Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor

9 reviews

emily_mh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I really liked the writing style of this one. It was descriptive and poetic without being too over-the-top and ridiculous. For that reason alone I’d be interested in checking out more books by this author. This particular story ended up falling a bit flat, though. 

The plot started off super strong but kind of waned at the halfway point. Everything ended up feeling half-baked or unrealistic. I was left confused about the motives of those involved, and the resolution was downright unbelievable. 

The world-building was so plain. There was nothing compelling or captivating about it. 

Eliza’s character development was rushed, so that it felt unnatural. She was so firmly set in her ways that I didn’t believe her change in character could have happened within a few days. I will say that Anna and Nathaniel’s development WAS well done, however. In both cases it felt like a long time coming and the events of the plot provided that catalyst for change, so the development felt earned. 

Even though the quality of this book wasn’t great, I did actually enjoy reading it! And as I said, the writing style was fab. So this author is definitely not a write-off for me! 

Rep: sapphic MC, lesbian (word not used even though there were opportunities to use it, and words like aromantic and asexual exist) MC, aroace MC

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Ableism, Blood, Child death, Death, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Gun violence, Classism, and Pregnancy

Moderate: imprisonment, loss of a loved one, fainting Minor: sick loved one, blackmail, theft, capital punishment, child birth

kait_sixcrowsbooks's review

I think a good portion of it was me just taking so long with it (I started it?? Back in December???), but the story just seemed…choppy. And how the three MC’s suddenly all got together seemed super abrupt to me, and the story as a whole just did not flow well for me. Maybe I’ll try it again later, but for now, it’s going on my “donate to little library” pile 🤷🏻

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, and Emotional abuse

laurenleigh's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I found this title for the “science fantasy” prompt in the Queer Lit Readathon. I guess I assume that science fiction and fantasy genres always overlap, but I’m realizing that’s not necessarily so! Definitely lots of steampunk vibes in this one, where clockwork hearts keep people alive but are also outlawed. I really grew  to care for our three main characters, and I like novels where we get to jump between perspectives in each chapter. I enjoyed seeing the same event through different lenses, as well as watching the relationships unfold. I could have maybe used more exposition, and I would have liked more world building. But I’m also not the kind of fantasy reader that needs every potential plot hole to be filled! I had a fun ride with these characters, and that’s enough for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Medical content

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Child death

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

animaepanda's review

adventurous emotional

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

I love the aroace and sapphic rep so much! :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Grief and Terminal illness

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Lesbophobia

The ace/arophobia is internalized ace/arophobia.

siannas_second_library's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Child abuse

Moderate: Medical content and Blood

elwirax's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5/5

The blend of fantasy and Sc-fi in "Tarnished Are the Stars" was done really well and I adored the overall concept and atmosphere.I loved the sapphic romance (albeit the betrayal annoyed me) but what stole my heart was the Aro-Ace representation. I rarely see good Aro-Ace portrayals in media so it was great seeing a character I could relate to (Nathaniel was an absolute sweetheart). 

However, the story started off quite strongly but was watered down as it progressed. Although there was definitely some good world building, it lacked a wee bit and left me with many questions surrounding the "adjacent Earth" and the workings of the TICCERS. There also didn't seem to be a lot of stakes, the characters trusted eachother too quickly and parts were a bit too convenient. 

It's evident this is a debut with the many inconsistencies, yet, as a whole it was thoroughly enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death and Blood

Minor: Medical content

mxfahrenheit's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood and Medical content

reina's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book has loveable characters. It started a bit blandly, but it picks up. I really enjoyed the f/f romance more than I expected to. I had no expectations for Eliza, and she wound up being my favorite. My biggest criticism is in the trigger warnings section and has a spoiler. It's why I can't recommend for disabled rep or give a full 4 stars. I would still recommend this book in general and for lgbtia/ queer readers specifically.

It was more scifi than steampunk. I was expecting more steampunk themes, since it had a character with a clockwork heart. I did enjoy the themes of reluctant friendships, plus the health and politics of planetary settlements. The world building wasn't very complex. It was steampunky in the sense that science is hand-waved away (and maybe the anti-establishment themes lol.)

