I thought I'd be into this more than I was. Sounded great in the blurb but I just couldn't get into it. Sorry.

Had high hopes for this one but it fell flat for me. Nothing much happened and when I got to the end I wondered what the point of the whole thing was.

This novel has a very intriguing premise, and one that Katie Khan does a very job pulling off.

Often, sci-fi novel plots revolve around a disaster, and see protagonists drawn together as they try to overcome adversity and survive. In HOLD BACK THE STARS, it's boy-meets-girl-while-trying-to-survive-space. They have a rapidly dwindling amount of time left, before their air runs out. Khan alternates the "present" with moments from the characters' pasts, painting a more detailed picture of Carys and Max.

I didn't love all of the elements of the setting, but that didn't detract too much from my reading experience.

An interesting book, and quite different from most other books I've read. Worth a look if you're in the mood for something a little different.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I was a little nervous when starting this because romances really aren't my thing but OMG this is SO good. I read almost the whole thing in one sitting. Loved the characters, was shipping them hard and JUST NEEDED TO KNOW IF THEY SURVIVE. That last part was genius and heart-wrenchingly beautiful.

Mixed feelings.

Interesting concept and I was hooked from page 1. Not sure about the 2nd half.

"Carys and Max have ninety minutes of air left.
None of this was supposed to happen.
But, maybe this doesn’t need to be the end…

Adrift in space with nothing to cling to but each other, Carys and Max can’t help but look back at the world they have left behind – a place where they never really belonged, and that they might now never return to."

Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Hold Back the Stars wasn't my usual genre - in fact, romance and sci-fi are probably my two worst genres for novels. But, I'd had a personal recommendation and a review copy so I was open to trying it. In the end, it was what I expected and not. I enjoyed it far more than I expected to, but there were just a few things that irked me to the point where I couldn't focus anymore.

I think a selling point for this book is its worldbuilding. As much as it's set-out as a contemporary novel, there are some really interesting aspects of the world that influence the story. There's been a dystopian war, but now there is 'utopia' in Europia, even if America and the Middle East are completely screwed. Surprisingly, this utopia is actually quite believable; people have jobs, families, friends and entertainment like we do today. With one difference: you can't settle down as a family until midlife (around 30?). Now, this seems logical to me when it's explained: the idea is that you have time where you have to focus on yourself and contribute to the community to keep utopia afloat before you start to focus on starting a family. Which isn't to say that you aren't allowed to have relationships when you're younger - in fact there are multiple occasions on which the protagonists are told that they aren't going to be punished for having a relationship, it's just going to be frowned upon and they won't be allowed to officially settle. I think a reason why I struggled with this book towards the end is that fact that this is the main emotional conflict; there's action, and there are smaller storylines, but the primary conflict is this Couples Rule. I can understand the emotional strain of such a situation, but this rule is made out to be evil - as are the people that believe in it - and that made no sense to me. If those in favour of it hadn't been so typecast as evil there may have been a grey area I was more inclined to believe, but it was Max and Carys against the world over this logical, if a little harsh rule. It was hard to get behind.

This was a big thing to me because at the start of this book I was completely sold. Much to my surprise, I was won over by the sweet characters, funny interactions and promising universe. Then suddenly near the mid-point (I can tell you it was exactly at the beach scene), things started to irk me. I don't know whether they weren't there to start with or I just didn't notice them, but suddenly there were tiny details popping up everywhere that annoyed me. Little mistakes, silly little choices, minute characteristics. Alone they wouldn't have bothered me, but things start to collect when they're dotted everywhere. I was upset because I was rooting for this book.

And then we reached the end, and I have only one question: what was the point of that? Not the book as a whole, but the way this story was finished. It's a massive spoiler, but for those who have read the book, you will know exactly what I'm talking about and I just don't understand. The author covered all of her bases, literally. With all those little things beforehand, that was the final straw to make me stop rooting for it.

