A Dark and Hollow Star is a book that features my two big loves in life: queers and faeries. It’s as if Ashley Shuttleworth heard me shout “we need more queer faerie books!” and answered my call. This book was so much fun. With rich, complex world-building and entertaining, well-rounded characters, I couldn’t get enough. I’m always so excited for books that feature both sapphic and achillean rep, and I loved the casual queer acceptance in A Dark and Hollow Star. If faeries, fantasy, and gays sound like your kind of book, I’d recommend this one!

If you know anything about me, you’ve got to know that I’m always on the hunt for impressive world-building. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy faerie books; you get to keep that urban fantasy element alongside a more magical world. There are so many different types of faeries, and I love books that make sure to include a wide variety of them, rather than just the hot humanoid ones. I’m happy to say A Dark and Hollow Star goes above and beyond with this. It combines so many different folklores and myths to create a faerie world very different from those I’ve seen before. It combines both the seelie and unseelie courts with the seasonal, and mixes in the immortal creatures of the wild-hunt, big powers like Fate and Luck themselves, and even some Greek mythology in the form of the Furies! You can tell how much time and detail Ashley Shuttleworth put into this world.

On that note, it did take a little while to understand what was going on. The book can slip into info-dumping on occasion, and although it was fascinating to learn about the little details, it did slow the pace. I’m generally a fan of slow books, especially when they’re part of a series, but I could see other people getting bogged down. I’m hoping the sequel(s) will pick up a bit faster now that we’ve been introduced to the world.

Without a doubt, my favourite part of this book was the characters. I loved all of the characters so much; they were all engaging and unique. Nausicaä was my favourite, the way she uses cruelty and anger as a coping mechanism to hide her desire to be understood? It’s top tier. I loved her dynamic with Arlo; I’m a sucker for the grumpy x cinnamon roll trope, and Arlo’s general loveliness melting Nausicaä’s hard-exterior was a delight to read.

Arlo herself is an intriguing character. What Ashley Shuttleworth does well is take commonly used tropes, such as the ‘chosen one’ and turn them on their head. There’s something special about Arlo, but the way she gained and used her agency was something I hadn’t seen before. I can’t say more though, no spoilers!

I also can’t get away without mentioning Vehan and Aurelian. I loved them a lot, and the trope of childhood friends to unrequited (but actually requited) love is fantastic. I can tell their relationship is going to bring me a lot of pain, and I can’t wait to see how the major conflict keeping them apart plays out.

A Dark and Hollow Star is a dark fantasy book, and there are heavier themes within it. It depicts topics such as mental health, suicide, drug use, and violence but handles them in a sensitive way that suits the world that it occurs in. I’m excited to see how these themes will continue in the next book. I also thought there was a perfect mix between these dark themes and light-hearted times. This isn’t a book that’ll bring your mood down, even if it’s not exactly a happy one either.

Finally, I loved how geeky this book is. All the references to games, anime, and D&D were so much fun; it’s just perfect geeky goodness that I’ll always love.

Overall, A Dark and Hollow Star is an exciting new dark fantasy series, filled with engaging characters, and unique worldbuilding.

A Dark and Hollow Star is how I love my Urban Fantasy. The whole idea that humans live beside Fae/Faries/Folk and just don’t know it has always been massively appealing to me, it makes my inner child hopeful and giddy. So straight away I knew I was going to love this book but oh boy did I not expect to love it this much!

Plot and World building: What I loved about the plot of this book is that I never knew where it was taking me, it was constantly surprising and impressing me. As I’m sure we’re all aware Urban Fantasy and Fae are hugely in right now but this book not only has the perfect mix of the faerie and modern world but it also mixes different kinds of mythology and deities giving this book a different take on the usual Urban Fantasy and Fae novels making for a unique experience.

I really enjoyed the way the world was built throughout A Dark and Hollow Star, it was done so organically and smoothly, giving you just little bits at a time and only ever letting you know what you need in the moment that you never feel like you don’t know what’s going on or that you’re getting an info dump. In my opinion the perfect way to build a world.