I'm not marking queer themes as spoilers because it's not really a reveal, and there's too little rep:
For ace or asexual rep; I was glad to see it, but I wish there was more than one mention of Nathaniel's feelings and thoughts on it, after he realized he wasn't alone or 'broken'. It would have been nice for his thoughts in the wrap up, when we got a hint that the f/f relationship wasn't hidden. I appreciated that it was explicitly stated under terms of asexual and aromatic.

I also appreciated that the author didn't have him go through with a marriage of convenience anyway.

I wish there was some racial diversity, but I didn't pick up on any, if it was there. Both women are coded as white.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

Minor: Xenophobia

I wasn't prepared for the child death. It seemed to be the turning point for Nathan to decide to do the right thing. I don't disagree that it was effective, but the turning point could have been him seeing how affected even children were by the actions of his father. Proof of Anna's claim that he was complicit in their sickness. Roman could have still lived but needed medical attention for that. He was fridged. We could have had more rep with a happy child, who happened to be missing an arm, but instead he just moved the plot.

ofbooksandechos's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

We are made or unmade by our choices.

I have a lot to say and some medical lingo to use: get some snacks because this might take a while.

Oh boy, where should I begin with this one?

When I first heard of Tarnished Are The Stars I expected to read a high stakes sci-fi YA novel, with a swoon worthy sapphic romance and a soft aroace boy; what I got was a poor and at times messy execution, with an unrealistic insta-lovey sapphic romance, and a somewhat soft aroace boy. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Thank the stars for the audiobook and the narrator for making this book enjoyable enough to continue.

Tarnished Are The Stars is set on Earth Adjacent, a new planet where humanity is trying to thrive after having destroyed the Earth a few centuries prior. However not all humans live on Earth Adjacent: some, the nobles and the Queen, live on the Tower up in the sky, waiting for the day they will finally be able to descend from the Tower and live freely in the Settlement—Earth Adjacent’s only official town. The reason why the nobles and the Queen have yet to set foot on Earth Adjacent, is because the planet is somewhat inhospitable to humans due to a disease that seem to affect every new born. At least that’s what I thought in the beginning. Anyways, said disease, Tarnish, causes new borns to have heart diseases which are mostly said to manifest as myocardial hypertrophy. However, always in the beginning and from my poor understanding, Tarnish can also spread to the splanchnic district as well as the osteoarticular one leading to possible amputations and, maybe, organ failure or dysfunction (this is only my supposition, it is not clear from the text but I do elaborate further down below). There is no known cure for Tarnish and mysteriously the ones who are most affected by this disease aren’t the people of the Settlement, but the people of Mechan: a hidden village away where its people live and survive thanks to the tech that would be otherwise forbidden in the Settlement. As a matter of fact, in this world all preindustrial tech is forbidden seeing as it was tech that brought the former Earth to its dismay. The only thing that manages to keep the people of Mechan alive is the TICCER—Tarnish Internal Cardiac Clockwork-Enabled Regulator—which is a device that uses clocks to make tarnished hearts function properly.

That being said, it may seem as if the world of Tarnished Are The Stars is rich and well developed, you guessed wrong. Despite being described as a completely different planet Earth Adjacent may as well be the Earth itself. There is no description of the wildlife or even the vegetation that can be found on Earth Adjacent, we only know about Tarnish, and not even enough to make it a believable disease.
Rosiee Thor doesn’t take the much needed time to develop the world her story is set in, not even the differences between the Tower and the planet! Or the mechanisms that allow the people of the Tower communicate with the planet or even set foot on it. The world all blurs together, turning Tarnished Are The Stars into a poorly executed fantasy novel rather than the sci-fi it's supposed to be. And while I understand this is a character driven story, I can’t excuse the poor world building, not when other character driven sci-fi books, like [b:The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|25786523|The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)|Becky Chambers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1435140741l/25786523._SY75_.jpg|42270825], manage to achieve what Thor could not.

When I say tarnish isn’t a believable disease, I truly mean that: both in a scientific way AND in a fantasy one. Allow me to do a brief, but fundamental, cardiopathological excursus: there is a genetic heart disorder called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) where the myocardium (the heart muscle) becomes thicker. This doesn’t happen equally in the whole heart, but it concerns one of the walls of the left ventricle leading to heart dysfunction. Basically it’s harder for the heart to pump the blood. This disease is manageable, and I’m sure both Tarnish and TICCERs take inspiration from HCM and its treatment.
Though while HCM is a genetic disorder, both the characters AND the reader don't know what causes Tarnish: the book only says it makes hearts hypertrophic and that one needs a TICCER to survive. Which is fine, I mean technology is forbidden so I can understand these people’s limits. It's not like they have EKG or echocardiogram, even though they're able to perform heart surgery (without cardiopulmonary bypass I may add). However what I don’t understand is why the hell you’d need a bloody vaccine when you don’t know what’s the pathophysiology of the disease. From a mere medical point of view, a vaccine is a form of INFECTIOUS diseases prevention and its based on the immune response towards a specific viral or bacterial antigen. So, how come NOBODY ever found the etiological cause of Tarnish to be a virus or a bacteria? I don’t care if there’s an alchemical reason or a scientific one: I would have liked an answer to my question. This of course remains unknown, together with the etiopathogenesis of Tarnish.

The way Thor handled Tarnish isn’t the only medical inaccuracy I found in this book: apparently TICCERs can be seen from a wearer’s chest, so how the hell are these people not dying from endocarditis or other cardiac infections? I mean skin isn’t sterile and neither are clothes. Furthermore anatomically the heart is situated in the mediastinum, which is kind of like the middle of the chest, and, correct me if I’m wrong, the heart is protected by the sternum and the ribcage which are both located under layers of muscle, connective tissue, fat, and skin. So, how the hell is someone supposed to see a TICCER? Do humans develop x-ray vision in the future? That, of course, is left unanswered.
Technicalities aside, the way Thor handled medical science angered me terribly: it seemed naïve and as if she didn’t do any research. I mean, I didn’t pick up this book thinking of reading accurate medical information, I have my textbooks and other scientific journals or articles for that, but I would have liked to see the surgeons in this book handle medical science with more care. For instance: the book opens with one of the MCs, Anna, and her grandfather, the inventor of TICCERs, performing heart surgery on a 7 year old boy. What baffled me was how these two “surgeons” forgot to leave the boy on post-op care, putting their patient at severe risk. Heart surgery isn’t a walk in the park, and I hated, hated, how it was portrayed in this book.

Tarnished Are The Stars doesn’t only fall short on medical science, despite being a character driven story, its characters aren’t strong enough to carry this book. Sometimes acting out of character, other times making decisions or behaving in ways that make absolutely no sense. The main trio goes from being strangers to being best friends for ever in the span of two or three days, if not a night. How is that possible?! The same thing happens to the romance: I’m asexual but I understand lust. What I don’t understand is love at first drawn blood sample.
But while the heroes are somewhat characterised, that cannot be said for the villains and their motivations. They seemed evil or corrupt “just because” turning them into cartoonish shells of what they could have been.

But the most irritating thing about this book was how the author used a tragic event as a means to make the inexistent story move forward. This book has no detectable plot, so something had to happen to reach the end of the novel. All I’m going to say is that it was a nonsensical avoidable death, that was mishandled both as a tragic event and in its aftermath.

Despite all my criticism I did find some are good things about Tarnished Are The Stars, because there were some good things: I loved the discourse on sexuality and labels and how they’re not definite. There isn’t a limit to self discovery and I truly enjoyed seeing this side of the queer experience in a YA novel. I’m sure it’ll resonate with a lot of kids and adults picking up this book. I also somewhat enjoyed the writing, even though it seemed as if the author was trying a little too hard at times.
In addition to all of that, I adored the discourse around disability. I'm not sure if it's own voices or not, but I found it was handled well and with the respect the subject deserves.

Last but not least since I listened to Tarnished Are The Stars on audiobook, I want to praise the narrator and her wonderful acting of this story. If it wasn’t for her I would have enjoyed this one far less than I did.

Overall this is a huge disappointment and I'm saddened to say I wouldn't recommend this one if you care about all the things I mention in my review above. However, if you're able to see past all of that and find yourself in the mood for a basic queer YA story, go for it.


rep:sapphic and aro ace (own voices), disability.

content warnings:death of a child, blood, surgery, needles.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Blood