Starless

by Jacqueline Carey, Caitlin Davies (Narrator)

Jacqueline Carey is back with an amazing adventure not seen since her New York Times best-selling Kushiel's Legacy series. Lush and sensual, Starless introduces listeners to an epic world where exiled gods live among humans, and a hero whose journey will resonate long after the last chapter concludes.

I was nine years old the first time I tried to kill a man....

Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him. In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity…but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction. If Khai is to keep his soul's twin, Zariya, alive, their only hope lies with an unlikely crew of prophecy-seekers on a journey that will take them farther beneath the starless skies than anyone can imagine.

21 hours and 44 minutes

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Queer, LGBT, Romance, Audiobook, Epic Fantasy

22 pages, Audible Audio

First published June 12, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Jacqueline Carey (born 1964 in Highland Park, Illinois) is an author and novelist, primarily of fantasy fiction.

She attended Lake Forest College, receiving B.A.'s in psychology and English literature. During college, she spent 6 months working in a bookstore as part of a work exchange program. While there, she decided to write professionally. After returning she started her writing career while working at the art center of a local college. After ten years, she discovered success with the publication of her first book in 2001.

Currently, Carey lives in western Michigan and is a member of the oldest Mardi Gras krewe in the state.

Reviews

[Jaidee · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 "delicate, gorgeous, fierce" stars !!!

4th Favorite Read of 2020

I have spent a few months with this tome. Reading it slow. Savoring the landscapes and seascapes, being a follower on an epic quest, wondrously conversing with the gods and godesses, laughing with these very special but also ordinary companions, relishing the beautiful but simple prose and experiencing emotions both mundane and sacred.

Ms. Carey has created a fantasy novel of slow sheer perfection. She has infused this novel with a feminist wisdom without cowering into utopian ideals. This world of the Starless is vast and magical and full of wonder. There are playful deities, silly harem women, coarse sailors, oracles and sea wyrms and an army of the undead. There is sweet lesbian love, enchantment and royal intrigues. There are wise men and healing crones. The book is immense, wise and compassionate.

This is a wonderful reading experience that not only takes one on a fantastical journey but also allows one soul to become more integrated.

Thank you Ms. Carey for this most perfect of fantasy story-telling.

[Mogsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/07/05/...

I’m a huge fan of Jacqueline Carey and will read anything she writes no matter the genre or subject, but I do believe she is in her element whenever she tackles epic fantasy because the format lends itself well to her style. Hence, I was so excited when I found out about Starless. Carey is a master worldbuilder who has also written some of my favorite characters of all time, and I feel that opportunities like these are when she can really let loose and show off the full scope of her incredible talent.

Steeped in rich history and mythology, the world was Starless was a delight to discover and experience. The book’s title refers to the skies above Zarkhoum, which are completely devoid of celestial bodies save for the sun, Zar, and his three companion moons. They were the parents of the many stars whose light used to fill the night skies, until the children grew rebellious, causing Zar to cast them all down to the earth, where their punishment bound them in exile forever more. But while they could not return to the heavens, the stars lived among mortals as gods, and some of them even took to the task of protecting the land and its inhabitants. Pahrkun the Scouring Wind was one such god. Deep in the desert, there lives a brotherhood of warrior-priests who dedicate themselves to his service, and it is here that we find our protagonist, Khai.

There is much more to Khai than meets the eye, however. On the rare occasion that a member of Zarkhoum’s royal family is born during an eclipse, it is said that the child’s shadow, or soul’s twin, is also born at the same time. Thus, all babies born during the eclipse are gathered for a test to find the one destined to be the new royal child’s protector, which is how, when the Princess Zariya was born, the infant Khai was identified as her shadow. But being chosen by their god also meant that Khai was entrusted to the Brotherhood of Pahrkun to raise and train as a warrior—and there was just one major complication. While the solution ultimately presented itself in the form of an age-old desert tradition, it meant that Khai had to grow up without knowing an important truth.

Split into several parts, the story first begins in the desert, where readers get to catch a glimpse of Khai’s early years growing up within the Brotherhood. Hands down, I think this was my favorite part of the book. I’ve always had a fondness for fantasy stories that involve a training school component of some sort, and Carey has once again managed to come up with a very imaginative scenario. This will probably come as no surprise, but one of my favorite books ever, her novel Kushiel’s Dart, also started in a similar manner, following a protagonist who comes of age as an apprentice training for their life’s calling.

In the case of Starless, Khai trains in preparation to become Princess Zariya’s shadow and future bodyguard. It’s also interesting to note how the Brotherhood of Pahrkun gains some of its members. Any man convicted of a crime deserving of execution can instead choose to be judged by the Trial of Pahrkun, which involves fighting three of the Brotherhood’s members in the Hall of Proving. If the supplicant can best them all, his sins are wiped away, and he joins the Brotherhood, enriching their ranks with his new skills and knowledge. This was how Khai ended up with some of the best and most interesting mentors, including Brother Merik, Brother Saan, and of course, the unforgettable Brother Yarit. Without a doubt, the characters were the key element that made this opening section of the book stand out. I loved the different personalities and the fascinating interactions between all of them.

The second part of the book opens up the world a bit more, introducing readers to the court of the royal family. Khai also finally gets to meet Princess Zariya for the first time, making a shift from a monastery full of men to close quarters dominated by women. Without revealing too much, I thought gender roles were explored very well in these chapters. As an issue, gender is important in this novel, though the author handles the topic with such subtlety and finesse, it simply integrates itself seamlessly into the story’s larger themes. As always, Carey’s emphasis is on character development and backstory, so that a character’s identity choices end up coming across as natural and as much a part of them as any of their other thoughts, actions, and emotions.

Then, the story shifts gears almost completely in the final part of the book, throwing readers headfirst into a more traditional fantasy quest narrative which puts more emphasis on action and adventure. Khai and Zariya find themselves joining up with a ragtag crew of “prophecy seekers”, embarking on a swashbuckling journey on the high seas to prevent the fallen god Miasmus from rising again. Even though I enjoyed these ocean-bound sections just slightly less than the desert chapters at the beginning, I have to say the overall energy found here was very addictive. I loved getting to travel with our characters to all these exciting new places, encountering fantastical creatures and meeting interesting people. There’s also the easy friendships among this diverse cast, creating a lively atmosphere that made this book just plain fun to read.