Characters: There are 4 main characters Arlo, Nausicaä, Aurelian and Vehan and they all have a major role to play. Before I get to our main characters I’d like to take a second to talk about my favourite character Celadon. He’s everything I love my male Fae characters to be; funny, charming, witty, gorgeous and kind. I’d love a book just about him! Arlo was so easy to relate to, she was so unsure of herself and constantly felt on the outside looking in and that she doesn’t belong anywhere. I could easily see myself in her, plus she loves games, manga and books and also has red hair, an easy insert for me. Unlike Arlo, Nausicaä was harder for me to relate to with her confidence, her bravery and going after what she wants but boy did I want to be her and not only because she’s badass and can kickass, she also kind of reminded me of Buffy and I’ve always wanted to be her.

The next 2 main characters weren’t the focus of book 1 (hopefully we get more in book 2!) but were just as important and gave us a different perspective and important information. Vehan wasn’t your typical mean cruel Prince, he was kind and considerate and constantly wanted to help and protect others, it was refreshing. Last but not least we have Aurelian, Vehan’s friend and Guardian. For me he was the most mysterious throughout until we learn his terrible secret. He was brooding and dramatic and obsessed with a certain someone and honestly it was really adorable.

Overall: I’m honestly very impressed with this debut. It felt fast paced, steady and never a dull moment. I loved the mixture of mythology, folklore and deities. The way Ashley mixed them together was done really well and felt seamless. The story was brilliant and woven through the novel very cleverly. I loved this book and cannot wait for the second.

DRC provided by Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: queer protagonist, lesbian deuteragonist, bi deuteragonist, gay deuteragonist, gender-fluid tertiary character, queer tertiary characters, Black tertiary character, non-binary tertiary character.

Content Warning: depression, death (graphic), elitism, HP references, violence.

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth is an extremely queer fae urban fantasy, with an extremely queer cast consisting of a badass immortal, a clever ironborn girl, a kind-hearted fae prince and his grumpy “bodyguard”.

Ironborn children, hybrid spawn of humans and faes, are being murdered, their bodies butchered and emptied out. Believing the culprit to be the infamous Dark Star, the fae authorities are focusing their already very narrow attention on her instead of pursuing other routes. An unexpected team is formed by three enterprising, clever and talented teenagers and one badass ex-Fury.

I enjoyed the book and its characters a lot. I loved how the members of the Courts’ reigning families each has a name that reminds of a colour nuance, an element, etc… What I found anti-climactic though was the final “boss battle”. Nonetheless, I am very excited about the second book and the evolution of the story.

I think Nausicaä is one of my favourite characters across all the characters from all the books I ever read. She is this super badass (I know I used this word three times already, but there are no other words that can do justice to her badassery), morally-grey, lesbian ex-Fury with a penchant for chaos and I am really looking forward to discover even more about her and what Ashley has in store for her. I really liked Arlo, Vehan and Aurelian too, but Nausicaä is the best! I am also very intrigued by the gender-fluid deity Luck and their role in the story. Also, also, I loved Ashley’s decision to state that all not deities find themselves inside the gender binary and their inclusion of a non-binary character who uses neo-pronouns.

Side-note:
Please, please stop with the HP references. I know this book was drafted a couple of years ago and I am not attacking it. It was just general thought that I hope reaches every author on Earth.

A Dark and Hollow Star was one of my highly anticipated books for February and after reading it, I’ left with so many thoughts and a slight feeling the hype behind it let me down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder for allowing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Plot summary:
Follow four very different beings as a battle that’s been brewing for years comes to life. The Half Fae outcast, an exiled Fury, a prince with a duty to his throne and his brooding guardian.

The Fae courts are currently at peace, but when a string of iron-born deaths shock the community and the current court in power keeps the investigation close to closed it takes four brave “Heroes” investigating to find out what kind of dark magic is currently plaguing the fae world before the human world sees the truth.

Review:
Plot wise- It was definitely something different and not the kind of book I was expecting. There were moments of gasp and shock but the initial start to the book as quite slow and very overarching and lacking some details that would have helped to bring me into the world; it took me a while to truly get into the story. The pop culture references were also much appreciated.
Split character chapters is a writing style I personally do not enjoy but I kept on and for this story it made sense and worked quite well overall.

