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First thing first - what a world! This is a brand new planet that Cole had created and holy moly did she do such a successful job on it. She described it in such a way that was never dull but always had enough detail to paint the picture. And the wildlife! All of these new species and each time I wanted to meet them. I was truly blown away by the creativity in this book and it needs to be appreciated. The story was just as intriguing. I was honestly hooked right from the beginning and my attention was always invested into the story. There were some instances that were very predictable and repetitive. It did take some time for the plot to really develop which led to some scenes feeling almost identical to a previous scene. This didn’t happen too often and I still really enjoyed the book. But these instances made me feel like something more productive could have been introduced. And then there was one huge plot hole to me. Why, please why, did the grandmother’s disappearance literally cause her parents to completely change? This is mentioned throughout the whole book but is never explained upon and honestly drove me crazy. I kept waiting for an explanation but it just never came. Regardless, this story was unique and very enjoyable. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book.

Octavia was a fantastic protagonist. I loved how smart she was and really used her logical thinking to try and determine best solutions. One of my favorite aspects was that she included other people into her thoughts. This doesn’t happen too often, which can be very annoying, but Octavia trusts her friends and knows that she needs help. What a refresher! Instead of keeping everyone in the dark and trying to figure out everything by herself, she relies and confines in her friends. I felt like this gave the book more depth and a better way to develop the characters. Alma was a great best friend and even put aside her wants to help Octavia because she realized how important these events were. I’m glad that these girls had their relationship. Rondo was another great relationship for Octavia. One of the interesting ways that Cole wrote was their relationships. Even though they’ve all been friends for year, these are new characters to us. She really developed their relationships easily as if we knew how they’ve treated each other ever since they were little. This really helps distinguish how they relate and interact with each other. At one point it seemed as if there was going to be an insta-love but Cole took her time to develop the attraction, which worked perfectly. The only relationship issues I had was Octavia with her parents. There were actually a lot of issues I had with this. It goes back to the big plot hole about her grandmother. It just didn’t make sense to me and there was never elaborated on.

Final Thoughts

Overall, A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia Cole was a very unique read. I was completely absorbed into this story and was in constant awe of the wonderful world building that was created. Even though there were some repetitive scenes and a plot hole, the book was very enjoyable. The main characters were also fantastic. I loved how they were developed and can’t wait to see what happens to them in the next novel. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a beautifully created new world with conspiracies and secrets.