The truth is, I hadn’t wanted to hype myself too much for Starless. Despite Jacqueline Carey’s return to the epic fantasy doorstopper genre, somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it would be foolish and a little unfair to compare it to her past work, or to expect this book to sweep me completely off my feet like Kushiel’s Dart. But damn, after finishing this one, I gotta say—it sure came wickedly close. This is one breathtakingly rich and evocative novel. Even more impressive is that Carey was able to pull off this powerful tale in one single volume. I maintain that she is one of the fantasy genre’s most brilliant and precious talents, and a book like Starless only strengthens that belief.

[Patrick St-Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you know, I feel like a complete idiot for having waited for so long to finally give Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel novels a shot. Now that I've read and fell in love with the first two trilogies, I was getting ready to start the third series. But when I learned that she had a stand-alone book titled Starless getting published this spring, I elected to read that one instead.

Understandably, I had high hopes for this one. And although Starless begins in a way that makes it impossible to put down, sadly the plot sags in the middle and peters out toward an ending that did not quite live up to my lofty expectations. I'm not sure what happened along the way. From the get-go until Khai leaves the Fortress of the Winds and the desert behind, this novel is as good and engrossing as anything I've read from Carey. So much so that I believed that Starless would be the fantasy title of the year. Then things gradually took a turn for the worse and the book never truly recovered afterward. Which is a shame, for it's been a long time since I was hooked to such a degree by the first few chapters of a novel.

Here's the blurb:

Jacqueline Carey is back with an amazing adventure not seen since her New York Times bestselling Kushiel’s Legacy series. Lush and sensual, Starless introduces us to an epic world where exiled gods live among us, and a hero whose journey will resonate long after the last page is turned.

Let your mind be like the eye of the hawk…Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him.

In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity…but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction.

If Khai is to keep his soul’s twin Zariya alive, their only hope lies with an unlikely crew of prophecy-seekers on a journey that will take them farther beneath the starless skies than anyone can imagine.

I've said it a hundred times: Jacqueline Carey's worldbuilding has always been amazing. Unfortunately, I feel that the author never received the respect she deserves in that regard. With each new book, she took us on fabulous journeys that enabled readers to discover more about her Kushiel universe and she never disappointed in doing so. Richly detailed and imagined in terms of cultures, religions, and politics, these works were textured and sophisticated novels that hit all the right buttons. Given that Starless was a stand-alone book, I figured that it wouldn't be as dense and sprawling as most of the Kushiel installments. And yet, early on Carey's worldbuilding shines again. Her depiction of life in the desert and the Fortress of the Winds was particularly well-done. The author perfectly captured the unforgiving nature of that environment, and Khai's early years and training made for a fascinating read. The Middle Eastern/Islamic setting was a welcome change from the the traditional European medieval analog. Her depiction of the city of Merabaht and the House of the Ageless and the court of the Sun-Blessed was also interesting. However, the web of murder and political intrigue that Carey wove through this novel was not as shocking as the politicking she accustomed us to in previous works. It's hard to tell if initially this was meant to be a two-installment sequence, for the subsequent journey across the currents felt incredibly rushed compared to the rest of the book. Hence, her depiction of Papa-ka-hondras and the other countries/islands visited during their quest felt cursory at best. A world away from the wonderful worldbuilding skills Carey demonstrated during the great expeditions of the Kushiel books. The same goes for the fallen gods and goddesses, whose histories and personalities were not as well-drawn as I would have liked.

The tale is told from the first person narrative of Khai. Given up as a baby to be raised and trained by the Brotherhood of Pahrkun to become Princess Zariya's shadow, this young warrior's perspective is that of a deeply flawed individual that has been betrayed by those he trusted the most. And though characterization has always been a facet in which the author usually excels, the introduction of Zariya essentially killed the story for me. Khai, who up until that point was a captivating protagonist, becomes a lovesick puppy as soon as they are introduced and remains so for the duration of the novel. It's been a while since I came across a character I found this annoying. The more so because Khai is never the same afterward. My dear, dearest, my heart, my love, yada yada yada. Zariya cannot speak to anyone without using such terms of endearment and this gets old real fast. Hence, from the moment Khai and Zariya met in the Palace of the Sun, Starless lost most of what had made it a compelling read. And since the princess' storyline lies at the heart of the plot, it made it impossible for me to get over that. Thankfully, Jacqueline Carey has a knack for creating engaging and memorable secondary characters, and once again she came up with a good cast. Chief among them Brother Yarit, Vironesh, Jahno the Seeker, and Brother Saan. In their own way, they have all left their mark on this novel. Kudos to Carey for tackling the transgender issue and doing it well.

Pace was never really an issue throughout Starless, but there is no denying that the last portion of the novel, the one focusing on the heroes' journey to save the world, felt quite rushed at times. The rhythm pertaining to the first part, the one focusing on Khai's training, was slower and covered several years. As a result, you got to know Khai and his fellow members of the Brotherhood of Pahrkun a lot more than the rest of the characters we meet later in the book. The desert truly came alive and that portion of the plot was head and shoulders above the rest of the novel in terms of quality and originality.

I often complain that works are sometimes too long, that they would have been better if a number of chapters had been excised. On the contrary, I felt that Starless probably would have benefited from a longer pagecount. Weighing in at 592 pages, it's already a big book, true. And yet, the final journey felt too rushed, the locales visited and their people not richly depicted enough, for the endgame and finale to be as memorable as they could have been.

For a while, it felt as though Starless would be the fantasy book to read in 2018. Unfortunately, as the story progressed it failed to live up to that potential. Hence, what could have been a great work turned out to be merely a good one. For many readers, that will be enough. But I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. . .

