I will not be reading and reviewing this book as I haven't read the previous books and from reviews that seems like it would mean I would not get the full experience of reading this book.

An icy underworld and a story of icy survival unfortunately wasn't enough to keep me interested in this spin off of sorts from the Book of the Ancestor series.

I think my main issue with this was that I set my sights too high. Coming off the back of Holy Sister, which had some of the strongest female protagonist I've read in recent years, I was expecting more of the same. And although Yaz is a decent protagonist, she just doesn't quite meet Nona's heights. There's something missing, with none of the nuances that Nona has. She's not complex enough, or developed enough, for me.

As briefly mentioned, the highlight to this book is the world that Lawrence has created. Being acquainted with it previously, I loved the expansion of the world here, with vivid descriptions of icy landscapes and a deeper exploration of the political undertones that permeate and dictate everything. The plot is also pretty fast paced, with plenty of action to keep the pages turning. However, I just couldn't connect with it.

Decent writing and story telling - as expected from a seasoned writer such as Lawrence, but this doesn't hit the same lofty heights as the Book of the Ancestor series.

I picked up this book because I’ve enjoyed Mark Lawrence‘s previous series and I was pleasantly surprised that there’s familiar elements of Albeth in this book. Whilst The Girl and The Stars is set in the same world as Red Sister, this is a completely separate story. This is new and you don’t need knowledge from previous books to enjoy it.

We follow one POV in this book and Yaz is a wonderful main character. In this world, as you ascend into adulthood you are judged by the Regulaotor as to whether you’re fit to live on the ice – if you’re not, you’re thrown into The Pit of the Missing. . At the start of the book she believes she’s broken and she’ll be thrown into the pit because she doesn’t feel that she’s as strong as the rest of her clan. She can touch “The River” which helps build her strength and stamina every few days (this is The Path in Red Sister!), but she believes this is what makes her broken.

However, when Yaz’s brother, Zeen, is thrown into the pit Yaz jumps in after him voluntarily. She joins a group called The Broken who are all people who’ve been thrown in – and tries to adjust to life underground. The book then follows her as she tries to find out how to find and save her brother from The Tainted. These are humans who have been possessed by demons.

Throughout all of this, we see Yaz really grow into her own and mature as a person. At the start she rushes head first into danger, however we see her develop her decision making and this allows her to grow into a leader. I also enjoyed how The River which she didn’t like about herself is something she starts to use more and more, which makes her stronger overall. Her overcoming that mindset allows her to be more free, and ultimately helps her through the book.

The Broken are an interesting underground clan and they clearly have some secrets too. Kao, Maya and Quina were all dropped at the same time as Yaz and I loved the dynamic of them all learning at the same time. Their relationships formed very quickly, and it was very much found family. Maya actually called Yaz her sister at one point which just made me so happy.

The Broken also has one member who was born and has always lived there, Thurin. Thurin also can see The River and I enjoyed his display of magic. Both Yaz and Thurin have learn by feel which is very different to the schooling we saw in Red Sister. I actually liked this difference as it showed a different side to the magic system, whilst still being understandable for new readers.

Also underground there is a mysterious ruined city which houses metal that the clans need. It also houses large beings which attack on sight (or sound). Within this city, Yaz meets Erris, who is a lost soul who’s been trapped within the heart of the City. There’s some pretty cool things that Erris does which helps push Yaz and the storyline forward, but I don’t want to spoil anything for you. There’s some great elements which help build up the backstory of the world too.

With all these different characters, you assume there would be some pairing up. However, I like that this books shows that romance isn’t the priority at all as they’re all trying to stay alive. Plus early on you kind of thing there will be a love triangle, but Yaz literally comments on the two boys butting heads that she is losing respect for them. You love to see it.

This book has multiple conflicts going on at once, but the main two antagonists are Theus, a demon and Kazik, the Regulator who started the story off by throwing Yaz into the Pit. We learn a lot more about Theus than Kazik in this book, and I liked the story arc he had… but I’m unsure if we’ll see him again or not. Kazik has defintely been set up as a larger series antagonist, and after the ending of this book I have a need for the next book.

