Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for this advanced review copy of Fallen Stars! All opinions are my own.
Fallen Stars by Imani Errui is the second book of the Heavenly Bodies series. This fantasy romance installment follows shortly after the events of Heavenly Bodies where Enzo is lost to the dreamscapes, Ariete is on the loose, Elara has awakened as The Moon and is enraged by having The Sun taken from her, while an ancient and deeply nefarious plot begins unraveling in Celestia.
I am conflicted at this point because while I love the prose, this universe, and the characters, it feels like the plot has become too big and distracted, to a point where it is unraveling at the seams. The magic of Imani Errui’s writing style and the amazing world she has built is being weighed down by the lack of sharp editing this book would benefit from.
A lush and mythical Greek inspired tale that carries readers through sea bound quests, celestial magic, and rising danger, even if the plot moves slower than the tides.
Read my full summary, review, and ending explained of Fallen Stars by Imani Errui. This post contains spoilers.
Fallen Stars
Description
“Stars will fall.”
Elara is vengeful.
Her love is in a deep sleep, trapped between the realms of life and death.
Her enemy has vanished, Enzo’s only connection to the waking world with him.
And a life that Elara has never wanted has been thrust upon her, along with a new power she can not control.
Now a disgraced queen, Elara must go on a quest to find a way to wake Enzo, while also seeking the lost Titans, a league of gods who ruled the world long before the Stars.
But there is a darker power at play, one that even Ariete, King of the Stars, is afraid of. With enemies at every turn, Elara must tread carefully if she has any hope of waking her soulmate, and fulfilling her promise to make every Star fall.
The much anticipated sequel to Heavenly Bodies, Fallen Stars is the fantasy adventure you’ve waited for, complete with pirates, circuses and dark magick, as well as secrets that will leave you reeling long after you’ve turned the last page.
Tropes
- Found Family
- Slow Burn
- Star Crossed Lovers
- Enemies to Friends to Lovers
- Greek Inspired
Review
Overall Impressions 😊
I’m conflicted by Fallen Stars. I was cautious going in after being flooded by so many plot lines in Heavenly Bodies.
My position on the characters, the plot, and the worldbuilding feels the same, they are magical, effervescent, and delicate. I adore Greek inspired worlds and magic systems.
But I feel like so much is happening that at some point nothing is happening. The plot lines move too quickly without giving me the ability to get emotionally invested in anything.
I can’t decide if I want to continue reading the series, because while I am absolutely hooked by the prose and the world, the plot is just barely missing it for me.
While I enjoyed the added POVs and sea magic, I was frustrated that we didn’t get to dive into any of the new magic systems introduced.
Not to mention there was barely any Enzo and Elara romance growing. I don’t mind a good fantasy plot with a romance B plot, but the plot is struggling to keep me engaged and I’m just not getting immersed the way I desperately want to.
Perfect For Fans Of… 🌟
If you enjoy lush prose, lyrical storytelling, and a large cast with multiple POVs you will probably enjoy this book a lot. Think stories that follow different threads, like Game of Thrones or Throne of Glass that weave in and out of the main plotline that connects them between different quests.
The prose of Imani Errui is gorgeous and almost reminds me of Stephanie Garber, Rebecca Ross, or Adrienne Young’s magical, decadent writing. It’s a soft but vivid world that pulls us in with immersive worldbuilding.
And of course, any fans of Greek inspired fantasy worlds like Circe and The Song of Achilles should feel right at home.
Characters 👥
I always think of the first book as character building of the main characters, in this case Elara and Enzo. Heavenly Bodies did a fantastic job making me love these characters.
In Fallen Stars the main characters and their story take a bit of a backseat. Normally I’m fine with that, but it almost felt like they have been flattened to their deity status rather than remaining multi faceted mortal characters.
I thought we would see more of Ariete and the other Stars. I liked seeing more of Eli, and I wished Torra or other Stars who were friends to Elara and Enzo’s cause were more present.
We get plenty of Adrian in this book, as he is one of the POVs. He is a nice addition to the plot, but unfortunately his character development didn’t go as deep as I would’ve liked.
We also don’t get to see a lot of Merissa and Leo show growth even though they are present for most of the book.
Isra is barely there, but she should be prominent in the next book.
The found family vibe is still going strong, but I wish there were more moments of friendship like the scenes we got between Merissa, Elara, and Isra.
And unfortunately it felt like Elara and Enzo’s relationship didn’t move forward at all in this book, with none of the challenges making significant impact on their relationship.
Overall I was excited by the expanding POVs and the cast, but I think this ambitious take kind of fell flat and didn’t go deep enough.
