Stars Above the Never Sea is an immersive fantasy with gritty sea merchants and just enough magic to keep you enchanted. The blend of fantasy and nautical adventure gave me Fable meets Grishaverse vibes, while still feeling unique and wholly it's own. I loved how the world-building unfolded naturally through storytelling and dialogue. It felt like I was discovering the setting alongside the heroine, which worked beautifully with the seafaring atmosphere.

Selene and Callan are older protagonists, which I appreciated, though their tone and behavior often leaned more toward a new adult feel. Their romance is a steady slow burn—not overly dramatic or swoony, but believable and earned. What stood out even more to me was the found family and casual queer rep, which gave the story real heart. While I wished for a deeper exploration of Selene’s trauma and a slightly stronger spark between the leads, the emotional payoff and action at the end pulled me right back in. Despite a few slow stretches in the middle, this was a compelling, atmospheric read—and I’m definitely curious to see where the story goes next.

Wow ! I wanted a pirate / ocean / sea romantasy book and that’s EXACTLY what I got !
Selene Amaris & Callan totally stole my heart ! Commended both of them on their bravery and strength !

Selene ran from her home in Asteria after being pushed to run as her home was being invaded and her people slain. At sixteen and powerless she ran into the unknown , feeling a total loss as she was truly now alone in the world. The guilt she had felt of being unable to save anyone and for being the only survivor . 10 years later she found freedom but she was worn down, broken and a shell of the young woman she once was . After being found and bound by an unknown person on Callan’s ship, Volatus, the mystery of her powers are slowly being discovered .

Callan , on his own journey with his crew is pushed to his limit with power to try and deliver goods back to his “home” , a home that once belonged to Selene and her Feyres .

My gosh the plot was thick!! I loved the slow burn , the details , the chemistry , tension , the mystery slowly being unravelled like I LOVED this sooooo much !! The writing was intense and emotional but also had a lot of sarcastic moments ! I loved the banter between the friendship group ! I enjoyed discovering her powers and ability at the same time as Selene , this really captured her fragile and vulnerable moments but at the same time it also made me feel the power she felt and I loved the determination she had on taking control of her desire .. I am not over that intense build up , ending and twist ! The slow reveal was torture ! Like OH MY GOSH ! My heart was stuttering !

I now have to cry and wait until December 2025 for the next instalment 😭😭😭😭

✨ Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review ✨

Hooked in the first few pages and it flew by till the end. I'm already impatiently awaiting the next one! This had action, magic, found family, great character development and a complex and unique world to be set in. Lots of bits of side plots and some full gasp, "no way!", re-read and gasp again reveals.

THANK YOU NETGALLEY! I'm beyond grateful to have received an ARC. This is the kind of book I hope absolutely blows up on TikTok and every bookish platform out there. It has such good bones to be an amazing series. The imagery is breathtaking, and the magic system? Beautifully executed. It takes real talent to build a world this vivid, and convey so well to the readers. While the romance could use a bit more emotional depth, I see that as a perfect opportunity for growth in the sequel. And the FMC? Say less...I love a girl with some trauma.

This book is everything. Stars Above the Never Sea is so beautifully written, immersive in a way that made me feel like I'd been plunged into the world. The characters drew me into their orbit with their genuine love and camaraderie, and I can't help but love them and rage with them and want to fight their battles with them. The ending had me spiraling. I'm incensed and desperate for more. These characters and the world will be all I'll be thinking about for the foreseeable future. Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC!

But Miss Evelyn Flood!! What are you trying to do to me!!

I knew this book would be good when I requested it but I was honestly still blown away.

This is slow burn Grumpy x sunshine which is just chefs kiss. The dual POV also really helped bring it together.

Selene, the last remaining Faeyte has suffered enough at the hands of men and she finally makes her escape onto the ship to take her back to her homeland which had been devastated by the Caelumni. On board the ship, a crew (found family🥰) of Caelumni, including Mr Callan Edgeborn.

Initially there is some stand off between Selene, Callan and crew but as our journey continues, they open up to each other so naturally that you dont quite expect the romance to hit so hard when it does.

I fully expected Callan to be the villain here but I was proven very very wrong. And what an absolute twist or two the villain was, with some emotional endings too.

Callan falls hard. Onto his knees for her, in front of a crowd. The yearning, the promises, the possibilities....

And then Evelyn just says, Sorry come back in December. GIRL ARE YOU SERIOUS.

I need the next installment and I need it now!

One of my fav books this year so far, out on July 30th, dont walk, run!!

I really wanted to love this book. I was enamored with the premise from the description. Ultimately it fell flat for me and I had a hard time pushing through. It just wasn’t for me so I ultimately dnf’d this read. The concept was great but it just didn’t hit the mark for me .

WOW!
I was not expecting this to be SOOOO good!