I did feel like some of the chapters where too short- or not as in depth as they could have been to keep the plot going but used purely as an information dump for world building which really detracted me from the story.
Pacing wise– It varied throughout which was a pleasant surprise I enjoyed. The only thing that maybe could detract is some of the plot points went by so fast I had to reread previous chapters to ensure I had not missed anything.

Character wise- The leading stars of the show all had some great development as this story goes on- particularly Arlo and Nausicaä.
Now when it comes to Vehan and Aurelian I will be honest I didn’t really read much into them as characters- they didn’t make much impact when they first appeared- so it took me a while to understand their significance to the story. However I did enjoy how their plotlines intersected and enjoyed the pay-off when it arrived.

Also would like to give an honourable mention the amazing representation of the LGBTQIA+ Characters- it was spot on and a delight to read and everyone should read this book purely for the fantastic representation it gives.

A lot of the smaller side characters read as well imagined and fleshed out development wise which is also a huge bonus.

World building- this story was built upon a hidden community in the centre of Toronto and overall it was well designed. However the entire set up felt like such an information minefield I really struggled to keep up.

Final Thoughts:
An interesting fantasy that has a lot of potential to grow. A really good debut from the author who is fantastic at creating representative queer characters- I’m just sad the hype may let some people-like myself-down.

This was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2021 and boy did it deliver.

Shuttleworth does a fantastic job at bringing in several new elements to the world as we know it. This is the first book in a trilogy, and thus requires a lot of worldbuilding and lore. At times it did feel overwhelming and slowed down my usual reading process due to the amount of information provided. The inclusion of deities and immortals, with fae being mortals, was a unique and fun choice.
These characters were individually very fleshed out. Of course, I have my favorites, Nausicaa being most definitely one of them. The clever wit combined with the nervous kindness of Arlo was fantastic to read about. The boys have a little more trauma and history to their relationship, and I’m hoping that in the next book we get more information on that.
The overall plot was unique in that it was a thriller with fantasy aspects without being cheesy. I’m excited to see how things turn out for the quad, and what the future holds most especially for Aurelian and Vehan. This book felt like a lot of groundwork being laid out for a very wonderful rest of a series.

I love urban fantasy books and those with fae so I knew I was going to like this book from get-go but I didn't expect to LOVE it! The characters, especially Nausicaa was amazingly snarky and she has so many quotable lines! I liked how down to earth Arlo was. Vehan, Aurelian and Celadon are all just cinnamon swirls and I love them all so much.
The mix of technology gave an interesting spin on the situation that some authors forget to include. The pacing for the story was great and I loved the idea that there are these higher powers and layers of mysteries about their own legends. I can't wait for the next book in this series ... I don't want to wait!
Also fan art despertley required and someone please point me towards a special edition of this book - I can't find any. This book needs more love and support! This book also has LGBT rep, I myself am straight but I loved how the characters' relationships were woven in to the story. It's not a coming out story either, they simply are their sexuality, which I found really refreshing. It was a fantasy novel first and foremost with romance as a side and those are my favourites kind of books. I'm rooting for the characters (no spoilers who ends up with who!)!

There's a lot to enjoy about this book:

- I loved how the faerie courts were weaved seamlessly into our contemporary world. It creates a very rich and immersive setting that grounds the story into reality.
- The characters are really well developed with defined personalities, backstories and agendas. I love each of them and the relationships that they form with each other.
- The LGBT+ representation is great to see and feels very natural in the story. Ashley Shuttleworth is clear about the identities of the characters, without forcing it into the book.
- The plot is intriguing and the mystery element keeps the reader hooked. The multiple POVs are used well to have the reader guessing and turning pages.

However, this book felt very heavy, almost a slog to get through at times. There is a LOT of information to absorb here, especially at the start of the book, and I can understand readers DNFing it. The pacing is also inconsistent across the book and I considered putting it down several times, even though I was enjoying the story.

Overall, this is a great fantasy story with a fantastic setting and detailed characters. It has a lot of content, which can be overwhelming for the reader, but I am excited to keep reading this series.

