Book: All the Chaos of Constellations by Hillary Raymer
Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy
Rating: 5/5
All the Chaos of Constellations 4.75*
✨ TROPES & THEMES ✨
✔️ Bridgerton vibes, but make it fae ✔️ unrequited love
✔️ fake dating
✔️ court politics
✔️ standalone HEA, in series with overall story arch
✔️ angst and tension, so much tension ✔️ swoonworthy one-liners & spice
✔️ anxiety rep
✔️ rejected mates
" You want me to stay?" "Correction", he muttered, his voice thick with drowsiness. "I'm not allowing you to leave."
Hillary Raymer blends Bridgerton and the fea genres so seamlessly that it’s bound to draw you in! From the strong characters to the vivid landscapes, the unique magic system that had me very intrigued (with powers I have never read about before!), the wardrobe choices, and the exquisite partie's. I just wanted to climb into my kindle to experience this world and all its wonder because each detailed description really brought the world to life—I could practically see, feel, and even smell it all with every word i continued to read. She makes you love and hate the main characters and side characters with fierce passion.
"You're flirting with def"
The drama of this story, WOW. I couldn’t put it down. I needed answers. It held my attention literally the entire time I read- and i read this in one sitting, until 5.30am- kids be dammed, as i seriously COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! I haven't been this captivated in ages!
I read this book originally to prepare for the next book. Although this series can be read as standalones, it was recommended to read the first. And I am glad I did!
“My soul chose you, and I would rather spend an eternity in the fires of hell than ever live a day without you.”
Personally I love that the FMC was ruled by the stars and believed in fate and playing her part, I absolutely love the gentle femininity of her as well as her refusal to not be seen as just a piece of meat, I love that she knows her worth and strives to find what she wants. I wish we could have got more family history, especially more sibling details.
I love both MMC's and enjoyed the relationships, and both of the MMC's were HOT! I would have been happy with Ash or Our Shadow daddy as I love them both. It's rare to find myself routing for the villain, but give me Drake any day! It seemed like there was more of a connection there, so I'm very intrigued to see where this now goes! The story is very character driven with a strong plot, but the summary gave too much away for me.
Some things that distracted me were that Nova has a rare power- but what does it do exactly? We are told of a coup, but were not very informed on the politics so we don't really care about the coup and so therefore can't choose sides, or truly understand the Motives of either side. And I do enjoy a bully romance this was very much a story about a guy saying no and the girl chasing and pushing and tricking him into saying yes- if your OK with that (as I am) then you will LOVE this. (Just something to think about)
This book is one huge romance, it's Bridgeton in the fay world, we got to watch as the MC's overcome trauma together with a little help from some subterfuge and plotting, although this book is about Novalise and Asher, the next is about someone else -one of Nova’s siblings. and while our main couple got their HEA (hopefully a wedding to follow in the next book), this overall story isn’t done yet, It’s just getting started. so, dear reader... shall we move on to book two.
KEY POINTS
*I felt the tingle in my chest when the MC's bons finally formed!
*I LOVE ATHE WRITING STYLE AND THE WRITING OF THE SPICY SCENES
in particular
*I love how strong the fmc is and how she has a hidden dark side!
DISLIKES
*I wish the magic lore/ history was more detailed so the reader could better understand the 'rules'
*How hard the names were to pronounce,
*The ending - it didn't tie up many things into nice bows.