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Of Swords and Starlight
Not yet published
Expected 11 Jun 26Harlow is a reincarnated warrior princess first, a university student second, and a fully functioning adult third. Or... realistically, somewhere much further down the list.
In her defense, finding time for self-care is difficult when most nights are spent harnessing starlight to fight giant monsters before clocking into the late shift of the campus observatory.
Her life gets even more complicated when a mysterious stranger reveals secrets that threaten to unravel everything she’s ever known about her past and the war that has begun on Earth.
Juggling royal duty, celestial responsibility, and a full schedule isn’t ideal. But at least monster-slaying with friends still counts as bonding time... right?
In her defense, finding time for self-care is difficult when most nights are spent harnessing starlight to fight giant monsters before clocking into the late shift of the campus observatory.
Her life gets even more complicated when a mysterious stranger reveals secrets that threaten to unravel everything she’s ever known about her past and the war that has begun on Earth.
Juggling royal duty, celestial responsibility, and a full schedule isn’t ideal. But at least monster-slaying with friends still counts as bonding time... right?
- GenresFantasy
Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 11, 2026
About the author
Wren Jones
6 books98 followersWren Jones lives in the Sonoran Desert with her family and two cats. Like most writers, she has been a storyteller for a long time. After her daughter was born, true crime felt a little too true, and darker fiction felt a little too dark. She started reading cozy mysteries, and after a while, she realized a little dose of fantasy and bi-rep was what she was missing. She figured what better time to research, write, and launch a novel that she’d been procrastinating on than while working full-time and raising a tiny human, so here we are.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 17, 2026
The Sailor Moon vibes? Vibing. The space cats? Immaculate. This was a cozy little fantasy, the perfect book to read in stolen moments and share my love of fantasy and whimsy with my son. I can’t wait to get a shelf trophy and share it with him again when he’s old enough to remember.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Thank you to the author for selecting me for this ARC--I was so excited from the first Instagram posts that passed my way and was hoping I would get the chance to read the book early, since it sounded right up my alley. And it was! Sailor Moon meets KPop Demon Hunters in this urban fantasy title--this book was very well comp'ed and marketed, and was exactly what I was hoping it would be!
Of Swords and Starlight follows Harlow, a graduate student in journalism with a side-gig in astronomy who also happens to be a magical girl. In a background similar to Sailor Moon, Harlow and her friends are the reincarnation of princesses in a magical space empire, who were reborn on Earth to continue the war that their original planet lost. The girls don't remember much about their interstellar lives, but nobly continue the fight against moon-powered monsters.
However, things get complicated when Harlow meets Fox, a boy who remembers everything about their past lives and about her. . .
I really enjoyed this book! I adored the cat guardians, especially Carina, I enjoyed that Harlow had her two friends outside of the magical girl squad in the form of Gigi and Rainey, and her bond with her fellow magical girls, Dessa and Len.
The lore was intriguing, if not dived into as much as I might have liked, and the combat scenes were excellent! Action is definitely Jones's strong suit, and it made the combat in this story sing. The environment was also super cozy, and very accurate to being toward the end of one's college journey and all the stress that comes with. I did find the romantic relationships to be a little wanting, but there's definitely room to expand on those and the lore in future installments.
This is a fun romp and I really enjoyed it! I'm hoping there might even be sequel, since there are some open threads left for storytelling. I'll also be keeping an eye out for when the book is available for purchase!
Of Swords and Starlight follows Harlow, a graduate student in journalism with a side-gig in astronomy who also happens to be a magical girl. In a background similar to Sailor Moon, Harlow and her friends are the reincarnation of princesses in a magical space empire, who were reborn on Earth to continue the war that their original planet lost. The girls don't remember much about their interstellar lives, but nobly continue the fight against moon-powered monsters.
However, things get complicated when Harlow meets Fox, a boy who remembers everything about their past lives and about her. . .
I really enjoyed this book! I adored the cat guardians, especially Carina, I enjoyed that Harlow had her two friends outside of the magical girl squad in the form of Gigi and Rainey, and her bond with her fellow magical girls, Dessa and Len.
The lore was intriguing, if not dived into as much as I might have liked, and the combat scenes were excellent! Action is definitely Jones's strong suit, and it made the combat in this story sing. The environment was also super cozy, and very accurate to being toward the end of one's college journey and all the stress that comes with. I did find the romantic relationships to be a little wanting, but there's definitely room to expand on those and the lore in future installments.
