Description from Amazon
Delaney’s entire world is thrown into chaos after she is mistaken for Lissa Olena, an alien princess hiding out on Earth in order to escape an arranged marriage.
Kidnapped by the princess’s head bodyguard, Ruckus, and imprisoned in an alien palace, Delaney is forced to impersonate the princess until Olena can be found. If she fails, it will lead to an alien war and the eventual enslavement of the entire human race.
No pressure or anything.
Factor in Trystan, the princess’s terrifying betrothed who is intent on unraveling all her secrets, and her own growing feelings for Ruckus, and Delaney is in way over her head.
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Overall Thoughts
1.5/5 Stars
Mistaken identity is one of my favorite tropes. The drama, the misunderstanding. I love it. So of course when I saw that Amid Stars and Darkness was about a girl that is mistaken for a renegade alien princess I was hooked. The novel is described as a “space opera” but I wouldn’t go that far. For me a “Space Opera” would be the Starbound Trilogy. Now that’s a book with drama! Amid Stars and Darkness lacked the character development, plot intricacies, and world building to be deserving of the title of “Space Opera”. But overall, it was a quick good read (except for one thing that really really irked me, but more on that later). I would compare it more to the Lux series by Jennifer L Armentrout, Chani has a very contemporary writing style that is easy to read and gives the novel a more paranormal feel over high-stakes drama like the Starbound Trilogy. It was a light, fluffy read and there’s nothing wrong with that at all! Sometimes fluff is the way to go. Despite the relative simplicity and (repetitiveness, if I’m being honest) of the plot, Amid Stars and Darkness kept my interest throughout the whole novel. It also ended on a pretty big cliffhanger, which I wasn’t a big fan of but considering the simplicity of the plot I can see why it was necessary to keep readers interested in the next novel. That being said, there was one glaring issue with this book regarding the characters, mainly the love interest and the love-hate interest (keep reading to find out the exact details) that made me give the book 1.5 stars instead of three stars
Characters
On the surface of this novel, everything is fine. And what I mean by that, is if you just read it and don’t think too hard the characters are pretty standard. Delaney is the spunky heroine thrust into unimaginable circumstances and she a whirlwind romance with Ruckus, the bodyguard who “accidentally” kidnapped her. Insert moody broody Prince Tristan for some tension and whala! We have a recipe for some classic YA angst with an intergalactic flare. And that would be all fine and fair, sometimes I need a break from emotional torture and gut wrenching plot twists (*cough* I’m looking at you Empire of Storms) and just want a good fluff read. BUT, once you give the characters a second glance, things start to unravel.
Mainly with Trystan. I do NOT like him, and it’s not because he’s moody broody and a huge jerk. I don’t like him because he constantly uses physical intimidation to make Delaney back down and scare her.
Exhibit A.
“ ‘It appears I’m not the only one who dislikes you,’ Trystan continued, though he kept his hand in her hair, fingers sweeping back until he was cupping her skull. With one swift tug, he had her on her knees, kneeling on the cot… Forcing her head back with a yank, he kept her gaze pinned to his own, a mocking half smirk playing at his firm lips.” (Feener 183)
This encounter is followed by Trystan saying “ ‘Hmm, I think I like you like this, though,’ he practically purred, ‘splayed out before me. At my mercy.’ “
And Delaney doesn’t really think twice about this which I think is crazy because if he did this to me I would have kicked his a** for doing something like that.
Exhibit B.
“Delaney must have taken too long to respond, because the next thing she knew, he was crowding her up against the side of the same bookshelf she’d pulled her books from… Her breath caught in her throat… ‘You’re trembling,’ he said… “That’s more like you.’” (Feener 72)
There’s more, but those were the worst ones in my opinion. When I read those lines it gave me a really icky feeling considering the fact that it’s insinuated that Trystan will be a potential love interest in the next novel. His use of physical intimidation and possessive behavior, reeks of the beginnings of a seriously unhealthy relationship and the fact that Delaney doesn’t really make note of it makes it seem like the author is normalizing his wack behavior. Which I am not about, considering that the target audience for YA books like this are teens aged 13-17. This demographic is vulnerable in terms of understanding what a healthy relationship, as these are formative years in a person's life. And the potential relationship between Trystan and Delaney is definitely not healthy. It just irks me because I have a feeling Delaney is going to end up with Trystan in the next book.
Plot
Nothing too crazy everything was pretty straightforward. Like I mentioned earlier, I wouldn’t call this book a “Space Opera” just because I felt like wasn’t any real substantial drama. Everything felt pretty surface level in terms of plot and world-building. The conflict was a bit repetitive and similar but, it kept my attention nevertheless.
Concluding Thoughts
Had it not been for that Trystan thing, I would have said that this was a good quick intergalactic read. But I think that Trystan’s behavior in the context of him being a potential love interest is problematic and is a negative contribution to romance factor in YA. Because of that I wouldn’t recommend this book.
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About the Author of Amid Stars & Darkness
Chani majored in Creative Writing at Johnson State College in Vermont. To pay her bills, she has worked many odd jobs, including, but not limited to, telemarketing, order picking in a warehouse, and filling ink cartridges. When she isn’t writing, she’s binging TV shows, drawing, or frequenting zoos/aquariums. Chani is also the author of teen paranormal series, The Underworld Saga, originally written under the penname Tempest C. Avery. She currently resides in Connecticut, but lives on Goodreads.com.