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mike_bolter's review
5.0
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Find this review and many more at http://fabulousandfun.com
Chasing the Star Garden has a great pace, and is just the right amount of immersive that will have you walking the streets of a Victorian aged Steampunk London right along with Lily and her crew.
I can’t tease you a whole lot more than the spot-on excerpt manages to do without giving away the sordid details of the story. What you are going to find though, is an action packed adventure worthy of Indiana Jones that spans across Europe. And just when you think you can take a breath from the action, we get our hearts stuffed through the wringer as we learn the dark secrets of Lily’s past and why she would rather float along in a drink and drug induced haze than deal with the feelings those memories cause.
Updated Audiobook Thoughts: I really and thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook version of Chasing the Star Garden! The narrator Libby Clearfield did a fantastic job of bringing the story to life in my ears.
She did great voices for the different characters with varying accents, including the creepiest english accent I’ve ever heard (the character was a creep so it was fitting) I don’t think I’ll be able to hear anyone ever say “pretty kitty” without thinking of that!
Find this review and many more at http://fabulousandfun.com
Chasing the Star Garden has a great pace, and is just the right amount of immersive that will have you walking the streets of a Victorian aged Steampunk London right along with Lily and her crew.
I can’t tease you a whole lot more than the spot-on excerpt manages to do without giving away the sordid details of the story. What you are going to find though, is an action packed adventure worthy of Indiana Jones that spans across Europe. And just when you think you can take a breath from the action, we get our hearts stuffed through the wringer as we learn the dark secrets of Lily’s past and why she would rather float along in a drink and drug induced haze than deal with the feelings those memories cause.
Updated Audiobook Thoughts: I really and thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook version of Chasing the Star Garden! The narrator Libby Clearfield did a fantastic job of bringing the story to life in my ears.
She did great voices for the different characters with varying accents, including the creepiest english accent I’ve ever heard (the character was a creep so it was fitting) I don’t think I’ll be able to hear anyone ever say “pretty kitty” without thinking of that!
dromwald's review against another edition
5.0
Like a boys own adventure on steroids this book has everything, sex, drugs and rock & roll (Of an airship in turbulence) and I absolutely lapped it up. I really enjoy the author's writing style and the characters she creates are strong and believable (although often larger than life). It is exciting and has some dark subject matter (be warned)
Can't wait to read more by this author!
Can't wait to read more by this author!
mellhay's review against another edition
4.0
This story feels like a love story at it's core. A love of ones self and finding that the past does not define who they are now. Then, when they accept themselves they find love with another. Beautiful story and meaning mixed with a surrounding I love, clockworks, airships, adventure and fighting.
***FULL REVIEW****
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.
Lily comes in second in the airship race, but losses to the American's, again. She's disappointed. But then a harlequin races through the crowd to her. An assassin? But he grabs her and tells her to go to Venice and puts something down the front of her pants before jumping off the tower they stand on next to the airships, to his death. His body lay below with three points, the same shape that's in the symbol on her stargazer sail.
This story starts right off! The event of the race ends with a leap of faith.
There's drinking, drugs, swearing, and hot steamy moments. Lily has her debts and her loves of drinking, drugs, and hot steamy moments. Oh does she love the men. Since she uses her prize money to pay her debts, one of her lovers, Lord Byron, talks her into going to Venice. He gives her the money to make the trip reasoning she was specifically given the kaleidoscope for a reason.
This is another marvelous selection of voice to go with the story for Melanie Karsak. Libby is perfect for the characters and world. Libby is talented in accents. She has a British accent that fits the characters and thickens when need be for other characters. She even does Italian, Scottish, French and more accents. The way she speaks for each character is as she is the character. She differentiates many with tone, accent, and feeling in their voices. Outstanding job. Libby has intensified the character development through voice.
I love listening to the flight of the airship. Lily and her small crew is talented and the descriptions are of the visuals not the technical of how it's done. But the use of the air and storms is wonderful.
Do be prepared for fowl language, opium dens, and steamy sensual moments with Lily Stargazer. Melanie has taken us into a dark side of the world where drugs numb the senses and where woman are viewed as things. Melanie brings Lily through a dark past to a present that she can live with. But it's a journey that Lily has to make to come to grips with her past and be who she is. She has her friends around her to help. There's her crew for a time but most of all it's Sal, the Italian tinker, that helps her. She also finds a new friend in Celeste who helps guide them to find the statue her family is tied to.
