This highly-anticipated book did not disappoint! I was hooked from the beginning as I adored the two main characters and the plot had me desperate to read more - I read it in one go!
I highly recommend to all!

This was the perfect book. I have no criticisms whatsoever. Marie Lu has managed to write a book that has action, drama and is incredibly fun to read. I loved both of the main characters and was always hooked no matter which character's chapter I was reading.

Another good read
Perfect book to curl up with and to get lost in
Will have you hooked from the first page
Thanks NetGalley

I could tell this book was YA but it was way better than I expected it to be. I just couldn’t fathom how a international superstar and a spy premise was going to work but let me tell you, I was not disappointed. The action sequences were brilliant. I didn’t see the twist coming and Winter made a way better spy than I thought he would. And the love story wound in there too was just brilliant. Really liked this book.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Childrens UK for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Fun, original and very exciting. Stars and Smoke is a welcome edition to YA books, full of espionage, romance and popstars, it's a book that is very hard to put down and one which will make you laugh, while wanting to discuss it with all your friends.

Marie Lu writes brilliant books and I have not been dissapointefd by nothing she wrote. Can not wait to read more by her

We meet Winter Young, world pop star and Sydney an agent for a secret organisation and see how their two opposite worlds collide. The story flows easily and with underlying questions such as what happened to Winters brother who also seemed to work with the secret organisation. Winter joins the organisation in hopes to find out what really happened to his brother and works with Sydney to complete their mission.

Twists and turns occur and an action packed finish had me keep turning the pages. I look forward to the next book in the series!

Alex Rider meets BTS, this is a rollicking romp of a spy thriller, which I wasn't expecting to enjoy half as much as I did! Between the "glamour" (or more realistically the slog) of being an international pop icon, the heart pounding suspense and pace of the spy element, and the slow burn romance, this ticked many boxes of me and in general was so enjoyable that I am looking forward to whatever Lu writes next.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I really enjoyed the action combined with the romance in the book, the plot kept me hooked. I have not read anything by Marie Lu before, however after reading this I will definitely e reading more of her books.

I just reviewed Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu. #StarsandSmoke #NetGalley

Marie Lu literally never misses I was so nervous about this book because I love her work so much and this one sounded so different but it was so fun and I couldnt atop reading it, I am super excited for book 2 to come out next year

This book took me a while to get into as I don't usually read mystery books. I found the premise interesting, and once I took the time to sit down and read, I really enjoyed the story. The characters of Winter and Sydney were developed well throughout the story, as well as the snippets of backstory provided throughout. I think my favourite relationships were those between Winter and Claire, his manager, and Sydney and Niall. I really enjoyed the twist in the story, and the action that followed. I personally struggled with the beginning of the book and was not sure if I would finish it, but I am glad that I powered through.

First things first a huge thankyou to NetGalley, Marie Lu and the publisher (@penguinukbooks) for my eARC of Stars and Smoke!

I absolutely ate this book up, it was the perfect easy read to escape into. Winter Young, one of the world’s biggest pop stars (think Harry Styles or K-pop vibes), is approached by a spy agency to help them take down a billionaire crime lord with the help of his new “bodyguard” who is also a spy.

Stars and Smoke is a NA spy book with a hint of romance. Romance is my go to genre but I really enjoyed how this book only had a hint of romance and allowed the spy plot to take centre stage. The YA/NA writing is as you’d expect however I found it didn’t take me away from the story as has sometimes been the case with other YA books.

Side note how gorgeous is this cover 🤩 I need another book of Winter and Sydney’s story asap!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

Unfortunately I began this book during the busiest time of my life and this book just didn't have me hooked enough to want to continue reading it. Therefore, It took me a couple month sof forcing myself to read to finally get through this.

Writing wise, the book is not badly written. In fact, its quite well written but the style just wasn't for me. The plot kept losing me and the pacing kept going from fast to slow and it just didn't grab my attention enough.

I had high hopes for Winter and Sydneys relationship but in the end it just felt flat and rushed and I was disappointed in the outcome. Even the spy plot felt predictable.

I really enjoyed Marie Lu’s Warcross duology so when I saw secret agents and pop star, I just couldn’t resist, I’m going to be honest.

This was a really fun, light and easy read! It was so easy to sit and binge read this because the characters were wonderfully snarky, the writing and narrative flowed easily and there was a really good pace to the story which had you turning the pages!

