Name: Kirsten Simkiss's review of Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett
Item: Even the Darkest Stars
Rating: 2
Author: Kirsten Simkiss

Heather Fawcett

The first in a sweeping and action-packed debut fantasy duology loosely inspired by the early climbers of Mt. Everest—perfect for fans of Cindy Pon and Alison Goodman. Kamzin has always dreamed of becoming one of the Emperor’s royal explorers, the elite climbers tasked with mapping the wintry, mountainous Empire and spying on its enemies. She knows she could be the best in the world, if only someone would give her a chance. But everything changes when the mysterious and eccentric River Shara, the greatest explorer ever known, arrives in her village and demands to hire Kamzin—not her older sister Lusha, as everyone had expected—for his next expedition. This is Kamzin’s chance to prove herself—even though River’s mission to retrieve a rare talisman for the emperor means climbing Raksha, the tallest and deadliest mountain in the Aryas. Then Lusha sets off on her own mission to Raksha with a rival explorer who is determined to best River, and Kamzin must decide what’s most important to her: protecting her sister from the countless perils of the climb or beating her to the summit. The challenges of climbing Raksha are unlike anything Kamzin expected—or prepared for—with avalanches, ice chasms, ghosts, and even worse at every turn. And as dark secrets are revealed, Kamzin must unravel the truth of their mission and of her companions—while surviving the deadliest climb she has ever faced.

Even the Darkest Stars

caroline wilson

Kirsten Simkiss

So I made it to 20% of the way through the book and I just found I didn't want to pick it back up again. The writing is a little predictable, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I just wasn't jiving with any particular part of it. I was also concerned with a white author writing presumably Nepalese-inspired characters. I know she's a historian/archaeologist, but it's not her culture and that put me on edge. It's not a bad book - it's just not one I wanted to finish reading.

Rachel Kelt

Micol Scalabrino

Alexis 

A very average read for me..... i can't say there was anything that really blew me away, which is a shame because i heard a lot of things about this book ( mostly good things). I feel like this was mostly just a disappointment. I liked the concept well enough but there was something missing and i honestly couldn't even tell you what that was. I probably won't continue on with the next book because I'm not too interested to find out what happens.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I bought this book for book club. Support your authors! All opinions are my own.

Book: Even the Darkest Stars

Author: Heather Fawcett

Book Series: Even the Darkest Stars Book 1

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: Fantasy lovers, ya readers

Publication Date: September 5, 2017

Publisher: Balzer and Bray

Pages: 437

Recommended Age: 16+ (Alcohol, Drunkenness, Language, Romance, Death, Slight gore, Violence, Animal death and violence to animals)

Synopsis: Kamzin has always dreamed of becoming one of the emperor’s royal explorers, the elite climbers tasked with mapping the wintry, mountainous Empire and spying on its enemies. She knows she could be the best in the world, if only someone would give her a chance.

But everything changes when the mysterious and eccentric River Shara, the greatest explorer ever known, arrives in her village and demands to hire Kamzin—not her older sister, Lusha, as everyone had expected—for his next expedition. This is Kamzin’s chance to prove herself—even though River’s mission to retrieve a rare talisman for the emperor means climbing Raksha, the tallest and deadliest mountain in the Aryas. Then, Lusha sets off on her own mission to Raksha with a rival explorer, and Kamzin must decide what’s most important to her: protecting her sister from the countless perils of the climb or beating her to the summit.

The challenges of climbing Raksha are unlike anything Kamzin expected—or prepared for—with avalanches, ice chasms, ghosts, and other dangers at every turn. And as dark secrets are revealed, Kamzin must unravel the truth about their mission and her companions—while surviving the deadliest climb she has ever faced.

Review: Overall, this was a good novel. I thought the main character was really well done and I had never read a book with a mountain trekker as the main character before (to my immediate mind). I liked the world building and the plot as well. The book did keep my interest throughout the novel and I had fun reading it.

However, I did feel like the character development lacked in this book and the book was super fast paced. I felt like I was continuously catching up in information and I was really confused throughout some of the novel. I didn't think the story was well written in my opinion because of the scattered writing and lack of development for the characters. Also, minus points for a love triangle and for the main character sounding 10 throughout the book (which gave me the creeps when the 19 year old fell for her). There was also an undefined magic system which didn't make sense to me.

Verdict: I liked this one, just needs work.

Nikki Sojkowski

I’m honestly not too sure how I feel about this. Is it a 3? Is it a 5? Who knows??? How the next book proceeds will definitely solidify how I feel about it and I will DEFINITELY be reading it. 

Just be prepared to throw out ALL of your expectations when reading Even the Darkest Stars, and enjoy the ride.

Manon van Heumen

This was such an incredible read. The way Heather managed to make my skin crawl with suspension is everything. I love this book, and I love this author. I will recommend this book to everyone! And by the way, stay away from Tem. He's mine!

Lisa Beasley

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the setting was great, characters were well developed, there was a good mix of action, humour, intrigue and plot development and I'm really looking forward to the next book.

caroline wilson &
Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett

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Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett