Scavenge the Stars

Scavenge the Stars #1

by Tara Sim

When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide.

Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…

Packed with high-stakes adventure, romance, and dueling identities, this gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo is the first novel in an epic YA fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Young Adult Fantasy, Romance, LGBT, Fiction

330 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2020

About the author

Tara Sim is a YA and adult fantasy author found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California. When she's not writing about magic, murder, and mayhem, she drinks tea and wrangles cats.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really do keep on clowning myself by getting hyped for YA fantasies that inevitably end up being absolutely mediocre 🤡


Pre-review:

I want the girl on the cover of this to stab me

[megs_bookrack · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a debtor's ship known as The Brackish, young Silverfish, whose true name is Amaya, spends her days diving for pearls and awaiting her freedom.



Life aboard the ship is far from smooth sailing, due mainly to the cruel Captain who controls his young prisoners with an iron fist.

When Amaya rescues a drowning stranger and brings him aboard, she fears her heroics may actually end up extending her sentence.



Regardless, she continues to be taken with this mysterious man wrangled from the depths and begins regularly visiting him in the brig.

The man, Boon, promises Amaya unimaginable riches and the possibility of returning to the city of her birth, if she helps him on a secret mission of revenge.



Amaya is intrigued. With his help, she would be able to find out the truth behind her family's downfall, something she has always wondered about. Perhaps after, she could get a little vengeance of her own.



Through an exciting series of events, Amaya is able to flee the ship and does indeed return to her hometown. The port city of Moray is a hotbed of activity, with a mix of both old-world opulence and new-world problems.

Once there, with Boon's financial assistance, she poses as a wealthy Countess in order to infiltrate polite society and bring down the man Boon feels responsible for his plight.



The man he seeks is Kamon Mercado, a high-society businessman, who has secretly fallen onto hard times of his own.

Mercado's son, Cayo, once involved heavily in the Vice Sector, gambling, drinking and carousing, is trying to stay clean, but definitely played his part in dragging the family name through the mud.



Amaya is directed to befriend Cayo and use him to gain access to his father. Once she does however, she begins to have mixed feelings about her mission.

This story is a gender-flipped retelling loosely-based upon the Adventure Classic, The Count of Monte Cristo. I definitely did feel the themes of that story woven throughout.



I enjoyed the back and forth between Amaya's and Cayo's perspectives. This format pieced together the mysteries surrounding them quite well.

I also enjoyed watching their relationship grow and am definitely interested to see what will happen in the second book.



The setting of Moray reminded me quite a bit of New Reynes, from Amanda Foody's, Ace of Shades series.

So, if you enjoyed those books, you should definitely pick this one up.



The Vice Sector, with it's gambling dens and ruling Slum King, was steeped in danger and underhanded dealings.

Corruption is a major theme in this book, as is deception and individuals being used as pawns in the games of those more powerful than themselves.



Additionally, I felt this was cleverly-plotted, although some of the reveals felt a tad too convenient.

I did ultimately like the way it all came together. The conclusion was a nice set-up going into the final portion of this duology.



Overall, I had fun reading this and look forward to continuing with the story.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney Book Group, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity to get my hands on it early!

[jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘the count of monte cristo’ is one of my all-time favourite books, so i may be a little biased when i say this retelling is wildly imaginative and spectacularly entertaining.

i really enjoyed how TS remained faithful to material, but made me feel like i was reading something entirely new. i think the best retellings subtly pay homage to the original story without it being a direct imitation, and this does exactly that. there is so much world-building, a vast array of characters and representations, and a unique plot that just keeps on giving. there are actually some elements to this that i enjoyed more than in the original!

now if only i could quickly amass a large fortune and gain some enemies, because my desire for revenge feels all-consuming at this point. lol.

↠ 5 stars

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

We got a special edition of the book in our Jan Owlcrate. Not sure if I like it better than the original. BUT, we got the next Harry Potter mug from Cara!! Woot! And some other goodies













Mel

[Chelsea Humphrey]

I've been trying to get into this book for almost a week now and can't seem to make it past page 44, so I think it's a sign that this is right book/wrong reader. Please give this one a try for yourself if the synopsis catches your interest!

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.

[Tucker Almengor]

Many thanks to Disney Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

This is another one of those (quite frequent) times where it's not the book... it's me...

I went into this expecting science fiction (I don't know why. The cover pretty clearly shouts "fantasy") and did not get that. Scavenge the Stars is a steampunk fantasy which is fine for people who like that... I just down.

In generally, fantasy and I just don't get along. If it's too hard to understand or the world-building takes too long, I get bored and stop caring and that is what happened with Scavenge the Stars. Actually, no. In this, the world-building wasn't slow enough. I felt confused from page one. I think the author could have made the story better by slowing some things down.

At the same time, it didn't feel like anything interesting was happening. I kept skimming page after page, waiting for something bad or exciting to happen but nothing ever did. （´ヘ｀；）

Overall, I still think readers should give this a try. Maybe there will be someone out there who will enjoy this more than I did.

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DNF at 39% I am bored... so bored... so bored that I chose to stare at the wall rather than try to muddle my way through... (Sorry, Disney Books... Sorry, Tara Sim)

--------------

My first 2020 ARC!!

Buddy read with Chelsea!

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[Holly Hearts Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I typically find books that are centered around the ocean, islands, ships, basically nautical stories in general hard to enjoy for some reason but I did enjoy this! We got to see blue lagoons, underwater reefs, hidden caves, poisonous fish, I loved the details. This is to say all of those details were during the first %30 of the book which I enjoyed the most but I began to get a little restless and bored as I continued.

This is purely a revenge story at it’s heart but there is one big confusion.. there’s nothing fantasy about this. Nothing magical at all. At one point I had to make sure this had the fantasy label on it and it does but, it’s pretty much just a contemporary retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo with the murders, mystery, and drama. So if you’re looking for just a YA version of that then this is for you but don’t expect anything outside of reality.

[Jessica McKenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might be biased.

You see, since I was young, The Count of Monte Cristo has been one of my favorite stories. That probably says a lot about me in ways that aren't all great, but the point is, I know this tale. I know everything Tara Sim takes from it in this update, how she revamps it and how she uses it as a base.

And as a Count of Monte Cristo story...it just doesn't really work.

I don't think it works all that well as a standard YA, either.

The thing I have realized about The Count of Monte Cristo is that it's not actually that easy of a tale to recreate. It's complex, and there are several factors that are absolutely necessary to exploit if you want to pull off the same level of emotional depth and suspense.