2.5 stars!

I think you would enjoy this book if you;
- like loads of different perspectives
- love dungeons and dragons
- like long descriptions/inner monologues

I was very excited for this book, and I did enjoy parts of it! For me personally though there was too many perspectives and the world/plot was confusing. There was so much going on. I liked 2 out of 5 of the main characters so the chapters of the other 3 were not as enjoyable for me.

I did like the video game vibe to the fight scenes, they made me chuckle!

I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Dark and Hollow Star is book 1 in the series.

It took me a while to get into this book as there seemed to be too much information, even when I was more than half way through. The characters were sometimes interesting and funny and I did like the little mentions of Harry Potter.

But overall, things were just too confusing and not what I expected. However, the world that is created is interesting and there are still many questions left unanswered,which we should get in the next instalment.

One of the best things about this book was the characters. Our four protagonists - Arlo, Nausicaa, Aurelian and Vehan are all diverse and deeply interesting characters. Each one has their own backstory that shapes who they are and they're quite tragic backstories at that! The character building is akin to that of Leigh Bardugo in the Six of Crows series - it is the shining light of the book.

Nausicaa was hands down the best written character of the book and possibly one of the best written characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading. She's the perfect balance of snarky and broody which makes her a joy to read about and a good device to relieve the tension.

One thing that stands out about the characters is that they are all part of the LGBTQ+ community which is pretty seamlessly woven into the plot (and it isn't the main focus or the main conflict - thanks God!)

Though there are many books being released about Fae and Faeries, A Dark and Hollow Star stands out because of its urban fantasy setting in Toronto. The concept of this magical world existing right on the doorstep of reality is definitely an interesting one and one I really enjoyed.

The biggest flaw I found with this book is how confusing all of the Fae/Faerie/Seelie/UnSeelie/Sidhe/Lesidhe set up is (yes, that sentence was even confusing to write). I definitely think that the book deserves a second read to get all of those factions clear in your head.

Because of the sheer amount of world-building in the book, there was a lot of info dumping and there are scenes that feel too dragged out.

On the whole though, the writing is really rich and atmospheric. I got the feeling that the writer truly pondered over every sentence and word to make sure it was perfect.

I really loved the revelation we got at the end as well as the unique magic that was explored in the form of a die and I'm excited to see where the series goes.

I've decided that I love the Fae! I love the unique twist this book put on something that is somewhat prevalent in YA fantasy atm, and with a fantastic bunch of characters and an intricately woven plot that keeps you guessing A Dark and Hollow Star has cemented itself as one of my favourite books of the year.

Nausicaä was so sure that she would be sentenced to death after revenging the death of her Fury sister, what she didn't expect was to be sent to the mortal world to live out her immortal life. Dubbed the 'Dark Star' she causes as much trouble as possible to the Fae and other mythical creatures who live alongside the humans, determined that if she pushes them far enough her immortal brethren will end her like she wanted in the first place. In her bid to put herself in an early grave she starts investigating the killing of 'Iron Borns' Fae born from mixed blood, but her investigation brings her into contact with Arlo an Iron Born who is worried that no one is taking the deaths seriously. Their first meeting gets a little...heated. Nausicaä warns Arlo off looking into the case, but Arlo is determined to look into the deaths so the pair reluctantly team up. Prince Vehan of the Summer Court lives a life of luxury, wanting for nothing. But he has a secret, something that links him to the deaths of the Iron Born, something that might prove fatal. Alongside his once friend and now protector, Aurelian he follows leads looking into the deaths leading him on Goblin chases and to meetings with annoying and hot headed immortals. But there is something bigger at work, something darker, something years in the making, and before the gang know it they will get dragged in to something so above their heads, they will be lucky to make it out alive.