Stars Above The Never Sea was everything I didn't even know I needed.
The FMC and MMC are incredible - and not 19! They are well-developed characters that I had an instant connection too. Their romance was deep and beautiful.

The plot was so interesting and kept me fully engaged. I loved the incredible world-building, the magic system, and the political dynamics.
The side characters we fantastic and truly enhanced the connection to the story.

The end left me reeeeeling, and I need book 2 now!

This is a new favorite of mine! I am obsessed with pirate romances, and this is one of the best I have read. I am basically an expert on ship captains as love interests at this point.

I read this as an eARC, thank you Netgalley and Evelyn Flood and I'm voluntarily reviewing this book.
Check your trigger warnings before reading to make sure you'll be ok.

The story begins with the faeyte Selene’s Ascension day, the day she is named, blessed by the Goddess and takes her first flight but that's not how the day unfolds. Action begins immediately and the story sweeps us along with devastating consequences. It then picks up ten years later. Told through 2 POV it follows the twisted fates of Selene and Callan and his crew.

The found family aspect was really lovely and I loved the rag tag feel of the crew members and their lives, plus finding out what had happened following that fateful day 10 years ago from their POV. The magic system of maegis was interesting, with people having different levels and abilities but using them always has a cost.

The slow burn between the FMC and MMC was delightful and a clever way to interweave the backstory of the god Caelen and goddess Hala.

The story left me wanting to know more so I will be looking to pick it up when the next book is released in December but did leave me with some unanswered questions which I hope will be answered soon!

Thank you Netgalley

If you want a pirate romantasy this is the one you need!

I loved the plot and the slow burn was perfectly paced. Absolutely loved this book and that ending!

I cant wait for the second!

Thank you to Netgalley and Evelyn Flood for the ARC copy.

Selene Amaris is a faeyte, and the last of her kind. The faeytes were a group of peaceful acolytes made in the goddess Hala’s image gifted with maegis from the Goddess herself to help others. Ten years ago, their island Asteria was wiped out by the Caelumnai, another group of people gifted with maegis from Hala’s lover, Caelum. Selene was the only one to escape. From that day of the great Shift, Selene has been enslaved and forced to work as a thing of pleasure for men to slowly save enough money to buy her freedom. When she’s betrayed she makes her escape and boards a mysterious ship. Little does she know, the ship is commanded by Callan, a powerful Caelumnai who is headed back to her homeland, Asteria. He is the only one who is able to cross the Never Sea, and the only one who may be able to give Selene and her people salvation.

I was immediately captivated by the beginning of this book. We are immediately thrown into chaos and experience the catalyst event that leads Selene to where she is now. She starts off as a badass, taking control of her situation and putting herself on a better path. I loved the action, the mystery, and the suspense of what will happen on this strange ship she has boarded and the world we have found ourselves in. We then meet Callan, and he has such a charisma about him that draws you in and leaves you wanting more. We meet his crew made of a hodgepodge group of people gifted with maegis that have bonded over the trauma of the Shift and whose loyalty to each other is stronger than blood.

All of the events leading to Selene being on the ship had me unable to put the book down, but after this the pacing changes and more plot lines develop without any answers that become confusing. The focus seems to shift from what Selene will find once back on Asteria, her revenge, and her powers and why she was chosen to be the last remaining faeyte to a superficial romance and a lot of filler scenes. I was really wanting full fall into this romance and this world but Callan quickly switches from a competent ship captain with rightful suspicion of her to his entire personality being about obsessing over Selene. I would have believed it more if they spent more time getting to know each other and slowly building trust but it doesn’t make sense why he is suddenly ready to die for her without really knowing who she is and what she will do once back on her homeland. It reads as if Callan found this enigma of the last faeyte and became infatuated with the idea of her rather than who she really is.

I was truly disappointed with how the rest of the story flowed. I was ready for Selene and crew to really dive into getting Asteria back and forming a plan to get rid of Petyr or a way to save Asteria and the innocent people living there, but again the majority of the rest of the book is Selene and Callan having the hots for each other with tidbits of plot. There were moments where the main characters were on the verge of finding out something crucial or getting an answer to a myriad of questions and then they get distracted by romance. It was frustrating at points because it happens every single time, but especially when the characters knew something bad was going on with Petyr and did nothing to figure out what it might be or actually making a plan of action. Selene bothered me the most. To me she had the most potential to really flip the script, especially from her characterization at the beginning. I could see her wanting to be honing her skills at flying and her maegis, and the rage-inducing injustice of what happened to her homeland and people (literally the body hanging from the gates of her home that she passed regularly in and out of the castle…) would have her on a mission, but again as soon as she was about to do something about it she was distracted with her feeling with Callan.