First of all, the revenge needs to be personal. And when I say personal, I mean personal.

Edmond Dantes is betrayed by close friends and associates, people who he truly believed, and had for many years, were his friends. And they betrayed him from possibly the worst place - their own greed, and jealousy. You could say that Dantes was naive to trust them, that he should have been able to see their baser natures taking over. But you can clearly also say that this sort of baser nature is one that should never in a good, true society take the place of loyalty and friendship. You can easily see where each of these people turned to their worst selves when they had every opportunity not to, and therefore they can "deserve what they get."

In Sim's book, yes, the men are terrible. But what they've done to Amaya isn't exactly personal. She was a child sold to a debtor ship as a slave. Yes, they ruined her life. But they didn't ruin her life, specifically. They ruined dozens, hundreds of people's lives. She didn't even know their names before she was taken to her Chateau d'If. They "deserve what they get," of course, but in such a generic way that really she might as well just become Dany, take down all the slaver nations, and be done with it.

So, strike one: Revenge is a good idea in this one, but not any more than it is in really just about any standard "YA girl takes back her kingdom/city/family/life from a bad regime" story. Of which there are many.

The second factor is, bizarrely, redeemability.

Yeah you wouldn't think in a story about utter revenge and Yeah, F***ING KILL HIM EDMOND YOU GREAT AVENGING ANGEL OF DEATH that the make-them-dead characters in question should be redeemable.

But, they are. And it's important.

You see, in The Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes doesn't return to France until many, many years have passed. He's aged enough to be unrecognizable, and every person on his hit list has had a long time to grow families and careers of their own. They've become in many ways new people, though their vices remain the same. And most importantly, they've become unquestionably important to and often loved by others. They mean something to others, and often they themselves have grown enough to, if not fully realize their crimes, at least be capable of moving on from them. It's truly possible in every case to question, by the end, whether these men truly should die, whether the crimes they committed, however awful, were really enough to damn them entirely so many years after the fact.

Sim's book touches on this a little. She involves the children of the main needs-to-die guy, and has her Countess feel badly about screwing things up for them if she does get her revenge. But her villains are only that - villains. They have literally no redeeming characteristics at all. And when Amaya becomes the Countess, it has only been about a year, perhaps two years at most, since she was on her debtor ship. So everyone on her hit list committed many of their crimes recently, and in fact are still in the midst of committing them, and yet more crimes on top of that. There's no question as to whether these men should be taken out of commission - the son even comes to the conclusion himself, before even meeting Amaya, that his dad is no good.

So, strike two: Where's the ethical drama? If the villains are just villains, what makes this any different from any other YA story out there of "girl gets back at evil men"?

Third, and I could probably go on but this will be the last, the timeframe I have just mentioned. It's really quite crucial.

In The Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes has many, many years to perfect his visage as the Count. He is proven, several times, to be a master actor, and has built and used his wealth very independently since gaining it initially from the island. He does not attempt to strike until he knows, for certain, that he is capable of winning, and exactly how he will go about it. He has ironclad plans. We don't even see his perspective directly most of the time - that's how important it is for the reader to believe he has it all in the bag. It's only a matter of should, rarely ever could.

In Sim's book, as I've mentioned earlier...not so much.

Amaya is still young. She's being put up to everything by the Abbe Faria character, who pulls her strings at every turn. We see from her perspective that she's afraid of failing, that she feels out of place, that she questions her own capabilities constantly. She's been "trained" to be a Countess, rather briefly. She hasn't come into it on her own, hasn't created her own character and owned it. She doesn't know exactly how to leverage her own gained wealth and status.

So, strike three: How can Amaya be any different than a standard YA protagonist if she isn't given the chance to really flourish? If she constantly needs to question herself, constantly feels like a failure, instead of being allowed to be the absolutely chilling badass that is the basis of the Count's character?

Ultimately, as a Count of Monte Cristo novel, Scavenge the Stars fails on every truly important level.

And because it fails at being a true reboot of The Count of Monte Cristo, it also happens to fail at being a unique YA.

There's nothing much new here, from any of the other "girl gets revenge" stories we've had in the past 5-10 years or so. Just the basic homage to Dumas's template.

And what little there is that's new is...Not the most interesting.

I'm not sure if anyone here has ever heard of an anime/light novel called "Spice and Wolf?" But it's the best analog I can think of.

In "Spice and Wolf," we have a wolf deity hanging around with a merchant. Fun. But it rapidly devolves into a story about, of all things, currency. How it's spent. The different kinds. Trade.

I stopped watching the thing at about episode 3, because it bored me to tears.

Now a lot of people LOVE "Spice and Wolf," partly because of that sort of granular detail, and partly for the characters, etc. It just wasn't for me. It wasn't exciting, the way a wolf deity tends to promise an anime will be.

Scavenge the Stars turns out to be mostly about counterfeit coin. Who's making it, what it is, where it's going, how it's going to destabilize the relations between the three major countries, yadda yadda yadda.

The Count of Monte Cristo stuff really seems to be here mostly to carry the dullness of that background plot. But because all of the most crucial, dramatic parts of The Count of Monte Cristo aren't here, it's not able to do that.

So we're left with another "Spice and Wolf" situation, where maybe currency is your thing? But if it's not...Boy, are you not going to be interested in this at all.

I'll give this one two stars because I didn't really hate it. Maybe someone less acquainted with The Count of Monte Cristo wouldn't see what it's missing, and would like it.

But the main thing is, it made very little impression on me. What wasn't dull was just okay. I'm pretty sure I will have forgotten I ever read this one in about a month.

And I'll go back to enjoying my ethically questionable Angel of Death story in peace.

[Lucie V. · Rating 2 out of 5]

✅ Sea adventure (at the beginning)
✅ Pace
🆗 Predictable plot
🆗 Characters
🆗 World-building
🆗 Count of Monte Cristo retelling

This story is basically a female version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Silverfish (or Amaya) was sold to a debtor's ship 7 years ago. A few days before her 7 years of forced labor on the Brackish comes to an end, she rescues a mysterious man (Boon) who was drowning. He then manages to convince her to work for him to take revenge against the man who destroyed his reputation and who happens to be the same man who sold Amaya 7 years ago.

This whole story is about revenge and betrayal and I love a good plot twist with intrigue and betrayal, but there was no real surprise here. From the very beginning, Boon and his plan are suspicious. Amaya goes into this revenge mission without really asking any questions, she trusts what she has been told and she keeps on getting surprised every time she finds out that something she was told is not true. I mean, she lived on a boat for the last 7 years, she knows nothing about what happened before she was sold or about what happened while she was on the Brackish, is it really a big surprise that some people would take advantage of that and lie to her? Especially since she has no one to rely on and she is quite young...