Most negative reviews I've come across of Hold Back the Stars centre around the fact there's too much romance. I knew going in it was more of a romance than a science fiction story, so I didn't mind it so much. And I've read far worse love stories with far less developed characters. The romance wasn't the problem. The issue for me was that the author made some choices I just don't understand that compromised a good, solid, enjoyable story. Why those decisions that just stick out like a sore thumb? I don't know, but it was a shame they took away from my enjoyment considering I fell in love with it to start with.

Against popylar opinion i found the writing very affected and couldn't get absorbed in the story

Great book, loved the characters and the story. Didn't quite get the ending

Thanks to NetGalley, Gallery and Doubleday for the ARCs of this book.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting in one day. It’s an incredibly easy read. The concept is basically ‘Gravity’ but with a beautiful love story at its heart. Carys and Max are two astronauts stranded in space with 90 minutes to live and very little chance of survival. Their love story is told in flashback over the course of the remaining minutes while they try to find a way to save themselves.

It’s heartwarming and romantic and exciting. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the last third of the book which imagines what life would be like for Max and Carys if one were to survive without the other. This felt a little bit like it was filling out what is quite a simple story. However, I really enjoyed the concept of the book, liked the characters and found the slightly futuristic setting of Europia very interesting.

I really enjoyed reading this - I thought the way the author flicked between their remaining minutes to key points in Carys' and Max's relationship was very well thought out. I think the story says a lot for ideals and how you can't always live up to them, no matter how hard you try, and how sometimes you can accidentally fall onto the 'right path' when you least expect it.

I enjoyed the sci-fi feel to this, but glad it wasn't too heavy and that a simpleton like myself could half-understand some of the sciencey references. A really enjoyable read!

Hold Back the Stars is a romance set in a futuristic self-declared 'utopia'. The storyline alternates between our couple Carys and Max's current situation - stranded in space with dwindling oxygen supplies, and the story of how they met and their relationship developed. The future world that the author has created is really interesting. We are slowly introduced to the state of the planet and the unusual rules set up in order to create their Utopia. In order to promote peace and less of an 'us and them' attitude, the citizens live in regular 'rotation' and are assigned every few years to live in a different area and there are rules in place to ensure they don't settle down into an official relationship too early.

The structure of this new society was fascinating to me, but the focus of the story is Carys and Max, their relationship, and their life-threatening situation. Unfortunately this couple's romance just did not draw me in. I didn't particular care about either of them as characters, and the relationship seemed shallow to me. This meant I wasn't invested in them and it took at least half the book for me to start feeling truly curious about how they ended up in their predicament and what was going to happen. When we actually found out how they landed themselves in space I found it unbelievable and a lot of the build up was glossed over.

Recommended for fans of romance who are looking for something in an unusual setting. It's futuristic and sci-fi, but very accessible, and the focus is on the couple.

3.5 stars

Carys and Max are floating in space with only ninety minutes of air remaining before they die.
As Carys and Max count down the minutes left, they contemplate their home and the rules they broke by loving each other.

Hold Back the Stars was an emotional, unique read.
Carys and Max come from Europia, a utopia in a world where the United States and the Middle East wiped each other out. In Europia people are encouraged to make a name for themselves as individuals while they are young before settling down later to have a family. I thought this was an interesting idea but, obviously, it wouldn't work for everyone.
I liked both Carys and Max. They had very different upbringings and beliefs but they brought the best out in each other. I thought the romance was sweet.
The plot was interesting and went in a direction that I wasn't expecting. I got rather emotional in places.
I enjoyed the writing style, which held my attention and made me want to read on to find out what happened to Carys and Max.

Overall this was an interesting, unique read that I would recommend.

Good story with engaging characters.
This is an original plot which engages the reader but not my genre.

This was a great sci fi about love in a different world. Some good characters and well described interactions. The two main characters were really good and very believable. The conclusions were totally unexpected. Good, quick read.