For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

[Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, it wasn't a horrible book, and there were a few key components I really liked, but compared to her other works and YA Fantasy in general, I found it a major struggle to get through. Dang. RTC

[Scott Hitchcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*'s

If you like YA I think you'll like this more than I did. The book started out well and had a couple of nice twists. However the plot was simple and one of the main characters drove me crazy always calling her counterpart My Heart, My Darling, My This and My That. In the end the second half was a slog for me.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A standalone fantasy novel split internally into three parts, the first two of which were excellent but let down by a mediocre final act.

After Khai was selected at birth to be the Shadow of Princess Zariya of the Ageless, he was raised by the Brotherhood of Pahrkun as an elite bodyguard and warrior to protect Zariya. Shadow and Sunblessed have occurred many times through history, but there's a prophecy that states that one such pair will one day defeat the ultimate darkness.

The first part of this book covers Khai's training in the Desert with the Brotherhood of Pahrkun and reads like your standard fantasy school story, which is a story trope that I quite enjoy. The second part covers the meeting of Khai and Zariya in the Zarkhoumi capital and the court and harem politics there. The third devolves the story into a rather mechanical fetch-quest, but is slightly redeemed by having an extended what-happens-next story after the quest comes to a finish.

There's some really interesting elements of this story dealing with gender and disability, but the narrative tends to veer away from anything actually confronting about these. I don't think it's enough anymore to just represent, and there's just not enough meat in the rest of the story to carry such a long book.

Overall it was ok, but it's probably the least of the works of this author I've read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2018/0...


I have to say, Starless is one of those books that pulled me in very quick. The story is about a world where the children of the main god were all cast down to live among the mortals, and with them, all the stars in the sky were gone as well, changing the night sky. The role of gods in this interesting. They all have unique qualities and rule over specific domains. The people in those domains become well acquainted with their “local god”, for lack of a better term.

The first section of the book is a coming of age tale. I love Khai as a character, he is fierce and talented and just over all, a good character. He is very much a “chosen one”, who excels well beyond his talented peers to take on awe inspiring skills. This should not be too surprising since Khai was selected by his one of the Sacred Twin gods to be the shadow or the Sun-blessed chosen. His soul and fate is linked to another, a person he has never met but is committing his entire life to train to become their protector. I particularly enjoyed a brother that became a mentor to Khai. This character just lent a bit of fun and truth to the otherwise more stifled and structured brotherhood experience.

The second section of the book is when he is finally united with Zariya, his soul’s twin. I enjoyed this part as well, as Khai finally gets to leave his sheltered existence and start to experience the world beyond the brotherhood in the desert. Khai has some internal struggles to sort through in addition to adjusting to the wider world.

The third part of the book is full of adventure and a wide range of characters and experiences. It is also where the prophecy begins to fall into place.

This book is very tropey. That is not a bad thing, but knowing every reader has their own sets of preferences, I want to let you know that readers that don’t do well with “chosen one” stories, or stories that are influenced by prophecy, or end of the world threats, you may want to go into this one with a forewarning that all of those play heavily in this book.

I loved the first 80% of this book. However, at that point, I felt like the conflict driving the story became so dire and over the top, that it actually lost some sense of urgency for me. I hate to give away too much, and I know there are so many books where the conflict threatens some dire situation, but in this case, I felt quite strongly it could never come to pass, it was just too catastrophic, and therefor, I found myself less invested in the resolution, which in turn, felt like it took forever. Perhaps it was just the decline in my interest that made it feel drawn out, but between the final 80% to 95%, I just lost that suspenseful feeling I am sure I was meant to have. I also have to say, that while the prophecy is not set in stone, I did not care for how it almost felt like a script, where they could at times reference it to help determine what to do next. It just made the story feel a bit more contrived than natural to me.

All that said, that means that 85% of the book (the first 80% and last 5%) were amazing and completely made the book worth reading and recommending.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/17 This epic fantasy has steady pacing and evocative prose, but is disappointingly conventional.

Full RTC

[Lena]

There’s nothing wrong with this book.
It’s a YA.
It’s long.
It’s high fantasy.
It’s not holding my attention.
DNF 30% No Rating

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, this was an interesting reading experience because I was simultaneously rereading another of Carey’s books, Kushiel’s Dart, as part of a read along project for the reddit r/fantasy community (details here). Because of that, I definitely picked up on some common threads between that book and Starless, even though they’re both very different books. Still, this review is about Starless, so that’s what I’ll focus on.

Carey’s prose is lush and beautiful, as always, and it serves to breathe life into this new world. The book is divided into three parts, and the first section focuses on our main character, Khai, and his days spent growing up in the desert at the Fortress of the Winds, training to be a warrior. Khai is also, that trope of tropes, a chosen one. From birth his life has been fated to be twinned to the soul of the Princess Zariya. But we follow Khai through his desert training for a long time up until he’s sent to the court to do his duty as Shadow at the age of sixteen. We really get to know Khai as a character here, and I have to say, I really love everything about him. He’s not a precocious child, nor given to whimsy. A bit on the serious side, Khai is loyal and a fierce warrior with a natural curiosity about the world outside of the Fortress of the Winds.

One of my favorite characters in the entire book is featured in the first act, Brother Yarit. He comes from the city, a condemned man, a thief, sentenced to walk the Trail of Pahrkun and face the warriors of the Brotherhood, he’ll be forgiven his sins if he survives and be admitted into the Brotherhood himself. Yarit is sly, prone to deception, and has a foul mouth. He’s a con-man. And yet, somehow, he becomes a part of the brotherhood and a mentor to Khai. He admits time and time again that this is not the life he would have chosen, and that he’s not suited to it, and yet it seems to be his destiny. Destiny, fate, these are things that will keep coming up throughout the story with different characters. Anyway, I just loved Yarit, because everyone at the brotherhood is so very serious all of the time and Yarit is the opposite of that so it made for a fun contrast.

In the second act we follow Khai to the court to meet Princess Zariya where he’s to serve as her shadow for the rest of his days. The court of the Ageless is filled with endless intrigues, as one might expect of a court consisting of one king with many wives and children from each, especially since so many of them are so long lived and the king shows no signs of stepping down any time soon. You have the regular petty squabbles among the wives and their kids while they jockey for power. But doing it all with smiles on their faces. It’s a game of sorts and Khai, inexperienced in intrigue, is wary of it all. His one light is Princess Zariya. She’s beautiful and full of hope despite an illness as a child that left her with little use of her legs. She’s not naive, having grown up in the palace with all of its intrigues she could never be naive, and yet she still feels innocent in a lot of ways, unspoiled by all the rotten apples around her she may be the one hold out in the entire barrel. I never truly connected with her character as a reader, to be quite honest, but I can’t say there’s anything wrong with the way she’s written. She’s just…nice.