I was also expecting a little more fantasy... There is nothing magical or fantastic in this book except the mention of a huge sea snake and the telling of some old legends... and the fact that it happens on land that does not exist.

It still is a good story, but I would have enjoyed more surprises and unexpected turns, it would probably have made the difference between 2 and 3 stars.



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[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Silverfish rescues a man from drowning, she's more concerned about gaining more debt from her act than his safety. But the man promises riches beyond her dreams—and revenge on those who wronged her and her family. Silverfish takes his vow, and transforms into the Countess Yamaa, the mysterious and fabulous newcomer set to take the city-state of Moray by storm, and bring it to its knees.

Whew. This was a mess.

I'll be honest though, the first 40% was riveting, exciting and a unique spin on The Count of Monte Christo (admittedly, I have not read this), with a gender-swapped hero, a queer love interest, and lots of queer characters and characters of color.

And then the book sags into the weight of itself and never recovers.

Soft boi and stabby girls do not a book make

I liked Amaya (Silverfish). She was filled with rage and revenge for the way her family was treated, and at the system of debt that allowed her to be sold off to a debtor's ship and beaten and starved for seven years along with with a boatload of other children. She was stabby and sharp and strong and determined to succeed—even if her motivations were a little all over the place and her acting skills not so fantastic (I preferred her as the mysterious Yamaa than when she awkwardly attempts to befriend Cayo). Her awkward transitions from Silverfish to Amaya to Yamaa were...clunky and felt a little over-done.

I also liked Cayo, a soft bisexual who just wants to recover and get over his old ways. He had a bad gambling addiction that nearly drove his family to bankruptcy, and just wanted to do right by his family legacy and his sister, and win his father's trust. However, I felt that Amaya's description of him as firmly rooted in the ground, a tree with his roots stretching down anchoring him to the earth (paraphrased) were incredibly off-base, since from the instant Cayo is being pulled in a billion directions and never really seems to find a point and stick to it. He's constantly allowing himself to be pulled in whatever direction someone tugs him.

And with these two leads, I'll be honest: the book was better before they met.

Once they meet, the plot sags into angst and half-baked counterfeit schemes and unsolved mysteries that cover everything from Cayo's father's legacy to the Slum King to the ash fever to Amaya's family to the fate of Moray.

Lackluster Worldbuilding

At first, I was intrigued by the Asian-inspired world of Moray, which felt like it could be an inspired Singapore, situated as it was between two huge empires with lots of economic power and at the junction of the best trade routes. Plus the vice sector and the fact that it was an island and city in one.

But place names and place names do not a fantasy world make. Sim threw out nouns and titles and names all over the place, which was fine in the beginning—because I expected more worldbuilding to grow and flourish, but this growth never happened. There continued to be generic place names without context, which is shoddy worldbuilding at best.

Plus the city-island of Moray, which consisted of a place for tea, a nice area where rich people and not-super-defined nobility live, I guess a palace for the Prince (who is not important enough for his own name), the docks, a random hidden beach/swimming area no one knows about, and The Vice Sector. For the record, the Vice Sector contains 90% of the city, but doesn't have much more distinction beyond that and being...vicey? Lots of gambling.

Also, I'm still not 100% certain what Widow's Vaults are/why they are important, but I think that has more to do with a lack of cultural understanding/ignorance on my end than lack of explanation on the author's part.

However, the descriptions that were there were lovely. The oceans, the island life, the city, the people, the clothes, the food. When they were richly described, they were decadent.

The Pros

The representation! This is a book of people of color! This is a book of queer people!

Amaya's dresses. Fuck those all sounded absolutely gorgeous.

The Water Bugs and the Landless. I wanted more of them, and less of Amaya and Cayo. Granted, the romance didn't really reach fruition...like most of this book.

The Cons

Everything else. And Boon, that generic person who had little page time yet was very important for ~reasons~. Ditto to Cayo's dad and also the Slum King and Ramona (sp??), who had a purpose in the novel??

This is bloated, messy and had so much potential but fell flat because it tried to do too much at once and lost its identity halfway through the process.

Also it kinda has the dreaded Bury Your Gays Trope, although in this case it's more ship your gays off to a distant, uncharted land after maiming them (without context, this is not a spoiler).

Revenge book? Socio-political critique of debt and systematic injustice and poverty? An adventure mystery? Don't Let Your Kids Gamble? A YA fantasy romance? Counterfeiting 101? It was all over the place, and tried to be too much at once.

I'm probably being far too harsh, but I think most of my disappointment lies with the execution, since the premise and potential was so high.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

[Fanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scavenge The Stars is a story running through a thread of revenge, chasing the bad in the society, and developing the strength to break the bad even if a string of love attaches them to you. A perfect young adult fantasy that thrives on the character arc and a retelling that greatly resembles The Count of Monte Cristo while also establishing its own aces that are worth remembering.

➝ Sum it up: fantasy retelling, secrets driving the scene, destined encounters, revenge-seeking, POC representation, strong female character, knives, righteousness, knives, normalized queer representation.

➝ Plot

Scavenge the Stars gracefully builds a plot that is set on the foundation of a classic it retells but draws a story that proves to be pleasantly apart from everything else. It follows Amaya who had to spend seven years of her life on a Debtor ship working for a cruel captain and losing her identity in the process—even her name when the captain declared her to be Silverfish. Years of shattered dreams, loss of possible moments that she might've shared with her family, and the heart-breaking revelation she comes across on the day her debts get paid, pile up to ignite a flame of revenge so harsh and hot that it fuels the entire story.

➝ World-Building

As a fan of fantasy, the fictional world set in a story plays such a huge role that a character-driven fantasy story is a little hard to digest. The world set up in Scavenge the Stars is amazing with the normalized queerness and the POC representation but it doesn't set the places, culture, or the map of this world in a satisfactory manner. However, there's also the possibility of this one setting up the character personalities as the first book in a series and the next ones can give enough justice to the setting.

➝ Representation

Scavenge the Stars wins the hearts of diversity lovers with a biracial women of color and a recovering addict as the main characters. Amaya is demisexual and Cayo is bisexual. There are several poc and queer side characters also who are not used only for their racial or sexual diversity but as individual personalities that drive the main character's story arc. As a south asian, I was delighted to come across the brown-skinned mentions and even names like Amaya or Arun. Though, I can’t talk about the authenticity of a demi/bisexual or biracial rep so my opinions on the execution of these should be considered secondary to those who are ownvoices reviewers.

