jodyocrash's review against another edition
5.0
I don't remember why I read this. A library recommendation? I expected just some fluffy magical fantasy. What I got was an excellent magical fantasy, with portal hopping to multiple worlds in which the patriarchy does not exist. Very refreshing! I'd give more stars if I could.
saoki's review against another edition
3.0
Another good book I would have loved were I younger. It's a portal fantasy (an old favorite trope. Blame early exposition to Fushigi Yuugi) with a plethora of interesting characters, cool magic, a quite political plot and a good deal of adventure. It's only missing some good swordfighting scenes to be the stuff of 15 year old me's heart.
Alas, Foz Meadows is more interested in a realistic approach to fighting and its resulting physical and emotional injuries, so there is no heart-soaring action, but a lot of concussions and emotional trauma, and that approach might be the best thing about the book. There are always consequences and reactions in this story, every word said or unsaid is mulled over. I like it, but I can see how a more action-oriented reader might find it boring. Specially because the plot gets lost among all those reactions and conversations. There is a lot going on, to the point that the solution seems a bit too simple for the tangled knot of problems being faced, but things progress slowly and the overall feeling is that of a prelude, like things only really started happening about 60% into the book.
It's a great prelude, the kind that fills you with anticipation over what exactly is going to happen, but that never really manifests into action. Of course things happen and there is a clear end-point, but since the premise is so open-ended*, there is no way for the story to actually finish, it just ends. Which is usually fine for a series, and this is the start of one, but I'd be happier knowing what the series is actually about.
If anything, An Accident of Stars strikes me as the kind of story that would work much better as a comic or animation. A more visual media that would make good use of all the otherworldly descriptions and the longer span of a series would have space for all the characters to develop without making the whole book about conversations.
* Something like "what if the world in the other end of the portal wasn't a cis-het men's fantasy?".
Alas, Foz Meadows is more interested in a realistic approach to fighting and its resulting physical and emotional injuries, so there is no heart-soaring action, but a lot of concussions and emotional trauma, and that approach might be the best thing about the book. There are always consequences and reactions in this story, every word said or unsaid is mulled over. I like it, but I can see how a more action-oriented reader might find it boring. Specially because the plot gets lost among all those reactions and conversations. There is a lot going on, to the point that the solution seems a bit too simple for the tangled knot of problems being faced, but things progress slowly and the overall feeling is that of a prelude, like things only really started happening about 60% into the book.
It's a great prelude, the kind that fills you with anticipation over what exactly is going to happen, but that never really manifests into action. Of course things happen and there is a clear end-point, but since the premise is so open-ended*, there is no way for the story to actually finish, it just ends. Which is usually fine for a series, and this is the start of one, but I'd be happier knowing what the series is actually about.
If anything, An Accident of Stars strikes me as the kind of story that would work much better as a comic or animation. A more visual media that would make good use of all the otherworldly descriptions and the longer span of a series would have space for all the characters to develop without making the whole book about conversations.
* Something like "what if the world in the other end of the portal wasn't a cis-het men's fantasy?".
meep311's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
eatreadgamerepeat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 - Overall this was good, the ending has me kind of intrigued to see what will happen in the next book - but at the same time there were just lots of little gripes I had with the writing style that kind of prevent me from rating this higher - but to get to the good bits, I loved that this was a portal fantasy where there isn't really a chosen one, no one has special abilities that make them more special than anyone else - You primarily follow a girl from Australia (in our world) called Saffron, and honestly she's just thrown into this political adventure plot and some scheming and she just tries her best to deal with this as well as can be expected and she does so along side some other POV characters and I just thought that was so interesting.
I also really liked the emphasis placed on being Queer and that in the portal world that was all just considered normal (I assume in world the assumption is that everyone is Bi and/or polyamorous but I'm not 100% sure on that and it wasn't every really explained) but I also feel like sometimes it was a little bit too on the nose (but again that's for me)
But yea I'm excited to read the next book in the series and maybe pick up some other works by the author too.
I also really liked the emphasis placed on being Queer and that in the portal world that was all just considered normal (I assume in world the assumption is that everyone is Bi and/or polyamorous but I'm not 100% sure on that and it wasn't every really explained) but I also feel like sometimes it was a little bit too on the nose (but again that's for me)
But yea I'm excited to read the next book in the series and maybe pick up some other works by the author too.
jonny_joe's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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? No
4.0
deservingporcupine's review against another edition
3.0
I really want to like this book, but just can't seem to get into it. The world building in the first 200 pages has mostly been characters (and lots of them) talking about the world. As someone who dislikes exposition via dialogue I keep getting distracted and have very little understanding of what is going on. I might try again sometime, but for now I'm returning it to the library.
kapellosaur's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely loved this book. Its characters are all deeply complex and nuanced, and the author rewards the reader for paying attention, generally avoiding spelling things out too much, or at least seeming to—having two characters familiar with Earth helped with this. There is also a glossary at the end; unfortunately I didn't discover it until finishing the book! A dramatis personae would also have helped; there is a huge cast of characters and while the author is restrained with how many of them are given POV, it was a lot to take in to begin with. However, they all felt distinctive enough that I wasn't generally getting them confused.
The narrative is okay on race (there's great multiracial representation, but the cultures in this world are all extremely racially divided, and while this is clearly not endorsed by the author, neither is it particularly challenged within the narrative) and has some LGBT representation, and the diversity of both is at least a nice contrast to what has historically been published here. At times Saffron's inner monologue did feel a little like a proxy for the author delivering lessons, but that felt forgivable in a YA novel. Speaking of which, for a YA novel, this book did not hold back; this book isn't for anyone who doesn't like seeing main characters getting absolutely bombarded with trauma, both physical and mental. Look up content warnings if you think this may be you.
The world-building was also excellent, though a little high fantasy for my taste. In general though, this was a set of personal stories, with world politics mostly taking a back seat.
The editing could've been a bit sharper; various small typos that spell-checker software wouldn't spot, and at one point the character Mesthani is mistyped as "Methane", oops. Yet these are but minor complaints in prose that generally drew me in and, especially towards the end, made the book easy to just keep on reading. I'm looking forward to starting the sequel!
The narrative is okay on race (there's great multiracial representation, but the cultures in this world are all extremely racially divided, and while this is clearly not endorsed by the author, neither is it particularly challenged within the narrative) and has some LGBT representation, and the diversity of both is at least a nice contrast to what has historically been published here. At times Saffron's inner monologue did feel a little like a proxy for the author delivering lessons, but that felt forgivable in a YA novel. Speaking of which, for a YA novel, this book did not hold back; this book isn't for anyone who doesn't like seeing main characters getting absolutely bombarded with trauma, both physical and mental. Look up content warnings if you think this may be you.
The world-building was also excellent, though a little high fantasy for my taste. In general though, this was a set of personal stories, with world politics mostly taking a back seat.
The editing could've been a bit sharper; various small typos that spell-checker software wouldn't spot, and at one point the character Mesthani is mistyped as "Methane", oops. Yet these are but minor complaints in prose that generally drew me in and, especially towards the end, made the book easy to just keep on reading. I'm looking forward to starting the sequel!
mycologicaly's review
I want to come back to it again some time it's just that classes have started and I'm not enjoying it Enough to spend my limited amount of reading time on it right now
readingintherain's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Bit if a slow narrative, i kept looking for an audiobook of it so i could get through it faster, not as a bad thing just because it very descriptive and full on
ninjamuse's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Kidnapping