Name: Starside
Series: Starside #1
Author: Alex Aster
Publisher: Avon
Format: Audiobook & Hardback (the last 60 pages)
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
🌶️: One very solid chapter, and then some steamy ones
😭: No tears, but some good 😱moments
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
Hundreds of years ago, a brutal war split a land in two. Starside is the realm of magic and immortals—the descendants of the gods, living in a power-rich paradise. Stormside is where mortals fight for scraps of that magic.
Every fifty years, the gates between them open, and fifty challengers are allowed to journey across Starside on a deadly quest to access a pool of magic that can heal, grant wealth, or extend life. Everyone has their reasons for entering, but Aris has only vengeance. As a child, a goddess set fire to her village, killing her family. Aris isn’t after the gods’ magic—she’s going to kill them.
First, she must survive the Culling, the king’s deadly competition to choose his fifty challengers. An orphaned blacksmith’s apprentice, Aris doesn’t have the superior weapons of the heirs from the Great Houses. But the greatest swords—ones that contain power—are not inherited or bought, they are claimed, by both sides. And when Aris claims a great sword, it makes her not just a real competitor—but a target.
Getting past the gates is only the beginning. Starside is deadlier than it seems. If the ancient creatures, magic-wielding beasts, and bloodthirsty immortals weren’t dangerous enough, a new peril has even immortals fearing what rises from the ground at night. With a blade most would kill to claim, Aris can’t trust anyone. Especially not Harlan Raker, the merciless and mysterious king’s guard who betrayed her years ago—and who may now be the key to her survival.
But Aris is hiding a secret tied to her family’s death. And when it’s revealed, not even the gods will be able to stop what’s coming…
Review:
Where do I begin with Starside?! I had to listen to this one via audiobook because I was bed bound at the time and not reading physical books due to difficulty with them and unfortunately this was my first mistake. It means I have been on and off reading this book for almost 2 months which simply isn’t fair to Starside.
Despite how long it took me, I spent the majority of this book thinking it was a solid 4 star read. I loved our main character, Aris, and her quest for revenge. I loved her chosen allies and her unchosen ones. The trials themselves didn’t feel like an upchuck of trials from the past, they felt refreshing. And I liked the back and forth hatred between Aris and Harlan Raker (the most!).
Hate. Me. HARDER.
I get it… I understand why everyone keeps quoting Raker, and I love it.
The book just felt like a really solid read. I just can’t be sure if I was struggling to pick it up due to the situation I was in, or if it was one of those whilst I’m in it, I’m SAT, but as soon as I put it down it leaves my mind…
Well, I didn’t have to worry about that issue for the last 40% of the book because it became all I could think about. The people Aris met along the way, the lengths she was having to go to just to ensure she had a chance at having her revenge, and the hints of something between Aris and Raker beyond the “I hate you.” comments, the ones that hinted at friendship… oof, I was absolutely hooked.
Don’t get me started on the last 40 to 60 pages, when all hell breaks loose. I was so annoyed when I had to put my book down for anything once I reached this part of the story because it felt like everything was coming together, everything we had been gearing up for was happening… And I could not have predicted it. I thought I knew exactly where we were going, I was so sure of it – another reason why I was sitting quite comfortably in a 4 star rating – but I was wrong.
Alex had been dropping hints the whole damn time, and of course it’s a duology so naturally it wasn’t going to end with Aris killing the gods and running off into the sunset. I loved it. The last 60 pages had my mouth a gape, and we were absolutely in 5 star territory. I was so conflicted once I finished, but I settled on the 4.5 stars. This could be totally unfair, and if I do a reread again when I’m not mentally missing from my reads, perhaps it would be the full 5 stars, but for now I’m content to rate it 4.5. I will definitely be picking up Stormside when that releases.
A note on the audiobook – it is duet narration and I loved it. Both narrators were excellent in my opinion. I listened to a lot of the book on 1.5 speed, but I did do a good portion of it on my normal 1.9 speed and still found that they were both very easy to understand. They really used their voices to convey some rough emotions during this book, it was being acted for me not just read to me and I loved that! So, I would recommend the audio if you’re a fan!
“You rise, every time.”
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