Lily's past comes back, front and center for her. A past that she's long forgotten when she was abandoned at the orphanage. Then, a past that she keeps locked away with opium surfaces and is what draws her to help find the Aphrodite statue that is so treasured by it's strong following.
Yes, Aphrodite. Which also connects Venus and the sensual feeling of the book as a whole. This is an interesting blend of clockworks and steampunk elements with the height of love and steam. This all intersects with Lily and her life.
This story feels like a love story at it's core. A love of ones self and finding that the past does not define who they are now. Then, when they accept themselves they find love with another. Beautiful story and meaning mixed with a surrounding I love, clockworks, airships, adventure and fighting.
***FULL REVIEW****
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.
Lily comes in second in the airship race, but losses to the American's, again. She's disappointed. But then a harlequin races through the crowd to her. An assassin? But he grabs her and tells her to go to Venice and puts something down the front of her pants before jumping off the tower they stand on next to the airships, to his death. His body lay below with three points, the same shape that's in the symbol on her stargazer sail.
This story starts right off! The event of the race ends with a leap of faith.
There's drinking, drugs, swearing, and hot steamy moments. Lily has her debts and her loves of drinking, drugs, and hot steamy moments. Oh does she love the men. Since she uses her prize money to pay her debts, one of her lovers, Lord Byron, talks her into going to Venice. He gives her the money to make the trip reasoning she was specifically given the kaleidoscope for a reason.
This is another marvelous selection of voice to go with the story for Melanie Karsak. Libby is perfect for the characters and world. Libby is talented in accents. She has a British accent that fits the characters and thickens when need be for other characters. She even does Italian, Scottish, French and more accents. The way she speaks for each character is as she is the character. She differentiates many with tone, accent, and feeling in their voices. Outstanding job. Libby has intensified the character development through voice.
I love listening to the flight of the airship. Lily and her small crew is talented and the descriptions are of the visuals not the technical of how it's done. But the use of the air and storms is wonderful.
Do be prepared for fowl language, opium dens, and steamy sensual moments with Lily Stargazer. Melanie has taken us into a dark side of the world where drugs numb the senses and where woman are viewed as things. Melanie brings Lily through a dark past to a present that she can live with. But it's a journey that Lily has to make to come to grips with her past and be who she is. She has her friends around her to help. There's her crew for a time but most of all it's Sal, the Italian tinker, that helps her. She also finds a new friend in Celeste who helps guide them to find the statue her family is tied to.
Lily's past comes back, front and center for her. A past that she's long forgotten when she was abandoned at the orphanage. Then, a past that she keeps locked away with opium surfaces and is what draws her to help find the Aphrodite statue that is so treasured by it's strong following.
Yes, Aphrodite. Which also connects Venus and the sensual feeling of the book as a whole. This is an interesting blend of clockworks and steampunk elements with the height of love and steam. This all intersects with Lily and her life.
This story feels like a love story at it's core. A love of ones self and finding that the past does not define who they are now. Then, when they accept themselves they find love with another. Beautiful story and meaning mixed with a surrounding I love, clockworks, airships, adventure and fighting.
nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
5.0
This review and many others can be found on my blog - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Chasing the Star Garden is an amazing book that will keep you thinking about it for months to come! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect with this book - I haven't read a ton of steampunk and an opium-addicted heroine could work well or it could be a disaster for me (I have a hard time with unlikable main characters). But that gorgeous cover kept calling to me - I mean, I want to frame it on my wall, it's so gorgeous. So, I decided to give it a try and I am SO glad I did.
The book follows Lily, an airship racer who spends her time living on the edge and running from her past. When a mysterious man slips her a kaleidoscope, tells her to fly to Venice and plunges off a tower to his death, she reluctantly finds herself on an adventure to rescue a statue of a Greek goddess. But she's not the only one after the statue, and the trip is anything but smooth.
The negatives:
The beginning?
