Dark Stars: An Epic YA Time Travel Romance About Hope, Protection, and Impossible Odds

Dark Stars #3

by Danielle Rollins

The final time-twisting installment in Danielle Rollins’s epic time travel romance, perfect for fans of Alexandra Bracken and Kiera Cass. Dorothy finds herself completely alone. Roman is dead. The Chronology Protection Agency wants nothing to do with her. The Black Cirkus no longer trusts her. And Ash… Ash is gone. Dorothy has seen the evidence with her own eyes—she knows that she was the one who killed Ash. But she still has no idea how, when, or—most importantly—why. But the discovery of several missing pages from the Professor’s journal drives a narrow sliver of hope into her heart. Without a ship, it should be impossible for Dorothy to travel through time. But Dorothy will do anything to protect Ash—and to save what’s left of their ruined world.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult Fantasy

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2021

About the author

Also writes under pseudonyms Danielle Vega and Ellie Rollins.

Reviews

[Katerina Kondrenko · Rating 2 out of 5]

5.5 out of 10

Still like the idea behind this series and admire some plot twists, as well as the original concept of a connection between time travel and climate change. But can't say I love the execution. The characters aren't developed well; the romance is childish, lots of details are far-fetched and lazy-approached. If you want to read the series and - god knows why - go to read reviews for its third installment, I won't discourage you from it. That's a fast-pacing and somehow unique story. But be ready to let it go, suspend your disbelief, remember your teenage age and only then dive into the books. Otherwise, you won't last till the ending, which is... meh.

[Marta the Booktrovert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will miss Dorothy and Ash so much!!
the ending was a bit rushed but, I loved everything! it was such a solid trilogy!
I can't recommend it enough!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that ending made me very happy! I kept thinking ‘how are they going to fix this?’ And of course, Rollins wrote the perfect ending. I will definitely miss these characters.

I honestly loved all three books so much and I’m sad that hardly no one seems to know about it.

I’ve always enjoyed time travel stories, especially fresh ones. And this one is like one I’ve never read before! I highly recommend the whole trilogy!

[Marta Lis · Rating 3 out of 5]

After fantastic Stolen Time and great Twisted Fates comes the third and the last one of the trilogy: Dark Stars.
I do recommend the series in general and I loved the plot and the characters but I have to say that after finishing the third book I was sure my book was missing a chapter or two. I am feeling a little dissapointed. Oh well, happens.

[sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS WAY TOO SHORT! I NEED MORE OMG. THAT ENDING!!!

This book really tied everything up neatly. Everything makes sense now. And Roman, my baby. I just want to hug him. All of them deserve hugs. But I wish there had been a longer epilogue. Atleast it made me smile.

Time is a circle

[Jane ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a bit slower than the other two, this book at least wraps things up nicely and gives us a satisfying ending. I just wish it talked a bit more about Willis, Chandra, and Zora. Unlike the other two books, where the team was constantly present, I feel this book focused heavily on Dorothy (and Ash). I mean, don't get me wrong, I like both of them, but I miss the rest of the team. ♥

I'm so glad I actually picked this series up and feel so bad about it sitting on my TBR for so long. It's got an amazing set of characters - each strong in their own way. The time travel aspect was handled very well and I hope this author continues writing sci-fi 😍

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

i don't think i have ever said this about a book series before but i genuinely wish this were longer, i needed more time with my babies😭😭😭

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, loved reading this book, it was a really great end to the series, loved how it worked out all together!

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"She was Dorothy Densmore, con artist. But she was also Quinn Fox, assassin, cannibal, time traveler. She was a monster. But she could be a hero, too."

Dorothy, ahora, totalmente sola, debe de encontrar una manera de ayudar a las demás personas de un posible fin.

Esta línea es lo único que uno puede decir sin contar algún spoiler y es que este libro es una montaña rusa de emociones.
Después del confuso final del segundo libro, sabía que este me iba a sorprender, y lo hizo.
Porque los viajes en el tiempo no se deben de tomar a la ligera, ya que cualquier minúsculo cambio puede llegar a afectar todo y Dorothy esta consiente de eso.

