read my full review of a war of swallowed stars by sangu mandanna here.
“A rare gem of a sequel . . . Each page drips with action and moral complexities.” —Natasha Ngan, New York Times bestselling author of Girls of Paper and Fire, on A House of Rage & Sorrow
A prince without his kingdom.
A kingdom without its princess.
The destruction of the stars themselves.
War is destroying the galaxy. Esmae has vanished without a trace. A terrifying, ravenous beast is devouring the stars one by one. Titania is offered a gift that may well be a curse. Alexi, the exiled prince, is asked to pay a heavy price for his mistakes. And far, far away, on a dark, mysterious planet, a sleeping god stirs awake.
War or family.
Pride or peace.
As the end of the world draws ever closer, Esmae and Alexi must decide how far they’ll go to win—and who they’ll sacrifice along the way.
Celebrated author Sangu Mandanna promises a gripping conclusion to the Celestial Trilogy in A War of Swallowed Stars.
my review:
I’ve been anxiously yet desperately awaiting this book since I finished the second book two years ago. I love this world and don’t want to see it end, but I also had to know what became of some of my favorite characters! As soon as I could get my hands on an eARC, I immediately dropped everything to read it. Full of revenge and sorrow and love, A War of Swallowed Stars brings an epic ending to this gorgeous trilogy.
This review contains spoilers for books one and two.
Picking up right where we left off, this book opens with Esmae escaping into the forest after she ordered Titania to fire on Arcadia. Flash forward to a month later, Titania, Max, Radha, and Sibylla are desperately searching for her, unwilling to believe she’s truly gone. They’re facing enemies from all sides: Sorsha is on the loose, growing closer and closer while devouring stars and planets along the way, and Alexi bides his time, waiting to strike to regain his kingdom one way or another. Meanwhile, a god on a faraway planet awakens, for good or for bad.
As in the first two books, I adored the characters in this book. Even though they’re outnumbered and constantly on edge, they never back down. Every scene with Esmae, Max, Titania, Radha, and Sibylla (and with any combination of them) shows how much they truly and deeply care for each other. It was fascinating to see their growth and their love for each other over time, and I really loved where they ended up.
Kyra really has the nerve to blame Esmae for what happened to Bear as if Alex wasn't the one who loosed Sorsha. As if Kyra wasn't the one who sent her warships out to attack Esmae when she was trying to stop Sorsha. As if she didn't put Bear on that ship. As if she didn't make all the decisions that started this in the first place. Her every desperate, stupid, single-minded choice to avoid her curse has only brought it to pass. Over and over again and she never sees it, she only keeps blaming Esmae for existing. And Alex enables her. Refuses to hear the truth or examine his own choices. It's infuriating. What does he have to lose to wake the fuck up?
If there's a bad decision or an arrogant mistake to make, rest assured Alexi Rey WILL make it. And he will then refuse to take any responsibility for it.
Ough Esmae's constant longing for her mother's love versus her mother's steadfast willingness to kill her for her brother's sake since the day she was born.
The tragedy is Esmae is right when she says they could have ignored the prophecies and curses and chosen free will and avoided all this. If Kyra had loved her daughter more than she loved power and feared prophecy, Esmae would never have had a reason to want to hurt Alexei. If she hadn't continued trying to kill Esmae instead of embracing her, Esmae would have done anything to avoid hurting her brother. Kyra has brought about the curse with every decision she's made.
The audacity of Esmae's mother to threaten to withhold her forgiveness from Esmae, as if Esmae needs forgiveness from her and not the other way around.
The second she described Alexi as the golden son always in the light beloved by all I knew I was gonna end up hating that motherfucker and I was RIGHT.
