Name: Danny Werhane's review of The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
Item: The Sound of Stars
Rating: 5
Author: Danny Werhane

Alechia Dow

Can a girl who risks her life for books and an alien who loves pop music work together to save humanity? A beautiful and thrilling debut novel for fans of Marie Lu and Veronica Roth. Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world’s population. Today, seventeen-year-old Ellie Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. With humans deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, emotional expression can be grounds for execution. Music, art and books are illegal, but Ellie still keeps a secret library. When young Ilori commander M0Rr1S finds Ellie’s library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. Humanity’s fate rests in the hands of an alien Ellie should fear, but M0Rr1S has a potential solution—thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous journey with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

The Sound of Stars

Eliott Ash P

Danny Werhane

The fact that the author thanked J.K Rowling in the authors note makes me angry

Beautiful book. However I cannot ignore that this is set in the present. On Earth . The popcultre references were killing me 😩

The romance might be cringe but some of us can't rely on actual people liking us
 I personally wouldn't complain if an alien had an alien obsessing over me. 😌

Is there a sequel? They haven't saved the world yet...

Sabetha Danes

Simply beautiful. My anxious soul skipped a beat with this read. 

The musical references ugh, so perfect. I want more music obsessed characters in books! Seriously love this book. It was exactly what I needed to read right now. 

I loved the social commentary, the fact that it is set in today's world, the fear, the hope, the book love. So many great aspects of this story. 

The way it displayed how easy it could be to have a gender understanding society, it felt normal and fluid. 

The characters were so life like I could feel them as if I knew them personally. I laughed, cried and cursed with them throughout the book. I am usually not one of young adult books, as the characters are often portrayed horribly inaccurate. But this book hit it out of the of the park.

If you love books set in our world, with fantasy elements, and come with a deep messaged packed into it, you're going to love this book.

Casey W. 

I loved it. It was cute and cheesy in the best way. I hope we get to meet these characters again.

Flavia Louise

This was a great concept but ultimately I didn't really love it as much as I'd wished. I did really appreciated the Thyroid disease representation though.

laura

* I got this book for review from the publisher*

I found this book to be such a refreshing read. I thought this book was prefect mix between science fiction and dystopian. I also really loved the tag line "could their love of books and pop music save th world" I really loved the focus on those two topics. I also really enjoyed the two characters in this story. I thought the pacing was strong but some of the world building could have been clear. This is a clear starting book in a series. I found the world to be so fun cause it pulled from our world so much and honors both the love of books and music. I thought the end could have been less rushed but I am super excited for book 2.

Paige Green

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

Book: The Sound of Stars

Author: Alechia Dow

Book Series: Standalone (so far??)

Diversity: biracial demisexual ace rep, the anxiety rep, the enby rep, and the bisexual rep

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: LGBT+, diverse reads, ownvoice readers, sci-fi lovers, dystopian lovers

Publication Date: February 25, 2020

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Pages: 419

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, gore, death, hangings, suicide TW, racism, language)

Synopsis: Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world’s population.

Seventeen-year-old Janelle “Ellie” Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. Deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, humanity’s emotional transgressions are now grounds for execution. All art, books and creative expression are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her.

Born in a lab, M0Rr1S (Morris) was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie’s illegal library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. They’re both breaking the rules for love of art—and Ellie inspires the same feelings in him that music does.

Ellie’s—and humanity’s—fate rests in the hands of an alien she should fear. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution—thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while making a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

Review: Oh my goodness! This book combined two things I absolutely love: space vibes and dystopia. I loved the world building done in this book and honestly this seems to be a very plausible outcome for the world in dystopian terms (not like we're not already in one but whatever). The book has well done characters and I absolutely loved Janelle. I loved the biracial demisexual ace rep, the anxiety rep, the enby rep, and the bisexual rep. I also felt the pacing was very even and the book kept me hooked from beginning to end! I definitely need a sequel!

My only issue is that the book was a bit confusing with the aliens, but that's probably because between work and such it took me over a week to read and I forgot some details.

Verdict: Highly recommend!!!

Laura Springall

I had so much fun with this one! I adored the characters and their relationships more than anything else; seeing both the Illori and the humans learn/re-learn how to feel joy again was so fun and I loved the way it was handled. This book deals heavily with the human condition, and what it means to be human, and I found those topics to be deeply fascinating. There are a lot of very important issues discussed in The Sound of Stars, like freedom, discrimination, hatred and violence, but Dow also found ways to weave a childish kind of joy throughout that was a delight to read. It made this book feel like a space opera set on earth, and I loved that aspect of it so much!

This was the July pick for the Queer Joy Book Club over on Instagram, which I had the pleasure of co-hosting this month! If you'd like to hear more in-depth thoughts on it, check out our spoiler-filled discussion here!

Krista Kirby

Too much happened at the end and too much was left open for this to be the only book. I liked this, but I can't rate it any higher because this just feels too open.