Here we get to explore the city and the world is expanded beyond the desert and the court. We see how conditions are not great for all of the people and how those in the Palace of the Ageless are intentionally blind to it all, only concerned with their going’s on at court. Even when it’s obvious that they have offended their god, and that’s why the ramanthus seeds that sustain their long lives have not been able to be harvested, they don’t change their ways. They feel like they’re on the verge of being a bygone era–either they’ll never change and the seeds will run out and their lives will end sooner rather than later, or they change. Of course not everyone is terrible–you have Princess Fazarah, a reformist for the people, and Zariya’s brother Prince Dozaren, who you don’t really know what to make of. Is he good or bad? Either way, he’s intriguing. And definitely plotting.

Once the story gets to the third act things change yet again.

In the third act we explore much more of the world. This is probably the most ambitious world-building I’ve seen from Carey. Yes, you can see some influences here and there, but things get weird. Not everyone is human, and some societies are not even humanoid. And you can see the way that societies and cultures of places were built up around the various gods (the fallen stars) that dwelt there. Of course the city of trade’s god is the god of shrewdness. And of course the god of fear lives on an island where everything is trying to kill you. All of these were interesting places to explore, and fun, if a little bit on the nose.

Did any of you guys ever see that movie Lady in the Water? Because for some reason, this third act reminds me a lot of Lady in the Water. You’ve got the prophecy. And someone comes and says ‘hey, you’re X and X from the Prophecy! And this is X and X and other X and we know it’s them because it’s obvious’. And the characters figure out their preordained roles and play them to the T. I mean, the Scattered Prophecy may be scattered but that’s the only thing puzzling about it. Everything seems to just fall into place for our heroes and feels rather obvious. The gods give them the tools they need and they take them, even if they don’t feel important at the time. There’s a lot of ‘I don’t know why I’m supposed to do this but I know I’m supposed to do this so I’m doing it’ and then you find out ‘oh hey, that worked out well, didn’t it’. It feels like, even though they had to work hard and there were sacrifices along the way, that it would always work out for them because it was supposed to. And because of that, it didn’t allow me to become as emotionally invested as I would have liked. This is a difficult thing to describe, but it’s like when you have a character that dies and then they’re resurrected, and this happens more then once in a story…then that death is just meaningless and the next time someone in the story dies you’re not even sad because they’ll just come back again. That specific example doesn’t apply here, but just using it as an analogy.

But then Carey keeps coming back to her characters trying to see how things will fall out. ‘If this, than this, than this’ chain of events type of thinking. (This, by the way, is one of the common threads from Kushiel’s Dart as Phedre often has this kind of thinking when looking back with hindsight.) A butterfly flaps it’s wings and everything could be different. A million little things had to be lined up just so and people had to be relied upon to act accordingly, or everything could have gone differently. We’re reminded of this because it’s constantly brought up. And yet…I don’t know, I just feel that things went…about as easily as they could have given the circumstances.

And yet….the third act is where everything is finally happening. Action, adventure, romance. Plot. I can’t hate the third act at all, even though it feels like a very beautifully written version of a choose your own adventure where the reader picks all of the most favorable outcomes.

That being said, one of the best things about Starless is that it’s an incredibly optimistic book. The end of the world is coming and our heroes are motley crew of mostly ordinary folk chosen to do an extraordinary thing–save the entire world. But, I got the feeling too, at the end of things, that some of the stuff going on in the background is the real story. Yeah, our heroes did their jobs and now they can retire–the world has been saved. But it’s up to everyone else to make it better, and we see the start of that with Princess Fazarah, Zariya’s elder sister who wants to help the poor and bring reform to society. And maybe that’s the lesson here, because that’s the hard work. Saving the world is easy, making it fair and just for everyone takes work–but it too can be done.

[Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

***Insert clever pun about the numbers of stars in my rating vs. the number of stars in the title*** I've read a lot of Carey's works with fluctuating degrees of enjoyment, and I am sad to say that Starless is nowhere near my favorite by her. From the characters, to the journey, the entire story feels one dimensional and dry, leading to a one and a half month read time accomplished at the end by shear will instead of climatic pull.

I think Carey has on her hands a fascinating world. I really enjoyed the idea that these giant pillars of gods walk amongst humans, bestowing gifts to 'their' people, and protecting individual lands from invaders. She has a fascinating landscape where each island begets different species begets different cultures. Sadly, I think her need to make this a standalone novel is a detriment to the amount of world building and backstory she chose to include, turning reading into a chore, where it could have been an avid activity in exploration.

She split her novel into three portions aptly titled Desert, Court, and Sea, and unfortunately the story reads like 3 random novellas strung together by characters rather then overarching plot, and it is here where the pacing really comes into play. In a trilogy it would be okay to include two hundred pages devoted to the life of Khai from age 9 to 16 as he accumulates the skill necessary to protect his sun-blessed charge and soul's twin, Zariya. Instead in a standalone novel what we get reads as two hundred pages of squeezing rocks, balancing on ropes, and learning deadly skill with desert weapons I'd be hard pressed to describe if asked. It is not that the backstory is not important, but it is poorly proportioned considering the scope of what Carey wants to accomplish in six hundred pages, and while not remiss included in a series, it eats up time that could have been used to bolster the plot when we finally do get to it. Carve 100 pages from the beginning and I would have easily hit the ground running.

It is not just that Desert is poorly page proportioned but Court, although slightly more interesting with its larger cast of characters and more dialogue, is still a wandering mess without a solid focus on plot. Here Khai meets his soul's twin, and it is here where the character growth we painstakingly built goes out the windows, replaced by a soul sucking devotion to Zariya that subsumes any and all personality Khai may have had before. So here interspaced with bath time gossip, and world building focused on the house of the ageless, Zariya's family, we traverse the streets, learn of evil that lurks amongst the peasants, and navigate arranged marriages. Although there are talks of prophecy and rising darkness, it is wholly removed from the hallowed halls of these undying humans. Again if this was apart of a larger series, this book could have ended still at court, with Miasmus rising and attacking Zarkhoum, and Khai and Zariya deciding that they must do something about it. It could have been a complete arc and the scenes that felt tedious because they distracted from the accomplishing of an entire book in a limited amount of time, would have instead had the desired effect of enriching the land. I spent the entire time during the Court sections wondering when we were going to unveil the plot and actually get to the point.

So if you can't tell by the way my review is going, Sea, the last two hundred pages of the book serves to encompass the entire plot, the saving of the world from Miasmus, as we set out to explore a whole section of the world that for the first four hundred pages I had no idea even existed. We travel to lands with people with fish aspects and cat aspects, we encounter forests of fear and trade councils. All in two hundred pages. Here the story begins to feel rushed while dragging at the same time. Carey waits until here to introduce ALL the quest members, conveniently sailing at a time to cross paths with Khai and Zariya (and yes I know fate played a hand in their meeting), and actually start the story. So far the only places included in the first four hundred pages are the desert and Zarkhoum. Aside from giant god siblings traversing them, they seem rather average, mimicking how many of us would envision Middle Eastern kingdoms. Once we run into living ships towed by giant sea wyrms and forest of death creatures, because there was no set up for this earlier, the rapid expansion of her world feels jarring.

I've focused on the plot for a huge portion of this, but the characters are also not without fault. Part of the issue is that in adding them all in more then halfway through, there's not enough time to fully explore them. Our fated core of people includes six foretold accompanied by a handful of Elehuddin, a race of sea people, thrown in to conveniently aid, and act as banta fodder when the going gets rough. The only people we have spent a significant amount of time with are Khai and Zariya, and as previously stated Khai has already eliminated his personality in the service of Zariya, and Zariya can be summed up by her slightly annoying habit of calling everyone "my darlings." The rest of the people I couldn't even tell apart except when Carey reminded us of their role with a convenient epithet.

The second problems lies solely on the shoulders of our narrator Khai. Khai, although essentially the lead character, holds the role of shadow. He is the protector of Zariya and thus exists in a manner of servitude. He is there to help and to watch, so his inclusion in the plot, planning, and decision making is essentially zil. What the reader is left with is a view by which we are reading a narrative of a person who is watching other people making decisions. So there is in turn a lot of description of Zariya and Jahno pouring over tombs, Aiiaii pulling the ship, et cetera, et cetera. There is nothing less interesting then watching someone watch something else. The reader is already in the role of spectator, so we don't need someone spectating our spectating. It just adds a whole level of boredom, and everytime Khai commented on his boredom and his longing to have an apt sparring partner, the more I thought "if Khai is bored because he is a spectator and has nothing to do, what does that make me the reader?!"

Starless is a prime example of confused. On one hand it is loaded with too much information that would work best spread out amongst more plot, and at the same time it is missing the focus and reader inclusion needed to draw me in. There is too much information of things that don't apply and not enough focus on the main plot. The main plot felt rushed and yet it dragged. The quest characters came to the party all conveniently carrying different answers to the puzzle necessary to solve the plot quick once they were finally included, but it made the reading boring because the pieces were already assembled instead of us having to seek them out. The characters had little interaction with each other aside from their close quarters, and Khai as narrator, does not provide the appropriate amount of dialogue needed to help the reader get to know them. All in all everything is poorly strung together, too much of one thing, and not enough of another, and I was only too happy to see the end. I'm not saying that I'm done with reading Carey's future works, but this one certainty does not enamor me to her writing or storytelling abilities. ***2.5 disappointed stars***

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

A looooonnnnnggggg story about two young people chosen by gods, to fight another god. The story is divided up into parts, with the first being about Khai's schooling in being a formidable killer. The second is where Khai meets her bonded "twin" Zariya, the youngest daughter of a King. The final parts concern Khai's and Zariya's attempt to fight the god, by first getting involved with pirates and a select number of other individuals also chosen by other gods for the same fight (how fortuitous!) Anyway, Khai kills lots and lots of faceless people, Zariya figures a lot of stuff out, along with one of the others on the voyage, and yay, god smacked about.
I enjoyed the first part of the book, primarily because of Brother Yarit, who had me laughing at times,, and even enjoyed part two, in the stultifyingly boring confines of the women's section of the palace. I just wasn't that concerned about much of anyone once Khai and Zariya began their sea voyage all over the place. And I was totally done with Zariya's "my darling" everyone.
So, some interesting parts, but really just too long.

[Yashima · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story about two persons born in the same moment destined to be "soul twins" and finding their destiny amidst a dire prophecy coming to pass. While I generally do not like a lot of prophetic fore-shadowing JC has never disappointed in her ability to weave this seamlessly into the story. However, this book is dominated so much by prophecy that even with her ability to make it palatable I was a little over it by the end.

The story Khai and Zariya is wonderfully told and I enjoyed every second of it.

Khai raised by desert monks to be a bodyguard to the princess born in the same moment in the shadow of the moon only gets to meet her charge when they are both 16 years old. While Khai is an accomplished fighter by that time the princess has been raised solely in the palace's women's quarters.

As usual JC creates an evocative interesting world, with a fascinating supporting cast.

My main critique is that this book starts out reading like the beginning of a trilogy and then it hurries toward an ending way to quickly from the three quarter mark onward. I wanted to see more of the world, get to know the characters better...

[ambyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever had a moment of nostalgia for David Eddings and found yourself thinking, “Man, I wish I could revisit that part of my childhood, but I bet it’s been visited by the suck fairy?” Then Carey is here for you. Starless has all the capital-P-prophecies and broad-brush cultural worldbuilding of a 90s fantasy doorstopper with none of the sexism. Relax, channel your inner twelve year old, and enjoy the ride.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do not fear Carey fans! You will love. All the Carey you love, remixed to excellent effect. Link to full review here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/s...

