The Sound of Stars

So this book has a cool premise and some nice representation but sadly lacks in all other aspects.
There is almost no world building. The aliens don't make sense, they exist merely to turn this cheesy love story into a “star-crossed” one.
The romance is not developed at all. We're told the protagonists are suddenly in love and from that moment on, they don't let us forget. Dramatic declarations of undying love ensue, without any real basis in reality.
The plot is repetitive and boring. Everything happens only for the sake of the romance. Get into trouble, get saved from trouble (usually by a convenient third party), drive around and talk about books...
Oh and about that. What self-respecting lover of literature would prefer just SUMMING UP some of the best books to someone instead of making them read and experience them themselves????? Like sure, I'll just tell you Jane Eyre in a few hours, it's not like you're missing anything.
Add to that a very silly deus ex machina ending, Ellie's conveniently out of the way parents, her suddenly forgotten best friend and you have a book that's an utterly forgettable, incoherent cheesy trope-fest.

This is a first draft, a collection of ideas. Sadly, unlike the ones it mentions and quotes from, this is not a good novel.

Wonderful

Different than what I expected from the description. This book felt modern and relevant to the times, but was also fantastic with sci-fi and fantasy elements. Fun and weird, but dealt with serious issues as well.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Whoops totally forgot to write this review quickly, so here are the important tidbits”

Ellie is demi & bisexual Black 17 year old with anxiety who reflects on racism in US before the aliens even arrived. Morris is a little meh, but the most romantic being ever, who also experiences hardships as a ‘lesser' being (labmade v. true)
The book has some great quotes – romantic and ones speaking to the divided world we live in. It really relates to our world and think this would be a good alternative or additional reading for high school required reading lists.

It is an interesting concept, but was slow for me. I never really got into it and the ending while a different way to do things, made this book feel like less, like a prequel that only hints at all the great things that will come, but because this is a standalone we will never get.

I will recommend this to people looking for apocalypse sci-fi novels and beautiful writing. So, not my kind of book, but I will try another book by this author in the future.