Adore esta trilogía y como explican las conexiones de los anteriores libros con esto, me quede sin palabras.
No es algo que se pueda predecir o el saber quienes están detrás de ciertos eventos o el por qué tuvieron que hacerlo para que se cumpliera otros.
La escritura de la autora te deja enganchada hasta terminar y querer leer otro libro suyo, en especial con más historias de estos personajes porque admitiré que sigo teniendo esperanzas que saqué una pequeña historia sobre que es lo que pasa a continuación porque el final si bien te deja satisfecho en sobre como se cierran los problemas (de la manera menos inesperada), quería que agreguen uno o dos capítulos extras contando sobre que es lo que pasó.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Everything is a con."

I absolutely LOVED this trilogy, from beginning to end, and it had so much potential in its intriguing plot, plot twists, mystery and time travel aspects!

Although I have to say, I am a little disappointed.

This book was not executed as well as the others, in my opinion. There were a couple of plot holes that were neglected, and the ending left SO MANY things unexplained. It was such an abrupt ending, and I still have so many questions and there are numerous loose ends. Like, for example, Is the professor Avery? If so, why? Do Ash and Dorothy end up together? Is the girl at the end Zora?

Nonetheless, the trilogy was still overall such a fun experience, and I loved all the characters and there were so many cool twists with the "time is a circle" concept. It's so interesting seeing things fall into place with time loops, and things being wrapped up neatly.

Furthermore, this book was also really good, despite certain plot holes and instances of lazy writing that could have been avoided. The thing that frustrates me the most is how I have SO MANY questions that will never be answered.

This book was great, but the ending and overall execution could have been a lot better.

Song: Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift

[Sarah Sajadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

More like five million stars. Wow. Wow. Wow. My whole heart. I was so nervous to read this book, convinced that after the events of book two it couldn’t possibly end well. I do not regret reading this book. I loved it. I love Roman and Ash more than I thought I could, and I’m so happy it’s impossible to describe. More people need to read this book. Preferably NOW

[Jessica (a GREAT read) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished Danielle Rollins’ Dark Stars, bringing an end to the Dark Stars trilogy! This has been a whirlwind of exciting moments through a world with time traveling that I’ll admit did a get bit overwhelming with all the time jumping, but for me at least, it was expected.

Dorothy tentatively rejoins the Chronology Protection Agency, though they are not willing to trust her like they used to, and is determined to find Ash. Zora fears the worst and thinks Dorothy is to blame but Dorothy knows she would never do anything to hurt him, so she’s determined to find him. But that is proving to be a difficult fete itself. It will take everything but if knowledge Dorothy has to find him. Which naturally involves quite a bit of time traveling.

Meanwhile, Mac is thoroughly in control of Dorothy’s gang and their hideout. He’s put a hit on both Dorothy and Ash so the entire Black Cirkus and everyone else in the city is looking for them.

I’ll admit this book got a wee bit confusing with so many trips back and forth throughout time. It was hard to keep up with what was happening at times. Mainly the times when Dorothy was going back to the past where another version of herself once was and not just before she started this adventure with Ash. So it’s a little mind boggling when you think about it, but makes a good deal of sense as you read it.

Dorothy’s mission remains the same, find Ash, stop Mac, and basically save the world even if it means putting an end to time traveling adventures once and for all.

I really enjoyed the ending of this one! It got a little twisted but thankfully a look back out some things into perspective. But then the last chapter of the book really threw me through a loop and I was left with so many unanswered questions. By a bit of context I kind of got some idea of what happened but bigger questions were still left unanswered and I was left staggering for the hows and whys of it all!

Regardless of the puzzle of questions, I did feel like things ended in a good place. It’s definitely up for interpretation. My version of it is that it’s all good things! Lol. How they came about is the question though. Of course that does make the cover a bit of a mystery as well as my theory for it originally didn’t have enough fodder to give it base. But yes, Dark Stars was a puzzling, yet ultimately a satisfying end to the series! Definitely worth a read if you enjoy time traveling series!


Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting conclusion to this fun time travel trilogy. 4 stars is for my enjoyment, though I admit that the overall quality feels a tad juvenile at times. I mean, yeah, it's a YA book, but I've read other YA time travel books that are more tightly written than this. Regardless, it's FUN and adventurous and just timey whimey wibbly wobbly enough for me to feel the occasional mind-blown-ness.