If there's one thing that will cement my love for a book its a brilliant and diverse cast of characters, something that Ashley Shuttleworth delivers in spades in A Dark and Hollow Star. From our four MC's to a well developed cast of side characters, there is a character for everyone to love... and more than enough for you to hate as well, one in particular who I would quite happily throw off a cliff. Nausicaä, Arlo, Vehan and Aurelian couldn't make a weirder bunch; an immortal, an Iron Born, a Price of Seelie and his protector. They would certainly draw eyes walking down the street together, but their differences, both in power and personality, and the secrets they keep make them uniquely suited to bring down the killer. My favourite of the side characters is Celadon, Arlo's Uncle, though with the whole Fae ageing thing is more like her big brother. They are incredibly close, and he is overly protective of her, especially with her lack of magic meaning she is not so great at protecting herself. Their relationship is just hilarious and I couldn't get enough of their scenes together. I'm a little said that he didn't get a POV in this book, but hopefully we will get one in book 2. There was another character, one I can't say too much about with spoiling certain plot points, but I just loved the scenes they were in. I'm still not 100% sure if they are good or bad, but can't wait for more of them in the second book.

A Dark and Hollow Star brings us a perfect blend of the magical and the mundane. In this world the Fae and other magical beings live hidden alongside humans. We have 8 courts, four Seelie and four Unseelie, Unseelie being seen as 'lesser' and Iron Born the lowest of the low coming from Fae and human parents. There is a lot of take in, a lot of castes of Fae as well as other magical beings but Shuttleworth does a great job of introducing you to them bit by bit. There are no major info dumps, you get the information as a when needed which kept the story flowing. As well as the magical world of the Fae, Shuttleworth graces us with a multitude of pop culture references from Harry Potter to D and D. Nerds, of which I count myself, will love seeing all the little references dotted in, made even funnier by the explanations needed for certain characters to understand the references. The really unique thing about this book is it being set in the modern world, with all the modern convenience's and language that we are accustomed too. Shuttleworth uses this to her advantage making the character's so unbelievably relatable, even the 300 year old immortal.

If you love a good 'idiots in love' and would like 'grumpy immortal + sweet fae' plus ALL the pining, then this is the book for you. There was angst and pining... did I mention the pining, and they were all so sweet and utterly useless at expressing their feelings. Nausicaä has almost sworn off love, being immortal tends to put a damper on the relationships when she knows she will more than likely outlive them, but there is something about Arlo, this girl who has been told she is useless, not even worth calling Fae, yet is determined to help those in need and be a friend... even to the grumpy immortal, that slowly wares away at Nausicaä's walls. Vehan has grown up with everything, everything that is except the heart of the boy he loves. He doesn't know the reason behind Aurelian's sudden shift in behaviour, but just wishes he would look at him like he used to. Aurelian loves the Prince, but for reasons has had to hide his affections putting a wall behind them that is growing too large to hurdle. There were times when I wanted to jump into the book and hit one of them on the head, or found myself shouting 'just kiss already' rather loudly... whilst at work... but when I found out the reasons behind their actions I just wanted to give them a massive hug.

A Dark and Hollow Star is an absolute chunk. But Shuttleworth manages to give us a intricate and fast moving plot, whilst also introducing us to the complexity of the world she has created so the over 500 pages absolutely fly past. The main plot of this book is relatively tied up by the end, but there are plenty of unanswered questions, as well as one shocking twisty ending that had me cursing the authors name (seriously that character better die in book 2!) that will make you extremely eager to get your hands on the next instalment. If I had to nit pick? A glossary or Index would come in incredibly handy for this book. There were a lot of different magical beings, castes of Fae as well as families and magic system. At times I had to flick back pages to make sure I was on the right train of thought for who characters were etc. Ultimately, this didn't detract from my overall love of the book, and boy did I love it! My Third 5 star read of 2021, and a book that will definitely be making it's way onto my favourite reads of the year list.

DNF
I rarely DNF on fantasy books and I am sonsad I have had to for this book. Everything about this book atrracted me: the cover, the blurb, the fantasy aspects, fae! Sadly the actual story was not what I was expecting or looking for.
I found the characters to be rather 2D and as a character lead reader, I needed more personality and depth to hold on to. The story also felt quite bland.
My main problem was that I didn't like this take on the Fae. I like them as these mysterious creatures with alot of history and intriguing habits. What we get in this book is humans but with powers. They live alongside humans, eat the same food, talk the same and use slang. It was the moment that they talked about watching netflix that killed it for me.
I am really sad about not finishing and I hope others enjoy it more than I did.

