Titan of the Stars is a YA sci-fi horror that is a mash up of Titanic and Alien. There's a maiden voyage of a gorgeous ship full of well to do passengers heading to Mars to start a new life, but that voyage gets derailed when the ship is overrun by aliens. Our three MCs, Celeste, Ren, and Dominic, are trying to survive while getting the ship to land on Mars. This book started out slow, but the pace picked up midway through the book. This was an intense read, but I felt like a lot of the content came from the two movies. Maybe for someone who hasn't seen these two movies, this book would be more original and shocking. I also wanted so much more detail and depth in the second half of the book with the alien encounters. I did enjoy the little dandy of an ending.

Titanic x Alien seems to be an accurate description, seeing as the Titanic was a failure that could have been avoided. In that same vein, maybe bringing aliens that you know nothing about on your ship's maiden voyage to Mars is a bad idea. But you know, hindsight is 20/20 and all that. I will say, if you compare your story to two VERY well known and praised pieces of media, you are setting a very high bar.

Expect 50% mild YA scifi then 50% YA scifi horror from this read.

This was unfortunately not something that held my attention. The prologue's writing style was perhaps one of my least favorite styles to read (and also just doesn't line up at all with anything else timing-wise in this book, unless I majorly misremebered it). Then the rest of the copy (ARC, so potentially fixed?) was so full of formatting and spelling errors that it was approaching unbearable to read. Not to mention the pacing...

I'm confused by how it takes a whole day to get to the moon, but only 6 more days to supposedly get to Mars? And then in the back half of the book, we have a 100 hour countdown... Only to go through 95 of those hours in maybe a page????? What was even the point then if you aren't going to build character relationships or do literally anything at all????

Also the aliens literally don't make sense in a physical sense. 🤷🏼‍♀️

This should've been cool, but instead it took me 2+ weeks to finish because I was so uninterested.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tundra Books for providing an eARC of Titan of The Stars in exchange for this honest review.

Goodness, do I love isolation horror in space and Titan of the Stars absolutely delivers.

From the start, this book hits all my favorite notes: eerie vibes, creeping dread, and the sheer panic of being trapped somewhere cold, mechanical, and very, VERY far from home. Titan is a perfect setting for things to go horribly wrong, and once they do...?

Pacing-wise, this book is tight. Johnston wastes no time, and the tension never lets up once it starts. And those aliens? Chilling. I won’t spoil what they are or how they work because honestly, it’s way more fun to go in blind.

That said, I did find myself wishing for a bit more depth. There’s so much potential here, and I honestly wouldn’t have minded a longer, meatier story to explore it all more fully.

S, the ending? Open-ended in exactly the right way. Enough resolution to feel satisfying, but just ambiguous enough to leave you wondering (and hoping for a sequel; I definitely am).

If you like your space horror atmospheric, queer-inclusive, and fast-paced, Titan of the Stars is an easy yes. Highly recommend.

Thanks so much to TBR and Beyond Tours, the author, and the publisher for the complimentary copy. This review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

This was a fun little Sci-fi novel. It felt a bit on the younger side, as it wasn't as flushed out as it could have been. There's a lot of blurbing about the class differences, but besides the engineers being the big part of the plot, there's not much more talk about the indentured people that were locked up. It felt like that part of the book could have been expanded on. Especially since one key character decides to go and help that side of the ship, without a lot of explanation. In general, a lot of things in this book just kind of happen. Sometimes it confused me, and sometimes it made me not care. I wanted to feel more for the characters and I didn't.

I loved that this is blurbed as Alien on a Titanic in space, but would have loved to get more of the emotional attachment to what happens to these kids than I did.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy. All opinions are my own.

The tagline nails the vibes of this book perfectly: Titanic meets Aliens. There’s even a Dr. Ripley on board as a nod to Aliens. But this is also so much more than that. Celeste and Dominic are characters with interesting pasts and very different upbringings, but that very quickly become friends after meeting on board the Titan’s maiden voyage from Earth to Mars. And just like another maiden voyage of a powerful vessel, disaster was sure to strike. These two characters certainly have the potential for a slow-burn love story, with lots of hurdles in the way.