Underneath all our main story, there’s an underlying war between cities. Our ruined City is called Vesta and the city is alive and sentient. The walls are magic, it’s how we meet Erris, and Yaz learns more and more about this being as the book goes on. There’s also a dark god Seus, who is the mind of a distant city and his hunting something. There’s not a huge amount of info about this, but I’m hoping it becomes a bigger plotline in the series as a whole.

Being underground often felt claustrophic, but at the same time there’s a lot of room for all these people in caverns. The book throws you into a smaller world than Abeth in the caverns, but the world building was still extrodinary. There’s history and backstory to the world itself, the city and it’s people. I adored that we saw glimpses of the past. But there’s also expansion of the magic and the possibility of technology.

The magic in some areas almsot feels like technology. There’s a void star, where stars are a key part of the magic in this book, but this star can store your data similar to a computer. There’s also talk of copper cables within the city, so there’s an assumption that there’s a history of technology on this world.

The story pacing shifted back and forth a lot. There’s a lot of action packed scenes, but just as much is about learning new things. Overall I think it was a good mix and I didn’t want to put this book down. Lawrence has a way with his writing where he leads you to assume one thing and then completely flips your expectations for the twist. Plus, no one ever feels safe in his books.

Overall, I adored this book and will be eagerly awaiting the sequel!

Positives of
Character development
World building
More depth of a world from a previous series
Negatives of

I received an eARC from the publisher in return of an honest review.

Let us be clear about one thing. This book is fast paced. The moment we take the jump down the rabbit hole into the underworld of this world beneath the ice things just happen all the time and the main character Yaz is thrown into one life changing moment after the other. She has to constantly revise her understanding of the world and update her understanding of how the world works and who she is.

There is one big lull of a moment, and then the action picks up again, relentlessly, until the end of the book. And, let us be clear about this as well, this book ends with a cliffhanger.

What I loved is the character growth that our main character undergoes from the moment she dives beneath the ice, and the team, if you want to call it such, that slowly builds around her, some of the characters having rather dubious motivations, but they are an interesting bunch to read.

There are story lines that start to unfold that most likely will not come to fruition until the end of the series.

There are references to Greek mythology and different levels of reality that still need to further unfold before they really make sense, at least for me.

And then, there is Yaz's magic with the stars and her journey to self realisation, that I would like and hope will further unfold and expand in the following books of this series.

I am curious to see what happens next. Right now, I feel as a reader in a holding position, as what I have received so far in this book sounds, reads, feels promising, despite the pacing issues, but it still needs to be seen if these promises can be kept in later books.

That ending. Wow. So many questions, like where do we go from there, and why don't I have the next one already!?

So, as with all Mark Lawrence's books, the prose is undeniably beautiful. He writes with an eloquence of voice that is unparalleled in modern fantasy. His characters have a tendency to ruminate in the middle of action scenes, but it seems to take you further into the story, rather than an abrupt exit, as it might be in the hands of a lesser writer.

This is the first volume of a trilogy set in Abeth, a world he introduced in the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. Where that series was set in the green interior belt around the world's equator, this takes place in the North, on a frozen wasteland where tribes discard the weak to prevent them becoming a drain on resources. This discarding takes place in the Pit of the Missing, essentially a giant hole in the ground where children deemed Broken are thrown by a priest. A harsh world, populated by harsh peoples, and it is on the way to the Pit we meet Yaz, our heroine.

Yaz is possibly Lawrence's purest character. None of Jorg's brutality, nor Jalan's arrogance, Yaz has one mission, and strives toward that goal throughout. Her journey takes her to many others, and her mission evolves, but never diminishes. Goodness flows from her, and she always sees the best in people. As she herself says, she is Broken, but over the course of the book she puts herself back together and becomes more than the sum of her parts.

