“The best science fiction novel I have read in a long time. I was absolutely captivated from the first page.” — Lyssa Chiavari, author of the Iamos Trilogy “A dark and dangerous tale of secrets and intrigue brightened by one young woman’s passion for music… Romance, music, and intergalactic conspiracies make this a fascinating coming-of-age story quite unlike anything I’ve ever read.” — Karissa … read.” — Karissa Laurel, author of the Stormbourne Chronicles
Some melodies reach across the stars.
In 2157, the Adryil—an advanced race of telepathic humanoids—contacted Earth. A century later, 15-year-old violist Iris Lei considers herself lucky to attend Papilio, a prestigious performing arts school powered by their technology. Born penniless, Iris’s one shot at a better life is to attract an Adryil patron. But only the best get hired, and competition is fierce.
A sudden encounter with an Adryil boy upends her world. Iris longs to learn about him and his faraway realm, but after the authorities arrest him for trespassing, the only evidence she has of his existence is the mysterious alien device he slipped to her.
When she starts hearing his voice in her head, she wonders if her world of backstabbing artists and pressure for perfection is driving her insane. Then, she discovers that her visions of him are real—by way of telepathy—and soon finds herself lost in the kind of impossible love she depicts in her music.
But even as their bond deepens, Iris realizes that he’s hiding something from her—and it’s dangerous. Her quest for answers leads her past her sheltered world to a strange planet lightyears away, where she uncovers secrets about Earth’s alien allies that shatter everything she knows.
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WOW! I cannot believe how much I truly enjoyed this book. I am nearly completely at a loss for words. I could hardly put this book down and I cried during a few scenes. Mary Fan is an incredible writer and I am so happy that I decided to read this book. My only wish is that I read it at the end of February so I didn’t have to wait for the next book! I would recommend this book to anyone and I cannot wait to see what the two lovers go through in Wayward Stars. I fell in love with the characters the moment I began reading this book, and I hope that more people read this book and love it as much as I do. Reading this book will take anyone on a wonderful journey, emotions being messed with at every corner. You will be able to imagine the entire world Mary Fan built with ease and the character development was well done. I really liked how each chapter had a unique picture that could be linked to something in the chapter. I thought it was very unique, as was the story. DON’T HESITATE. READ THIS BOOK.
A great story about what it’s like to have big aspirations and do what you love only to become a commodity.
This book was nonstop conflict, and I could barely put it down. There is some terrifying mind control that goes on that makes what happens in the Lunar Chronicles look like no big deal.
This is so creative and one-of-a-kind, but the only things I felt could have been improved were the way some things were explained. For example, we aren’t really told why the aliens can’t just learn music & dance themselves, and there were some discrepancies such as recordings of events that it seemed weird that there was a recording of in existence.
I was asked to voluntarily read and review Starswept and I am extremely happy for the opportunity! This book was literally out of this world! I have never read anything like it and it amazes me how complex and thought out the whole thing was, with both the two worlds, the plot and even the characters and relationships. Mary Fan’s imagination and depth has no beginning or end. I’m not just impressed. I’m freaking awed at her writing talent.
To say this book was unique is an understatement. The whole idea behind the Art of humans and the aliens seeing it as a value, the system of employment in another world and the huge twists (no spoilers here) is just a few things that stood out. What I especially loved was the alien civilization and their relations to humans. It was very detailed and beautiful in a sort of cruel way, without giving too much away. Even their technology and telepathy was thought out and worked wonderfully with the rest of the story.
The plot to the story is actually kind of scary because it is so accurate. I’m not saying that in the future aliens will come and employ us for our artistic talents. It’s the future, so who knows what will happen and what it will look like. The whole factor of technology becoming almost more superior than humans and taking over our jobs though. That is already starting to happen which makes it so scarily accurate and relatable. Because while machines can take most of the jobs, there are one thing they can’t replace and that is art such as singing/ music, comedy (although that was not a thing in the book) and dance. This book complements this very well and I can understand the value the author put it as, because that is basically the one and only thing I can think of that technology can’t take away from us. It just blows my mind of thorough and deep The author was with her story.
Then the absolute best part of the story, the star crossed romance. It was beautifully poetically written in a way, with two lovers light years way from each other who can never be with one another or even touch for that matter. The whole aspect that they came from different worlds and how the technology with holograms made them able to communicate and get to know each other was very cleverly written. The secrets and mysteries that stood between them and the fear of never seeing each other again really gave the romance a dramatic twist and I’m all for drama. It was just amazingly beautiful!