I loved the concept of this book but for me it was too slow and the romance was a little too much. I would have liked to have seen more focus on their predicament, stuck in space with only 90 minutes of air left! The ending was great though and unexpected.

That's not to say other readers who prefer love stories more than me wouldn't find this book amazing.

3 stars from me for this one.

The story:
Carys and Max are floating through space with only 90 minutes of air left in their tanks and no conceivable means of getting back to their ship. As the clock ticks down, the young couple grow try everything they can to make it back to safety, while in flashbacks we learn about the history of their relationship, how they ended up stranded in space and the earth they left behind and how they

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. We really got to know Carys and Max as characters. They’re in an impossible situation and their reactions seem incredibly real and incredibly human. They swing between from optimistic, practical bursts of activity to hopeless despair as the minutes tick by. They bicker and argue, but also laugh and joke and hold each other together.

I was completely emotionally invested in whether or not they’d make it and for the last 25% of the book I was literally holding back sobs on the train on my way to work. I really didn’t like the ending though. It’s hard to discuss without spoilers, but I just thought it was a bit of a cop out and it made me angry!

The concept of the new utopian society that’s been formed on earth in the wake of new world wars was interesting. People are encouraged to live independently and as individuals until their late 30’s, rotating around Europe every three years, meaning that they’re constantly moving, learning new skills and meeting new people. The idea is to challenge our accepted concept of home and identity – making it harder for groups of people to form and wage war on one another.

For the most part, people are happy, peaceful and thriving. But utopia only works if everyone follows the rules, and Max and Carys challenge the accepted system when they fall in love. As a result, their relationship isn’t smooth sailing. It’s sometime strained, they fight and they constantly questioning their feelings for each other and what they’re doing. It doesn’t feel forced and there’s no cheesy insta-love.

This is billed as a sci fi novel, but even though it is set in the future and it takes place partly in space, the majority of the book feels much more like contemporary drama/romance.

I loved the concept, ADORED the cover but hated the ending! I'm more of a "Happily Ever After" kind of girl and that really let it down for me :(

Sorry!

Hold Back The Stars was a beautiful, unusual book. It blends multiple themes and genres – science fiction, a utopian future and a romance – split between earth and space. But the heart of this story is definitely romance – a story of first love and two people whose relationship is strong enough to challenge the status quo.

Hold Back The Stars

We meet Carys and Max as they’re floating in space with ninety minutes of oxygen left in their tanks and no way back to their ship. As the minutes tick away, the star-crossed lovers try everything they can think of to get back to safety. It’s tense, edge-of-your-seat stuff from the very first page.

The author intercepts the chapters set in space with flashbacks to how the couple met, and the actions which lead them to end up orbiting the earth with no one to help. The world the pair live in on earth is not the world we know – America is barren following a war, and in Europe they’ve renounced religion and created a new utopian world, one based upon individualism.

The new utopian system requires all citizens to adhere to a set of rules, designed to create a perfect society of independent, educated individuals. One of these rules is Rotation, which means that no person stays in the same place for too long, allowing everyone to experience a myriad of different cultures but also halting the development of meaningful relationships. Another is the no couples rule – this society believes that people shouldn’t begin to consider settling down until in their mid thirties.

The alternative society is intelligently explained and, to some degree, it makes logical sense. But there’s always exceptions to the rules, and when Carys and Max meet in their mid twenties, they’re not willing to give each other up without a fight.

Katie Khan’s world-building is fantastic but her character development is even better. Despite the sci-fi, fantasy setting, Max and Carys’s relationship felt incredibly authentic and relatable. Both characters were likeable without being cliche, and the author explores all aspects of a relationship – both good and bad.

Weaving back and forth between the couple’s developing relationship on earth and their time in orbit as the time ticks down makes for an emotional rollercoaster, one that packs a punch on multiple levels. And, this is one that doesn’t let go until the very end – the last few chapters were absolutely genius. I hope this one get the recognition it deserves in 2017, it’s a truly brilliant debut.