesn't necessarily want to do good, but rather wants to clear her own name of these murders). Nos is our sarcastic, chaotic badass who isn't afraid to actively cause friction and trouble.

There's the charming Prince of the Seelie Court, Vehan - who has reason to believe these murders might find their way to him and his protector-slash-childhood-bestie, Aurelian.

These Folk live among us, concealed by magic, until out of nowhere a series of ritualistic murders happen amongst the Ironborn - pulling our four main characters together on a murder mystery adventure.

**********

Firstly, the description in this is just beautiful. Ashley really made these characters seem ethereal and dreamy.

"He was terrible. He was beautiful in a way that was difficult to look at, but at the same time horrifyingly wraithlike in a way that disfigured that beauty entirely."

I love the fact that the Fae Courts were embedded into the human world, including having 'faerie' cafes in the cities. I think having it set in real places really helps to give some oomph to the story, because you're able to imagine what these places and characters would be like in your own life (hello, can I hang out with faeries please?).

Pop culture references were littered throughout this book which I really appreciated, including quotes from Twilight and a rather big nod to Dungeons and Dragons (perfect, for reeling in us fantasy nerds!). I think these elements made it really easy to feel a connection to the characters, we were able to build upon their personalities with relatable memories.

The representation of the LGBTQ+ community in this was fantastic, with multiple queer characters and a person who's pronouns were xe/xis. There was also a scene in the story where Nos (if I remember correctly) explains that some of the Folk prefer not to be gendered and to therefore use neutral terms - this was really smoothly integrated into the story. Great to see!

The characters! We saw some really great development; the banter, the love-hate relationships, the friendships that we saw building throughout. Even the characters we weren't supposed to like were so well written to be 'bad-guys' that I really did dislike them!

My main little qualm with this book is that with such a deep magical world, it sometimes felt hard to find my footing within it. And by this I mean the fact that not only were there Fae (eight courts, an entire social/political structure), but also faeries (which related to anything magical - from pixies and sprites to trolls and dwarves), Furies and then Titans. There was just so much to keep up with. Once the pace of the book started really going, I found myself having to backtrack to remember the lore and what each type of character was/their role within the story.

**********

Overall, I really really enjoyed this book and for lovers of ACOTAR I'd highly recommend it.

Despite being a little confusing to follow at times, I fell so deeply into the story and in love with our gang of magical detectives. I laughed, I teared up and I couldn't shake the post-book-fog for a good few days after reading. I'm eagerly (though incredibly prematurely) awaiting the second book.

4.5 / 5

DNF: I cannot seem to get into this book just yet. I own a physical copy so I will definitely give that a go at a later date!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the arc!

First off I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the eARC of A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth.

Unfortunately this was just NOT the book for me. I actually ended up DNFing this book around the 60% mark. The most frustrating part is that I cannot pinpoint exactly what did not work for me. I realized about halfway through that I had no idea what was going on. There was something within this story that I just felt so disconnected with and I felt like I was experiencing the story from a distance.

I really enjoyed how diverse this story was and appreciate the list of possible triggers at the beginning of the book. I am kinda bummed that this one didn't work out for me, but I definitely feel like it was an issue with me and not the book.

A Dark and Hollow Star was a brilliant blend of fantasy and mystery that laid the groundwork for what promises to be a spectacular series.

Shuttleworth has crafted such a rich and imaginative world. I really enjoyed how blurred the lines between fantasy and reality became. At certain points, I started to envision how the faerie world make intersect with our own in other ways. It reignites the spark of childhood imagination, wanting to find the path to Narnia down the back of your wardrobe. Their writing just has this glimmer to it that is incredibly entrancing to witness. On one hand, you are seamlessly enmeshed into this unique world without ever feeling like a lot of information is being dumped on you. Then, on the other, there’s this exciting mystery being told while you meet this rag-tag bunch of flawed characters.

It goes without saying that I’ve utterly fallen in love with our central quartet of characters. They’re all just such lovable, complex and disastrous protagonists who end up forming a found family style vibe, complete with plenty of family arguments and messy romantic dynamics. I loved getting to hear from each of them and how distinctive each voice was. They’ve all got hidden depths to them and are bound by their pasts and the secrets buried there. In addition to them, we get a mysterious extra voice whose true nature you’ll slowly begin to understand. This all made for an amazing reading experience, which felt cohesive and deeply bingeable. Shuttleworth made the dialogue crackle with authentic wit and a lightness of touch that was so believable. These characters all feel realistic (within the highly fantastical world of urban fantasy) and truly are a highlight of the book.

In regards to the plot, I thought that it was a well-constructed plot that lays the groundwork for an explosive follow up. There’s enough twists and turns to keep you hooked, though I’d argue that Shuttleworth saves the best one just before the final page. Now, all I need is the sequel – particularly after that ending.

A Dark and Hollow Star stands out amongst any other urban fantasy with an awesome cast of characters and enthralling plot.