By the Light of Dead Stars – Andrew Van Wey

4/5 stars

I’m rather ashamed of how long it took me to actually start this book. Cosmic horror is one of those things that I feel are either hit or miss for me, especially when you add in coming-of-age elements as that’s not really something I enjoy much of. This book, however, was an absolute hit!

Despite being twice her age, I felt a lot of empathy for Zelda. I was really rooting for her by the end of the book and was firmly in her corner. I loved her character so much, and I thought that Andrew did a great job of bringing her to life. Mark really grew on me too, both as a parental figure for Zelda and as the hero of his story. He made a lot of mistakes, but the way he worked through them and made up for them made him feel more human to me than most characters I’ve read.

While fairly lengthy, and parts of this did seem to drone a bit, ‘Dying Stars’ is beautifully descriptive and sucks you in from the start. Before I knew it, I’d already read a third of the book in what felt like minutes!

This book has also given me new nightmare fuel, so big thanks for that. Some of the descriptions the characters gave (looking at you, Randall) gave me actual cold chills. Ignorance is bliss, and that bliss never felt so good until it was suddenly gone.

J’harr is waiting. J’harr is watching. J’harr is hungry….