A review by natnoble66693
Star Eater by Kerstin Hall

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Elfreda is part of the sisterhood that rules Aytrium and protects its citizens. She would do almost anything to avoid duties and in particular pregnancy. When offered a chance to avoid this by spying on high ranking members for another faction of the sisterhood, she begrudgingly starts to give information. Through her involvement in the politics of the sisterhood she learns secrets and history that could entirely change the entire worldview of everyone who lives on Aytrium. This book was a wild ride. The most endearing factor was Elfreda herself. She was a well established character from the start and felt so real with her actions and feelings that I just needed to know how her story ended. The world building was also done so well. With El’s existing knowledge of Aytrium and the information she learns we get a lush comprehensive worldview of the magic and history in the world. Which is integral to the quality of the story and to the plot. However, the world that Hall created was so wild and weird that it took me a little longer to get into the story than I would have liked. This story investigates the relationships between women as friends, mothers, sisters, lovers and mentors, but these questions are explored in sometimes violent and brutal ways. Honestly the extremes in the world created was my biggest turn off but it was definitely necessary and made the amazing characters stand out. All in all an awesome work of fantasy that takes a common plot and turns it all on its head.
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