"The “ironborn” half-fae outcast of her royal fae family.
A tempestuous Fury, exiled to earth from the Immortal Realm and hellbent on revenge.
A dutiful fae prince, determined to earn his place on the throne.
The prince’s brooding guardian, burdened with a terrible secret."

This book was a fairly lengthy one but I could understand why. Each chapter is pretty lengthy and while some people will more than likely enjoy that, I wasn't necessarily a fan of it. I tend to enjoy the shorter chapters more, as it keeps my attention gripped more. However, despite that, there was a lot of info in each chapter to keep you quite engaged because it really delves deep into the history of the world and introduces all of the characters one by one in their own POV.

Each character was so unique in their own way and I really loved that. I also loved how the fantasy world integrated with the modern world. It was done so seamlessly to the point where sometimes I would forget it was a Fantasy book but that was quickly rectified a few sentences after when you were thrown back into the world of fae and fairies. As well as that, the representation in this book was brilliant. It highlighted the LGBT+ community, without it being a main focal point, which I enjoyed. It was subtle representation but it was really really nice to read, especially in a Fantasy genre.

The writing was very well done and you can tell that the book was seriously thought out from start to finish. At points I did get confused, purely because there was SO much information being dished out from chapter to chapter but as a whole, I enjoyed the read for what it was.

It's quite a slow start and I found it didn't pick up until past the halfway point, but once it did pick up, I found I didn't want to put the book down and I ended up finishing it very quickly near the end. Also, this is the first book I've read that was based in Toronto, so that was a nice change of scenery.

Overall, it was a great book. The characters were great and they interacted with each other super well. The world was enticing and it consistently drew you in. The only reason why it's not a 5-star for me is because it was slow to start and it did get confusing at times. However, I'm excited to see what our group of friends get up to in the next instalment of this series.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review!

A Dark and Hollow Star was a 2021 release that I greatly anticipated and I have to admit, I'm a little torn when it comes to this one.

Let's start with the positive aspects: I think the setting is incredibly intriguing, a true urban fantasy with many different mythologies included in the world. I need to preface this by saying that YA urban fantasy, for the most part, isn't one of my favorite genres, so I was super excited for this to maybe change my mind! The characters were quite well-developed and their motivations made sense, I absolutely adored all the queer rep our protagonists provide. The description of Mortal Instruments meets Cruel Prince is fitting - if you're looking for a queer urban fantasy, look no further!
The writing style was pleasant and very readable, making it easy to fly though this book despite its comparatively considerable length. There's definitely a lot of potential here!

However, I also had my issues with this book. First of all, I agree with others who have complained about the pacing. A Dark and Hollow Star follows five different POVs, and somehow, it just doesn't quite work out. Some of the chapters are too long, sometimes certain characters simply get too little attention for the reader to form a connection with them. Especially in the beginning, lots of time is spent on establishing the world and meeting a myriad of mythological creatures, when it might have been better to establish a link between the reader and the characters.
The mythological creatures would be my next criticism - not the existence of them, but the sheer amount of them. As mentioned before, pretty much every creature you could think up exists within this book. There's obviously fae and faeries with everything that pertains to them, there's vampires, titans, reapers, trolls, more figures from Greek and Christian mythology, .... At the end of the day, this seemed to be a little too ambitious for me. The reader is constantly confronted with more and more types of characters, and the plot and the main characters' journey sadly do suffer for it.

In conclusion, I think that A Dark and Hollow Star is a very solid debut novel! You can definitely tell how much potential this story and the author have. Sadly, it did suffer from less than ideal pacing and a world that was a little too ambitious and in-depth for the first book of a series. I'd still absolutely recommend you go check it out if urban fantasy is something that interests you! The author is definitely someone to keep your eyes on, and I can't wait to see what they will achieve in the future.

So this book was not what I expected it to be.

I went in knowing that it was an urban fantasy, with LGBTQ characters, and that was absolutely what you get. What I didn't expect was the sheer amount of information that you get right at the start of the book, that doesn't really get too explained until you are a good chunk of the way through the book.

