High expectations from this author these days, and was very excited to return to the world of Red Sister and the other books in that trilogy. It didn't quite meet that same standard, this one definitely felt more young adult than those did, and a little more simplistic unfortunately. But it was still a good story, and it was also good to read more about the ice tribes that aren't really addressed in the original trilogy. Really exciting start to the book, and a fantastic premise. Hoping book 2 brings in some more complex storylines but otherwise a good start to the series.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

I was really excited to read this book and receive an arc, especially after how good his other books are, especially Red Sister however unfortunately I didn't feel it had the same pull as some of his other books.

The story is set in the same world (but different environment) as The Book of the Ancestor but does not follow any of the previous characters but instead follows 16 year old Yaz who is part of the Ithca, an ice tribe. All the children, including Yaz, are expected to complete a sort of rite of passage to prove their strength to be allowed to ascend into adulthood, which is judged by the elders. Those who do not possess the skills that are deemed necessary to survive are known as the Broken and banished.

I felt the premise of the story was good and it was an enjoyable read however felt it was more written in a YA tone and had elements of the cliche storylines expected in YA. Also, even though the story centred around Yaz, I didn't find her character particularly memorable and didn't feel that pull of investment into the character or the story, compared to other books by this author. Having said that it was still a very enjoyable read and did have good elements of world building.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence.

I'm sorry I have taken a world of time to read this book. Admittedly, I tried a few times and was never in the mood for it, but after reading, ultimately I don't think this book was for me.

I enjoyed the world building and the writing, however- Lawrence has a wonderful style.

Sadly this wasn’t the book for me. Despite Lawrence’s prose and worldbuilding being a treat, the story itself didn’t grab me as his previous books did. The characters felt quite YA which I wasn’t expecting. I won’t let it put me off his books though as he’s great at his morally grey characters and intricate worldbuilding.

Admittedly, I've tried this book many times but ultimately it wasn't for me. I devoured The Book of the Ancestor trilogy so wanted to love the Book of the Ice but it was not to be. I admit that this is purely superficial but where this book fell down for me was the setting. I am not a cold weather person so even the cover made me want to grab a scarf.

Life on the ice doesn't allow for weakness. Weakness only brings death. Once every few years, the tribes living on the ice come together for their children to be judged by the priests. If the child is deemed not strong enough for the ice, they are thrown into The Pit. Yaz is facing her second judgment and if she is cleared, then she will be marked as an adult. Her younger brother, Zeen, is facing judgment for the first time. When Zeen is pushed into the pit by the priest, Yaz loses all sense and jumps in after him. The world she ends up in is unexpected. Found by The Broken, she is taken in and taught about life under the ice, all while searching for her brother. Yaz faces unexpected dangers and new forces of power while living under the ice. Secrets are uncovered and she must understand them in order to overcome dangers unknown.

To preface this, I've not read any of Mark Lawrence's previous works. Although this series stands alone from his other books, I understand this trilogy is in the same world as another of his series. I am not sure if reading this previous series would have increased my enjoyment of this book or not, so be your own judge here if you'd like background knowledge on this fictional world he's created.

I liked the premise of this book, secrets, and mysteries that needed solving all while in a strange land hooked me. But the execution fell completely on its face, to be completely honest.

I think I must have missed a lot of world-building by not reading the previous books in the world because I felt very tossed into this Ice Land. While I'm all for not pandering to the reader and being really obvious about the world-building, I just felt like I was missing out on a lot. Granted, I can't say this for certain because I didn't read the previous books in this world, so I could be completely off-base here.

I found myself just not caring about the characters. Yaz was so boring. Her one goal in life was to save her brother. And in between these moments of reflecting on her brother, she was checking out all the eligible (and some non-eligible) men and how cute they were. Then throw in the love square. Because having a female teenage protagonist means any man around her age just wants her, of course. This book suffered from having too many characters to keep up with as well. The number of characters the reader is introduced to is absurd, especially because most of them aren't prominent enough to really remember that well either.

One thing that really bugged me, which really might not matter in the scheme of things, but really put me off was the naming of the rival group under the ice. They are called the Tainted. Makes sense because they are literally tainted from consuming the black ice (which is a whole thing I won't bother getting into). However, when referring to a singular member of the Tainted, they were just called the Taint (Mom, maybe don't look that one up if you don't know). And when one of the Taint is described fighting, running, whatever, it just doesn't sound right. I know this is such a minor thing, but I really wish the group was just called something else or instead of saying Taint, just saying one of the Tainted.

Overall though, I was just bored. It took me 3 months to plow through this book. Three months of swearing and muttering and just hating the whole book. If something happened, I just didn't care. The premise was great, and the cliffhanger almost hooked me, but I fear I'll just be too bored if I continue reading this series.

So The Girl and the Stars get a whopping 1 stars from me. I did like the base idea of the story, but overall, I was bored. Maybe it's better if you read Lawrence's previous works, but after hearing that he writes about a lot of sexual assault and sends his fans to attack critics of his works, I think I'll pass on the rest of his works.

Harper Collins UK provided a copy of The Girl and the Stars through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this book!

I enjoyed this one, it was good to gain more insight to this world. The setting and the world building was epic and imaginative however I found the pacing a little slow to my taste. The writing was descriptive and detailed and gave a sense of atmosphere. I definitely recommend reading the Red Sister Trilogy first. Overall an enjoyable read.

I had high hopes for this one since this is my first Lawrence book and some of my friends seemed to enjoy it. However, I could not connect with the characters. None is distinct enough; thus, I did not find myself rooting for them. As for the plot, nothing exciting happened for a long time. I almost DNFed this book. Even though it might not be for me, The Girl and the Stars is still worth a try.