It is in this that Lawrence reveals ourselves too, we spend our lives being broken by tiny degrees and constantly putting those pieces back together. We'll never be exactly the same, but a version of ourselves, changed by circumstance and experience. The very best books do this, and this is one of the very best.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book. I was so excited for it but it just fell flat for me. I don't even know if it was the book or me, as I had some stuff going on when I read it, but I just ended up completely confused about where I was and what was going on. I might try to read it again at a later time because it did sound amazing

I didn’t enjoy this but I think mainly because it’s not the sort of thing I would usually read and I could feel that I wasn’t enjoying it or getting into it. It’s a lot of ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing’.

Decided not to review after terrible conduct from Mark Lawrence towards females in the publishing industry.

Sadly, I had to DNF this book at around 50%. I loved the Book of the Ancestors trilogy and was very excited to read this new series by the author. However, try as I might, this book failed to hold my attention. Too many things were happening too fast and I found myself confused and reading paragraphs again and again.

I really enjoyed this book and enjoyed the authors writing style, first book I have read from this author and won’t be the last

I feel emotionless after reading The Girl With Stars, I read this without bothering to read Holy Sisters and finish the first trilogy set within this desolate world because I thought I didn't need the ending to enjoy this.

And I was right, I didn't need the ending to know what was going on here, but somehow I just didn't care? Mark Lawrence is obviously a really good writer, the man knows what he's doing, but Grey Sister confused my brain without the timelines even though I've read more convoluted books in terms of time and this...this was stylistically and in terms of talent, good.

I just didn't care about the protagonist. It's unfortunately really, I thought I was going to absolutely love it.

Another winning story from Mark Lawrence. I was gripped from page one. The ending will leave you speculating and a head full of questions.
If your a fan you wont be disappointed but if you’ve never read them you will want to after reading this!

This is a work of incredible depth and imagination, and has particularly interesting slant for disabled readers like me, I have never read the author’s work before so this was my first introduction to Lawrence’s world of Abeth. However, this is a new part of his world so I didn’t feel that I was missing a huge chunk of knowledge, nor was it filled with a huge chunk of exposition. In order to live within this world, the young people of every tribe meet at a place called the Pit of the Missing. There the elders must judge individuals on their strength and abilities to survive. Some pass the test, while others are deemed too weak or strange to survive and are labelled ‘broken’. From here they are thrown into a hole in the ice to the east of Black Rock.

Yaz is a young woman who already knows she is destined for the darkness. She has a premonition that her life will be full of horrors, Firstly, she has to live, but if she does she will then struggle to fit in and physically keep up with her fellow survivors. It is not Yaz,, but her brother who is thrown into the pit, Yet with incredible bravery she dives in after him. This was a fast paced fantasy novel, with great characters and just enough peril to keep me on edge, and reading. I found Yaz heroic, brave and resourceful. I loved the world he builds here and the characters that inhabit it. I am in awe of the imagination it takes to produce a fantasy novel like this, but it takes a special author to also inspire emotion in the reader. I truly enjoyed, what was a rare diversion into the fantasy novel, I will be back.

Given the recent allegations that have come to light, I no longer feel comfortable reading and reviewing this book.

I've read and enjoyed Mark Lawrence's previous books, especially the Book of the Ancestor trilogy, so I was excited to read this start to a new series. The set up was clearly in the same world as the previous series, but different enough in plot and setting that you could start here without needing the extra context.

The books starts with the tribes gathering on the ice, and we learn that any children who are deemed "different" are thrown in a hole in the ice, presumably to their deaths. Ignoring the uncomfortable undertone of eugenics, this was set up as being necessary because only the strong survive in the harsh world of the ice. However, not all who go into the pit necessarily die. Yaz discovers a whole new world under the ice, with its own communities and structure. She is determined to rescue her brother and will do whatever is necessary to do so, regardless of the risk to her or others.

I enjoyed the initial set up around the tribes, and the discovery of the world under the ice, but I felt some of the character building felt rushed. The book also had much more of a YA feel than the Book of the Ancestor trilogy, despite many of the characters being a similar age. This might be down to the point of view of Yaz herself. She is single minded in her aim to find her brother, regardless of the possible costs to herself or others, or even basic sense.

