ARC Review--All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

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 stow-away 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.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.


Adalyn Grace brings us a debut filled with swashbuckling pirates, mermaids, magic galore in a sweeping tale that will leave you spellbound. All the Stars and Teeth was a magical story that kept me thoroughly enchanted throughout and I cannot wait to see what Adalyn will bring us in the next installment.

Amora is the daughter of the king of the island of Visidia and she is getting ready to take her "test" that will prove her the worthy heir. But when things don't quite go as planned, Amora finds herself locked in a prison cell for failing her test. It's there a mysterious man named Bastian finds hers and offers her her freedom...if she will help him out. Not knowing was fate her father might have planned for her, she takes the offer. Only to find out that Bastian is a cursed pirate who wants her help in freeing the people of Zudoh from a terrible curse. Zudoh was another island of the kingdom who were banished long ago.

It's as they're about to set off on Bastian's ship when Amora's intended fiancee, Ferrick, comes aboard in a grand gesture to rescue her, but ends up tagging along on this quest to save the Zudoh kingdom. Then the trio basically flails about the seas and islands trying to ready themselves for the trip to Zudoh. Among these miniature quests is finding a mermaid! Yes, we finally get to the mermaids!! And the one they find is a doozie by the name of Vataea. She was a riot! I loved her spunk.

I will admit, that the pacing to this one was a little off. Or maybe it was just me. I was expecting a harrowing trip across the seas and battling sea monsters and maybe evil mermaids, but that didn't happen. Well...not quite, I should say, but that's all I will say about that! Lol. There was definitely some excitement going on in here, but I guess it just wasn't all what I was expecting. It's hard sometimes to adjust your expectations once you realize that they won't be met in quite the way you hoped.

There certainly were some twists to the story of this one! Just when you think you've gotten a plotline figured out, things will shift dramatically! It was fun in a sense, because you never really knew what to expect. 

There was a bit of romance going on in this one as well. As you might guess, with a pirate as the male lead, Amora will gravitate towards him more than Ferrick. She actually does make it clear to the reader and to Ferrick that their engagement was never one out of love of feelings, so be at ease folks, there's no love triangle here. If anything, I thought that Ferrick might possibly have true feelings for another...though it was never made clear if this was true or not. It's just an inkling I had from a moment or two. I guess we'll have to wait for the next installment to find out!

Things picked up quickly towards the end. They weren't quite rushed, but it seemed to jump more quickly to X-Y-Z! I had anticipated a bit more of a cliffhanger to be honest. With the way things were going, I didn't think it would be possible to wrap things up as quickly as they were, but I will say that Adalyn does it in a way that doesn't leave you feeling wanting...that is to say beyond the usual wanting of the next installment! Lol.

All the Stars and Teeth may not have been the read I was anticipating, but it still by far surpassed my expectations of a story filled with pirates, mermaids, and magic! The added romance and action packed fight scenes were just the added icing on the cake! I cannot wait to read more from Adalyn Grace!



Overall Rating 4/5 stars



All the Stars and Teeth releases February 4, 2020