I had hoped for more since I liked The Book of the Ancestor series. This book is less adult more young adult in terms of the writing and character interaction. Though I enjoyed it at some parts, it wasn't the same feeling I had when I read The Book of the Ancestor.

I absolutely disliked this book.

I've heard things about Mark Lawrence in the last few years that made me not like him as a person, so I was wary going into this. However, I gave it a shot as the book seemed really interesting and a few friends said they enjoyed it.
However, maybe I'm just unable to grasp good writing or something as I found that I really couldn't enjoy it. The entire plot seemed convoluted and pointless and I wonder what research this came from. Either way, the world is very unforgiving but I think the most interesting part of the story was before she goes underground. We learn a lot of lore and Lawrence is good at telling us how the world works without seeming like endless exposition. However, maybe it's also the fact that we aren't given enough reason to care about her brother that her brother being thrown down the pit didn't really matter to me. Her going after him was also a dumb idea but I feel like Id care more if there was more time with the brother first. After that it just felt like a mash of ideas that didn't quite work and I wasn't into it or the weird romance thing.

No character had a distinct enough personality for me to know if I liked them and after an initial exciting opening nothing happens at all for agesssssss. Like absolutely nothing happens and I was so bored.

On the barren ice fields of Abeth, Yaz and her clan are on the annual pilgrimage to the Black Rock, home of the priests that oversee all of the tribes. It is here that each youngster is tested, and if found wanting in any way – often thoroughly baffling to the children and families – the priests will throw the child into the Pit. So deep is this scar in the ice that it is said you fall for miles, and the bottom is completely hidden from the surface.

Of course, things happen, and Yaz as our main character soon discovers that not all is as told about the Pit…

I’ve been meaning to read this series for ages, after loving the author’s Book of the Ancestor trilogy, and with the third part of this trilogy due out in a few weeks now seemed like the perfect time! Set in the same world as Red Sister, we find ourselves away from the green belt, out where the ice has taken over completely. Yaz is a member of the Ictha, one of the tribes that migrates across the frozen wastelands eking out a living. It’s a harsh life, and the tribes have little mercy when it comes to survival, as shown in the opening annual discard of the children deemed too weak to survive.

Far beneath the ice we get yet another way of life, different from both Nona’s experience as a nun in the Sisters books, and the ice fields above. You don’t have to have read the earlier trilogy to pick this up, but there are familiar references for those who have, and a little more background about the planet Abeth.

Like the earlier books, we have a strong female lead who also discovers that she – like so many of the ‘Broken’ – shares the bloodlines that produce powers. Great size and strength, inhuman speed, the ability to control water or fire – or the rarest, strangest powers of all. We’ve seen these in the Ancestors books, but here there are different implications, given the ice caverns seem to house the ruins of one of the ancient, mythical cities. Indeed, the ‘stars’ of the title aren’t what you might think, either.

While I didn’t take to this quite as hard as I did Red Sister, I really enjoyed coming back to this world and a different part of it. The characters are interesting, particularly Yaz, even as she skirts the risk of becoming a little too powerful to have that necessary sense of peril. As it is, the peril is very present, in so many ways! Dangers come from those discarded beneath the ice, and more so those lost to a ‘taint’ that might seem familiar from the earlier books. And then yet more from sources incomprehensible to those with such cloistered lives.

Very glad book 2 was available to dive straight into, as this is one big story across the trilogy and ends on quite the cliffhanger. Recommended for fantasy fans who like the hint of sci-fi in the background, and anyone who wants the return visit to the still very mysterious Abeth – answers may lie ahead!

I received an eARC from the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.

I was deadly bored by this book and felt it hard to get through it. It just didn't capture my interest.

Therefor my rating

Mark Lawrence is genuinely one of my favourite authors of all time. The book of the ancestor series is one i always recommend to people as a bookseller so was really excited to read this. The world building is fascinating all his books are loosely based in the same world and I love finding out more around what he created. I will pick up anything he writes in the future!

This wasn't as good as I expected it to be unfortunately. It didn't feel completely necessary to have this filler novel.

Not as engaging for me as Red Sister and i did miss the characters from that but intriguing enough to keep me going back for the rest of the series. Love Mark Lawrences writing.

I’m so happy I finally got around to picking up a Mark Lawrence book.
I got this ARC for the release of the second book in the series and I can’t wait to continue Yaz’ story.
I thought the setting in this fantasy/dystopian was incredible, very atmospheric, and the characters were well done. Even though I’m not a huge fan of love triangles/square, the realationships did not irritate me as much as they could have and I hope they continue to be in the background or that they resolve themselves without too much angsty teenage drama.
Some parts were a little drawn out for my taste but I liked the magic system and am really hyped to see what happens next.

Really wanted to read this for the longest time, the writing is absolutely stunning and intriguing and the prologue grips you immediately. I love the cover of this book also, really grabs your attention!

I think this book confirms that whilst I like Mark Lawrence, I don't love his writing style. This tale is set in the same world as that of RED SISTER and the world-building is successfully expanded in this new series. I did fail to connect to the characters which is the reason I didn't end up loving this book.

I was initially intrigued by this book and the background to it. There were echoes of Robin Hobbs, but that extremely high level was not sustained. It was generally well written although the characters remained curiously emotionless. I found it was far too long though and was just a series of escapes from traps with the ultimate disappointment of a cliff-hanger ending, the resolution of which was in the next book. This plus the discovery that there were at least 2 other trilogies based in this universe and I gave up on the series.

I enjoyed this story. It was really unique and unlike anything I've read before. I found it a bit slow and confusing in some parts, but I am gripped enough to want to read the sequel.