Beneath These Cursed Stars

BENEATH THESE CURSED STARS is a lush and engaging YA fantasy read. Jasalyn, the Shadow Princess, is still suffering from the time she spent being tortured by Mordeus and his followers. The memories plague her with nightmares, and she feels the fear always. To regain some of her power, she traded her immortal life to a witch who gave her a ring that takes away those feelings and also gives her death's kiss, which she uses to get rid of the guards who tortured her.

Her sister fears for her and her psychological health, so when rumors begin swirling that Mordeus is coming back, she decides to send Jas away to stay with the Wild Fae King, Misha. Jas does not want to go and when she heads out to enact more revenge, she is captured by some humans who have their own plots for her. As she realizes their goals align, she agrees to join them, and Felicity, who has a powerful magic of being able to take on another person's appearance and scents, takes her place. Felicity has her own task of getting close to Misha to find a portal they will need.

As they both travel closer to their goals, they find themselves falling in love with the men they are getting close to and unraveling an untold number of secrets along the way.

What I loved: This was a fast-paced and fascinating story that keeps the reader hooked with little reveals and secrets along the way. Themes of fear, trauma, power, and healing are all really strong throughout, as Felicity and Jas are navigating the things that have harmed them in the past while trying to move forward.

The romance was really strong, and each had an element of forbidden romance, but also another layer of uncertainty due to secrets being kept. For instance, Felicity was pretending to be Jas, completely taking over her identity - so how could Misha actually love her and not Jas? She circled this moral question and problematic feelings resulting her growing love towards Misha throughout. Jas's story is complicated by secrets being kept, and by knowing what the future holds for her. Her paramour has his own agenda and complications, so Jas and the reader are kept wondering whether he is using her for his plans or whether he has actual fondness for her as herself. They have a history that is colored by the time that makes things both more intense and more complex.

The story flips between Felicity and Jas, but it was easy to keep track of each perspective and the characters therein. While there were a lot of people, the scope ended up feeling pretty limited as their interactions were generally with only a few. This made the book read faster and it was easy to keep up with the plot.

The quest for power and healing is complicated by trauma and reactions to it, including a desire to take back that power in revenge. Magic makes this even more twisty as the story continues. The reader gets windows into what Jas has suffered and why she feels the way she does through nightmarish scenes along the way, and this really pulled the reader into her character and helped to empathize with the (sometimes poor, though understandable) decisions she is making.

The end is a huge cliffhanger, and it will be tough to wait for the next book. Things are just coming to a head and huge reveals happen - but then the reader finds out there is no more! This will be a very tough wait to the next book, and I cannot wait to see what will happen next.

Final verdict: BENEATH THESE CURSED STARS is a lush and engaging YA fantasy about trauma, revenge, and love that will leave readers begging for the next in the series.

Quintessential fae romance, complete with forced proximity, unresolved secrets, centuries old fae who act like they’re twenty, and the scent of something distinctly male.

I’ve seen this advertised as an independent series, but I’d highly recommend reading These Hollow Vows first. The whole nature of the world, with humans and fae and realms side by side, isn’t fully explained, and the main plotline is a direct result of that original duology.

Alas, not all is well in the land of the Unseelie. Queen Abriella may have got her happy ending, but her sister Jasalyn remains trapped by memories of what happened before she was rescued from the dungeons. Her only escape is a magical ring which allows her to take vengeance on those who do harm, at a secret cost to herself. A sudden kidnapping derails her vigilantism and sets her on a path to helping old allies defeat dark forces returned from the grave. Common girl Felicity takes the princess’s place until her return, but this simple job uncovers more secrets and heartache than she could ever have known.

I love the new magic introduced in this series. Jas has a magic ring that gives her strong powers of persuasion and a deadly kiss (neat!), and mysterious scars that have begun to appear all over her body (not so neat!). Felicity can turn into anyone if she falls asleep with a lock of their hair, with the useful (and sometimes distressing) bonus of glimpsing that person's memories before she wakes. These abilities are interesting in their originality, and also in how the various drawbacks affect the story.

The writing style remains very similar to the first series, with fast-moving scenes and straight-forward narrative that says exactly what it means. I like when there's more ambiguity, and the author leans more on the reader's inference to convey themes rather than having the characters directly spell them out. In terms of the messages themselves though, I applaud this book for so honestly taking on heavy topics revolving around living with trauma and the complicated process of healing.

Pick this up for romance, revenge, and a rather big cliff hanger.

Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan is the first book in a new YA fantasy series set in the same world as These Hollow Vows. It’s been three years since Brie saved her sister from the dungeons of the false king, but Princess Jasalyn is still trapped there mentally. Her fear and need for vengeance drove her to a witch in the human realm of Elora where she bargained her magic and fae-life for a magical ring. With the ring, Jas sneaks away every night to assassinate those who kept her prisoner in Mordeus’s dungeons. With rumors that he has returned, Jas teams up with her former cellmate in the hopes she can find and take him down.

I really enjoyed this book. It is told in dual POV which is a deviation from the original duology. Here we get Jasalyn’s POV and Felicity’s. Felicity is a new character who I really like. She is an Echo, which means she can take the form of anyone as long as she has some of their hair. It isn’t like a normal shapeshifter though. With this power, she sees their memories and can even smell like them. With Felicity’s power, Jas is able to join a renegade group who is looking for Mordeus. Felicity takes her place when Brie sends Jas to the Wild Fae kingdom with King Misha.

While fast moving, the plot really has two stories that run side by side. Jas is with Kendrick, a human she was imprisoned with who is also trying to take down the regime who rules Elora, the human realm. Their story unfolds slowly. Jas is way too trusting of Kendrick and his crew, blinded by her need to find and kill Mordeus once and for all. Felicity’s story is heartbreaking. She is fated to kill her brother and hasn’t been in her true form in over three years. Now she is taking on Princess Jasalyn’s form, being asked to make Misha fall in love with her, and find the mythical Hall of Doors.

I liked both storylines and how the author brings them together. However, it can be jarring to go from one POV to another especially if we are left with a cliffhanger. As much as I like Jas, I loved Felicity’s storyline. I found it fascinating and was thoroughly engrossed in the story. Ryan continues to build upon the world of the fae, and I’m excited for what is coming.

Overall, I really enjoyed Beneath These Cursed Stars. There are so many twists and turns that you do not see coming, and Ryan makes you feel all the feels from the warmth of first loves to the heartbreak of betrayal. If you are a fan of fantasy, I highly recommend.