Title- All the Stars and Teeth
Author- Adalyn Grace
Series- All the Tides of Fate is the sequel
Rating– 4.6/5
Genre- YA fantasy
POV- first person, present tense
Trope- princess, royalty, semi love-triangle, adventure, coming of age, magic
Steam level- 1/5
Cover– The cover showed me fantasy but I was unsure if YA or adult and also unsure if romance or non-romance based
Comps– Children of Blood and Bone mixed with Fable
Plot/Blurb-
Set in a kingdom where danger lurks beneath the sea, mermaids seek vengeance with song, and magic is a choice, Adalyn Grace’s All the Stars and Teeth is a thrilling fantasy for fans of Stephanie Garber’s Caraval and Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series.
She will reign.
As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer―the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.
When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.
But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder―and more peril―than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stowaway she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.
I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.
First chapter- In just a few pages we sense Amora’s see-sawing internal battle between insecurities of ruling and entire kingdom soon and confidence that she can do anything she sets her mind to.
Characters-
Amora- lead kick-ass protagonist who has depth and layers
Ferrick- her fiancé, helpful and sacrificial in nature. A healer
Bastian- pirate with his own agenda
Vataea- mermaid ally
Casem- guard/Amora’s friend, in love with Mira
Mira- friend, in love with Casem
King- Amora’s father
Queen- Amora’s mother
Kaven- wait and see
Best part- The legendary octopus creaturee will be memorable
What I would change- more romance with Bastian and less confusing movements in the action scene at the end
Quote- “Fear is part of life; all that matters is what we do with it.”
Setting- I very much appreciated the index of islands, what type of magic resided there, the type of stone represented of each island and the map to lay out the setting & world before I began reading.
Prose- average compared to other YA fantasy reads. I appreciated first person present tense
Character goals/motivations- keep the people of her kingdom safe
Theme- You are not the mistakes of your family
Vivid sensory descriptions-
Dialogue- Bastian had some great witty lines
Diversity- Unclear for the ethnicities but I know some skin shades were specified as darker or lighter. No LGBTQ characters that I can recall.No characters with disabilities that I can remember.
Ethics/morals- murder
Conflict/tension/obstacles- she had plenty of challenges and they all made sense. Thank goodness! I loved that the build up was perfect and each scene progressed the story appropriately. There were no wandering/purposeless scenes.
Pacing- fast
Thoughts while reading-
Page 18- we’re introduced to her positive relationship with her parents, the basic layout of their kingdom & the fact that she doesn’t want to marry Ferrick. So of course her parents will be bad in some way and she will fall for another guy.
Page 45- yikes! Abs her own father too!
Page 60- oooh! So Bastian is a tricky, thieving pirate from the island of cursed magic. The new pair are set out to save the kingdom from Kaven but they’re already having to rush, hurry, & run. The tempo is quick and their lives are at stake!
Page 74- I love love love that Ferrick snuck on board to make this love triangle potential more interesting. Bastian has already won me over with his ridiculous personality and dialogue.
Page 144- I’ve never been able to relate to royalty characters who “love their people.” It doesn’t feel like they know their people but moreso have been told for 18 years what they’re “supposed to” do as a king/queen.
Page 154- This is a slow section. It’s interesting that they’re traveling the kingdom to different islands and we get to experience the new settings, but I need something new to happen.
Page 164- great we got some action again. And poor Ferrick!
Page 178- I love the mermaid scenes and am in awe of how authors can all put their own spin on traditional myths and characters like mermaids to make them unique
Halfway through- oooh, what’s the third curse!? The trio has started to hit some tension between their little team.
Page 194- the chapters are doing well with mini cliffhanger endings to lure me into the next page.
Page 214 was such an interesting twist for both the magic of the land but also raising the stakes. A perfect melding to make the story rise up a level
Page 224- did that mean fade to black?!? Ah, I need to know what happened when they didn’t stop.
Page 280- seems like too fast of a mental flip
Page 314- that history session of the truth was done well so it didn’t feel like info dump in a critical scene. The author has done a fabulous job of leading every event to the big show down.
Page 318- confused. She said there was no fire near. Then someone is literally on fire.
Page 345- I feel a little frustrated that I’m having to reread so much of the action scenes to understand what’s happening because there’s too many characters and their movements being tracked. I need the big scene to have less people
Ending- Page 364- I’m glad there was an epilogue otherwise it felt very abrupt
Cassie Swindon 