She is driven into making some pretty questionable decisions, and yet even though we have her point of view, it is hard to see why she is driven to the point of fanaticism. She is also quick to judge people, and jump to conclusions. All of this makes her seem much more teenage than any of the characters in the sister's trilogy. I also think that this book didn't do quite enough character development to make me really care about any of the main characters - Yaz was hard to sympathize with because of the blinkered self-centeredness she sometimes displayed, and the other characters seemed to act more as things for her to react to or bundles of stereotypes than people in their own right. She also suffers a bit from the whole "chosen one" trope, and characters who I'd expect to have more opinions of their own fall in a little to easily with this.

I did enjoy this book - the world building was fantastic, and there was some tantalizing set ups for the next books in the series which I'm really looking forward to. My complaints about character development and some rushed plotting were probably due to trying to cram so much world building, background and set up in, so the plot creaked a bit round the edges, supporting the sheer weight of story and world. I've high hopes for the next book....

This book didn't work for me, I don't enjoy this author's writing style and had to dnf this book. I had previously read Red Sister, which I also didn't love.

This is the first book in the Book of Ice series. I loved the fierce, icy setting of this book, but it did take me a little while to get into it. The characters felt a little underdeveloped and I just didn't become fully invested in them. The action was good and pacing was pretty well done. Overall this was good introduction to this series.

"There are stars in every darkness..."

I hadn’t read anything by Mark Lawrence until now. Although an avid lover of fantasy, I’m not much into the darker, grimdark sub-genres and Prince of Thorns, the Mark Lawrence novel I’d heard of, really didn’t sound like my cup of tea. The Girl and the Stars however…

Yaz, of the Ictha tribe, has only known two things: firstly, the blistering cold of the polar ice of the north. That, and the Pit of the Missing, where Broken children are thrown and never seen again. At the gathering, as her brother is thrown into the pit, she knows a third thing: she would go to the depths of the earth to save him...

Yaz is sixteen, her brother Zeen is twelve, and the rest of the characters generally fit somewhere in the middle. I’m not going to go into the plot in too much depth, because I was so curious about this pit that children are thrown into, that I don’t want to spoil it for you!

To give you a flavour, a taster if you will, I will say that The Girl and the Stars was a YA fantasy adventure that gave me vibes of the Maze Runner crossed with Horizon: Zero Dawn and a sprinkle of Lord of the Flies. There's fascinating worldbuilding that had me a little lost at times in its complexity, but also enthralled, and a hint of a love triangle/square, although it is a hint, at best. I was intrigued throughout, and there was a huge cliffhanger ending! There was a lot left open for book two in the series and a plot twist, or two, that I genuinely didn’t see coming.

In terms of setting, there’s a lot of ice, rocks and stars. It gets a bit claustrophobic, but I found those elements added to this cold, ice-covered world. There’s an ableist attitude with the tribe elders (throwing children into a pit is plain cruel!) and a threat of being eaten, killed or possessed (!) but there’s also wonderful character arcs as a result. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you might like this book.

One of my favourite series in the last few years was The Book of the Ancestors trilogy by Mark Lawrence, so I was excited to hear that he was starting a new trilogy set in the same world. The Girl and the Stars is the first book in that series and I was hooked from the start. It is set on, or rather under, the Ice, the creeping cold that threatens to consume the planet where demons lurk. Yaz is a member of the Ithca tribe, a hardy group who spend their days surviving the harsh conditions deep in the ice. In order to survive, the weak or different are culled, tossed into a pit to become one of the Broken. Yaz is terrified the pit is her destiny, due to increasingly struggling to keep up with the rest of her tribe, but when she is spared and her brother thrown in, she leaps in after him. What she finds is a new world, new dangers and the stars.

This book hooked itself into my brain and stayed there. Even after just reading the first few chapters, I kept thinking about the characters and what lay in store for them under the ice. Yaz herself is a main character I enjoyed reading, full of rash decisions, self-doubt and inner strength as well as a curious mind. While most of the secondary characters weren’t quite as fleshed out as her, I still enjoyed the camaraderie they had and the rough friendships they developed.