Honestly, the only negative I can come up with for this book was that I was a little hesitant about it for a chapter or two starting at about the second chapter. The very beginning of the book is really exciting and starts out with a bang, but then I got a little nervous when it looked like the book might center a bit too much on Lily's somewhat kinky sex life and her opium addiction. However, my fears were allayed relatively quickly, when I found that the book went far deeper than just relaying Lily's antics - these gritty scenes were necessary at the beginning of the book so that we could establish where Lily is at in her life, learn about why and watch her overcome her demons.
What I LOVED:
The romance.
I don't even really want to reveal who the main romance in this book is with because there is some question about it - there is a little bit of a love triangle (but not a major one, so don't avoid it for that reason if you're not a fan of love triangles). But, I absolutely loved seeing Lily move from a purely physical relationship toward real love. The romance in this book was sweet and touching and sometimes steamy. It moved at the perfect pace. Even better, the love story was central to the story, but didn't overtake the plot.
Mythology.
Karsak wove Greek mythology into this book into a really unique way. It was definitely a part of the story, but didn't overwhelm the general plot. Also, it wasn't really clear whether the mythology was being treated as purely myth or as reality - at least not until you get a good portion of the way through the book - and I loved guessing! Toward the end of the book, the mythology becomes more meaningful to Lily, and I felt myself loving it even more!
Steampunk.
Like I said, I haven't read a ton of steampunk, but I LOVED the steampunk elements to this book. The hot air ballooning, the interesting clothing and the unique devices that the tinkers came up with all added a great ambiance to the story and added a really fun flair. Now I want to read more!
The handling of addiction and abuse.
This book handles some pretty serious issues. Lily suffers from an opium addiction that profoundly affects her daily life and keeps her from truly connecting to the world. Like I said, I was a bit concerned at first that the book was going to glorify her drug use, but that's not the case at all. Lily uses drugs to escape her past - a past that is filled with abandonment and abuse. We see Lily's past unfold throughout the book. As I learned more and more, I was completely drawn in and invested in Lily. I understood how she got to this place of addiction and I so wanted her to overcome it! Really, it is Lily's backstory that makes this book so compelling and that makes it a not-to-be-missed read.
I highly recommend Chasing the Star Garden to just about anyone 18+ - anyone who enjoys steampunk, fantasy or just really riveting characters! While this book gave us a nice conclusion, I'm happy to see that it is just the first in a series - I will definitely be keeping my eye out for the next book! 5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
Chasing the Star Garden is an amazing book that will keep you thinking about it for months to come! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect with this book - I haven't read a ton of steampunk and an opium-addicted heroine could work well or it could be a disaster for me (I have a hard time with unlikable main characters). But that gorgeous cover kept calling to me - I mean, I want to frame it on my wall, it's so gorgeous. So, I decided to give it a try and I am SO glad I did.
The book follows Lily, an airship racer who spends her time living on the edge and running from her past. When a mysterious man slips her a kaleidoscope, tells her to fly to Venice and plunges off a tower to his death, she reluctantly finds herself on an adventure to rescue a statue of a Greek goddess. But she's not the only one after the statue, and the trip is anything but smooth.
The negatives:
The beginning?
Honestly, the only negative I can come up with for this book was that I was a little hesitant about it for a chapter or two starting at about the second chapter. The very beginning of the book is really exciting and starts out with a bang, but then I got a little nervous when it looked like the book might center a bit too much on Lily's somewhat kinky sex life and her opium addiction. However, my fears were allayed relatively quickly, when I found that the book went far deeper than just relaying Lily's antics - these gritty scenes were necessary at the beginning of the book so that we could establish where Lily is at in her life, learn about why and watch her overcome her demons.
What I LOVED:
The romance.
I don't even really want to reveal who the main romance in this book is with because there is some question about it - there is a little bit of a love triangle (but not a major one, so don't avoid it for that reason if you're not a fan of love triangles). But, I absolutely loved seeing Lily move from a purely physical relationship toward real love. The romance in this book was sweet and touching and sometimes steamy. It moved at the perfect pace. Even better, the love story was central to the story, but didn't overtake the plot.
Mythology.