The characters were really interesting, but I did have a big issue with Arlo. She is our protaganist in this story, and I felt as though she had been aged down a little, so that the story could fit into a YA market. If she was 20 years old instead of newly 18, and acted slightly older, I would have gotten on with her story much better,

That being said, the story was absolutely interesting, and did hold my attention, even when I wasn't sure what was going on, and I can see that people are absolutely going to love this book.

All in all, it was a decent book, and although I can see its merit, it wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Let me start by saying that it's not often I DNF a book but i had to with this. I got 34% in and other than some murders and knowing who the dark star is I felt it wasn't going anywhere.
Other people I see have completely loved this but I felt that what I read could have been condensed down considerably as it was a lot of feeling and fairly repetitive.
The cast of characters seem well thought out but not enough to keep my interest piqued.
I am hoping to revisit this and see if there was something I missed.

There's nothing quite like reading a book that keeps you eager for the next chapter, and fully lost in the story. This is exactly what A Dark and Hollow Star does, in a way that brings so much to the table. It's an excellent example of what can happen when a popular concept is taken and life is breathed into it: fae are a staple of YA fantasy, but ADAHS takes those standards and smashes them in a bid for the stars.

There are quite a few different plot threads throughout the book, all tying up at the end in a way that's satisfactory while leaving just the right amount left unknown for you to desperately want the next book. There was also a cliffhanger that was infuriating in the best way, with just enough hints throughout to make it not feel completely out of place, but shocking enough that until the POV characters find out the information the reader now knows, we'll be internally screaming. There was just enough information dropped in via a non-POV character chapter, which balanced the angst of not knowing what was happening with the angst of knowing how badly things were going to go, as well as keeping the expansive plot from getting too expansive. The build-up to the climax was handle excellently, and really brought everything together with a bang. And again, definitely lots of screaming at that ending.

The setting takes contemporary fantasy and leans even more on the fantasy element. Partly because of the different characters, we see different views of magic in the modern world and the levels of separation. There's some really cool blending of magic and modern technology, as is bound to happen in a world like this, and it felt almost like this is actually how things would work. The way the Fae courts were embedded in the world were something I liked a lot, as well as the magical beings, such as the Furies that Nausicaä once belonged to, and I loved the backstory that we got through her POV because of this. I actually want a full guide to the world, because I found it so interesting, but lack of this isn't detrimental to the book itself. There were some really interesting approaches to magic that had definite inspiration from other media (like a d20 that does some pretty awesome things) which really helped build up the magic in this world. I'm so excited to see how this is all built on in the sequel, because there's definitely a lot of potential.

ADAHS is told through four POVs, from the four main characters, and while this seems like it could get overwhelming, Shuttleworth does a really good job of balancing the different perspectives and how they contribute to the story. It was abundantly clear how much thought went into each character, because they were all very distinct and interacted with plot points presented to them in different ways. They also balanced each other out really well in terms of characteristics, which worked well with the plot too. Nausicaä, a former Fury, was full of righteous anger, but she was also considerate and honest with Arlo. Arlo, with her perspective as half Fae, brought a different approach than just 'fight' and her nerdiness and drive, even when she was having to step out of her comfort zone, made her an excellent main character. Aurelian was arguably the most mysterious of the four, with a lot going on and some very valid reasons for how he acted, but he wasn't just the stalwart bodyguard - he also loves Star Trek and space so I am contractually obliged to love him. Vehan was a prince, but he was also so caring and so determined, and his drive to find his place in everything really help flesh him out.

There are two main romantic relationships in the book, as well as a variety of familial relationships. Arlo and Nausicaä were instantly drawn to each other, but not in an Insta-love way. Seeing the progression of the romantic tension between them as they had to work together was really cool, and though there was an age difference in terms of chronological time, Nausiacaä was still very much a teenager (who has definitely sung along to at least one MCR song) and it never felt squicky. Vehan and Aurelian were a completely different story, as they were an infuriatingly good combination of childhood friends, guardian/prince, and pining. Proper, 'can't be together because of spoilery reasons but we'll still send each other loaded looks', having to bridge the gap that grew as our relationship changed because we need to save a bunch of people tension. An honourable mention of Celadon and his awesome cousin relationship with Arlo, because they were the perfect example of a sibling-like bond.