By the end, I was skimming the book. I wasn’t invested in the characters anymore after they failed to do much of anything, and the twist and cliff-hanger at the end was good but I was just so frustrated with how everything played out that I wasn’t interested. Even the characters realize how stupid they’ve been to not take any sort of action at the end. I would have been more satisfied if there was any payoff to any of the stakes presented throughout the story, but it was just hit after hit and the MCs never doing anything about it. I felt like the characters lost some of their personalities by the end and it was just very confusing understanding their motivations to not chase after any of these puzzle pieces after many of the major events taking place.

I think if the author cut out some of the fluff and rewarded the readers with more fleshed out plot, this would have been a higher rating for me. The bones of the story are excellent, but the execution lacked. I’m not sure if I will continue with the series, I hope in the future books of this series the characters have more agency to get things taken care of when they know they are in a bad situation. I do think this is worth a read and other readers may enjoy it more than I did, but how the characterization changed throughout the book wasn’t for me.

Stars Above the Never Sea was so dreamy and beautifully written—I genuinely loved it. There’s something really nostalgic and magical about the way Evelyn Flood reimagined this world, and the lyrical writing made it feel like I was floating through a fairytale (but, like, one with emotional damage).

If you’re into soft heartbreak, second stars to the right, and stories that leave you feeling a little bit haunted in the best way—add this one to your list.✨

I really, really like the writing style in this book. I'll be honest, it took a while for me to settle into this style. Was that me or was that how the first chapter flowed? We'll never know. I can't re-read it for the first time ever again. But I'll say this: if you're struggling with the first chapter, KEEP GOING. I just fell into this book and into the world. In the way that I didn't want to go to work because I wanted to keep reading.

Some of my fav things: The slow burn between the MMC and FMC was delightful. The description of friendships between people of varying ages and personalities warmed my cold dead heart. Chef's Kiss. Also all this was going on while I was still wondering [semi spoiler mini ahead] about who tied her up? [mini spoiler over]. I loved being in the dark along with the FMC and figuring out the world and the people with her. Also the author describes the feelings of falling in love, even if the character doesn't know that it's happening to her, so beautifully. Just... it was so good!
Something I didn't love: We got almost no answers to any of the questions this book sets up. I understand and even love a cliffhanger but I, personally, don't find an unfinished arc to be a cliffhanger. If a book series is a war I want each book to be a battle. They don't have to win the whole war in a single book, but I need them to at least win one battle. This book didn't win any battles. It won my heart but no battles. Which is sad, because, as I've noted, I really loved the writing style of this book and could have read another 200 pages in this sitting rather than wait months for the end/any answers. This book was a 4.5, for me, but would have been easily a 5 star had it given *some* answers. Also, another book making brown eyes "muddy" or boring. Boo, I'm over that.

What made my weirdo heart happy:
The sass! The FMC is tall! The descriptions of friendships and love. Swoon.


Will I read more books by this author?: Yes. I have to know things! Also loved the style.

Would I recommend this book to a friend?: Yes. For those I know can handle cliffhangers.


[I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.]

After finishing this book and staring at a wall for 10 minutes, I have come to the conclusion that this book needs to come with a warning that this will cause you emotional trauma and make it so you don't know what to do with your life. If I hadn't just finished this book, it would have been placed in a time out to think about what it's done.

I absolutely loved this book. This isn't a book that is action packed between every page, with fight scenes on every chapter. Don't get me wrong, we have them, but this book doesn't rely on them to get you turning the pages. Book one focuses mainly on the characters. We get to know them deeply, we get to see their backgrounds, we get to watch them grow. Then when we get to the juicy bits of the story, where you're asking "where is this going?" Let me tell you now, you will regret asking that. This story has the main plot left open, I never knew which direction it was going to take or what was going to happen next. And I can say, I did not see that ending at all. The plot and the twists in this book will come up and smack you around the face.

The writing in this book is fantastic. We can feel the emotion written on every page. When you read a fantasy/Romantasy book like this and we have characters that have a traumatic background, a lot of authors will have the emotion there, and as touching as it can be it still feels like "well this is a story" (it does for me anyway, and I have been told that I don't have a heart). However with this it felt like I was there with the characters, that I was sat beside them, holding their hand as I was shown their trauma, it felt very emotional and intimate. And I felt like a lot of the writing through out this book had deep emotion written in, showing that it wasn't needing to rely on big action scenes in every chapter to get you to turn the pages.

And turn those pages you will do with this book. I devoured this book, I never wanted to put it down. And now that it has broken my heart I am left not knowing what to do with myself. So if book 2 can be out soon that would be fantastic!

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 - 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓📚
𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘢 - 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺𝘯 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 🌌✨🪽

Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

ARC READ - Release date 30/07/25

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book. @evelynfloodauthor this book is phenomenal✨

Stars Above the Never Sea is the first installment in a brand-new romantasy series filled with magic, found family, emotional angst, rage and a love that defies the gods them.