The main quibble (and it's barely a quibble) is the way certain twists (primarily near the end of the first book and near the end of this one when it comes to the identities of certain mysterious women) are presented in a way that the reader gets a hint and a "Holy shit!" moment that's very exciting, but then the other characters involved don't figure it out yet. The reader is now "in the know". But then a chapter or several later, there's a sort of "reveal" scene where everyone learns everything...which feels a little redundant since we the reader have already figured out the reveal thing. I can't tell if the author just thinks that we maybe hadn't picked up on the massive earlier clues, and now needs to make it SUPER clear for the people in the back.....or what. This third book ended a bit cheesily as well, with supposed-to-be-shocking deaths that were actually trickery involving fake blood and blanks instead of real bullets.......and, again, I can't tell if the reader is supposed to be "in on it" or if the author really thinks she's tricking the reader for a few pages. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and say that we're SUPPOSED to be in on the trick, so we can gloat along with the tricksters. Because otherwise the ending just feels a bit too silly.....

In any case, I'm not going to overthink the plotting or the writing, because that's not the kind of books these are. These are the "Bloody Jack" books of time travel for me: gratuitous fun, not to be taken too seriously.

[zara 🤍 · Rating 2 out of 5]

was gonna give it 3-4 stars until that ending… like it literally just made no sense. so many plot holes??? i feel like open ended endings work sometimes, but only when they are done well. and this just seemed like the author got bored and wanted to wrap it up fast. like i legit have so many questions… honestly so disappointing because i loved the first book in this series :/

SPOILERS BELOW:












1) how did roman survive? sure he was found by someone but the last time they saw the future it was nothing but black and empty. the way he was found made it seem like the future was fine now.
2) this leads me to my second question, how were they able to change the future if time is a circle and things can’t be changed? like it just makes no sense.
3) what about mac and the circus freaks??? what ended up happening to them. they were the main antagonists in the book and for them to disappear abruptly makes no sense.

after i finished, i kept checking back to see if i missed something because i’m just so confused???

[Winnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series kicked off strong but as it progressed it was clear that the author could do with some improvement in her execution. I couldn’t help but noticed that this last installment contained some major plot holes and unanswered questions. The romance had so much potential but was under-developed and thus left me regrettably unsatisfied. Having said that these are still the best reads so far for me this year and I completely adore the characters so this is a solid 4-star series haha.

[Xia ✻. · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1 Stolen Time ★★★★☆ / 4
#2 Twisted Fates ★★★☆☆ / 3
#3 Dark Stars ★★★☆☆ / 2.5

Nice ending for the trilogy. I lost a little interest in this one for a few reasons, but the book is short and easy to read, plus it kept me reading until the end, so I rounded it up to three stars.

[Nadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Characters were still lackluster, a lot of the plot dragged, so many dumb decisions were made by the characters, and that was the big ending? Really? I'm probably going to forget most of this series within a week.

[Kimberlyyyreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5
I feel like the ending was really rushed but other then that I really liked Dorothy in this book

[tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need more, more, more

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading up until the ending! I want moreeeee Ash and Dorothy! :)

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A frustrating end to a frustrating series.

80% of this book is made up of replaying scenes we've already read from a different POV (boring and unnecessary - it added nothing to the story) and slowly going through the motions of explaining obvious plot points that have been telegraphed from very early on, (the professor is alive, Dorothy didn't actually kill Ash, etc, etc.) But in the end, the stakes seem so small. They prevented the extinction level event earthquakes from happening in the future by ending time travel, but they did nothing to fix the past or present. Millions of people are still dead because of them, and the west coast is still a postapocalyptic hellscape, so it's not exactly a happy ending. Oh, and that immature backstabbing little weasel Roman isn't actually dead, so the one thing I liked about book 2 was undone in book 3. Great.

There is a logical fallacy at the core of the series that never made sense. I kept waiting for it to be explained as the key to saving everything, but in the end I think it was just a lazy plot hole. In the first book, Dorothy has a prememory and when she sees it start to happen, she changes it by cutting off what Roman was going to say, making the conversation go differently. So if she can change a prememory, why is everyone so convinced that Ash can't change his? And why does Dorothy think she needs to stab him so they can both go back through time together? She has a freaking TIME MACHINE! Idiot.

Really, this whole series should have been one book. 90% of their problems are caused by not communicating, which is just lazy writing. If the characters had just talked to each other, most of the conflict would have been solved or avoided completely. Ash could have explained why he seemingly rejected Dorothy instead of setting her on a path to become an evil gang leader (albeit, a weak, terrible one.) And several people figured out time travel caused the earthquakes - why don't they ever try to spread that around?! At the very least, Ash should have told Dorothy. And the professor said he stayed back in time because he didn't want to risk taking even one more trip through the anil because each trip caused damage....but what did he think was going to happen back in the future? Ash was making trips for a whole year to look for him, which he should have figured would happen. Did he not consider the impact all that travel would have?? So many plot holes.