I really enjoyed the blend of sci-fi and horror elements while also getting poignant commentary on class and who gets priority to survive when it comes to an alien attack on the ship. The one thing I really wish for was that this story was longer and we had more time to build up fear of the aliens as our protagonists tried to get to safety.

Thank you to @tundrabooks and @tbrandbeyondtours for the copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

Book review: 3.75/5 ⭐️
Genre: sci-fi/YA dystopian
Themes: social classes, space, aliens, young romance
📖 Read if you like: Rebel, Hail Mary, Record of a Spaceborn Few

This book brands itself as Titanic meets Alien and that could not be a more perfect comparison for this book. The first half was a discourse on the disparity between the wealthy and labourers in this dystopian future. Then things get weird and the horror starts with aliens savagely killing all humans in their path. It was an odd amalgamation of genres, but it worked.

On the maiden voyage of a cutting edge space ship that reduces the travel time between Earth and Mars exponentially, we meet Celeste and Dominic. Celeste is an apprentice engineer who has had to work tirelessly to get out of the Rift. An orphan with limited options, she jumps at the opportunity to start a new life on Mars. Dominic is her complete opposite, or so it seems at first. The wealthy son of programmer and partial shipbuilder, Dominic arrives to a suite of excessive luxury and pomp with his valet. A tortured artist, he has always been a disappointment to his adoptive parents, yet has never known quite how different his life could have been.

When the ship launches, everyone is trapped on the ship and the two eventually cross paths. An unlikely relationship forms between these characters, but an even more shocking discovery is to made. The ship is also host to a group of discovered aliens that were encapsulated in the polar ice caps for thousands, perhaps millions of years. A novelty museum is set up onboard with the scientists who unearthed this ground breaking discovery giving lectures and tours. When the alarm sounds one night, the residents of this ship will realize just what unknowingly joined them on this voyage.

It was a really interesting premise for a book and the after effects following a natural disaster in a societal context was well developed. I also like that this part of the story largely took place in Canada. The whole upstairs downstairs situation on the ship played out well with an interesting cast of characters to round out humanity. They each had their own traits and POVs, which I liked.

I desperately needed a ship map to follow along with the plot, but it was well written and engaging. I will say I wanted more horror and more alien interactions. The suspense wasn’t quite where I expected it to be in this scenario, though it delivered on the gore factor. Overall, I thought the ideas were really good, but I wanted more to become fully invested. I will be eagerly awaiting the sequel regardless given the nice cliffhanger that sets up the story for the next book.

Thank you to Penguin Teen CA for a gifted copy of this book.

Titan of the Stars is a wonderful YA sci-fi with strong world-building and a well-executed dual POV that really pulled me into the story. While the pacing slowed down at times, I don’t think it’ll take away from most readers’ enjoyment—it gave space to explore the characters and the universe in more depth.

That said, I found myself wanting more. The story feels like it could easily expand into a series, and I would’ve loved a deeper dive into certain plotlines and character arcs. Still, I really enjoyed this read and would definitely recommend it to fans of character-driven sci-fi with immersive world-building.

We just got this book in our store. My coworker immediately reconized it as the same author as Ashoka. Some of our customers have been looking for titles that are not romantasy or fantasy. This will be a good recommendation. Thank you for the ARC.

This is a slower paced story with a good amount of buildup and character depth to keep you invested until the aliens escape and the poo hits the fan.
I enjoyed the buildup and the world-building, along with Celeste and Dominic as our main characters. Some great, suspenseful, and tension-filled moments had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see if anyone was going to survive.

I'm not sure if this is going to end up being a series, but if it does turn into one, I will be continuing! I just have to know what happens next after the way it ended!

E.K. Johnston’s Titan of the Stars is a thrilling, character-driven sci-fi adventure that blends class tension, corporate control, and first contact horror into one compelling voyage through space. Set aboard a sleek interplanetary cruise ship en route from Earth to Mars, the story shifts between two protagonists—Celeste, an idealistic apprentice engineer, and Dominic, the reluctant son of the ship’s owner—whose worlds collide in more ways than one when sabotage unleashes an ancient alien threat.