Karsak wove Greek mythology into this book into a really unique way. It was definitely a part of the story, but didn't overwhelm the general plot. Also, it wasn't really clear whether the mythology was being treated as purely myth or as reality - at least not until you get a good portion of the way through the book - and I loved guessing! Toward the end of the book, the mythology becomes more meaningful to Lily, and I felt myself loving it even more!
Steampunk.
Like I said, I haven't read a ton of steampunk, but I LOVED the steampunk elements to this book. The hot air ballooning, the interesting clothing and the unique devices that the tinkers came up with all added a great ambiance to the story and added a really fun flair. Now I want to read more!
The handling of addiction and abuse.
This book handles some pretty serious issues. Lily suffers from an opium addiction that profoundly affects her daily life and keeps her from truly connecting to the world. Like I said, I was a bit concerned at first that the book was going to glorify her drug use, but that's not the case at all. Lily uses drugs to escape her past - a past that is filled with abandonment and abuse. We see Lily's past unfold throughout the book. As I learned more and more, I was completely drawn in and invested in Lily. I understood how she got to this place of addiction and I so wanted her to overcome it! Really, it is Lily's backstory that makes this book so compelling and that makes it a not-to-be-missed read.
I highly recommend Chasing the Star Garden to just about anyone 18+ - anyone who enjoys steampunk, fantasy or just really riveting characters! While this book gave us a nice conclusion, I'm happy to see that it is just the first in a series - I will definitely be keeping my eye out for the next book! 5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
shanabiggs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
5.0
Lily & Sal
Europe
Spice: 3
Europe
Spice: 3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
cakesandtea's review against another edition
5.0
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started to read Chasing the Star Garden because quite early on I realised the blurb didn't really do a great job of indicating what the story would be about. When I realised it was going to take a detour from her racing antics and move across to a larger family mystery I thought I'd lose interest. After all I felt as though I'd signed up for a fantastic and exciting story about airship racing. But the actual story itself was excellent.
Good points:
I really liked Lily as a character. Definite antihero but not annoyingly so. She's had a shitty past which has obviously defined her as a person. But she's not wallowing and making excuses.
Ms Karsak has definitely done her research on airships. The scene where they get boarded was very detailed and (to my own knowledge) quite accurate.
The descriptions of her coming off the opium were excellent and exactly how I imagine withdrawal must be.
Her adoptive fathers are bloody horrid. Really really unpleasant. Not nice people but great character. It was a bit obvious how it was going to pan out but very well done.
Bad points:
In my mind there was never really a 'Byron vs Sal' question. They barely touched upon her relationship with Byron after the first chapter and she spent the whole story realising she loved Sal. So, in my mind, there was never really any doubt who she'd choose.
The first sex scene seemed really out of place. I know it was designed to contrast with the scenes of her making love with Sal later in the novel but it was actually just very shocking and, in my opinion, unnecessary.
I wish she'd gone into more detail about Lily getting clean in London and that it hadn't just been a passing comment towards the end of the books.
Overall I really loved it. It's a quick and easy read and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next one.
And if you're interested Ms Karsak has a Pinterest board where she's included some inspiration for scenes and characters in the book (including mentally casting David Gandy as Sal which is totally perfect....). Can be found here: http://www.pinterest.com/melaniekarsak/chasing-the-star-garden-the-airship-racing-chronic/
Good points:
I really liked Lily as a character. Definite antihero but not annoyingly so. She's had a shitty past which has obviously defined her as a person. But she's not wallowing and making excuses.
Ms Karsak has definitely done her research on airships. The scene where they get boarded was very detailed and (to my own knowledge) quite accurate.
The descriptions of her coming off the opium were excellent and exactly how I imagine withdrawal must be.
Her adoptive fathers are bloody horrid. Really really unpleasant. Not nice people but great character. It was a bit obvious how it was going to pan out but very well done.
Bad points:
In my mind there was never really a 'Byron vs Sal' question. They barely touched upon her relationship with Byron after the first chapter and she spent the whole story realising she loved Sal. So, in my mind, there was never really any doubt who she'd choose.
The first sex scene seemed really out of place. I know it was designed to contrast with the scenes of her making love with Sal later in the novel but it was actually just very shocking and, in my opinion, unnecessary.
I wish she'd gone into more detail about Lily getting clean in London and that it hadn't just been a passing comment towards the end of the books.