[Brittany McCann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, what to say? It is hard to review anything by Carey this low. There were so many excellent things about this book, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it so I could skip over the 100s of times that the term "my darling" was used. Why? Is there no other term of endearment to use? I know you have a repertoire from the fabulous Kushiel-verse, and yet... I could not get over this constant repetition. This one was a lot slower, and the adventure less grand than what I expected of Carey.

Best concepts: Khai and the struggle with identity was beautifully written, I loved this so much, and I loved how much acceptance from the main characters there was. An excellent example of a character to look up to for anyone in their identity struggle; I applaud how Carey depicted this. Zariya was also awesome to have another character who was disabled and still able to do so much was fabulous. I am so grateful to Carey for tackling not one but two characters that are hidden to find as main characters portrayed so eloquently in literature. I LOVED that about this book. I wish the dialogue were more substantial.

Overall I am stuck in the middle at a solid 3 stars.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This stand alone fantasy tale was an old school coming of age epic fantasy story. It mixed action, adventure, intrigue, romance, and plenty of fantasy magic to decent effect! It also really helped that the story had a few twists on the typical set up and that gave the story a more modern feel.

The fantasy world and the story were both fun. The children of the Sun God have been cast from the Sky in shame and now live among the humans leaving the sky a starless place. The youngest of the Gods, Miasmus, was but a child at the time of his exile and blames the other Gods for his fate. The time has come for his revenge as he seeks to sink the world in darkness to punish his divine siblings! Prophecy has it that a group of adventurers will stop him. Khai is one of them. Destined at birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, of the Sunblessed court, Khai is the very first Shadow born in hundreds of years. After a lifetime of being trained in the arts of stealth and combat at a desert monastery Khai has finally come of age to be taken to court to protect the princess!

The story was interesting enough. We spent some time getting to now Khai and the monks at the monastery before Khai came of age and headed to the capitol to protect the princess. Once there Khai learned that all the stealth and weapon training had not helped prepare for all the false smiles and intrigue of the court! On top of that there was always the looming presence of Miasmus as the Dark Gods followers were beginning to make an impact in the lands and countries of his sibling Gods.

It proved a readable enough story. I was a little unsure about Khai in the early stages but I was quickly won over and even warmed to a few of the monks. The account we got of Khai's childhood years actually ended up being fairly engaging. The time Khai spent at the royal court was also fun. I liked the intrigue of the court and the Princess was super easy to warm to from the very start. The biggest issue the story had was that when the real action kicked off, the battle against the Dark God, it all felt a tiny bit rushed and Carey never really managed to engage me with her action scenes as she had with the quieter bits of the story that dealt with Khai's childhood or the court intrigue.

The fantasy world was pretty fun. The Gods were strange but they were real in this world and did interact with the humans who lived in their specific regions and that had an effect on the cultures as they tended to become attuned to the aspects of the residing Gods. For Khai this had a real bearing as Khai and the Princess were soul-bound at birth by the Twin Gods of their country!

The world had an Arabic feel to it but still managed to feel quite fantastical and mixed in some weird magic. Once the quest phase of the story started we glimpsed all sorts of weird cultures and creatures.

I ended up liking this one but was never blown away with it. I really enjoyed the early phases of the story but felt like Carey never quite managed to nail writing the action scenes in the final third of the story and that the whole battle against Miasmus ended up feeling a little rushed. It was like the first two thirds of the story was a set-up of for a fantasy trilogy but that that all the rest of the story got squished into the final third! The big plus for Carey's story was the fact that I did genuinely like her characters and was rooting for Khai and the others throughout the story.

If I was to moan about something random it would be the vilifying of immortality as a concept. Why do authors ALWAYS cast this as a bad thing? Just once I'd like to meet some immortal or long lived creatures that did not cry and wail about how they have lived too long.

All in all I feel like this was a good fantasy story that never quite managed to be a great one.

I'm not sure if Carey lived up to my expectations or not. This is my first book of hers I've actually read but I already own a few others. I picked up Kushiel's Dart the year it got published and then added one of her UF books a while back but never felt in the mood to actually start any of them. Starless jumped them as I was in the mood for an old school epic fantasy story that mixed action and adventure!

Rating: 3.5 stars. I'm rounding down to 3 stars as I felt like my enthusiasm was fading for this story a bit towards the end.

Audio Note: Caitlin Davies did a great job with the audio!

[Rose☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Gods walk the earth...but only a mortal can save it."

This is my first Jacqueline Carey novel. I grabbed it from the "new release" section at my library thinking that it would be nice to read a stand-alone novel before diving into the Kushiel's Legacy series that has been on my to-read shelf for years. I didn't realize until I started reading that it was a YA. I've read lots of YA books in the past but they've been getting on my nerves more recently. This one seems to be on the older end of YA with some cursing, mostly the f-word. I enjoyed the hell out of the protagonist, Khai. There was none of the usual love triangle nonsense or whiny female angst that most YA books have.

Carey did an excellent job on world-building with Starless. She created believable and interesting cultures, societies, ethnicities and male/female norms within. One of the main characters has a major revelation early on and the book beautifully explores gender roles. One of my favorite aspects of Starless is that it's chalk-full of scattered prophecies and the world is crawling with gods.

Overall, I enjoyed this book from start to finish. It builds slowly but I never found the pace to be slow. The action towards the end happens quickly but I didn't find it to be sloppy or rushed. I'm happy that I made a impulse decision based on Carey's name and such a pretty cover. I'll be diving into the Kushiel's Legacy series as soon as I possibly can because of it.

[Amanda Van Parys · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just ... Okay, I'm going to try and quickly sum up my feelings about this book:

I considered a DNF on this which is a shame because I truly love Carey and she is for sure one of my top favorite authors - but sometimes your favorites just don't hit the mark.

There were certainly elements of this book that I loved, but overall, I didn't enjoy this book and really struggled to get through it. Honestly, I need to start listening more to that DNF voice in my head when it starts creeping up because I wouldn't have been disappointed in that decision.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Superb world building and character development. Even with such great bones, I felt the story frequently lacked the urgency to engage me to the extent I had hoped.