➝ Adventure & Romance

This fantasy treads the waters of adventurous and romantic storylines too and does so in a very delightful manner. Whether it's jumping from the ship decks in the middle of a vast sea or disguising oneself, Scavenge The Stars is bound to leave you excited for what lies next and how venturesome it would be. The romance is subtle, builds up at its own pace and compels you to shout at the characters to just kiss.

➝ Overall

Scavenge the Stars is a well-balanced story that dives through the sea for secrets and runs through the alleyways for revenge while the characters are finding their voice, their purpose—themselves. A definite recommendation for those who love a diverse representation and female characters with knives.

➝ received a digital copy via edelweiss.

[rachel, x · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is going to be a divisive one but i had such a good time

quick thoughts :

• I just loved Cayo & Amaya with my entire body and soul
• Stabby revenge stories? Please and thank you
• Characters struggling to be Good & True when the world keeps throwing them curveballs and forcing them to make difficult choices are my favourite
• No you're crying
• Yes, the scs were a tad underdeveloped but hopefully, we'll get to explore them in the sequel??
• The world-building was also a little meh but *fingers crossed* it's more of a focus in the sequel too
• You know how sometimes you just read the right book at the right time? I needed this book


➸ Trigger warnings for classism, indentured servitude (of children) discussed in-depth, sexual assault (op), child abuse, forced arranged marriage, gambling addiction recovery & relapse (central theme), suicide mentioned, alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse recounted & discussed, drugging w/o consent, blood & gore depiction, dead bodies & body parts, needles, physical injuries, eyeball trauma & gouging, emesis, terminal illness (plague-like) recounted & op, depiction of starvation, cannibalism mentioned, grief depiction, death of a mother & father recounted, death of children (op), murder, attempted murder, knife violence & stabbing, torture recounted, whipping recounted, hanging mentioned, kidnapping, captivity, blackmail, death by a fall recounted, near-drowning incident, war themes discussed, and poverty themes & debt collection (central theme).

▷ Representation: Amaya (mc) is Desi & demisexual; Cayo (mc) is bisexual & East Asian; Roach (sc) is asexual; Avi (sc) is a trans boy; POC and queer scs.

◯ Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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[⊹ ⁺ ₊ ✧ she's book obsessed ✧ ₊ ⁺ ⊹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scavenge The Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Such an interesting world, almost reminded me of Ketterdam and Ravka. I also quite liked the writing style.
Sadly though, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. The characters were so boring, I felt like nothing ever happened. And when it actually did, it was just mediocre.
I kept waiting for something to happen, and then it just didn’t.
I was a bit confused about Bas and Cayo. To be honest I kind of shipped them first, they were cute. Then he just left.
I for sure thought I was going to give this one up, but some part of me wanted to keep on going and needed to know what was to happen.
So now that I’m done with this I’m finally going to read something else for a while.

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC received in exchange for an honest review - thank you!

This is the earliest I've ever gotten an ARC (it doesn't come out until next January!) so I was pretty excited to start reading it. Plus, it was pitched as a diverse, gender-bent retelling of Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo - which I haven't read, but I know is all about revenge and justice. A vengeful heroine? I was SO HERE for that.

Unfortunately, this book - while good - was missing the spark that would have raised it above three stars. Most of that is down to its surprisingly shoddy worldbuilding.

Scavenge the Stars opens with Silverfish - or, as she was known in her previous life, Amaya - gutting fish on the Brackish, a debtor ship where children are sold to work off their parents' debts. She's very, very close to the seven-year point at which the cruel Captain Zharo intends to set her free. But when she rescues a man she sees drowning, Zharo does not react positively. Amaya and the man (a charming guy named Boon) are forced to escape the ship; once they're out, Boon offers her the chance to get revenge against Zharo as long as she brings down his personal enemy, a man named Kamon Mercado.

Meanwhile, we get into the head of his son Cayo Mercado. Cayo used to epitomise the stereotype of 'drunken playboy heir', but he's turned over a new leaf. Unfortunately, he turned it a little too late. His gambling addiction has emptied the family coffers, so when a mysterious and wealthy nobleman known as Countess Yamaa enters his city-state of Moray, his father orders him to get closer to her. This soon leads him to the discovery that his family is shattering apart.

Okay, it does get a little complex and there's a huge cast, so I'm going to break this down into only the most important characters.

➼ Amaya Chandra: one of our two protagonists, and my favourite character. Her father committed suicide after the loss of his business - but she can't believe he would go into debt. She's angry and bitter, hardened by the cruelties she's been subjected to in her short life. She doesn't even save Boon out of the goodness of her heart - she was hoping he'd be a rich nobleman. Her trust is hard to win and easy to lose. This made her a little frustrating at times, since she was ready to believe the worst of almost everyone, but I could see where she was coming from.

Revenge... It was a word of fire and blood, of a knife's whisper and the priming of a pistol.

➼ Captain Zharo of the Brackish is the slave-master who doesn't care overmuch if his charges die under his care. He's #1 on Amaya's hit list.

➼ Boon is the mysterious middle-aged man Amaya rescues. Once they escape the Brackish, he offers her incredible wealth and the scope to exact her revenge. There's something in it for him too: he was made Landless, a man exiled from his home, and he's just as interested in vengeance as Amaya is.

➼ Cayo Mercado, aged seventeen, is our second protagonist. He was once a flirtatious wastrel addicted to gambling, but his sister Soria dragged him out of the gutter (literally). He's now sober and determined to help his family however he can. I did appreciate Cayo's flaws, and objectively he's the kind of character I should have liked, but somehow I never fully connected with him.

➼ Kamon Mercado is one of the most ruthless businessmen in Moray. He's connected to Boon, and Amaya soon discovers that he's somehow connected to her past as well. We don't really get to see much of him, but what we do see emphasises that he's basically evil.

By far my biggest problem with this book was the worldbuilding.

We get bombarded with a bunch of place names - Moray, the Lede Islands, the Sun Empire, the Rain Empire, the Republic of Rehan - with no knowledge of how these places differ from each other. What's their culture? What gods do those other places believe in? What are their traditions? How do they dress? What's their history? Why do the Rain Empire and Sun Empire hate each other, beyond the simplistic opposition of their names? Who are the rulers of these places? When and why did Rehan gain independence?