Plot 🗺️
Okay so a lot to say about the plot on this one. My concerns for too much happening in the first book were definitely assuaged a bit in this book. There are some pretty major arcs, Enzo and Elara’s separation, Elara’s shadows, and their journey while discovering who they are as Celestes.
But this time it somehow felt like the plot was unbalanced, spending too much time on the boat literally while spending too little time for plot beats to actually make impact on the overall story.
I loathe main character separation, it’s one of my biggest deal breakers if books handle it poorly. I understand it is sometimes a necessary plot device, but too long or too shallow a handling of this trope might make me DNF a book. Fallen Stars did a good enough job, it felt serious enough and the stakes were high enough for Elara to hunt down Enzo’s tether and get him back. I love a female getting her man back arc done properly, so I really enjoyed that part. I also really enjoyed the exploration of the dreamscapes.
Then the majority of this book is Adrian’s story. I understand why we spent so much time in his story, but I wish we got to see more of his sister Annabel and his interactions with Oceanne. For spending so much time on the boat, Adrian felt shallow to me. I wanted to dive deeper into his character, especially since he’s going to be so much more important.
I have no idea where she is going with Leo and Merissa. It’s very mixed signals and I’m clueless. And where was Isra’s plot?
I am kind of interested in the overarching Celestes plot. There are a few too many mythical beings in the plot, and some of them get mentioned and never mentioned again for example the lion statues from book one. I think this is the part where editing can be more aggressive.
I liked some of the bigger reveals of the Celestes and am intrigued by the next book’s events. You can tell Errui has a plan for all of this, but once again, I would love more breadcrumbs so we can follow along more too.
Writing Style and Narration ✍️
The prose continues to be the strongest part of this series for me. Imani Errui has a magical way of handling words and I’m enchanted the entire time. I am captivated by the world she’s describing. The tone is lovely for the fantasy romance genre and my preferred style, so even though I have gripes with the plot, her writing style alone is enough to keep me engaged.
I’m a sucker for changing POVs and I loved all the added POVs to this novel. More of them please, and I feel empowered to step away from Elara and Enzo, they don’t need to be in every scene and I’d love to see other characters without them, it makes the world feel real.
I also really enjoy the super short chapters with quick changing POVs in battle scenes A Tempest of Tea also does this really well and I think it was well done.
Synopsis
Elara Searches for Eli
Enzo is lost to the dreamscapes, he is stuck, and he cannot use his magic. Only Elara’s magic works in the dreamscape. Elara is with Leo and Merissa in Castor trying to find Eli. He is not answering her calls.
Elara is a lot more bloodthirsty, and her relationship with Merissa is strained because she stabbed her in the back, literally.
Elara prays to Eli but nothing happens. Eventually she finds him drunk in his church. Eli tells her he does not trust anything and that something awakened in her. The only way to wake Enzo is to get his tether from Ariete who hid it in his dreamscape.
They eat stew in a tavern while Elara is glamoured and a crazy woman announces bad omens and prophecies. At the inn, Elara sees the ghost of an old man and wolves howling which match the prophecy.
The Snake Stone and the Fight Pit
At the docks Elara runs into Adrian the pirate from the masquerade ball who does not recognize her. They visit Belladonna’s Apothecary who gives them a hypnom to put a god to sleep. They also need a snake stone, found through a brutal fight challenge.
Leo fights in the pit while Merissa prepares as backup to steal the stone if they fail. Adrian appears and nearly drowns Leo from the inside. Leo loses. Elara snaps, jumps into the pit, is recognized, and the mob attacks. She blacks out and kills everyone who tried to harm her or Adrian.
Distraught, she wanders the streets until Eli finds her. He reveals that in her past life they were friends, but he cannot see who she is anymore. Elara throws black tar and Eli takes her to Viperveil Manor.
Dreamwalking With Eli and the History of the Moon
Ariete is in Castor drinking and sleeping around. Eli suggests Elara and Merissa pose as dancers, with Leo as their partner, so they can sneak into Ariete’s club.
Elara enters Eli’s dreamscape which is a manor. She sees memories of herself as the Moon, separated from the Sun by the Dark. She sees Eli in love with a winged woman. Nightmares overtake the dream.
Eli tells her he did not create them and that he wants to help her even though she is not the Moon he once knew. Elara realizes Eli is looking for one of the Celeste’s whom he loves.
Ariete’s Circus Dream and the Blood Oath
Elara enters Ariete’s dream which appears as a circus. Ariete disguises himself as Isra. Elara sees her past, present, and future. She learns the Moon asked Ariete to bind her through lifetimes so she could be with the Sun. She sees her many deaths.
She touches a mirror and is pulled inside. Ariete reveals he knew she was there. He challenges her with tests. He taunts her about her shadows growing more independent. She falls into the abyss and catches the circus master’s whip as a tether, but still falls.