It was great seeing the magic system from The Book of the Ancestors played out in a different setting with a different perspective, such as how those with magic were treated in the cultures above the ice compared to below it. The story was also well paced and so much happened, with unsure loyalties, expanded world-building and lots of questions raised. The only place that fell down was where Mark Lawrence tried to shoe-horn romance into the story. I’m pretty sure I audibly groaned whenever the focus changed from the actual story to the love triangle (square?) Yaz found herself in. It felt forced and was unnecessary.

That being said, I was engrossed in this story and am enjoying seeing more of this world. The next book in this series cannot come soon enough, especially with that ending! There are so many questions left to answer, both from below the ice and above it. There is a lot more left to discover, and a lot of enemies left to face. I suspect Yaz, her friends and us readers have quite an adventure ahead.

The Girl and the Stars follows Yaz of the Ithca, a girl who unusual control of star-stone. All the tribes come together for a ageing ceremony. If you pass, you are officially considered an adult but if you found wanting, you are thrown into the Pit, a giant ice cavern that stretches far beyond the imagination. When Yaz’s little brother Zeen is thrown in, she makes a split decision.
She jumps in after him.

Cue a book full of adventures as Yaz finds out what really happens to the children that are thrown into the Pit and challenges everything she knew about herself.

This is the first Mark Lawrence book that I’ve read, but I had heard great things about his writing style, his worldbuilding and character creation. I am pleased to report that I 100% agree with all the good things I’ve heard. Lawrence’s worldbuilding in particular is incredibly vast, from setting to mythology of the world to magic systems. The world of The Girl and the Stars is ridiculously immersive and entertaining to read about.

Yaz, as our main character, is interesting to read about. She is a young protagonist who literally has her understanding of the world upended. She has her moments of fear and uncertainty, even breaks entirely a few times, and yet with each struggle, she seems determined to learn from and develop - even if it is only for the protection of her friends.

Yaz goes through a huge change in her view of the world over the course of the book, losing hope and gaining as the story progresses. This made the increasing tension towards the end of the book flow well as you see this gradual increase of stakes within the story and what Yaz must push herself to do in order to overcome them.

As for side characters, each were perfectly crafted, as comrades and as villains. I adored Erris and Thurin. When there was a certain plot twist (will not mention, I promise), I was distressed.

I loved the character of Kao, full of childish bravado and honest to god fear at this new situation that was forced upon him. Maya is fantastic and more complex than she seems. I can feel that in later books, she’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

The only character was kind of apathetic to was Quell, and that was simply because I find jealousy a hard flaw to read in a character. However, I appreciate the bravery he has and look forward to how his own rigid expectation of the world will change in future books.

The writing style was poetic at times, especially when trying to convey difficult emotions, which also succeeds in increasing the detail of the world building, and easy to read. The fight scenes were decently paced, despite the fact that at the beginning, a lot of them happened in quick succession which made them seem longer in the moment.

This was the only particular criticism that I had. The prologue and first chapter had me hooked on the premise. The following few chapters were a moment of weakness, decision and worldbuilding of this new place. Then it slowed down, with the focus more on Yaz’s slow exploration of the physical world, the characters and an introduction to the types of magic that hadn’t been mentioned previously.

And then there is a sudden avalanche of attack after attack after attack. This was the harder section for me to get through as I found myself overwhelmed with the sheer number of those scenes. I wasn’t hooked again until the 50% mark and oh boy, was it worth pushing through.

Last point on the ending - I hate cliffhangers and I don’t want to wait at least another year for the sequel to come out. Mark Lawrence, that last paragraph? Not fair.

Overall, I enjoyed The Girl and The Stars. It had all the lush worldbuilding that I adore reading about and interesting characters to read about. It was a pretty good introduction to Lawrence’s style of writing and the worlds he creates. I will definitely be picking up the next book in this series when its released and I may go back to have a read of the ‘Red Sister’ trilogy.