I could go on, but this is what I mean: the world felt incredibly generic . There were passing references to brown skin BUT THAT'S IT. The author would often describe something, e.g. clothes, as 'in the style of the Rehanese Republic' but I had no clue what that meant. Or how it differed from the Moray style. We didn't even learn much about the topography of Moray, where all the action takes place. We know there's a jungle somewhere on its borders, and we know there's a Vice Sector in it where the gambling happens, but like... Is there a Food Sector? A Fashion Sector? Is the weather there usually hot? Sim was good at the small details but not the bigger ones. For instance, we got lavish descriptions of food and tea-houses, but we don't even learn the name of the Prince of Moray.

Linked to this is the problem with jarring language. . The characters use modern terms like 'asshole', 'yeah', or 'hey,' which once again pulled me out of immersion in the fantasy world. It kept reminding me that the world felt in no way real to me and was difficult to visualise.

It doesn't help that we don't even properly learn what the characters look like until well into the book. And, one more thing: there was no nuance to the bad guys . No Snape or Malfoy-esque redemptive/alternative viewpoints here: all the bad guys were made out to be evil to the max. Like, a guy who did business with debtors' ship was also shown as being willing to let his own child die. Maybe I'm being naïve, but it seems to me that there's something of a gulf between those two.

What I did like:

➼ The 'good' guys were very flawed and nuanced - Amaya is a vengeful would-be killer, and Cayo's gambling is presented as a real problem.

➼ Sexual diversity; Cayo is bisexual, and another character is asexual.

➼ Also the racial diversity. Almost everyone seemed to be brown.

➼ The romance. Or rather, lack thereof. Both Amaya and Cayo are emotionally wounded people, and that was reflected in the progression of their relationship, which is even slower than slow-burn. But, unexpectedly - despite being a romance junkie - I was fine with it.

➼ It was well-written and had a couple of cool twists.

OVERALL

While I wasn't wowed to the extent I was hoping to be, it was a solid novel.

[Blog] - [Bookstagram]

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is 2021 my year to finally knock down my TBR? Not sure but I'm loving each and every adventure that I'm going on right now. Especially when pirates are involved. Enter Scavenge the Stars. In it, you will meet Amaya, who goes by Silverfish. She spends her days diving for pearls and patiently waits for her day of freedom from 'The Brackish' and it's cruel captain.

It doesn't help that she ends up rescuing a drowning stranger right when she could and taste her freedom either. Yet, she still does the deed that gets her more time on the ship and under the captains scrutiny. Enter Boon. Now he was an interesting character because he was dressed in fancy clothes but told people he didn't have any money. Then goes to Amaya and says that she could earn riches and other stuff if, and only if, she helps him on a mission.

A mission of secrecy and revenge.

Me? Well I was already hooked from the first two seconds so I'm down for secrets and revenge. Lots and lots of revenge please.

These two, Boon and Amaya, made me smile. I just think they were both equally great in their little partnership. From their little mission, Amaya ends up meeting Cayo and honestly girl - I felt what you were going through. It's hard to want revenge on someone and then start to develop those pesky little feelings. Damn heartstrings were being pulled and I was there for it all.

Besides falling in love, and all kinds of love by all the diversity and representation beautifully thrown my way, the conflict and double crossing was way too fun for me as well. I just feel like anything that has revenge, mystery, or any kind of darkness to it - I'm in. It's like an immediate thing too because I will get sucked in and never want the book to end.

Unfortunately, for me, the book ended and now I'm super pumped for the second book to come into my life. So whenever that wants to happen, I will welcome it with open arms. Seriously. Open freaking arms.

[Ambrine O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75 ⭐️

I might have been a little too generous with this rating but I read this book at the perfect time and I really enjoyed it, my review is really based on my level of enjoyment not so much the quality because otherwise it would have been slightly lower. Anyway, like I said, I enjoyed this book, it was a quick and enjoyable read. This book’s got all the usual elements and tropes of the genre done well and I thought the author’s writing was solid, very atmospheric especially at the beginning. I’d say that the pacing is wonky at times, like super slow and then fast in a matter of chapters. So overall an enjoyable reading experience but not a memorable one. I don’t think I’ll remember the story well after a few books read. That being said, I’ll definitely pick up the sequel next year and this is a duology so it’ll be quick !

This book suffers from bad marketing. They shouldn’t have insisted so much on the Monte Christo retelling aspect. It is, like usual lately, so loosely based on it, it’s not even worth mentioning. It’ll put too high expectations on the reader that definitely aren’t met with the story. Monte Christo is a harsh, violent, ruthless, cunning tale with more than morally grey characters !!! We follow vilains with somewhat relatable agendas. You can understand why you won’t find that in YA ! The genre is not really ready for that. Villain stories don’t really appeal that much to a younger audience 🤷🏼‍♀️ The fact that I knew for sure I wasn’t going to get a real retelling of it helped with my enjoyment of the book !!!

The world building in this one is pretty standard. I’d like to point out that this is NOT a fantasy book. So no magic or magical creatures. The only “fantasy” element here is that the word was created. Other than that it’s pretty much like a historical fiction. I’m sad this book didn’t include a map but. It unfortunatly feels like, like a lot of other ya books lately, not including a map is the new trend and I don’t like that... GIVE US THE MAPS !!!!!!!!
The action takes place in the independent town/territory of Moray a place where vices and sins run free and where a horrible epidemic of a disease called Ash fever is causing a lot of damage. This territory is caught in between two warring/ennemi empires : The Sun Empire and the Rain Empire (that we don’t know a lot of though the latter will be more important in the sequel), because it an important economic hub. Both Empires want to get their hand on Moray but as long as the prince is in charge it stays independent as stated in a decreed.
In this place and pretty much everywhere else, when people cannot repay their debts, they are sold, or they have to sell their children, to debtor ships where they work for a certain amount of years as slaves in order to clean up their debts. Moray being a place of vices, where the economy is dependent on it’s Casinos, you can be sure there are a lot of indebted people. That is what happened to our main character Amaya. With her, we also get to have a maritime view of the world, if I can say it like that, that was so atmospheric and well done, it felt like I was on the ship the whole time. Unfortunately it was over pretty quickly! So yeah the majority of the plot takes place on land and the author’s writing is also very atmospheric here especially in the description of the Vice Sector !! That is for me the strongest point of the book, the atmosphere.

