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A review by ritaslilnook
The City Beneath the Hidden Stars by Sonya Kudei
3.0
Thanks to NetGalley and BHC Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Sonya Kudei, as well.
The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is Kudei’s debut novel, expected to be released on September 27th 2022.
This story is promising. The author takes us on a ride through Croatian Folklore by interchanging it with urban fantasy, which was what captured my attention from the beginning. I love fantasy and having it rely so much on myths I had never heard of seemed very exciting to me.
The premise was alright and the way the story was told didn’t bother me. However, I do think this book needs some work in terms of its development.
Halfway through the novel, I felt like I still hadn’t read much about what was happening. The descriptions of buildings, streets, places, and even trams, are regular. Meanwhile, the characters get neglected and there’s not much development to be talked about and I felt like I needed that to connect more with the story.
It was very hard for me to stay focused on reading because my mind kept wandering about. I needed to know more about why what’s happening is happening, how things work, and how the magic came to be… I need to feel empathy with the story, to find some meaning in what I’m reading, and I did not feel the connection with this story.
The way this story is told is great to be read by teens, even if the language is unnecessarily complex. I say this due to it being so straight to the point, even if it’s not?
You got A, B, C, and D. You learn about them. However, you do not learn about how you go from one point to the other. Here’s what I mean: where’s the background on the politics of the Star Council? How did it come to be? How did they get involved with the task of fixing Earth’s problems? Why does the Black Queen want to rule so bad? Who was she exactly? Why is she so relevant?
This novel relies on Croatian folklore but it doesn’t explore it thoroughly. We don’t get to learn more than what is described in the summary of the book and I believe this was a missed opportunity to teach the audience about this aspect of history.
Onto the characters… As I said, I didn’t empathize with any of them. Leo is an arrogant man, who believes the world has to be bent his way. Dario is … bland… he is apathetic. Stella and the kids were the most enjoyable characters. Note that Stella is an 11-year-old with a fascination for the Black Queen myth.
The climax of the book had no impact whatsoever. It was so easy for the bad guy (or girl) to be defeated that it took away the bang of the story.
However, I gotta say… this book has SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Listen, I am still intrigued. I want to know more about this world. Maybe if we got to know the Black Queen a little better it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I would definitely read this book again if all these plot holes were filled.
Even if this read wasn’t that enjoyable to me, I’m sure it will be for a lot of you.
Again, thank you so much to NetGalley and BHC Press for the advance copy, and thank you Sonya Kudei for the creation of this new world.
The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is Kudei’s debut novel, expected to be released on September 27th 2022.
This story is promising. The author takes us on a ride through Croatian Folklore by interchanging it with urban fantasy, which was what captured my attention from the beginning. I love fantasy and having it rely so much on myths I had never heard of seemed very exciting to me.
The premise was alright and the way the story was told didn’t bother me. However, I do think this book needs some work in terms of its development.
Halfway through the novel, I felt like I still hadn’t read much about what was happening. The descriptions of buildings, streets, places, and even trams, are regular. Meanwhile, the characters get neglected and there’s not much development to be talked about and I felt like I needed that to connect more with the story.
It was very hard for me to stay focused on reading because my mind kept wandering about. I needed to know more about why what’s happening is happening, how things work, and how the magic came to be… I need to feel empathy with the story, to find some meaning in what I’m reading, and I did not feel the connection with this story.
The way this story is told is great to be read by teens, even if the language is unnecessarily complex. I say this due to it being so straight to the point, even if it’s not?
You got A, B, C, and D. You learn about them. However, you do not learn about how you go from one point to the other. Here’s what I mean: where’s the background on the politics of the Star Council? How did it come to be? How did they get involved with the task of fixing Earth’s problems? Why does the Black Queen want to rule so bad? Who was she exactly? Why is she so relevant?
This novel relies on Croatian folklore but it doesn’t explore it thoroughly. We don’t get to learn more than what is described in the summary of the book and I believe this was a missed opportunity to teach the audience about this aspect of history.
Onto the characters… As I said, I didn’t empathize with any of them. Leo is an arrogant man, who believes the world has to be bent his way. Dario is … bland… he is apathetic. Stella and the kids were the most enjoyable characters. Note that Stella is an 11-year-old with a fascination for the Black Queen myth.
The climax of the book had no impact whatsoever. It was so easy for the bad guy (or girl) to be defeated that it took away the bang of the story.
However, I gotta say… this book has SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Listen, I am still intrigued. I want to know more about this world. Maybe if we got to know the Black Queen a little better it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I would definitely read this book again if all these plot holes were filled.
Even if this read wasn’t that enjoyable to me, I’m sure it will be for a lot of you.
Again, thank you so much to NetGalley and BHC Press for the advance copy, and thank you Sonya Kudei for the creation of this new world.