I usually don’t find science fiction my thing so I was happily surprised how much I loved this book. It honestly blew me away how much I enjoyed it, both the futuristic stuff, the whole art aspect and most of all the romance. To sum it up, this book was perfect for me. Sure, as in any book there are always flaws, but honestly, everything I loved about this book made me completely forget to look for what needed to be worked on more. Job well done Mary Fan!
STARSWEPT is an entirely unexpected novel. Although “Science Fiction Romance” is an emerging genre, there aren’t too many that are crafted so well, with such a terrific amount of world-building and greater plot. I don’t recall a “Romance” with structure, world-building, and social observations as keen as this since THE HUNGER GAMES.
Good book. Interesting concept and plot. Enjoyable characters. Easy to tead.
I enjoyed this book. It had well developed characters. Very believable and realistic. Makes you want to continue to read the next in the series.
Good read for pre teens and teens
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the concept was original for this futuristic society and the characters came to life. It may be a teen, young adult novel, but even as an older adult, I thought it was extremely entertaining and readable.
I struggled with the rating on this. I really wanted to say 3 stars, but … A great premise, and it did get less obsessive-introverted as it went along.
But jimminy. All the mental processing Iris did …. Someone would say something, and we’d have 2 pages of her thinking about it, associating, remembering, what have you. Then she’d answer, and the process would repeat.
I almost stopped several times because of this. Just too much. Find a better way to let the reader know the back story, please!
But yes, once I got settled into it, it’s a compelling story, but not enough that I’ll read the next one. One was enough.
With an intriguing premise and captivating mysteries to be solved, Starswept will grab you by the hand and take you on an unforgettable journey.
When I first heard about the concept behind Mary Fan’s new young adult novel, I was immediately intrigued. In order to escape a bleak life on Earth, talented children are raised competing with each other in various arts for limited spots as performers on an alien world. Yes, please! First of all, space. And aliens. And it has this unique artistic/creative element. Obviously a recipe for a whole lot of awesome. But secondly, it’s just not quite like anything else I’ve heard of before, and it raises all kinds of interesting social implications which (as anyone who’s read some of my book reviews should know by now) are kind of My Thing™. After seeing some of the author’s posts on social media about the book, I decided I definitely needed to get a copy. Fast forward a few months, and here we are.
This book did not disappoint. Protagonist Iris Lei narrates, which definitely brought the artistic focus of the story to center stage and worked well given the setup. I loved the descriptions of performances and music that were woven into the story. Many times, I felt like I was in the scene watching the dancers along with Iris or hearing her play her music. I also loved how so much of what Iris perceives is presented through this lens of art and music and her relationship to it. It definitely made her come to life on the page and took me right inside her head.
The first half of the book felt a little slow to me and even got somewhat repetitive in places, but once the story hit that half-way mark, things really escalated and I could hardly put it down. And, now that I know the book is going to have a sequel, I appreciate the author taking the time to build those relationships and flesh out the setting of the Papilio school early on in the story. I especially loved all the big reveals towards the middle and end of the book as we finally get some answers to the questions we’ve been asking along the way. It all fell into place so well and gave the story a much more sinister, dystopian vibe than I was expecting, which was fantastic.
Characters were well-developed and engaging, including many of the minor ones. I liked Iris as a protagonist and identified with her passion for her art and her quiet determination. Milo and Cara were my favorite characters–Milo because of his optimism and internal struggle with the consequences of being an Artist, and Cara because of her snark and dedication to her cause. I will definitely be looking forward to (hopefully) seeing more of both of them in the next book. I wasn’t quite as invested in Iris’ alien love interest, Damiul. He felt a little generic to me, but I did like how his story-line played out and the reveal we got about the secrets he’d been keeping from Iris.
Overall, this was a great read and I’m glad I picked it up. If you enjoy YA science fiction and are looking for something with a unique premise, you should definitely give this one a try.
Simply amazing sci-fi dystopia. Starswept tells the story of Iris Lei, a young viola prodigy at a prestigious school for artists. She dreams of increasing her rank enough to gain a sponsor, someone who will pay off her school debt and allow her to live her life playing the instrument she loves. That is until she meets a young Adryil boy by the name of Damiul who teaches her that nothing is like it seems. Desperate to rescue Damiul from the dangers he is caught in, Iris learns about the true testament of friendship and love and finds a new purpose in her life.
With strongly written characters and scenes, Starswept is a real page turner. I’ve never read anything like it before and I can guarantee it will be an instant hit with YA readers.