The book is in a dual perspective that of Amaya, a “slave” hell bent on revenge and Cayo a nobleman’s son trying to save his family. I liked them both as individuals and together but they weren’t memorable at all in my opinion. They don’t have anything that made them stand out from other ya characters. In the same vain the side characters were pretty bland and felt like plot devices more than fleshed out characters. The villains were easy to spot and were pretty cliche. I don’t have a lot to say about the characters and that is saying because this usually the section where I talk the most in my other reviews 🙈

Kudos for all the LGBTQ+ rep in this one ! It was not done over the top it was just something natural, lots of gay, bi and nonbinary characters. And of course the Asian rep was strong here 🙌🏻
We also got period talk and acknowledgement, I cannot believe it is still something we need to celebrate when included, it should be the norm !!

This review is shorter than usual because I don’t really have a lot to say about this book... Like I said it’s your typical ya book, there’s nothing new here that hasn’t been done before and it was kind of bland so yeah I don’t really have anything too special to say about it 😂
It was predictable in a lot of aspects but the ending still had some plot twists I didn’t see coming and that made me very interested in the sequel !!
If you are looking for something familiar, pretty enjoyable that isn’t really a fantasy and that’s a quick read then this book might appeal to you !

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

Scavenge the Stars was one of my most anticipated reads for next year so I was super excited when I was approved for a copy on Edelweiss. Also, look at how stunning this cover is. I'm obsessed. Where I had high hopes for Scavenge the Stars it kind of fell flat for me, I was severely underwhelmed and a little dissapointed. This is my first Tara Sim book so I don't have anything to compare it too, but I've heard really good things about her previous works so I was really excited.

My biggest issue with Scavenge the Stars was the world building. The world build building played a huge role in the book and it was just really generic and didn't stand out. I pictured it more as a colonial style harbor town rather then what the actual setting was suppose to be. We are also told names of so many different places with nothing too give us nothing to tell the difference between them. Where are they? What is their culture? What sets them apart? I felt very little connection to the main characters and secondary cast. By the midway point I really wasn't caring much for how this was all going to play out.

Not every book is going to be for me and though this wasn't my cup of tea it is going to be others. I can see that this book is going to be well loved and has already been loved by the many people who have been able to read it so far. Maybe I'll give this one a chance again when book two comes out and see if my opinions have changed. But for now this one just wasn't for me.

[lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Not bad but nothing memorable either..

[Shealea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right from the beginning, I was reeled in. Just when I thought this story could not be more compelling, the last one-third had me staying up until 2 AM to finish this.

Full review to follow.

[Sheila G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks so much to The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me be a part of this blog tour!

I received a copy of this book via Disney-Hyperion via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this affect my rating or review.



All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication.

Content Warning: Child labor, Child abuse, Starvation, Indentured Servitude, Gambling Addiction, On page death, Murder, Profanity, Gore

People were not designed to be trusted.

I’ve never read The Count of Monte Cristo. It’s a Classic that I have every intention of reading someday, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe it’s due to the fact that it’s over 1,000 pages long. I’ll just have to set aside half of a year to finish that. Scavenge The Stars is a gender-swap Young Adult retelling of the classical tome.

The point-of-view transitions between characters Amaya (aka Silverfish) and Cayo. The two couldn’t originate from more varying lives, which immediately sets the tone with the obvious division between people. Amaya, sold into indentured servitude for years to pay off her parent’s debt, has known a tough life of hard labor with regular beatings. When the reader meets her, she is on the cusp of freedom, and looks forward to reuniting with her mother. Cayo, on the other hand, has nestled in the lap of luxury, squandering his fortune, and making a reputation for himself. Somewhere in-between them sit a landless castaway--a man Amaya saves when she’s still aboard the Brackish.

As the story unfolds, Amaya learns the truth about how she ended up being sold into servitude, and that people aren’t trustworthy. When the stranger that she saved from drowning out at sea offers her a new life of wealth and position, she takes it. Now, with resources acquired that she needs to take down those that have affected her family so, Amaya turns all of her focus towards getting revenge.

With the life that she has lived, it is understandable why she would resort to revenge. Unfortunately, this is where the novel lost me. I’m not one for revenge stories. Forgiveness, although painful, is always the better solution, in my opinion. For me, a story centered around revenge and the scandals that follow in its tyrannical wake just didn’t, and doesn’t interest me. This is no fault of the book, it is just a personal preference. Scavenge The Stars is well-written, thought out, and complex. Seeing how political maneuvering is the basis of everything, one must enjoy a presence of politics to some degree to really experience this story to its fullest.

I think that Scavenge The Stars has much to offer the right reader. Unfortunately, that reader wasn’t me due to the focus surrounding the plot. This is a perfect example of “it’s me, not you.” If you are one for pirate-esque or port-city vibes, revenge stories, diverse sexual orientation, conspiracy and political reads, this one may be for you!

Vulgarity: Some.
Sexual content: Kissing only.
Violence: Moderate.

My Rating: ★★★

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[Katie.dorny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was your typical and mostly enjoyable ya fantasy which is going to fall into every trope going. I’m calling it now.

The gender swapped nautical themed retelling follows Amaya as she goes from being enslaved on a debtor ship to becoming entangled in a plot that covers the world (or so it seems).

All the characters are your typical ya fantasy characters: the girl not too feminine but still passable as pretty, the two boys written to become the undoubtable focal points of a love triangle and other side characters that were interesting but fleeting.

Though this was enjoyable, it breaks little new ground except being surprisingly lgbtq+ that I hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere? So yeah points for that I guess. But nothing else will surprise you.

[Carol Storm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book feeling excited. The YA Fantasy genre doesn't always work for me, but I loved the opening chapters, the Disney feel of the pirate ship, the Water Bugs, the glamorous, exotic Sun and Rain empire, the luxury and sophistication of the trading port. Best of all I really liked Amaya (alias Silverfish, alias Countess Yamaa) and I liked Cayo, the sexy but troubled son of the wealthiest merchant in town. I thought this was going to be a great YA love story with tons of adventure!

Well, the love story was okay, but as the book went on the characters and the world building just didn't come together. We are told over and over that Silverfish/Amaya is a really tough girl, years on a slave ship, gutting fish with a knife, brutal and out for vengeance, blah blah blah. But somehow we never actually see her kick anybody's ass! Every time something ugly is about to happen, some other girl steps in. In her "countess" disguise, Silverfish has all these willing henchgirls, like Liesl and Deadshot, and they are all, really all, much more interesting than she is! I just never bought anything about Silverfish, other than she doesn't like high heels and fancy clothes. There was so, so much lesbian tension between her hench girls and her, but nobody ever followed up on that either. This author just seemed to start a whole lot of interesting stuff and never follow through.