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm particularly liking this author for her series on Kushiel's Universe , this book seems to follow the style and pattern of the three trilogies of that series in a more compressed form. We have the story of a child trained in the martial arts to able to take on a very important mission, which is to preserve the life of a princess born the same day, which means that they are united with the bonds of fate. As in the series I mentioned above, we are following the course from childhood to adulthood, the sexual maturation - which in the case of this book also concerns the fashionate issue of gender identity - the involvement in the dangerous political games played in the big city and in the last part the big adventure.

Beyond the pattern of the story, what I liked in this book is that it follows the style of this beloved series, narrative is in the first person and through it we come in contact with thoughts and feelings, with fears and hopes for the future, with hesitation and the ultimate determination when it should. Of course these feelings also relate to the passing to adulthood, with the body waking up sexually and asking for its own things. The author has proven he knows how to handle this so delicate subject and so in this book this is one of his most moving parts. But there are also different sources of emotion, such as friendship that has an important place, dedication to a purpose but also the natural goodness of some people.

All this evolves into a similar fantasy world to Kushiel's Universe. Of course this world is not exactly ours, the author, however, takes many elements from reality to use them in her own creative way. The protagonists of the story come from a region very reminiscent of the Middle East, with the desert dominating where nomads are constantly moving and the monotony of the land is interrupted by the oases and especially by the cities that are distinguished for their high civilization and for the social divide between rich and poor. There are, of course, some variations but, more generally, the author shows us the familiar oriental images, with the charming of the east and the separate lives of men and women who live hidden behind walls and long veils that hide their beauty.

Arriving at the last part, however, the author is freed from the need to keep in close contact with the real world and leaves her imagination free to travel to strange places inhabited by equally strange creatures. There things are becoming interesting and exciting as our heroes face one challenge after another, one danger after another in their quest to save the world from a devastating threat. With all this, we reach the staggering final showdown that is really breathtaking. So we come to an end that closes the circle of open issues we encountered in this very good book that may not originate in relation to the author's previous books but also in general in this genre, but it is nicely read, it is entertaining for the most part while offering many moments of emotion. What the writer usually offers us is here and surely her fans will be totally satisfied with it, as I did.

Την συγγραφέα τη συμπάθησα ιδιαίτερα μέσα από τη σειρά της για τον κόσμο του Kushiel, αυτό το βιβλίο φαίνεται να ακολουθεί το ύφος και το μοτίβο των τριών τριλογιών εκείνης της σειράς σε μία περισσότερο συμπιεσμένη μορφή. Έχουμε την ιστορία ενός παιδιού που εκπαιδεύεται στις πολεμικές τέχνες και να μπορέσει να αναλάβει μία πολύ σημαντική αποστολή, η οποία είναι η διαφύλαξη της ζωής μιας πριγκίπισσας που γεννήθηκε την ίδια μέρα, κάτι που σημαίνει ότι έχουν ενωθεί με τα δεσμά της μοίρας. Όπως και στη σειρά που προανέφερα παρακολουθούμε την πορεία από την παιδική της ηλικία μέχρι την ενηλικίωση, τη σεξουαλική ωρίμανση - που στην περίπτωσή αυτού του βιβλίου αφορά και το επίκαιρο θέμα της ταυτότητας φύλου -, την εμπλοκή στα επικίνδυνα πολιτικά παιχνίδια που παίζονται στη μεγάλη πόλη και στο τελευταίο μέρος τη μεγάλη περιπέτεια.

Πέρα από το μοτίβο της ιστορίας αυτό που μου άρεσε σε αυτό το βιβλίο είναι ότι ακολουθεί το ύφος αυτής της αγαπημένης μου σειράς, η αφήγηση είναι σε πρώτο πρόσωπο και μέσα από αυτήν ερχόμαστε σε επαφή με τις σκέψεις και τα συναισθήματα, με τους φόβους και τις ελπίδες για το μέλλον, με τους δισταγμούς και την τελική αποφασιστικότητα όταν πρέπει. Φυσικά αυτά τα συναισθήματά σχετίζονται και με το πέρασμα προς την ενηλικίωση, με το σώμα να ξυπνά σεξουαλικά και να ζητάει τα δικά του πράγματα. Η συγγραφέας έχει αποδείξει ότι ξέρει να χειρίζεται αυτό το τόσο λεπτό θέμα και έτσι και σε αυτό το βιβλίο είναι ένα από τα πιο συγκινητικά κομμάτια του. Υπάρχουν, όμως, και διαφορετικές πηγές συγκινήσεων, όπως η φιλία που έχει τόσο σημαντική θέση, η αφοσίωση σε έναν σκοπό αλλά και η φυσική καλοσύνη κάποιων ανθρώπων.

Όλα αυτά εξελίσσονται σε έναν ανάλογο φανταστικό κόσμο με τη σειρά του Kushiel. Βέβαια αυτός ο κόσμος δεν είναι ακριβώς ο δικός μας, η συγγραφέας, όμως, παίρνει πολλά στοιχεία από την πραγματικότητα για να τα χρησιμοποιήσει με το δικό της δημιουργικό τρόπο. Οι πρωταγωνιστές της ιστορίας προέρχονται από μία περιοχή που θυμίζει πολύ τη Μέση Ανατολή, με την έρημο να κυριαρχεί στην οποία κινούνται διαρκώς νομάδες και τη μονοτονία του εδάφους να διακόπτεται από τις οάσεις και κυρίως από τις πόλεις που διακρίνονται για τον υψηλό τους πολιτισμό αλλά και για το κοινωνικό χάσμα που χωρίζει πλούσιους και φτωχούς. Υπάρχουν, φυσικά, κάποιες διαφοροποιήσεις αλλά γενικότερα η συγγραφέας μας δείχνει τις γνώριμες εικόνες, με τη μαγεία της ανατολής και τις ξεχωριστές ζωές ανδρών και γυναικών, οι οποίες ζούνε κρυμμένες πίσω από τοίχους και μακριά βέλα που κρύβουν την ομορφιά τους.