This is a fun romp and I really enjoyed it! I'm hoping there might even be sequel, since there are some open threads left for storytelling. I'll also be keeping an eye out for when the book is available for purchase!
May 18, 2026
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this ARC! I have been soooo excited about this book since its announcement so to be able to finally read it and to get to read it early just made me full of joy! 😁
THIS BOOK WAS EVERY SAILOR MOON FANS DREAM!!!! It was so nostalgic for me! I read this one so fast haha I ate it up because it brought me so much joy! ✨
Ok I am in LOVE with these characters!! I want more of them! They are sooooo cute! This is legit a mix of Sailor Moon and Kpop Demon Hunters with space cats!
This is a friend group I want to be in! The girls are all soooo cute! I love them all so much! They have supernatural problems mixed with real world problems! I felt their stress of school, work, rent, and having to hardly sleep saving the world! (Not that I’m a superhero star guardian but I feel their stress haha) These girls are busy! I really enjoyed the differences between the friendships of Len and Dess (who are also Starlight Guardians) and of Rainey and Gigi (the human friend group)! All the girls have such fun personalities and I’m so glad they eventually meet up! They blended so well together!
The plot was very interesting and I really enjoyed it! The Starlight Guardians are reincarnated aliens from another planet that was destroyed. Now they continued the war that destroyed their planet against the Moonlight Monsters, the Mechodia. The Guardians don’t remember their past lives fully, but a stranger shows up who somehow remembers everything and has their eyes set on Harlow, the princess!
This book is on the shorter side sitting at 292 pages but the pacing felt just right! It didn’t feel too short at all! With some loose ends that need to be tied up (need to find certain people iykyk) I am so hoping for a book two because I need to jump back into this world!
I could not recommend this book enough!
This is a must read for Fans of Sailor Moon & Kpop Demon Hunters! Also, SPACE CATS! 💫
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️ (mostly kissing, nothing too crazy haha)
THIS BOOK WAS EVERY SAILOR MOON FANS DREAM!!!! It was so nostalgic for me! I read this one so fast haha I ate it up because it brought me so much joy! ✨
Ok I am in LOVE with these characters!! I want more of them! They are sooooo cute! This is legit a mix of Sailor Moon and Kpop Demon Hunters with space cats!
This is a friend group I want to be in! The girls are all soooo cute! I love them all so much! They have supernatural problems mixed with real world problems! I felt their stress of school, work, rent, and having to hardly sleep saving the world! (Not that I’m a superhero star guardian but I feel their stress haha) These girls are busy! I really enjoyed the differences between the friendships of Len and Dess (who are also Starlight Guardians) and of Rainey and Gigi (the human friend group)! All the girls have such fun personalities and I’m so glad they eventually meet up! They blended so well together!
The plot was very interesting and I really enjoyed it! The Starlight Guardians are reincarnated aliens from another planet that was destroyed. Now they continued the war that destroyed their planet against the Moonlight Monsters, the Mechodia. The Guardians don’t remember their past lives fully, but a stranger shows up who somehow remembers everything and has their eyes set on Harlow, the princess!
This book is on the shorter side sitting at 292 pages but the pacing felt just right! It didn’t feel too short at all! With some loose ends that need to be tied up (need to find certain people iykyk) I am so hoping for a book two because I need to jump back into this world!
I could not recommend this book enough!
This is a must read for Fans of Sailor Moon & Kpop Demon Hunters! Also, SPACE CATS! 💫
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️ (mostly kissing, nothing too crazy haha)
Review of advance copy received from Author
*Actual rating is 4.5 stars*
Of Swords and Starlight is inspired by the likes of Sailor Moon and K-Pop Demon Hunters - and as such features all of the magical girls goodness you need in your life. The story follows Harlow, a space princess incarnated on earth. Being a sword, a warrior able to wield starlight, she is tasked to defend the planet from space monsters. But she isn’t alone in the battle, by her side she has her two friends Len and Dessa. Not to mention their respective guardian space cat. When the monsters start to get more intense and the whole battle seems to shift for the worse, the girls will have to do everything in their power to win it.
