Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Friday 30 October 2015

Title: The Stars Never Rise
Author: Rachel Vincent
Publication Date: June 2015
Rating:
Goodreads | Book Depository
There’s no turning back…
In the town of New Temperance, souls are in short supply and Nina should be worrying about protecting hers. Yet she’s too busy trying to keep her sister Mellie safe.
When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their existence, she’ll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal church.
To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a mysterious fugitive who has already saved her life once. Wanted by the church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she needs Finn and his group of rogue friends.
But what do they need from her in return?

I thought this was only okay. It feels like I read a different book from everyone else! I guess it just wasn't for me. The concept is pretty cool but I was quite bored and struggled to concentrate on the story for long periods of time.

Nina lives in a future America where demons roam the world and the church have taken control. The church claim to exorcise demons whilst protecting everyone else. Nina lives in a city surrounded by walls to keep out the demons who roam the badlands. Nina's sister gets herself into a problem which threatens their quiet existence and Nina learns things about herself and her family that she never imagined possible.

I think the world that Rachel Vincent has created is interesting and its rules and customs are easy to follow. There is quite a bit of info-dumping in places but the idea of the church being in control of everything and holding all professional positions was one that I liked. It was intriguing to see their way of running a country whilst also enforcing religious customs and punishments.

The main problem I had is that the story itself was just a little boring. I struggled to really stay invested in what was happening for long periods of time. I found myself having to reread segments and my mind wandered to other things. Nina herself is a likeable character; I liked her strength and determination. I also like that she doesn't feel sorry for herself or hate herself for the things she has had to do in order to look after her family. She did what she had to in order to survive.

The romance is extremely odd. Finn saves Nina just in time before the church captures her but she is rightly wary of him as she doesn't know who he is. She is reluctant to trust him or be alone with him until she knows more. A few pages later they are kissing and she becomes infatuated with him. I just don't buy it. Also there's a unique surprise with Finn which is one positive aspect of it all but it is also quite confusing and where the oddness comes into play. It makes it even harder to buy their relationship especially as they seem so obsessed with each other despite the surprise being quite a big deal and something difficult to explain let alone deal with.

The action scenes are well written and the side characters are given enough personality and development to stand out and be memorable but the story just didn't excite me. I might read the sequel but it's not a top priority.

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't find this book spectacular! I didn't buy the romance, either. It was very odd, and there wasn't much build up!
    Great review :)
    ~Erika @ Books, Stars, Writing. And Everything In Between.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ohh you're definitely not the only one! The romance was really out of the blue and one of the oddest I've read! Thank you :)

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