Review Detail

I'm so conflicted about this book. First, I loved the story and the mystery. This is what really drove me to finish the book. If I didn't have the second book already and wasn't invested in the actual plot, I probably would have set this book aside. One of my main issues with this book was it was just too... human? I know that's a little weird but this story really focuses on the fae but everything was so human. It makes sense that these beings would adapt to the human world but I felt like it a little too much adapting. And since the fae were integrated into the human world in this book, oh the references. This is one of my biggest pet peeves in books. Where the references are non-stop. There were so many and no one... well no one that I know... references pop culture that much. It's just annoying. But the story overall was interesting and definitely kept me going.

Then we get to the characters. First, this book was over 500 pages which is a beefy book. And personally, it was about 200 pages too long. The pacing was off as the beginning took forever to get to the main plot point and, for me, that could have been resolved by removing Vehan and Auerlian's points of view. They offered nothing... nothing. All of their story could have been given from Arlo and Nausicaa -- who were both way more interesting. I also think that I would have enjoyed Vehan and Aurelian a lot more if I didn't read from their points of view. I just did not connect with them and was waiting for their chapters to be over.

Overall, A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth was okay. The story and plot itself was interesting and I will continue this series because I am invested enough. There were some choices made in the writing that just hit my personal pet peeves that had me wanting to give up on it. But I stuck it out and am glad that I did. While the first half of the book dragged, the ending was definitely better. A Dark and Hollow Star is a beefy book, sitting at over 500 pages which usually isn't an issue but it does provide four point of views. Arlo, Nausicaa, Vehan and Aurelian are all featured in the book but I could have easily done without Vehan and Aurelian. They offered no real insight to the plot and their chapters were just boring and whiny. I would have rather had the whole book from Arlo and Nausicaa's point of view. Personally, I probably would have ended up liking Vehan and Aurelian more too.