And oh my God, don't get me started on Cayo! I get that in these enlightened times we live in (sigh) men aren't supposed to be *too* masculine. But this guy checks every possible box for weakness and addiction and childish behavior, and that's supposed to make him an alluring teen fantasy? I mean, every chapter it was like, Cayo gets drunk, Cayo gets high, Cayo gambles and finds himself face down on the floor. And again, all the minor characters were more interesting! Cayo is supposed to be getting "forced" into a wealthy marriage with Romara, daughter of the Slum King. And she's supposed to be a villain. (Like the theater girl in BRICK.) But she is soooooo much more interesting! Her energy, ambition, street smarts, and strength of character just jump off the page. Tara Sim wrote a whole novel that could have been quite good, but it was about the WRONG PEOPLE!

Now as we all settle down to enjoy the Corona Virus, it's time to talk about Ash Fever. It's so obviously a plot device, yet it's never thought out at all. Cayo's little sister gets sick in chapter two, and she stays sick all through the novel. But *nobody* ever catches the disease from her! And Cayo is in her room, like, day and night, holding her hand, singing, being a good brother. It's like the only good quality he ever, ever has! But don't worry, he's mysteriously immune. Somehow.

The last complaint I had was the chapter headings. Every chapter begins with an "authentic" quote from some exotic scroll or text. They were cute at first, but got more and more annoying as the book went on. Here are a few examples of what I mean!

"Mothers can do no wrong, but fathers are always dirty."
CHU CHIN CHOW, 1001 Quotes For Troubled Teens

"Hopeless binge drinking is so attractive in cute boys!"
STUDICUS LONIGINSKY, My Life Inside The Detox Ward

"Never make your hero too masculine, but take care to make him weak instead. That way your heroine has to look good by comparison!"
LING TING TONG, Songs of the Terminally Hip

"Mystery and elegance are key to your heroine's character. A believable plot and credible behavior are of secondary importance."
THE WHITE CRANE'S TEDIOUS TEEN ROMANCE, a play of the Rain Empire

[Angela Staudt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“If Amaya were water, always moving, then Cayo was a tree, planted firmly into a patch of soil called home.”

I thought the synopsis of this book sounded rather intriguing, and it did start out with a fast pace and had me compelled to keep reading. As I got farther into the book, I became more or less bored. There wasn’t much action at all and even the big “reveal” at the end was just eh.

I really did enjoy the two main characters Amaya and Cayo. I loved how it was told from both their perspectives and I am a sucker for revenge books. Amaya has had a horrible upbringing and was sold to a debtor ship as a child, and has lost both of her parents. She simply wants sweet revenge on the people who did this to her family. Cayo on the other hand has had everything handed to him growing up, which makes him a spoiled rotten boy. As you read more of his history and what has happened, you realize that he may have been born into a rich family, but being rich doesn’t make you happy. “Because children are the victims of their parents’ crimes.” How their stories weaved together was unique and I was interested to see where it would take them now that they know each other. Nothing really happened though, I thought there would be this huge revelation after they found out who they were to each other, but again the story fell short for me.

While I wanted to love this book, it just didn’t live up to what it could have been. Don’t get me wrong, some aspects were intriguing and made me want more, but all together it was just dull. I wish this story would have had more action; it would have made a world of difference to the plotline.

[caitlin ✶ · Rating 2 out of 5]

ahh, yes, the first major disappointment of the year

first off, i'd like to commend this book for its A++ diversity. it's own voices for both the South Asian and demisexual rep. and according to the author, the cast is all PoC and almost everyone is queer! this fantasy world also features zero homophobia. there's even a character who wears a they/them badge--and their pronouns are 100% respected!

at first, i was so sure that i was gonna rate this book 5 stars. the first chapter was amazing. but unfortunately, my satisfaction didn't last.

(okay, before the airing of my grievances, here are a few other things that i liked about this book)

- the writing was good. i wouldn't call it very good, but there were definitely some beautiful lines in there.
- i loved that every chapter began with a snippet from a play, book, or myth from this fictional world that was a nod to whatever happened in the chapter it preceded, because not only did it make the worldbuilding stronger, but it was also a nice way of foreshadowing.

(onto my grievances)

i know that this is a weak criticism. but i just didn't care for this book. maybe it was my mistake to expect drama and action from a book that's marketed as a revenge story? there's a point in the story wherein the author weaves so many conflicting character motivations and relationships that had me thinking that things were gonna get ~intense~, only to be disappointed.

maybe i would've been fine with the not-as-action-packed-as-i'd-hoped plot if i cared about the characters, but i didn't. let's just say that i probably won't be thinking about amaya and cayo a week from now. they simply didn't click with me, and i truly can't tell you why.

plus, the author marketed amaya and cayo's romance as a "gayer and more ridiculous" jude and cardan....

uhmmmm, *pulls out map* where???

look, i'm not a judecardan stan. but i've read the entire Folk of the Air trilogy, and the angst between them is unmatched. they hate each other, yet they have undeniable chemistry. they literally invented kissing while one party has a knife held to the other's throat! amaya and cayo's relationship doesn't even have half the angst that jude and cardan's does.

overall, i'm just disappointed by how... average and okay this book is. i don't really have anything to nitpick about the plot or characters--except for the fact that i. did. not. care. about. them. but if you're planning to pick it up, i hope you enjoy it more than i did.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim is the first of a new YA fantasy duology genderbent retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. That's one of my favorite classics, so I was quite intrigued by what Sim would do with this retelling. It never quite managed to live up to my high expectations though. What I did like was getting to know our diverse cast, Amaya (aka Silverfish) and Cayo. Everyone is really well drawn and they all feel like they could practically right off the page. And, that's really saying something because there are a lot of characters popping up here and there. My main issue with this novel is the flat world-building. The world the characters inhabit is big place and we hear of them on and off, but we never get a real sense of them and how they operate. There's just so much more I would have liked to know about Moray, and the various empires and republics, and I'm sure that information could have further improved the story. Even though this novel wasn't as impressive as I was hoping for, I still want to continue this duology in the as yet untitled sequel.

[Jackie ϟ Bookseller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Scavenge the Stars: 3.5/5 stars ★★★1/2☆
Ravage the Dark: 4/5 stars ★★★★☆

"Nothing could stay; everything was temporary. You could never trust what you have, only what you were capable of.