Φτάνοντας, όμως, στο τελευταίο μέρος η συγγραφέας απελευθερώνεται από την ανάγκη να κρατάει στενή επαφή με τον πραγματικό κόσμο και αφήνει τη φαντασία της ελεύθερη να μας ταξιδέψει σε περίεργους τόπους που κατοικούνται από εξίσου περίεργα πλάσματα. εκεί τα πράγματα γίνονται ενδιαφέροντα και συναρπαστικά καθώς οι ήρωες μας αντιμετωπίζουν ενωμένοι τη μία πρόκληση μετά την άλλη, τον έναν κίνδυνο μετά τον άλλον στην προσπάθειά τους να σώσουν τον κόσμο από μία καταστροφική απειλή. Με όλα αυτά φτάνουμε στην συγκλονιστική τελική αναμέτρηση που πραγματικά κόβει την ανάσα. Έτσι φτάνουμε στο τέλος που κλείνει τον κύκλο των ανοιχτών θεμάτων που συναντήσαμε σε αυτό το πολύ καλό βιβλίο που μπορεί να μην πρωτοτυπεί σε σχέση με τα προηγούμενα βιβλία της συγγραφέως αλλά και γενικότερα σε αυτό το είδος, διαβάζεται όμως ευχάριστα, είναι διασκεδαστικό στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος του ενώ προσφέρει και πολλές στιγμές συγκίνησης. Αυτά που συνήθως μας προσφέρει η συγγραφέας βρίσκονται εδώ και σίγουρα οι θαυμαστές της θα μείνουν απόλυτα ικανοποιημένοι από αυτό, όπως έμεινα κι εγώ.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really rating this at a 3.5 and I'm holding onto all of my thoughts because we're still meeting for book club!

[Shannon the Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable read with a diverse cast of characters. I love the representation of a non-binary main character, as well as how strong the disabled character was, she was so inspiring and lovely and I loved their interactions greatly.

I wasn't sure going in how I felt about the idea of Gods being present beings walking the earth but man, was my mind changed. Each god was handled so well and fit so well into the world that you really got a feel for how large and powerful they were, and how reverent the masses were of their individual deities.

As expected with Carey's writing, it's beautiful and easy to get lost in, and I loved every moment of it. The world is vast and sprawling and this is apparent even though it is kept to Marabhat in the first half of the book. When they take to the Seas and we finally get to see these foreign lands in person, you really begin to see the love and care put into building this world unfold.

My only issue was that the last 1/4 of the book felt so rushed and everything was packed in, compared to the pace of the first part. I actually thought for the longest time that this was going to be a series/duology until it got to later on and the pace accelerated so much.

[USOM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored Starless. It was everything I was craving from Carey and more. You know how you have those nostalgia reads that you know you can't re-visit because they wouldn't hold up to the light of day? Jacqueline Carey is not one of those. She is still the epic fantasy giant I remember and her books enthrall me even more so.

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent but lacking the spark of the Kushiel series as the narrator and the universe are not that interesting, but the writing is still beautiful and kept me engaged until the end

[Amanda Kratz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

I really really loved the first 1/3 with Kahi training in the desert. The world building and mythology of the land is superb! Seriously some of the best world building I’ve seen in a stand alone novel. I loved the characters introduced here, I loved he training methods, I loved the desert culture. Everything. I could have just read about the brotherhood the entire book and been blissfully happy. However prophecies being what they are that typically requires a bit of travel (or a lot here)

When we get to the House of the Ageless (because they eat seeds and don’t age) again wonderful world building, the politics are a bit basic but then again what do you want from a stand alone.

The love interest is introduced and it is a bit of insta-love (but they were fated from birth what did you expect?). I thought the middle dragged a bit. You also get a lot of Kahi struggling to adjust to the House of the Ageless lifestyle.

The ending though again picks up.

Overall I really enjoyed it. I’ve had Kushiel’s Dart on my TBR for ages. I need to get around to reading it.

To my YA readers that like LGBTAQI+ rep: there is a extremely fascinating main character in this book (I won’t say who because spoilers) that was born one gender but raised their entire life to believe they were another. There is a bit of coming to confusion and soul searching before they decide they would like to continue on as the gender they identify with rather than the one the were biologically born as.

[Meekachii · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5. Although this was definitely a long book, that wasn’t the part that drove my rating. I do think it could have been shorter, but it was definitely written very beautifully. I think my main hang ups were that nothing overly stood out. There weren’t any plot twists that blew my mind (although there were some). I honestly didn’t overly enjoy any of the characters and one of the characters downright annoyed me most of the time. The premise and world were so unique and although written very well, I guess I expected more. To me 3.5 is still a good rating and I did enjoy my experience while reading it.

[Nina Carboni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!! Excellent fantasy. I was a bit wary of reading this bc I tried to read Namaah’s Kiss and I didn’t like it but I was pleasantly surprised. The writing is tight and concise but still somehow imparts incredible world building and deep characters. I loved that this is a stand-alone and even if she continues with these characters in this world the story is complete. This is a huge relief bc I am loathe to start and then inevitably pine for subsequent installments of yet another series 😫😫. I know you all feel me. Anyway this is great, pick it up and you can all thank me later 😘

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! I can't speak to the trans representation, but the story and characters were mesmerizing. :)

[musa b-n · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in LOVE with this book! It was extremely beautiful fantasy, with excellent world-building and myth-making, which is my favorite type of book. I also thought it was pretty innovative in terms of character and plot - I didn't feel like I could predict where it would go, and I thought it departed from typical band-of-hero narratives.

I especially loved the depictions of the gods. I really want to do a series of animations based on all the godly interactions. The scenes were stunning and really have stuck in my mind.

The main character is trans, which is handled incredibly well! I also love that the main character's soul twin exists, because her bond with and love for the main character means she is able to just constantly reflect back affirmations of the main character's gender feelings in a really personally validating way. Her character is also disabled, and uses mobility aids - which was great disability representation, but not the only disability rep in the book! There was a lot of casual affirmation of varied accommodations and ways of existing / communicating throughout.

Overall, this is a new favorite. I read this on Libby, but I need to own a physical copy. I highly recommend to all my friends - and would love to hear what you think of it! The only warnings I can think of is there is violence and death. I didn't find it too gory, though (and I'm a wimp).