This book dragged on for way too long, given how little happened. Yet it didn't spend time on the things I actually wanted to see, like character growth and to see Dorothy turn into a person who could be worthy of Ash. I wish there had been more romance in the series as a whole. The romance was very flimsy and instalovey, and the two of them only have brief interactions in the last two books. So disappointing.

I'll admit, the books are engaging - I was sucked in to the story and breezed through all 3 books pretty quickly, but after the end of the first book, I was hate-reading because everything that happened made me mad. Not a very enjoyable experience.

[Elevetha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I quite enjoyed the first book in this trilogy, and my interest and enjoyment seemed to lessen with each book. This one seemed to take me forever to finish; I just wasn't motivated to see how the story ended up.

I'm still not buying Ash and Dorothy's romance, it doesn't really work at all and has nothing to base itself off of. I liked aspects of the time travel but I think my issue with so much of it was that we spent SO much of this book and even the last one just trying to fulfill things that have already happened and we spend very very little "new" time with most of the cast of characters, especially together. They hardly interact, it seems like! Especially Ash and Dorothy, who you would think would need to be more interactive since they are so in love. *cue eyeroll*

I dunno, the series fell flat for me and it isn't something I ever see myself coming back to, which is a real shame because I honestly did like the first one.

Also, it must be said, Roman was the best and we didn't get enough of him, thanks.

[Kal ★ Reader Voracious · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. Stolen Time ★★★★★
2. Twisted Fates ★★★★
3. Dark Stars ★★★★★

WOW what an amazing and satisfying finale to such an incredible trilogy!

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[Audra Kinnard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought ending was rather abrupt. There weren't many scenes with just Dorothy and Ash and many things were left unexplained. It seems like the author rushed the ending. I would've enjoyed a more thought out ending.

[Elisha Jachetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

DARK STARS by Danielle Rollins is the third book in her series of the same name. It begins with Dorothy needing to figure out how and why Ash’s death vision came to be and what her role was in it. Armed with new knowledge from the professor and her own time travel machine, Dorothy goes back in time once again to the events leading up to Mac’s takeover. She knows that she can’t change the past, but perhaps she’ll be able to stop the ominous future. The one where New Seattle no longer exists.

TWISTED FATES, the second book in the series, is a really strong set up for a lot of the plot threads in this finale. Some of them require suspension of disbelief that I was hoping would be clarified in this final novel—but they weren’t. That being said, the series overall is so entertaining that I’m pretty forgiving on this point. I also really care about the characters, particularly Dorothy, Ash, Roman, and the professor. Rollins does a great job at making us root for their successes, as well as dropping them in dire situations and letting them find their way out of them. She also excels at placing the reader in the scene. Her descriptions and ability to build mood and tone are both tangible and fascinating.

This novel is split into five different sections, each one dealing with a specific task in Dorothy’s journey. Because of this, the pacing of this book feels a bit slow as there are arcs culminating in different parts. As a result, it seems like the story is ending multiple times, but then it revs into something else. Yet, somehow, it doesn’t all culminate in a satisfying way. I still have so many questions and believe there is plenty of space for a fourth book. I want to see Ash and Dorothy come together and acknowledge their feelings for one another—not through a third party, know what happens with Mac after the confrontation, see if the time travelers ever go back from the future, and more.

That being said, if you’re looking for a fun and gritty time travel series, DARK STARS is a great one to add to your TBR list. It’s full of surprising twists and turns that will keep you guessing what’s next.

Review originally posted on YA Books Central: https://www.yabookscentral.com/yafict...

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book in this trilogy has been in the Book Box Club quite a few years ago and it was love at first sight. This was the book that reminded me that I love sci-fi and everything science. This was the book telling me how awesome I think time traveling stories are. The second book was even better, because everything clicked so nicely in the end. I was therefore quite excited to read the last book in this trilogy and to finish the journey.

And I would say that the last book was quite satisfying. The book comes full circle and most of the loose ends have been tied up. All the characters we met along the way, everyone who has been important and every scene is coming back and playing its part. I also liked how a lot of scenes and conversations we already heard about got a, not so surprising, different meaning now we read and saw them from a different point of view.