10/17/2020: Just did a speedy reread before starting the sequel because I remembered nothing, and my rating and review hold true: this is a fun, intelligent, multi-layered, exciting story that suffers slightly from not enough character development at times, and from cramming all the plot reveals into literally the last chapter...that being said, it's still a solid story and I'm excited for the next book!

original review:

I really enjoyed this! Amaya, sold off as a child to slave away on a fishing ship in order to pay off her family's debts, finally escapes her captor and vows to seek revenge for her suffering and her parents' downfall by returning to her home city of Moray in search of the guilty party. Cayo, heir to a wealthy family in Moray, has been blamed by his father for gambling away their money, but is suddenly distracted by his beloved sister falling ill with the mysterious "ash fever" sweeping through the region. The medicine she needs is expensive, but Cayo decides to do whatever it takes to make up for his mistakes and save her.

The stories of Amaya and Cayo, two desperate souls searching for the answers to their problems, almost immediately intertwine. From that moment, twist after twist of this fast-paced tale, and the massive con at its center that has fooled nearly everyone (reader included) made it hard to put this book down. Scavenge the Stars is a great story that kept me guessing what would happen and which characters could be trusted. While the writing style and world-building faltered for me at times, this plot and its swash-buckling characters were just so much fun.

[Ashlee » libraryinthecountry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was *obsessed* with The Count of Monte Cristo film that released in the early 2000s (helloooo young Henry Cavill), so when I saw this is a gender swapped retelling of that story, I knew it had to check it out! I quite enjoyed this spin on the original story, and while it stuck closely to the original story in terms of direction of the story, it still felt like something new and fresh.

I love a good revenge plot and this one does some good work to get there! I would have liked to see the world building fleshed out so more—it felt as though some of the broader elements of the world were barely brushed over. However, some of the closer world building was done well! I especially enjoyed the way the merchant classes are portrayed, especially the ruthlessness of the different characters and factions. That said, Cayo is a complete cinnamon roll, you can’t convince me otherwise.

Now, I did get two of the characters mixed up for like half the book, because I was listening to the audiobook and their names sound very similar (oops 😂), but that’s on me more than anything else! I really appreciate the sexual and racial diversity in this book. At least one character is asexual, one of the protagonists is bisexual, and if I didn’t miss anything, I’m pretty positive most of the cast is people of color.

Needless to say, I recommend giving this one a shot and look forward to reading the sequel!

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked Tara Sim's book, Scavenge the Stars, but unfortunately I ultimately didn't love it as much as I was hoping to going into reading it. Usually, I'm a huge fan of stories featuring a protagonist that's embarking on a quest for revenge; but in this case, and I'm honestly not quite sure why this is, I just didn't find Scavenge the Stars as gripping and as interesting as I usually find this kind of story. Even though I didn't love this book as much as I had been hoping to, I'll probably continue on with the Scavenge the Stars series; since the series is only a duology.

My rating/score: 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars on the Goodreads rating system, and 7 out of 10 on my own personal scoring system.

[mina · Rating 2 out of 5]

“It’s funny, isn’t it, how you can only ever see the surface of a person? I feel like most of the time, beneath my surface, I’m drowning. And no one can see it.”

buddy read with Darce my "let's be disappointed in books together buddy"

I haven’t read The Count of Monte Cristo so I don’t know how much it was used in the story, but I think this was a weak retelling, weak book in general. The beginning was good, the first 40% of the book was interesting and I was looking forward to the revenge. Revenge is the only reason I was interested in this story, to be honest. However, as this is YA and there, 90% of the time, has to be romance this one isn’t any different, and that’s the part where it lost me.

Maybe I wouldn’t have minded the developing feelings between Amaya and Cayo if I had felt it was well executed. The whole book felt rushed. One of the things that annoyed me A LOT was that, for a book with revenge, they planned it so poorly, I’m ashamed. Like, how don’t you fake a person’s past if you are going to play a person that doesn’t exist? The Ash fever, a mysterious illness going through the city, was intriguing, however, revealing it only in the end without any real build-up was meh.

The characters weren’t anything special. Amaya had the potential to be a great character with her history and vengeance in mind, however, the Slum King’s daughter, Romara, was *chef’s kiss*, her personality is what I expected from the main character. I don’t even have words for Cayo I simply didn’t care for him and his chapters.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

A retelling is one of my favorite tropes. A retelling of a classic novel is an extra boon. A retelling of a classic novel where the lead will be a female—for obvious reasons here—has even more potential. It still worries me, because I cringe at the possibility of said female being the type of badass that is completely unbelievable given her past low experience and current high abilities. But Amaya pulls it off nicely—she gives you just enough kick without being overwhelming.

If you've read the original The Count of Monte Cristo or seen any of the film versions, then you know the general story: the lead spends a certain amount of time unjustly jailed by someone who screwed them over and has been benefiting on their behalf all this time, soon to be the source of the lead's revenge once they are freed. The same thing is done here, but with a few fun and entertaining twists.

I loved the setting, first of all, which is familiar enough to be close to the original story, but different enough to be enjoyable to explore. That sense of being in a land owned by the ocean, with its sailors, its bright weather, its vices and virtues is great fun. I do wish that more detail would have been put into the type of people who live there, the architecture, the flora and fauna. You still get the general idea and can easily fill in the blanks from imagination, which is fine; but it just falls slightly short of painting a full picture.

The main set of characters that live and interact are, for the most part, quite nicely fleshed out, made up of Amaya and Cayo. But secondary characters can't be overlooked. Yes, we get a vibe of what motivates Romara, Liesl, Deadshot, even Boon. But sometimes, when you leave so much hidden, waiting for that moment to reveal it but not doing it—at least in the first book—or wanting to keep too many things close to your chest, the story tends to suffer a bit, and those characters feel slightly like props.

I found myself feeling like certain moments in the story moved a little too fast, where more dialogue would've been beneficial, where things that happened did not develop and I was left wanting. I would've loved to actually be there to see Boon train Amaya rather than getting snippets here and there when she reminisced, for one. Yes, it's good to stay in the moment, to move the story along, to not lag too much. But that bit of story helps you connect with the characters even more. And though Boon is not who he appears to be at the beginning, or even after he rescues Amaya—to an extent—that part of him that I missed as developed, might have still grown on me because I would've gained a connection with the character despite eventually knowing what his end goal was.

His role in the scheme of the story was a nice twist, however. I wasn't expecting, at all, the dealings that he, Mercado, and the Slum King all had together. Nor Amaya's father for that matter. That drama was excellently executed, was so fun to read, and I hope that more comes of it in the future book(s). That, to me, was the best part of the book: the simple storytelling, and what made me enjoy it so much. Whenever something else might have been deficient, the story more than made up for it. It's an intriguing and fun tale to follow, with a strong and determined lead who goes after what she wants without losing track of what's important to her.

All in all, this one was a diverting good time.