I actually had a really good time reading this, with the mix of humour, action and suspense and there were a lot of familiar places for me so I found it easy to picture the settings! Especially Ally Pally which has a bit of a unique layout, shall we say!

Winter and Sydney were both interesting characters with some stuff to work through and secrets to hide, but they were both badass in their own ways! The banter between them was on point and I really loved their interactions!

The only thing I will say, is that the romance didn’t play as much of a role as I was expecting, and the tension didn’t quite hit right. There were a few opportunities for the romance to kick up a notch, for the tension to lead to something but it fell flat and I put it down to the book being YA and I’m a little confused about the target age for this one.

As much fun as I had reading this, some parts felt like younger YA, while others felt like they could be heading towards New Adult and the characters are older than your typical YA ones. So, I’m not sure if this is supposed to be YA or NA and I’ve seen other reviewers saying it’s supposed to be the latter, in which case it very much reads like a YA and seems to stop itself from taking that step into NA, which I think is kind of a missed opportunity.

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed this. It was giving Kim Possible with a splash of Cody Banks, it was easy to read and get lost in, it had action and suspense as well as mystery and a little romance but I wanted a little more from it and it kept veering from almost juvenile to a bit more mature which was a little confusing.

Like Winter literally wondered if Sydney was playing house with someone and going undercover in a fake marriage and things did slightly heat up at one point, then there’s all the grim descriptions of the effects of the weapon, but it seemed like the author was straddling the gap between YA and NA and I really wished she’d taken the leap to make it NA!

In any case, I did really enjoy this, there were some great twists and even the one that I’d figured out still ended up being dramatic and fun!

I think this is going to be an interesting series with a lot to offer and I look forward to picking the others up!

A fantastic debut book in a YA spy series reminiscent of James Bond. The novel may be read as a stand-alone, but I'm already looking forward to the next one. This is a departure for Marie Lu from sci-fi. But she has done it again. For me, her trademark is a fast-paced twisting character-driven story storyline with humour and banter between the characters, a villain or two to add perilous flavour, and a dash of romance. Her main characters have an evident sardonic strength as well as honest self-doubt.

Holy Moly I loved this! It filled a hole in my reading diet that I never knew I had and kept me reading not just past my bedtime but long into the wee small hours of the morning because I needed to know how it was going to end. Winter and Sydney are such interesting characters and their turbulent relationship with each other was handled expertly. The thriller/spy elements were well written and the twists and turns of the plot had me hanging by a thread. My 12+ readers have loved this book in school so it's great for the young teen market too. I can't wait to read more stories about this pair.

After already loving every other book Marie Lu has written, I was so happy to get "Stars and Smoke" to read in advance.
This book is full of action, fun and danger while set in an near-future sci-fi setting we follow a young popstar Winter Young who is recruited by an undercover organization of spies and has to work with Sydney Cossette. Both of them are not happy about that arrangement but every interaction between them is filled with banter and chemistry they keep trying to resist.

This book is a perfect mix between action and romance with secrets and plot-twists. The main story arc is closed at the end but we have an extra chapter that gives us a hint about a sequel coming in the future.

I can definitely recommend this to anyone who has been loving Marie Lu's works.

A huge thank you to Penguin Random House Children's Publisher for providing me this ARC for review. My opinions are solely my own.

Marie Lu is an instant-buy author for me. Her writing is like receiving a much-needed hug on a rough day. Yet, I found that Lu's writing was the standout element of the book while the plot did not grab my attention nor held it for the entire novel. Her main protagonists have interesting and compelling story-arcs, Lu did the best she could with a 300-page limit and I would love to see more character depth added in the next instalment.

This is more a critique of my changing reading preferences, but I am ready for Marie Lu to hopefully write an adult novel as I'm finding that the jokes and dialogue is not landing for me the way her previous novels have. But I think it's because I am not the main target audience for Young Adult anymore and I'm sure younger readers won't have an issue with this. I will definitely continue the series next year and recommend this to readers of its intended audience, it's just not my favourite of Lu's works (from the first instalment of this series alone). Thanks again!

I was NOT expecting this from Marie Lu. It felt like a real change from what she usually writes but oh boy was I not disappointed! Bodyguard/spy/popstar romance. This was such a fun read! Perfect for those that loved Ally Carter but want something a bit more grown-up.