The Stars Never Rise Review

Rachel Vincent's The Stars Never Rise is about a world torn apart by demons. The population is greatly decreased and closed off into cities ruled by the Church, with exorcists protecting them and fighting the war. The people must follow the Church's teachings or risk severe punishments. Nina Kane is a sixteen year old trying to provide for her younger sister, Mellie, as their mother is a deadbeat. However, when Nina finds out a secret Mellie has been keeping, all of her plans change. When Nina encounters an exorcist not allied with the Church, she must rely on him and his group for help.

So that is probably a super vague summary, but there are parts that are difficult to explain without giving spoilers. This book was different from what I expected though... First, I don't know what genre to put it in, is it high fantasy if it has religion and demons? Or is that bad to call that fantasy? I'll put it in its own genre I guess. Also, the cover makes the book a lot more dramatic than it is. Especially the "They will try to destroy us, but we are made to fly." Also there was some kind of butterfly theme going on that I don't fully understand. The cover has a butterfly and then each chapter title had a small butterfly. I think it's meant to symbolize the exorcists' transformations but when the book is about demons and stuff, I didn't feel like the butterfly symbolism really fit.

Now for the characters, I did enjoy the main character Nina. She put her sister first which I really appreciated because family should come first. She would do anything for her younger sister and I admired that. Slight spoiler but I think we all know the romance will occur... So I'm extremely picky about romances and I didn't really feel this one. I didn't think it fit in this book. I would probably be fine with it in a sequel, but this book was a lot about Nina and her sister and I wish the book kept that as the main focus. Instead, I felt like the romance was thrown in because every single YA book needs to have a love story. It occurred way too quickly and all of a sudden they were giving each other kisses goodbye and were acting too much like a couple. I'm a big fan of a slow build where characters can get to know each other and fall in love that way and I wish authors did that more often. In The Stars Never Rise, I'm pretty sure the book took place in two or three days. That is not enough time for me to get into a relationship, as I don't think that is very realistic.

Okay, sorry about my rant about romances. I did enjoy this book, it was different and more mature and darker than I expected and I really liked that, as I think some of the themes were more realistic. It is also easier for me to talk about the parts that I don't like, but I'm also a really easy going reader. I can read practically anything and I'll go with the flow. This also really helps me to see both the good and bad parts. I will read the sequel, as I am curious as to how the series will continue. Hopefully, I can get into the relationship more in the upcoming books.

The Stars Never Rise comes out June 9th!