Johnston shines in her ability to ground futuristic tech in emotional realism. Celeste’s pride in her work and Dominic’s frustration at being trapped in a life he didn’t choose create strong, relatable stakes. Both characters feel fully realized and their contrasting perspectives offer a smart critique of class divisions aboard the Titan. Celeste is the heart of the ship’s functionality, while Dominic is a symbol of inherited privilege—and both are forced to confront what they’re truly made of when the aliens break free.

The aliens themselves are fascinating and terrifying, not just in their physical threat but in the way their presence unravels the careful structure of the ship’s society. Johnston builds tension steadily, and once chaos erupts, the pace kicks into gear without sacrificing character depth. The ethical questions surrounding the exploitation of alien life for entertainment add a thoughtful layer, pushing this beyond a standard sci-fi thriller.

While the book occasionally leans heavily on exposition, especially early on, the unfolding disaster and the shifting dynamics between characters keep the story engaging. Readers looking for nonstop action may find the build-up slow, but those who appreciate a more thoughtful, layered approach to sci-fi will be rewarded.

Smart, suspenseful, and socially aware, Titan of the Stars delivers a gripping story that explores survival, identity, and who we choose to be when systems break down. A strong pick for fans of Aurora Rising, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, or Battlestar Galactica.

A apprentice engineer and a wealthy boy find their paths cross on the same ship while also facing off against ancient aliens as things turn upside down on the ship. Celeste is a apprentice engineer and she's excited to be working on the Titan, a ship that is on a new journey from Earth to Mars. Dominic is the son of a wealthy man ho owns the Titan... and he's trapped on this ship and on the path that his father has chosen him rather than his dreams of being an artist... until he meets Celeste. But things begin to take a turn when ancient aliens are brought onto the ship... and then let out... and now they must find a way to fight back against the new threat. This is the first book in a series and unfortunately it was a miss for me. I was looking forward to the horror aspect but it really felt nonexistent to me. I felt like this book was missing a few things and while it's not for me I do think younger YA sci-fi readers will have fun with it.

Release Date: May 27, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Tundra Book Group | Tundra Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

My favorite read of 2025 to date! Titan of the Stars by E.K. Johnston is a blend of sci-fi and horror set aboard a spaceship traveling to Mars. Celeste Sparrow is an engineer on Titan, a first-of-its-kind spaceship that will make the trip from Earth to Mars in one week. She’s proud of her work and cautiously optimistic about the life she’s been promised. Dominic is the son of one of the co-creators of Titan. He has high hopes for Mars, hopes to get out from underneath his parents’ thumb, hopes to live a life that is his own. But there is something on the ship with them, something put there intentionally, something none of them could predict.

I really, really liked everything about this book. Celeste is a Rupt kid, one of a few that survived a devastating earthquake that left thousands dead. She’s worked her whole life to not be indentured to the government. To work on Titan is a dream come true. She can leave Earth behind and start fresh on Mars. She can work on the ship, coming back and forth, and save money while doing it. The possibilities are endless. Her goals are simple. She wants to live her life freely and away from the eyes of the public, who will always view her as one of the lucky few.

Dominic is also a Rupt kid, but he was luckier than most as he was adopted a few weeks after the disaster. He has no ties to his home, no memories of what happened, but an intense curiosity to know. While his life has been more comfortable than most, he lives in the shadow of his parents’ respective careers. His mom, who works in government, has used his backstory as leverage for her campaigns for years, making him speak at conventions and fundraisers. His dad is just disappointed that Dominic doesn’t want anything to do with the family business, instead opting to be an artist. I like Dominic. He’s kind, a bit naive, and noble when he wants to be.

The entire book takes place aboard the Titan. It starts with passengers boarding, and the excitement and thrills begin soon after. Dominic’s father has been working on a secret project for the ship. On their first night of the voyage, the passengers and a select few of the crew (Celeste and her friends included) witness the project’s unveiling: a museum of aliens. Dr. Ripley, an ethnobiologist, uncovered them in a bit of melting permafrost, and they’ve been staged here in a museum setting. Most of the passengers are rightly frightened, but what’s the harm? They’ve been frozen for thousands of years, clearly dead, right?