The book misses a little the wow factor of the previous book. Mostly because now things had to come to the end, there had to be a solution, which means that the book followed a very logical pattern with not so many surprises. That's of course in the first place a good thing. It means that Rollins really built up her story and made sure everything clicked in the end, but in the previous books the surprise about what happened and what it would mean was part of the excitement.

The same can be said about the characters. By this point we know all the characters, their personalities and what makes them tick. This book is therefore not really focussing on the characters and their relationships anymore. That doesn't mean it's not about the emotions. It is. This entire book is mostly about Dorothy panicking and figuring out how to solve the mess she has ended up in. If Rollins would ever want to return to these characters and this world though, I'd love to read it!

[Zaneta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know the opinions on this book are mixed. I'll agree with one thing, and one thing only - the book could've been longer.

I wish we got to spend more time with Chandra and Willis, because I loved both of them, but I guess they weren't at all at the forefront of the story.
Dorothy remains one of my favourite characters. I loved how much she develops throughout the story. In this book we see a mix of the girl she used to be and her new persona, Quinn Fox. She's incredibly headstrong and she proves it by going against the impossible, and changing the future, which is supposedly already written, due to prememories.

Although a big part of the book shows us many of the same events through other perspectives, it's by no means boring. After all, this is a book about time travel. We get to piece it all together bit by bit and it's very satisfying. The Professor's entries added so much technical info, without feeling like we were spoonfed the laws and ins and outs of time travel, and they corresponded really well with what was happening in the other chapters. And that ending!

This series was pitched as a romance and I think that could be disappointing for people, because as much as there is romance in it, it really revolves around other things, and the romance is not the main focus of the story. That absolutely worked for me, I even preferred it, to be quite honest.

This is definitely one of my favourite series I've read in a while.

[Si-Sena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice conclusion to the trilogy... What I liked the most about the Dark Stars trilogy is that it isn't way too intricate for you to follow. Most of the time-travel novels fall into the trap of using the travel so many times with so many complicated happenstances that at some point, you burn out. (And sometimes, in the end, they leave you unsatisfied with a not-so-surprising or a so-what? ending)
The mystery here is curious enough. It motivates you to keep reading. The story takes unbelievably interesting turns which makes it a good adventure. I loved how strong Dorothy is albeit going through some serious sh*t. I loved how devoted Ash is. I just couldn't love the supporting characters -at least half of them. When they are not given a good plot for their own, I seize to care about them.
Apart from that, the author's pen is good -but not amazing. The story was mostly driven by the cliffhangers rather than remarkable depictions. So I can say that the author is really good at telling an adventure story but I can't be sure about how she delivers more emotional or visual stuff.
Long story short, in a general frame, I enjoyed all 3 books. I'm glad that I read this trilogy, bless your imagination, Rollins!

[Cintia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roman!!! ;^;...

I don't know what to say so I wont spoil you, but I read the first volume when it came out and I think it's best that you read all three books in a row, now that you have the possibility. This is about time travel so the timeline for the events is anything but straight. Luckily enough I can still remember the important details I read on book one a long time ago.

This was a great conclussion by the way, I usually have trouble with trilogies or long sagas, but this one is so interesting. I did figure out who the woman on the mask was from the moment Dorothy noticed her, but it was still interesting. This kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page.

[Sparrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I shouldn't have expected anything spectacular after how I felt about book 2. But I did want to finish the series and find out what happened in the end.

Which... I have now achieved. But at the cost of dampening my excitement for the first book in the series. This story had such promise. The writing was decent, the story was exciting, there were many characters and a lot of fun twists and turns. But perhaps all the best parts of this tale were used up in book 1, leaving 2 and 3 in the dust.

Unfortunately, I may have waited too long to actually review this because details have dropped out of my head. I guess I was not happy with how the entire book was Dorothy's quest to figure out what happened to Ash. I like that we finally circled back to the original problem that was introduced in book 1, but it took so long to get to and, ultimately, felt like a cop out (the same could be said with Roman's revival). The romance was wearisome and not well developed. I still missed the focus on our other interesting characters. I still did not care for the caricature that was the villain. I think the "final con" was weak. Honestly, Heather's review said it best.

I really enjoyed the audiobook narrator for this series, and still feel decently fond of the whole series as a whole. But the first book was the best, and I am saddened that it all ended so poorly. I don't think I would pick up a new book by this author.