This urban fantasy/sci-fi caught my attention on Instagram, as the author's posts made it seem like this book would be something for me. And it definitely lived up to my expectations. Not only are the girls absolutely kick-ass, but their friendship was amazing! It’s like one of those friendship groups you wish were real so that you could be part of it. And that includes the two humans Gigi and Rainy and the cats as well! The found family vibes are very strong, wish I’m a big fan of. There was a bit of romance, and while I found it a bit out of place, after finishing the book I feel like maybe that was the point? But luckily it didn’t deter from the very fun journey the girls had while trying to defend Earth while bringing both the action and the cozy vibes. Hopefully there will be more from this highly engaging world in the future, because I need more of these magical girls in my life. The ending felt like there could be more to come, so who knows?
—
Thank you to the author for an e-arc of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Of Swords and Starlight is inspired by the likes of Sailor Moon and K-Pop Demon Hunters - and as such features all of the magical girls goodness you need in your life. The story follows Harlow, a space princess incarnated on earth. Being a sword, a warrior able to wield starlight, she is tasked to defend the planet from space monsters. But she isn’t alone in the battle, by her side she has her two friends Len and Dessa. Not to mention their respective guardian space cat. When the monsters start to get more intense and the whole battle seems to shift for the worse, the girls will have to do everything in their power to win it.
This urban fantasy/sci-fi caught my attention on Instagram, as the author's posts made it seem like this book would be something for me. And it definitely lived up to my expectations. Not only are the girls absolutely kick-ass, but their friendship was amazing! It’s like one of those friendship groups you wish were real so that you could be part of it. And that includes the two humans Gigi and Rainy and the cats as well! The found family vibes are very strong, wish I’m a big fan of. There was a bit of romance, and while I found it a bit out of place, after finishing the book I feel like maybe that was the point? But luckily it didn’t deter from the very fun journey the girls had while trying to defend Earth while bringing both the action and the cozy vibes. Hopefully there will be more from this highly engaging world in the future, because I need more of these magical girls in my life. The ending felt like there could be more to come, so who knows?
—
Thank you to the author for an e-arc of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Author
With Of Swords and Starlight, author Wren Jones pays homage to shows like Sailor Moon and K-Pop Demon Hunters, and does her own spin on the concept. Our main trio, Harlow, Dessa and Len work with magic space cats and call upon starlight to craft their weapons and fight monsters called Mechoida that seem hell-bent on destroying main character Harlow.
The identity of the Mechoida and their goals are the main plot focus and it keeps things nice and mysterious through most of the story, with some solid twists here and there.
My favorite parts by far are when the trio are joking around with each other and/or the handful of side characters that show up throughout the story. There are a couple of romantic subplots, one that was subtle enough to keep me guessing whether it was romantic - and it was worth the wait to get the answer!
Overall character development feels a bit minimal, but Harlow does come to realize her shortcomings and learn to trust her team as time goes on.
Wren leaves a few plot points unresolved/as cliffhangers, and it makes me really hopeful that she'll continue this world she's built, as the characters and magic are a delight! I'm so grateful to have received an ARC copy and will definitely be getting a physical copy when the book releases!
The identity of the Mechoida and their goals are the main plot focus and it keeps things nice and mysterious through most of the story, with some solid twists here and there.
My favorite parts by far are when the trio are joking around with each other and/or the handful of side characters that show up throughout the story. There are a couple of romantic subplots, one that was subtle enough to keep me guessing whether it was romantic - and it was worth the wait to get the answer!
Overall character development feels a bit minimal, but Harlow does come to realize her shortcomings and learn to trust her team as time goes on.
Wren leaves a few plot points unresolved/as cliffhangers, and it makes me really hopeful that she'll continue this world she's built, as the characters and magic are a delight! I'm so grateful to have received an ARC copy and will definitely be getting a physical copy when the book releases!
Review of advance copy received from Author
A huge thanks to the author for this free EARC! One of my favorite authors had posted about this story and after reading the synopsis, I was SO excited to read it and I applied immediately! It's compared to Sailor Moon (which, as an old, I'm not super familiar with) and KPop Demon Hunters (which as a fan, I loved to see) and it definitely hit the second one right on the money! This was very cute and cozy with just enough action scenes and mid-high level stakes. I love a good "memories trickle in" plot point to keep the reader in suspense. I also LOVE a cat familiar! (Carina is probably my favorite character) I hope the author continues to write about this universe. (The book does not end on a cliffhanger but there are definitely more places we can go!)
May 15, 2026
I loved the characters and premise. This has serious Sailor Moon vibes and I loved the way the friends worked together. Really fun read!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews