zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
When I was reading the first few chapters of this book, I thought I would like it a lot. The setup and worldbuilding were compeling.
However, by the end, I felt it was too tropey, too focused on romance, and relied too much on deus ex machina
However, by the end, I felt it was too tropey, too focused on romance, and relied too much on deus ex machina
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Cursing, and Child death
Moderate: War, Torture, Racism, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content
zoepagereader's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Racism, Blood, Body horror, and Classism
water_violin's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, and Racism
rorikae's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
'The Sound of Stars' by Alechia Dow is a heart filled science fiction story about the power of art.
The story follows Ellie Baker, a girl on the cusp of adulthood in a near-future where Earth has been taken over by aliens. These aliens have banned art and keep tight control of humanity. Executions happen often and the aliens have also started distributing a vaccine that strips humans of their emotions. Ellie runs her own library, keeping stories alive for the people that live in her apartment building. But one day, one of the aliens finds one of Ellie's books and she is suddenly pulled into a search for a way to save humanity.
There are so many things that I love about this book. There is a song that is an important part of the story and we slowly learn more about it throughout the book through interviews with the artists. Dow incorporates this song as well as beloved books to talk about how important art is to expressing emotion and to the core of our humanity. There are a few spoilery parts of the story that I don't want to ruin but that pulled everything together in an incredibly satisfactory fashion. I really love the friendship that develops between our two main characters though I didn't love that it developed into a romance. I also really appreciated the anxiety representation.
Dow has created a poignant sci-fi story that explores the importance of art (particularly books and music) and how they ground us in our humanity. It's a really wonderful, uplifting story, despite some of the harder subjects that it touches on.
The story follows Ellie Baker, a girl on the cusp of adulthood in a near-future where Earth has been taken over by aliens. These aliens have banned art and keep tight control of humanity. Executions happen often and the aliens have also started distributing a vaccine that strips humans of their emotions. Ellie runs her own library, keeping stories alive for the people that live in her apartment building. But one day, one of the aliens finds one of Ellie's books and she is suddenly pulled into a search for a way to save humanity.
There are so many things that I love about this book. There is a song that is an important part of the story and we slowly learn more about it throughout the book through interviews with the artists. Dow incorporates this song as well as beloved books to talk about how important art is to expressing emotion and to the core of our humanity. There are a few spoilery parts of the story that I don't want to ruin but that pulled everything together in an incredibly satisfactory fashion. I really love the friendship that develops between our two main characters though I didn't love that it developed into a romance. I also really appreciated the anxiety representation.
Dow has created a poignant sci-fi story that explores the importance of art (particularly books and music) and how they ground us in our humanity. It's a really wonderful, uplifting story, despite some of the harder subjects that it touches on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcoholism
tashadandelion's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
NOTE TO SELF: stop reading YA. With one exception: you can read it if it has staying power--if reviewers you trust and respect are still remarking on its remarkableness over a year later. But new YA? Give it a pass, because the chances are high it's not for you. /End NOTE TO SELF. I'm flat-out getting too old in years and life experience to enjoy anything remotely twee, and this book has twee in spades. To be fair, it also has a healthy dose of scary and unpleasant things in it too, which I call out in the content warnings. If I were 14-25, this book would probably appeal to me a lot more, but I'm a long, long way from that age range. So really, though I struggled to complete this book without skimming due to repetitive and overly-expressive, romantic dialogue and an all-over-the-place plot, I do have to give credit for the nice twist towards the end, where our heroes encounter some people they admire (keeping it vague to avoid spoilers).
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Violence, and Vomit
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