Reviews with content warning for War - Forging Silver into Stars

tycho is (as usual) i delight to read

the book did the impossible, it made me genuinely like rhen again which I didn't think was possible but thank you

grey, while I understood his motives and actions, still annoyed me greatly but the ending scenes

with jax and tycho (even nakiis) (/spoiler> were amazing

JAX, MY LOVE <3

callyn was incredible as soon as she got her head screwed back on straight and (princess) nora was a ray of sunshine

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taryn_g's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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speddle's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Surprising romance!

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geekmom's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A tightly paced and engaging read. I look forward to the sequel!

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littletiramisu's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Perfect. I need the sequels, and even more sequels, and I want every single character to get their own sequel!

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

In a mini-review I posted on bookstagram, I said, "move over, Cursebreakers, this spin-off takes the cake!" I think that pretty much sums up the majority of how I felt about Forging Silver Into Stars!

I loved the original series (primarily the first book), but I never felt the kind of connection to it that I felt while reading this book. There was something really special about the start of this new series. Not only did it continue to include disability rep, it also had queer rep, and dealt with much heavier topics like miscarriage and abuse. While those things might not entice everyone to pick it up, they were really well written, in my opinion. I appreciated the sensitive approach to the challenging elements and the way that they were handled throughout the story. It drew me to the characters and made me relate to them during so many moments.

Along with that, I loved that for the majority of the book, you weren't really sure who you were meant to root for. It seemed as though everyone was a touch morally gray, and that wound up being really appealing. Sure, it was easy to pick favorite couples or characters (at least, it was for me), but you didn't always know whether or not you should trust them. It added to the suspense of the story and had me gasping aloud on multiple occasions when certain things were revealed. The characters were truly the heart and soul of Forging Silver Into Stars and I look forward to seeing how they grow in the coming installations. It was also really special to be let into the lives of some of the beloved characters from the former series. After several years, they had matured a lot and it was comforting to witness how they had changed and grown.

The literal only issue I had with the story was the fact that one of the characters from the original series was villainized a bit in this book. This seems to be something that Kemmerer likes to do to throw you for a loop, just when you think you understand everyone. She did this in the Cursebreakers series,

when Rhen became the villain in the second book, after you had completely grown to adore him in the first. Similarly, she did that with Grey in this book, making him a bit of a villain towards Tycho, despite the fact that he's always been a loved (and loving) character.

Now, I recognize that for some people, this is really cool. In fact, the person I buddy-read with liked this element a lot. For me, it tends to be a little frustrating. But I can't say that it took away from how excellent the book was.

Truly, I'm just so excited to find out what happens next. That ending was fantastic and left me with a lot of questions that I hope will be answered in the sequel!

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