When the blurb described this book as a cross between Titanic and Aliens, I was hesitantly excited. I love sci-fi horror, and I love learning about all things Titanic. This is one of the most accurate descriptions/comparisons I’ve ever seen for a book. Societal differences are explored through Celeste the engineer and Dominic a wealthy passenger. The thrills of a ship going down. AND the horror/mystery that are the aliens brought on board.

Overall, I loved every word of Titan of the Stars. My only complaint is that it was too short. I could have read another hundred pages and been happy. I loved seeing how Celeste and Dominic work together, the horror of the aliens, and all the unknowns. The book does end without needing a sequel, but it is left open should the author want to revisit (and PLEASE do). I highly recommend this one to fans of sci-fi and horror.

I’ve recently started dipping my toes into the sci-fi horror genre, and this book definitely scratched the itch! Fast-paced, chilling, and full of tension—those damn aliens are as relentless as they should be. I was totally hooked. My only complaint? I wish it were longer! I flew through it and found myself wanting MORE.

And seriously… what’s Dominic going to do now?? 👀👀

If you’re into heart-pounding survival, alien terror, and a good dose of “what the hell just happened,” this one’s for you.

Celeste is trying to escape the poverty of her home town. Dominic is trying to survive manipulative parents and a controlling boyfriend. The ship they’re both on is also transporting alien remains. Only, the aliens aren’t as dead as everyone thought.

I really loved the two main characters, they were both so interesting and so different. Although, their voices were a little too similar for all of their characters to both be first person narration.

It had a slow start for a novella. It really took a long time for things to start happening, and I didn’t feel the horror build up the way I was hoping. But there was also fun world building in such a short time, great side characters, and a fascinating hook of an ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tundra Book Group for this arc!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The end. (I'm still screaming and shaking the phone because I listened to an audiobook)
Amazing cover.
This book had me at Titanic meets Alien. An YA. Teens and New Adults on a journey to Mars on a ship with a very peculiar exhibition: aliens... they are NOT dead.
I want more. I'm looking forward to reading book 2.

So cool.

An exciting sci-fi adventure that had me on the edge of my seat!

I enjoyed the suspense and the build up of the story. I wanted more!! The ending felt a little rushed and I wanted so much more!! And maybe there’ll be a book 2…?

This story reminded me of a sci-fi movie and I could see it all play out in my head.

I enjoyed the characters as well. Dominic was a character who was easy to root for. I loved his growth throughout the story.

Celeste was an independent character who was raw and real. I enjoyed her character and her drive.

If you enjoy young adult horror sci-fi adventures with survival, high stakes, aliens, class differences, space, a dash of romance, and so much more then check this one out!!

I'm not a horror fan but I loved this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I really enjoyed it!

I enjoyed the prologue but wasnt gripped by the rest of this novel. The start is slow and the characters didnt really grab my attention.

THOUGHTS

I loved everything about this book! I just didn't get enough of it. I know it's going to be a series, but there was so much potential already here in this first one that I would have liked to see develop. I wanted more, which is only a good thing.


PROS
Memorable FMC: I really liked Celeste as a main character. I like that she's a bit standoffish. I like that she's an engineer, all technical expertise, and that she comes with a healthy anti-capitalist sentiment as well. She plays by the rules as far as it keeps her afloat while recognizing that this is a world not designed for her personal well-being. I liked her. She stands out, in a market saturated with female-led stories that start to blend together.

Soft MMC: I also liked the contrast Dominic gives to Celeste. He's a much softer character than she is. He's had luxury as an everyday part of his life. He isn't as fit for life on this ship as she is, not after things go wrong. He isn't physically capable of what she is, what her life has prepared her for, and he doesn't have the technical know-how to be as useful. But he's willing to help wherever he can. He's just limited, and I like that sort of role-reversal between the sexes.

