A review by wardenred
A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.

I tried to persevere with this one, but when I asked myself why I wanted to continue, I couldn't really find an answer. The characters are fun enough, but over 100 pages in, I can't tell you what the book is really about. There are some murders going on, and some of the characters are vaguely interested in that, but how does it all tie together? It's like a bunch of different books loosely tied together, or maybe just a bunch of backstories/introductions that are going on and on and on. And if my impression from skimming forward to random points is correct, it looks like all the characters and storylines are going to come together only at around 70% (please note this is a 500-pages book). That's... kind of discouraging.

I did like what I've seen from the characters, in particular what I've seen of Vehan and Aurelian (I tend to like these prince and bodyguard dynamics, and they also both seem generally fun and compelling), and I'm generally very here for all-queer casts and faerie-focused urban fantasies. But the way it's structured just makes it really hard to focus on anything for me.