Title: All the Stars and Teeth
Author: Adalyn Grace
Publication Date: February 4, 2020
Publisher: Imprint
Format: Edelweiss eARC

Pirates, hm? Say no more. These days, that’s really all it takes.

Yes, I’m sad, but I love it. Fantasy adventure is always a winning combination, in my opinion, and throwing in pirates and forbidden magic just sweetens the deal.

All the Stars and Teeth is chock full of action, bloody fights, wondrous magic, found family, and all the most delicious secrets. Oh, and did I mention the snarky mermaid?!

I had a really hard time getting into this book at first, and I think it was just me not being in the mood for it? But by about midway through, I got caught up and rushed through the rest. How there’s going to be a sequel, I don’t know, because I thought the ending wrapped up 99% of the problems sufficiently well where I’m really not feeling the need or urge for another one? But I’ll definitely check out the next book in the series just the same.

❧ The main character, Amora, craves adventure, and adventure she gets. Luckily, we get to go along for the ride.

Phew, and what a ride it is. The beginning starts really slow, especially since it’s all prep for her demonstration, and we know that she fails it. I mean, it says that right there in the blurb. So the first 15% or so felt like a waste, with Amora proclaiming how she’s ready and it’ll be fine because she was born for this, and me rolling my eyes because we already know how it ends. I kept putting the book down and not wanting to pick it back up, and I had concerns.

After that initial slog, though, the pace generally picks right up. There’s sailing, bartering for information, sword fights, magic fights, running from the law, more sailing—you know, all the proper piratey stuff.

Since Amora herself has never actually seen the world in this book, it was rather charming getting to see it from her perspective, because the reader gets to learn with the character.

We’re both coming to these new islands with fresh eyes, not knowing what to expect, and since she’s never seen it before, her shock seems genuine. The descriptions also feel natural, as she takes it all in and compares it to her home, which we got to know fairly well in the first part of the book. It definitely felt like getting to ride along on a large-scale adventure. Except without getting blood stains on your clothes, so … win-win.

❧ While I didn’t love Amora, I appreciated her fierceness and loyalty.

Her character felt a little too shallow for me, personally. Her entire existence seemed to revolve around this one thing, and I didn’t think there was a whole lot of growth in her character. Still, I do appreciate a character who’s fiercely loyal, and I’m especially a sucker when it’s a ruler who’s loyal to their people. Call me sentimental. What can I say?

Between her soul magic and weaponry skills, Amora is no damsel in distress, and I found her determination to be admirable.

Who doesn’t like a princess that’s willing to threaten her enemies and slit a few throats to save the life of her and her crew? Yes, please. There were some exciting fight scenes, and I enjoyed Amora’s ingenuity in some instances.

❧ Bastian is everything you would hope a pirate would be, and I’m smitten.

He’s a character that’s so easy to love, because he’s easygoing, sarcastic, constantly cracking jokes. Yet, there’s so much more going on behind his carefree surface, and it comes to light little by little. Falling in love with him was easy, and rooting for him was even easier. Plus, the whole pirate thing is kinda sexy, not gonna lie.

❧ Vataea is a force unto her own, and I absolutely love her for it.

Remember how I mentioned a snarky mermaid? That’s Vataea, through and through. She was probably my favorite character of this whole thing. She had an especially dark personality that just worked for me, but she had plenty of other things to offer, too. Even when she was at a disadvantage, she was a quick thinker and never backed down. I definitely want more of her and more stories about her.

❧ This crew just worked ridiculously well here, and the side characters particularly shone for me.

Okay, true, I pretty much loved them all on their own, so … duh? But also, as a team, they were brilliant. Mostly because they were forced to work together against their will (hellooo favorite trope) in order to achieve their personal goals. Ferrick’s quiet, shy steadfastness was a perfect balance for Bastian’s outgoing, flirty nature. Of course the boys needed a female (or two) to counteract their … maleness? Which led to some really funny situations. Like you ever wonder what happens when a woman gets her monthly in the middle of an adventure? No? Welp, you’re about to find out. It’s perfect.

❧ Amora’s constant reaffirmations of her goal get really repetitive.

It felt a bit like I was being beaten over the head with it. Yes, I’ve got it. It’s a great goal. It’s a great cause. I’m here with you. But I haven’t forgotten in the last 20 pages what you’re trying to achieve. This might’ve just been me, but it was said so many times. I try to read carefully (because I love picking up little foreshadowings in text) so maybe if you don’t read as carefully, you might not even notice or it wouldn’t bother you. But it started grating on my nerves just a little.

❧ Considering the build-up to it, the climax felt underwhelming.

I don’t want to say it was too easy, because that’s not quite accurate. Too quick and clean, perhaps, is a better way to describe it. There were so many times during the book when the stakes were high and I had legitimate concerns for our intrepid heroes. The ending, unfortunately, wasn’t one of those times, and it really should have been.

❧ It was really hard keeping track of which islands used which types of magic.

On the one hand, the diversity of magic was fun, and it was exciting getting to see people using it in different ways and with different effects. But there are seven islands, with seven different types of magic, and seven different gemstones/colors that represent them, and seven very different cultures. I know there’s a little cheat sheet in the front of the book that lists them, but I hate having to flip back to that in the middle of reading to figure out what Valukan magic is, for example. I just struggled to keep them all straight as the characters traveled.

❧ The secondary characters seemed underutilized, which is a shame, because I loved them so.

For me, they really made the book, since I didn’t connect much to Amora. Bastian got some good screentime, but Ferrick and Vataea, unfortunately, felt relegated to convenient plot points. They were there when they needed to do something to move the plot forward, and that was pretty much it. It’s hard juggling four characters, and I get that, but I really wanted to know more about Ferrick and Vataea, in particular. We get brief little hints about them, so I’m rather hoping the second book will give us more of a glimpse into their lives.

If you could only choose one type of power, which would it be?

Follow Me