I am very pleased to present my review * of When Stars Die by the exceptionally talented Amber Skye Forbes of amberskyeforbes . I am very inspired by this modern renaissance woman who divides her time as ballerina, college student, prolific author, and savvy social media navigator! Her writing reflects her ideals: increasing awareness of teen and young adult challenges with depression and other mood disorders, authenticity, passion, tenacity and willingness to color outside the lines of predictability.
When Stars Die by Amber Skye Forbes –
Amelia leaves home with her younger brother Nathaniel to a convent to become a nun. She makes this choice to make up for her parent’s sins and to protect her brother and his identity – he is a witch! When it appears that Amelia kills her best friend Colette in a fire, she learns the truth that she is also a witch. Amelia is unable to tolerate the trials on the path to becoming a nun, and sees figures that are invisible to others. These figures are after her. Oliver appears on the scene and agrees to help her. They eventually become lovers after Amelia is asked to leave the convent. Eventually Oliver’s true identity is revealed and Amelia does what she must to protect her brother and save the witches from a dire fate.
I am new to this genre, but I was very invested in the story and believe it will be quite popular. My lack of familiarity with this genre may have impacted my ability to follow certain plot points.
The characters are intriguing. Amelia is a loyal sister, a strong, determined young woman, and a reluctant witch. Oliver is hopelessly smitten with Amelia, but cannot give into his love because of past sins and obligations. But what I found problematic about some of the characters is that I didn’t think Nathaniel was well-developed, and that I was also confused about Oliver’s motives. However, I liked the bond between Amelia and Colette. I also liked the loyalty Amelia displayed towards Nathaniel.
I loved the author’s incredible attention to detail. Her ability to create this fictional world drew me in and kept me interested. I became invested in the romance between Amelia and Oliver. I was also curious about why she left home and her background. I was also fascinated by the background of these invisible figures only Amelia can see.
As for the pacing, the first few chapters were a bit slow-moving. I also wanted to know more about Amelia’s parents and the relationship between Amelia and them. I was also unclear about the time frame. Was it an actual period in history or some type of composite? References to trains, cigarettes, apartments, and cabs made me wonder more about the setting for the story.
Overall, anyone who enjoys YA paranormal romance, or any stories of the paranormal genre, will enjoy this book. I give this book 5 stars since most readers are likely to enjoy it.
To learn about Amber’s creative process and interest in the paranormal , plus pre-order information :
* I was given an advance copy of When Stars Die in exchange for my review.
litebeing chronicles 
This sounds a good read, I need to make more time to pick up a good book with great story line… You did justice with this review as you make me want to explore more… . thank you for sharing
Sue
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I am happy to hear that! Amber is very creative and her imagination travels in awesome waves ………….
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Nice review, were I to have time for leisure reading I am sure I would enjoy it, as I do like the genre. 😀
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maybe during winter break 🙂
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Awesome review Linda! Really well done 😀
The books sounds really intriguing and you know…sometimes authors use these “lack of backstory” and stuff as an opportunity to expand the books?? Hehhe..just guessing.
I’m not really into these YA romance stories and there are LOADS of them and most of them now are of these sorts of genres…set with characters who are vampires, witches and all that (I watch some of the Book tubers…Youtubers who do book reviews).Hmm..maybe I should try one and see..
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thanks Shree! Amber is a great writer so you would probably enjoy the read.
And you could be right about the lack of backstory 🙂
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Speaking of writing books~ I see both you and Linda doing so. 😉
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Ooh…I don’t know Sindy…I’m not disciplined enough..but there is my project I’ve worked on sitting and incubating for a bit, it’s got some writing there. Hehe.
I would love to becomes a well known NY Bestseller list author…woohoo!! Hehe.
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very cool! how did you see this?
I definitely see me reading them 🙂
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Its an intuitive vision, I saw it in Shree’s card reading and I have always seen it for you.
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thanks
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welcome.
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just stopped by in a big way to show my continuing love for your wonderful, truly inspirational blog. weve been reading but have a lot of trouble logging in and liking from our dumb “smart” phone. wishing they made it easier to share the love through wordpress… alas. we will just do it this way (carpetbombing love).
much love and tons of hugs to you and dex,
namaste,
o and om
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we ( me and Dex) have missed you and Odie greatly and were thrilled to see your likes en masse! I hope you enjoyed the posts and will stay in the flow with us as we navigate some stormy waters!
Namaste
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Always l and d! 😉 we c an do this;)
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