Incredible Cast: On top of the two main characters complementing each other really well, the whole cast of characters were great. I loved Ren, Celeste's best friend, because not enough YA main characters have active friends in their life. Especially not loner MCs like Celeste. And I liked all the other characters we got, too. They made a great cast of background characters, characters that felt fleshed-out and thought-through. The characters really are the star of this book.


CONS
Blending Voices: Though Dominic and Celeste contrast each other, and complement each other, very well as characters, their perspective voices do start to blend together. Especially toward the end, when they are doing the same thing (and not living vastly different lives), it can be a bit disorienting to have to flip back to the chapter head to see whose perspective we're in. They can't always be distinguished by voice alone, and that's a missed opportunity (though an unfortunately common flaw of a lot of first-person POV books, alas).

Too Quick: The biggest downfall of this book is that it's just too short. I loved the background characters and how vibrant they make this book. And I absolutely wanted more of them. There's just not enough time in these pages to develop all of these characters, and I wanted all of these characters developed. I wanted to spend more time here, to immerse myself into this world. I think another hundred pages (or more) would have been well worth it just to see how well Johnston could develop these characters, develop this world if given the chance. But I didn't get that.

Not Enough Time: This book does a really good job of setting everything up, but at the same time, given how short it is, it does take a disproportionate amount of the book to have something actually happen. I think it takes almost 3/4 of the book before we really reach a tipping point, which is an indication that this book isn't plotted well (at least not for a book of its size). It will be a series, so there's more to come, but I wish this book had been better balanced within itself, because things do otherwise conclude well enough in this one volume. Or, even better, I wish this book had been longer to actually see what we're working with here (in, you know, an ideal world). It's too short. Have I said that already? Well, here it is again: this book is too short.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7/10
Fans of the classic 1979 film Alien will love diving into this voyage with unexpected passengers. Those who loved Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation will like seeing what happens when there are (already) aliens among us.

First and foremost thank you NetGalley and Tundra Book Group for letting me have early access to Titan of the Stars by E.K. Johnston.

This YA science fiction horror had me on the edge of my seat. If there's one trope I'm always down to read it is “we are trapped in space alone with aliens and there is no help coming”. The description of the Titan preparing to take its maiden voyage made me want to slip through the pages and explore the ship myself. Preferably without the unthawing aliens brought on the ship to be displayed as the next big scientific breakthrough. Seriously who thought the best idea was to bring aliens to space, let alone to Mars?

The human settlement on Mars brings new opportunities for both Celeste (A hard working engineer who seeks to better herself without belittling herself or capitalizing on her tragic childhood) and Dominic (The adopted son of a prominent rich family who uses their wealth as a form of control over him). The parallels between these two characters both revolve around money and their shared tragic childhoods. Celeste having no family is self made, working hard to not become a charity case for the wealthy. She relies on herself, and no one else to blaze a way for her future on Mars. Dominic was adopted and is often portrayed in the book as "rescued". His family often reminds him of how fortunate he is and how grateful he should be towards them for giving him a life above all the others. The gratitude his parents wish to see from him often involves Dominic doing exactly what they want, which includes giving up his dreams of art school for a more practical and socially acceptable job. Dominic is constantly belittled for his emotions and talked down to when he defies orders. Dominic is by far the most sympathetic out of his family and a developed empath. He's lonely and searching for a place he feels he belongs. From a writing mechanics standpoint the dual perspectives alternating between Celeste and Dominic flowed nicely. I never felt bored reading one perspective over the other. The characters of this book were equally lovable as they were despicable (I'm looking at you Adam).

Full disclosure, I read 63% of this book before I DNF’d because the amount of cursing was just too distracting for me. This was disheartening because I was super invested in the plot and I wanted to know what happened to the Titan. I will definitely be looking for spoilers to fill in the gaps of what I know!

Overall, despite reading 63% of the book, I’d give this book a 4 out of 5 stars because I enjoyed the characters, backstory, descriptions, and pacing of the plot. My only negative comment is the heavy cursing which is a personal reading pet peeve of mine.

I cannot end this review without mentioning what an absolutely stunning front cover this book has!