Selene is the last Faeyte after her world was ripped away from her, when the air turned to wind and water in a single violent moment, and the sea became an endless inky starlight. Selene swore vengeance once she returned home but by fate she crosses path with Callan and his crew will her path of vengeance now change?

This book ripped my heart out, I sat here sobbing and said I couldn't read anymore, but still continued to read and sob. It broke me so obviously I absolutely LOVED it. THAT ENDING had me throwing my Kindle. I wasn't ready for the book to end. This book was everything and more, it ticked so much for me that I love in a the romantasy.

The story is told in dual POV of the FMC, Selene & MMC Callan. The slow burn, the SLOWWWWWW BURN. The build of romance was agonising but in SUCH a good way. Callan is such a sweetheart he melted my heart. The found family aspect is especially heartwarming, each character brings the story alive.

I felt blindsided, caught me of guard, every time I thought I knew where this was going, NOPE. The world building, the magic the story was just on point. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do waiting till December.

Stars Above the Never Sea is a new romantasy that blends star-drenched seas, shadow magic, gods, faeytes, and a unique magic system—topped off with an absolutely brutal cliffhanger. (And no, this is not a Peter Pan retelling… in case you were wondering.)

The story introduces us to a world where Faytes exist not to love, but to help. They care, but from a distance. When their island is attacked, Selene becomes the sole survivor. Ten years later, she returns—whether to save those who now inhabit it or to exact revenge, even she isn’t sure. Selene is a layered, emotionally complex FMC: guarded, grieving, and growing into powers she doesn’t fully understand.

But at its heart, this book is about lost family…and found family.
-There’s Selene, convinced she’s incapable of love.

-Callan, the seemingly lazy, cocky ship captain with hidden depths.

-Leo, the lovable one everyone gravitates to.

-Matthias, the quiet healer of both body and mind.

-Merrick, whose story absolutely broke my heart.

-Sol, who hides his tenderness beneath gruffness.

-Rio, warm, open, and endlessly fun.
-And Esme, who sacrifices again and again for those she loves, regardless of the cost.
Each character is distinct, flawed, and real. Their stories are full of pain and growth, and as they face their pasts together, it’s their relationships that make you fall in love with each of them. The dynamic between them is easily one of the book’s strongest elements.

Our ratings:

🌶️ Spice: 1/5 – A slow burn with a single scene (Chapter 42)

🗣️ Language: 0.5/5 – Very minimal

💔 Emotional Damage: 5/5 – The loyalty, heartbreak, humor, and raw moments had me in tears (which is very rare for me). That emotional weight stays present throughout.

🌍 Worldbuilding: 4/5 – The magic system is rich but took time to fully grasp. Juggling the many characters and abilities was a bit overwhelming at first, but it’s worth sticking with.
Favorite main character: Callan

Favorite side character: Honestly, impossible to choose—this found family is everything.

Favorite quote:
“I did not expect you.”
My throat tightens. “But I was waiting for you.”

Ahoy, dear readers!

I had the chance to dive into Star Above the Never Sea early and truly had a lot of fun reading it!

What was supposed to be our protagonist Selene's most beautiful day turns into her worst nightmare, and her journey forward holds little good either. This gripping start immediately captivated me. Shortly after, we meet Callan and his equally interesting crew. I really liked the dynamic between the characters – but my absolute hero was clearly Leo!

The story revolves around themes like revenge, forgiveness, solidarity, and a mad king. Evelyn Flood has created a fascinating world that I could effortlessly immerse myself in. This, combined with the great characters and an exciting plot, led to some short nights and absolute reading pleasure.

Of course, the story ends with an absolutely nasty cliffhanger, so I'm now eagerly awaiting the sequel. A clear reading recommendation!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for allowing me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t have a bad time with it, I just didn’t have a good time with it.
I appreciated that the characters were mid20s-30s but they acted, spoke, and behaved like teens and YA characters and I found that immensely off putting.
I wasn’t super compelled by the world building or the magic system or even the characters themselves.
I understand this is a debut romantasy but I’ve not got any interest in continuing on with the series unfortunately.

I was a little apprehensive at the start of this book, there were a lot of character names and city names thrown out all at once so it felt a little daunting but it honestly ended up being easy to keep it all straight . The world building to progressive plot was balanced in a way that (mostly) kept the story from dragging out (there was just a small bit that slowed down a little). All of the characters were well developed, I loved characters and hated characters. I also went through the full gauntlet of emotions: happy, sad, anxious, mad. This book drew me in and would not let me go until I finished and then to reach that doozy of a CLIFFHANGER….December can’t get here fast enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Author Evelyn Flood for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.