A Dark and Hollow Star is definitely a book you can dig your teeth into for a satisfying meal. It's got depth and dynamic, with a set up for an epic sequel. It's not really the kind of book you read when you're looking for to whet your appetite but not intense, but it will drag you in and not let you out until you've torn through it voraciously. It's difficult for me to put into words how much I loved this book, because there was so much and I can't actually pick one thing I loved more than anything. If you haven't already, go find yourself a copy of this book and dig in.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This will be posted on my blog on February 22nd.

It's been a week since I started this and I don't have the oomph to want to keep reading it. I can't remember a single character and when I was reading it I didn't have a connection with any of them either.
I love the cover for this and that's initially what drew me in and then the synopsis sounded right up my alley, but sadly I lost interest really quickly and have decided to DNF it.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and, unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. I would recommend this to so many people I know, but it wasn’t the book for me. It suffered from something I’m seeing more and more in YA Fantasy; it was written as if it should have been New Adult or Adult, and the characters suffered for it.

Things I Liked:
♥ Nausicaä was a really interesting character. I absolutely loved her backstory and she was so much fun, not to mention unapologetically bad-ass. I also really loved Celadon. He was a strong supporting character and I wish he had played a bigger role.
♥ The Greek mythology influence was unexpected and a lot of fun. It added an extra layer to your typical ‘fae’ fantasy.
♥ A good portion of the book was really high action and felt like an action-comedy movie (don’t ask me to explain, because I can’t, but it was giving me Zombieland vibes.)
♥ The on-page rep was excellent. So often in fantasy, authors shy away from using real-world terms like bisexual or lesbian, and Ashley Shuttleworth didn’t shy away from that at all.

Things I Didn't Like:
♡ Nausicaä, being immortal, felt like a cool millennial hanging out with a bunch of Gen Z kids and trying kind of too hard to fit in—she was constantly making pop culture references that felt forced. It made me feel kind of weird when it came to the romance. I have no issues with relationships between immortals and mortals who are much younger, but Arlo felt too young, too sheltered, for me to be entirely comfortable with it, even though I absolutely loved their dynamic. I do think that Arlo, Vehan, and Aurelian should have been aged up to their early 20’s and this book should have fallen into the New Adult or Adult category. I could see the author trying to bridge that gap between YA and adult here, but to have a character cursing every two pages and the others seeming so much younger than her just didn’t work for me.
♡ This book did put me into a mini reading slump because I found the first 30% so slow. There’s so much information and yet none of it really makes sense until later in the book. I like when books have to slowly make sense, but there wasn’t quite enough plot in the first 30% to keep me invested. I do think it’s worth pushing through, though.
♡ For all the build up, I found the last 15% to be quite a let down. The ‘final battle’ didn’t grip me as much as I’d hoped it would.
♡ I don’t feel like we got enough page time with Vehan and Aurelian in the first half of the book. I was beginning to become invested in them towards the end, but I spent a lot of the book not even thinking about them (honestly, I thought Celadon was going to be the other main character.)

Overall, this book didn’t personally work for me as much as I’d hoped, but I see so much potential in this world—and in Ashley Shuttleworth’s writing—that I’ll almost definitely pick up the sequel, and I can still see myself recommending this book a lot.

Content warnings (as noted at the start of the book—which I love to see!): anger, arson, blood/gore, body horror (minor), death of a child, depression, disownment, divorce, drug use/addiction, grief/grieving, human trafficking, poverty, psycopathy, stalking, suicide (past, off-page), suicidal ideation, toxic relationship/manipulation, trauma/PTSD, racism, violence/gun violence.

Thank you for the advanced copy of A Dark and Hollow Star! This book pulled me in immediately in the opening pages with the lush descriptions, feisty heroine and rich world details. Such an interesting twist on the Furies. As the story continued, the stakes building with the other characters as they were introduced, I was totally hooked.
A fast paced, exciting read with a fresh spin on faeries!