The highly awaited sequel to Heart of Iron, Soul of Stars is a thrilling sci-fi adventure packed with romance, shocking twists, and witty banter, perfect for fans of Six of Crows and Cinder.
Once, Ana was an orphaned space outlaw. Then she was the Empress of the Iron Kingdom. Now, thought dead by most of the galaxy after she escaped from the dark AI program called the HIVE, Ana is desperate for a way to save Di from the HIVE’s evil clutches and take back her kingdom.
Ana’s only option is to find Starbright, the one person who has hacked into the HIVE and lived to tell the tale. But when Ana’s desperation costs the crew of the Dossier a terrible price, Ana and her friends are sent spiraling through the most perilous reaches of the Iron Kingdom to stop the true arbiter of evil in her world: an ancient world-ending deity called the Great Dark.
Their journey will take the sharp-witted pilot, Jax, to the home he never wanted to return to, and the dangerous fate he left behind. And when Robb finds out who Jax really is, he must contend with his own feelings for the boy he barely knows, and whether he truly belongs with this group of outcasts.
When facing the worst odds, can Ana and her crew of misfits find a way to stop the Great Dark once and for all?
It was a lot of fun to be able to binge read the Heart of Iron duology by Ashley Poston. Soul of Stars brings this series to a close and despite a few troubles on my own end, I have to say it was well told. I tend to struggle with "space" books and a slower reading pace and little time to read this one wasn't in my favor, but I still really liked this one overall.
We pick up a few months after the events of the first book. Ana has healed from Di trying to kill her. Di has been HIVED and is ruling as acting emperor and his sister, Mellifare is the Great Dark personified. She's controlling all the Metals and is looking for her heart, a power source so to speak that will help restore her to her great and powerful being. So naturally, Ana is determined to find it first and find some way to rescue Di, restoring him to his former self. Should be easy, right?
Not so much when you throw into the mix that her pilot and friend, Jax soon gets incredibly sick and is dying. Robb thinks that it would be best to take him "home" where he can hopefully be healed, but it comes at a great cost.
Despite my usual struggles with space age books, I did find myself enjoying this one. But as I've been reading it for well over a week, I am struggling to put all my thoughts together because I was struggling a bit with the story itself. And thankfully it wasn't due to memory errors. Lol.
I think one thing that threw me were the random flashbacks, sometimes the transitions weren't as smooth as they should be and when I thought I was on some secret mission with Ana on her own, I wondered why is Di there? And why is he Di and being all friendly like? It wasn't a confusion that lasted long, but it threw me sometimes.
There was a great deal of tension in this one as Di is actively trying to kill Ana. I don't think he ever believed that she was truly dead like the rest of the galaxy, but she was very good at hiding and he wasn't so great at trying to find her even with the use of all the Metals everywhere! Ana wasn't really safe much of anywhere. Then there was also the possibility that among Ana's remaining friends and crew, a traitor was hiding among them. Too many attempts to do this or that were going haywire and Siege beings to wonder who among her crew is working against her and her daughter.
There were quite a few twists and surprises by the end of this one that left me absolutely shocked! But on a whole, I have to say that I thought Ashley ended quiet well. It was definitely a fun series despite my few issues, which are really just "me" issues and nothing to do with the book or story which I did quite enjoy! I would definitely pick up a fantasy or sci-fi read of Ashley's again should she write one! This was a rather unique take or retelling if you will, of the Anastasia story and I thought it was well done! I know I've got another one of those in my TBR pile somewhere that I want to read at some point! It's definitely a story that is worth telling and has so many options available to it! All in all, Souls of Stars was a pretty darn good read!!
Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars
Twists and surprises can be so awesome, especially when they make sense afterward and completely blindsided me. I didn;t realize this was a retelling. Thanks for the review.
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