Ashlee

This was such a delightful and ultimately inspiring read! It definitely has some of the more typical tropes of YA alien-invasion dystopia, and I LOVED that because it took me back to some of my favorite older dystopian books. It is perfect for fans of Partials, especially if you’re looking for more representation. 

And on that note, there was so much fantastic representation in this, particularly gender and sexuality, as well as race, body image, and sexual experience. The representation never felt forced, or like it was there simply for the purpose of checking boxes, too.

I loved all of the pop culture references, as well as the main character’s bonding over books and music.

The twist near the end felt a little predictable and I was a somewhat lost for a moment because I expected more from the end than what we got. However, I just feel this is a simply beautiful novel overall and it has me excited to read more from Alechia!

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Tik Tok | You can find my review here.


  As always, a copy of this book was provided by the author or publisher in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.


Did I know that I was going to love and devour The Sound of Stars? YES. Did I know just how much? NOPE. Dang, was this book fun or what! Colour me impressed, smitten and fully entertained. This book was a blast and exactly what I didn't know I needed. It was intriguing, unique, dazzling and completely lively. The Sound of Stars carries itself with a confident, never-know-what-to-expect air that makes reading it all the more addictive.

While there were some flaws in the pacing and world-building, they were easy to ignore due to the highly exhilarating way the central plotlines began to develop and escalate into the bigger picture. If you like a slower build, then The Sound of Stars will definitely takes its time in sweeping you off your feet in the best way possible. 

While this novel is, naturally, a deep dive into fantasy and science-fiction, it also tackles a great deal of important topics. The Sound of Stars is one of those stories that is out of our world, but still relevant to us. Armed with these topics and wonderfully crafted LGBTQIA+ representation, words can't do justice the importance of The Sound of Stars. 

If you love Once & Future and The Raging Ones, you will devour this debut.

The Sound of Stars is truly one of the most enthralling young adult books of the year and, again, a great example of just how great the year in literature was destined to be from the start. Alechia Dow knows how to tell a story in a way that feels entirely its own, even when it dips itself into familiarity.

Consider this book to be at the top of the must-read YA of 2020.

Lisa Beasley

I enjoyed this until the ending, sadly that just dropped it down a star for me. I disliked the lack of clarity after becoming invested in the story.

Kate

3.75* On the surface, this is a fun, classic sci-fi. As its heart, it's a brilliant exploration of colonisation, systematic racism and the power of art (whilst also being a super fun read that plays on many classic sci-fi tropes). 

I loved Janelle, one of the main characters, who is a demisexual biromantic fat Black teen living with anxiety. She was an unsure, strong and real teen who fights back with the kind of quiet acts of rebellion that can change the world. Her passion for literature and the reasonings behind her creating her illegal library was so wonderful to read and I loved watching her slowly allow herself to embrace the parts of herself that the world told her to hide.
Morris, an Ilori and our other main character, was basically a dorky, pure af alien cinnamon roll. While his heartfelt proclamations did make me cringe at times, I couldn't help but admire him for speaking his mind and wearing his heart on his sleeve. After years of being told to squash his emotions (of which he had a lot of) I loved that he basically went 'screw it' and held nothing back. I really appreciated how this replicated how society unfairly expects men to bottle everything inside, as showing their emotions is far too often perceived as a weakness. 

I also adored the fact that this was a YA book acknowledging the power of YA. It references multiple current YA books including The Hate U Give and When Dimple Met Rishi and, honestly? I think it's the first YA book I've ever come across to do so and it felt weirdly affirming. The way this book portrayed the power books and music have, no matter who you are or where you come from, was so wonderful to read.

I'm still in two minds about the ending and I have a feeling it's going to divide a lot of people but I think I'm kind of warming to it? It gave me enough closure to feel satisfying but also left me totally okay with getting another book (especially if said book gives the Andarrans their time to shine.) 

Overall, this was a powerful and thought provoking read that brilliantly reflects the flaws in our society, whilst also shining a light on the power art, specifically books and music, has in bringing us together. Whilst I'm not giving it a full 4 starts due to finding the plot a little confusing at times (might just me my fault, thanks isolation brain) I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking for a unique and timely YA sci-fi.

TW: anxiety, racism, panic attacks, colonisation

Allyssa Fritz

Victoria

Michaela Hudson

Joy Bush

Don't miss this spectacular debut novel... Can a girl who risks her life for books and an alien who loves forbidden pop music work together to save humanity? This road trip is truly out of this world! A beautiful and thrilling read for fans of Marie Lu and Veronica Roth. Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world's population. Seventeen-year-old Janelle "Ellie" Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. With humans deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, emotional expression can be grounds for execution. Music, art and books are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her. Born in a lab, M0Rr1S was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie's illegal library, he's duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. They're both breaking the rules for the love of art--and Ellie inspires the same feelings in him that music does. Ellie's--and humanity's--fate rests in the hands of an alien she should fear. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution--thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

Eliott Ash P &
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

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Eliott Ash P &The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

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Eliott Ash P &
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow