An Accident of Stars

This might genuinely be one of the most unique fantasy books I've ever read.

I've only ever read one portal fantasy before, which I did not like and ended up DNFing, but I am SO glad I ended up giving this a try regardless. It had none of the things I had problems with in the other book I DNFed: modern language, while included to show Safi's origins, was minimal enough that it enhanced it rather than hindering the story. The conflict between Safi wanting to experience something new while still missing home and wanting to return while also feeling guilty about wanting to stay was very well balanced, I feel. And she CHOSE to return home in the end and was mostly secure in that choice, which I feel like isn't common in this genre.

The worldbuilding in this book was just incredible. Besides one or two instances that I can think of (which was still very well done in my opinion) there was no real info dumping at ALL. This book doesn't talk down to you in the least; you're thrown into the world and approached like you've always been there and they don't spell much out for you. You gotta pay attention and piece things together, which isn't difficult as long as you're alert but it presents a fun challenge that makes you engage with the book even more and it's SO refreshing.

I'm obsessed with the way gender and sexuality were approached in this book. Polyamorous marriages not just being common but being the NORM? A specific set of magic for gender-reassignment surgery, which is not only known about but fully respected? Just incredible.

Safi was also a very likeable main character. She handled everything EXTREMELY well, considering her age, and she went through the absolute ringer as well. Her little romance was very cute and I hope we see more of it in the next book!

Will absolutely be continuing this story!

I'm so sad, because this had so much potential, and so many things I love and crave in fantasy—focus on women/POC/queer people, overthrowing a corrupt leader, multiple worlds.

But unfortunately, the execution was messy and all over the place, leaving me feeling like I never really connected with any of the characters or their goals. There was just so much going on in this book, and a lot of plot points and motivations went unexplained. I think the multiple POVs threw this story off a lot—they jumped around so much that I never felt like I was really in the story, I just felt tossed around like a pinball in a very colorful, blinking, chaotic machine.

Mostly, I think this book desperately needed more editing. Many of the POV changes weren't even delineated with a line break, which interrupted my reading flow every time. Same with the dialogue—sometimes several characters spoke within the same paragraph, and it was difficult to tell who was saying what.

I do think the author had some creative, unique ideas, and I'd be interested to read her work again, with more scrupulous editing.

Podcast review (Swedish): http://lashart.podbean.com/e/foz-meadows-an-accident-of-stars/

Attempted reread 2023
(Started May 23rd, four months later on September 22nd I've only read 81 pages)

I do love this book and my trouble here is 100% me. It's me not having the energy to read and even less energy to reread something. And it's also me getting sick at the end of July and still not feeling well and not picking up this book since. Do want to try again, someday.


Original Review


This book can't be real. I think I must've hallucinated it. I mean, it's the only possible explanation. I picked it up, just planning on flipping through it, read a bit of the first page, maybe something further on, try to convince myself to read it because I'd been having a terrible time getting involved in any story that wasn't a romance because I was having the attention span of a gerbil. (And at least romances move.)

Instead, within the first two pages, I was hooked.

Right from the start there is a super strong feminist vibe running through it, a main woman that has to deal with the boys at her school bullying and assaulting her - but she is still a super strong, brave girl that she is just a wonder to read about.

And can I, for just a moment, gush about the inclusiveness in this book? One of the kingdoms marriage is pretty much polyamorus, with any children being raised communally by the partners. (And another kingdom that doesn't really buy into the idea of marriage. At all.)

We have a main character that is aromantic and involved in a poly marriage with another woman and a man; another main character that is bisexual and we have a transsexual character.

There is also a whole boatload of racial diversity with the white characters actually being called white - so there's no ‘default race' going on. And nearly every character of importance - and every POV character - is a woman!

Beyond the awesome representation, there is a spectacular story here. I'm not the biggest fan of portal fantasy, but this book worked wonderfully for me. And, in truth, didn't really feel like a portal fantasy.

The plot is the typical ruler that needs to be deposed, but it's the world building and the characters that this book totally excels at. We see two kingdoms, very different in their beliefs and worldviews and it's a lot of fun.

I adored pretty much every single character. They all have brilliant, vibrant personalities, and they are so well-developed. I do, of course, have a few favorites, and I seriously cannot wait to see how things turn out for them in the next book.

On a final note, I would not personally call this book a young adult story, but I think there would be a lot of crossover appeal as the person I consider our ‘main' character is sixteen and a lot of her story is about getting used to a different world, being away from her family and such.

(Originally posted on my blog: pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com)

Full review coming on 08/20/2016.