Overall I really loved it. It's a quick and easy read and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next one.
And if you're interested Ms Karsak has a Pinterest board where she's included some inspiration for scenes and characters in the book (including mentally casting David Gandy as Sal which is totally perfect....). Can be found here: http://www.pinterest.com/melaniekarsak/chasing-the-star-garden-the-airship-racing-chronic/
nivek1385's review against another edition
4.0
N.B. I received a free, signed copy of this book through the First Reads program.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book. That being said, it is a lot different than what I expected from the description and cover. The novel was not as steampunk as expected, though there were some steampunk elements to it. I thought that the opening scenes were my favorites and wish that there would have been more of the airship races.
There were two very different feelings about the content of the novel. Both aspects do fit together and the author does a good job of making them cohesive. That being said, it feels as if there's the airship racing and then the rest (the majority of the plot fits in here). I liked the rest and the plot therein, including Lord Byron. Ms. Karsak definitely captured the feeling that the British wanted to capture the world's antiquities and bring them back to London.
I think that this might have warranted 5 stars had there been a plot that incorporated the airship racing into it better. I remember reading and enjoying Arthur C. Clarke's short story about a solar sail race to the moon (Sunjammer?) and feel that the airship racing scenes in the beginning capture the same feel. I want more of that, but with the same level of plot as the rest of the novel. I'm not sure how to manage that, but that's what I was left wanting.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book. That being said, it is a lot different than what I expected from the description and cover. The novel was not as steampunk as expected, though there were some steampunk elements to it. I thought that the opening scenes were my favorites and wish that there would have been more of the airship races.
There were two very different feelings about the content of the novel. Both aspects do fit together and the author does a good job of making them cohesive. That being said, it feels as if there's the airship racing and then the rest (the majority of the plot fits in here). I liked the rest and the plot therein, including Lord Byron. Ms. Karsak definitely captured the feeling that the British wanted to capture the world's antiquities and bring them back to London.
I think that this might have warranted 5 stars had there been a plot that incorporated the airship racing into it better. I remember reading and enjoying Arthur C. Clarke's short story about a solar sail race to the moon (Sunjammer?) and feel that the airship racing scenes in the beginning capture the same feel. I want more of that, but with the same level of plot as the rest of the novel. I'm not sure how to manage that, but that's what I was left wanting.
cseanread's review against another edition
1.0
Didn't finish. The whole thing was a little too outrageous and farfetched for me. Plus, I'm not big on the whole "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" theme. idk, it felt really flat and uninteresting and once they started talking about Venus cults, I just couldn't do it anymore.
lalulorlor's review against another edition
3.0
Quick read. I got this at a local Comic Con so I didn't have high expectations but it was pretty good. A little contrived but eh, what can you do.
izziede's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book.
I have read the author's previous work and she likes a touch of fantasy, so at times visions etc, in this book this is touched on through her drug taking.
During a dosed up time, she has hallucinations and dreamlike events, which could be foresight or warnings.
The author also in previous work has the heroine have several love interests through the course of her life or lovers or even husbands so if you are a One Hero to One heroine reader this might not suit you.
At the start she is intimate with Lord Byron, this is during a drug induced state so the description becomes vague.
They have a casual hookup style relationship, he is with many women as he travels.
They are both damaged characters so it suits them to be this way.
The heroine ends up travelling with Sal, her friend, occasional lover and their relationship becomes more.
There is a brief separation due to a misunderstanding but they end on a HFN happy together.
I have read the author's previous work and she likes a touch of fantasy, so at times visions etc, in this book this is touched on through her drug taking.
During a dosed up time, she has hallucinations and dreamlike events, which could be foresight or warnings.
The author also in previous work has the heroine have several love interests through the course of her life or lovers or even husbands so if you are a One Hero to One heroine reader this might not suit you.
At the start she is intimate with Lord Byron, this is during a drug induced state so the description becomes vague.
They have a casual hookup style relationship, he is with many women as he travels.
They are both damaged characters so it suits them to be this way.
The heroine ends up travelling with Sal, her friend, occasional lover and their relationship becomes more.
There is a brief separation due to a misunderstanding but they end on a HFN happy together.