Ariete bargains for Elara’s blood. She accepts. She wakes and escapes. Eli checks her mind, sees the blood oath, and is furious. She insists she had no choice.
Elara dream walks and finds Enzo in a noncorporeal form above the water. He tells her he loves her and dissipates. Elara realizes she loves him too. When she wakes, the Sun returns to the sky.
They return to Helios. Eli tells Elara he would serve her as his queen. Elara and Enzo reunite in the throne room. Shadows pour out of her. Enzo screams, “What did you do to my Elara?” She gives in to the darkness.
The Journey to Altalune
Adrian hears mermaids are bad luck. His sister got sick when the Moon invaded the sky, so he was looking for a snake stone to take him to a cure. Elara wakes bound in a carriage because Leo thinks she is possessed. Her shadows are out of control. They decide to travel to Altalune for a healer.
Isra lures Adrian and tells him he must help them. On the ship, Elara and Enzo reunite but touching hurts her and avoiding touch causes pain. They share quiet moments like Elara combing his hair while he is in the bath.
Crew members fear Elara. Adrian goes for a swim and meets a mermaid who warns something worse than the Moon is coming. Adrian traps them all when he believes Elara harmed his sister, but later the mermaid reveals Elara is not the Dark. Adrian frees them.
At Altalune, the healer, a mermaid, tells Elara her shadows are being eaten by the Dark and she must kill them. Adrian learns Annabel is sick with water and dark magic and needs someone with fire and light which is Enzo.
Elara decides to kill her shadows so the Dark cannot feed on her.
They perform an exorcism like ritual. A silver dragon rises inside her. Enzo and Adrian help force out the Dark. She destroys it and wakes as herself. Enzo is gone.
Adrian’s Awakening
Elara finds Enzo at a waterfall. They argue, then sleep together. After, Enzo loses control and becomes fully the Sun before shifting back.
Adrian is tested by a giant crab who hints he is one of the Celestes. Enzo attempts to heal Adrian’s sister and finds she was dead the whole time. Adrian is devastated.
Adrian’s crew tries to drown Elara. Her dragon awakens and she rises on a ghost ship. Scorpius appears with a scorpion hydra. Adrian is revealed to be the Water Celeste. He is stabbed and sinks. Oceanne, the mermaid, saves him. The crab saves Elara but dies, telling her to tell Adrian to never let the pearl go.
The Truth About the Stars
They gather at a lighthouse with Eli, Merissa, Isra, Adrian, Elara, Enzo, and Leo. Isra cannot see visions, everything is covered in a fog. She senses everything is tricks. They examine Piscea’s card and realize she is tied to the Dark.
Adrian feels broken and sleeps with O’Sian who reveals she is Kiania the Star. Elara asks if he is a traitor. He did not know. Eli explains the real origin story of the Dark, the Moon, and the creation of the Stars.
Elara feels guilty. Enzo’s tether reacts strangely. They discover her tether replaced his. They decide to confront Ariete.
Fallen Stars Ending Explained
At Hall’s Eve, Merissa is warned by a stranger. Adrian confirms O’Sian’s heart is the pearl and she is held by Scorpius.
Elara enters the graveyard and meets Lucas who asks her to free him. Shadow madness was shadows protecting mortals from the Dark. She frees him with her moonlight.
Ariete arrives asking for a truce, saying Piscea should never enter the realm. Shadows appear and Piscea arrives. Sofia has been the Dark’s vessel the whole time. When Ariete killed her, her mortal shell fell away and she became the Lost.
Sofia needed Elara and Enzo to form the dustglass so she could awaken. She has been weaving fate to make this possible. When she does not get what she wants, she kidnaps Isra and disappears.
Enzo, Elara, and Ariete go to Piscea to regroup. Leo and Adrian go to wake the other Celestes. Merissa goes to tell Eli to help find Piscea and where she took Isra.
In the epilogue, Sofia taunts Isra and tells her to prepare for the fun that is coming.
Fallen Stars Spicy Chapters
How spicy is Fallen Stars?🌶️🌶️🌶️
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 67
- Chapter 70
Sail back into Celestia with your copy of Fallen Stars 🌙🌊
So where does all of this leave us? Fallen Stars left me feeling fascinated but frustrated. I am obsessed with the prose, the world, and the Greek inspired mythical storytelling. The pacing and the plot choices are holding this series back. I am invested in Elara, Enzo, and the overall plot of the series. I will probably keep going just to see what happens next.
I would read anything Imani Errui writes in the future without hesitation, because her writing style is enchanting and captivating. I can tell she loves this world and I do too. I am hoping the next book slows down a bit to let the emotions and magic breathe.
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