As an expert thief from a minor moon, Cass knows a good mark when she sees one. The emperor’s ball is her chance to steal a fortune for herself, her ailing father, and her scrappy crew of thieves and market vendors. But on the station, things quickly go awry. When the emperor is found dead, everyone in the palace is a suspect—and someone is setting Cass up to take the fall.
Plot
While the plot summary did intrigue me when this book came across my desk, I didn’t expect it to fully pull me into the story as much as it did. But within the first chapter, I was already hooked and quickly turning pages to see what was going to happen to our unfortunate protagonist next. There are some very fun plot twists in the story (which I won’t give away!) but left me guessing for most of the middle section of the story. And I was happy to see the story came to a satisfying conclusion as a standalone story, which has been difficult to find in YA Science Fiction recently.
Characters
In the first few scenes, I couldn’t quite make out Cass’s personality. She’s a con woman at heart so in many of the opening scenes, as we see her manipulate and fool other characters, it’s difficult to get a sense of who the true Cass is. But as the book gets deeper into the story, we see her true colors come out through her interactions with Amaris, a rebel she allies herself with to clear her name. While I would have preferred to see more of Cass’s personality earlier on, their scenes together are fun and entertaining enough to make me forgive the author for the slower revelation.
Setting
The world-building in Science Fiction can always be tricky, as there’s a lot to learn about technology, cultures, and typography, and in a fast-paced novel like this one, it can be difficult for the author to clearly set the stage before the plot takes over. I was pleasantly surprised by the world-building in this story, it wasn’t exceptionally lush or complicated but that worked well for the story. I understood enough fo the dynamics and politics to figure out the tension between the characters and to appreciate Cass’s motivations.
My Recommendation
Stars Hide Your Fires is Jessica Mary Best’s debut novel. This fast-paced and thrilling young adult science fiction story was pitched as KNIVES OUT goes to space and that is the perfect, quick summary of what you can expect. There’s some exciting storytelling, dynamic character interactions, and subtle but satisfying world-building, making this the perfect read for lovers of mysteries and Sci-Fi. I highly recommend this book to fans of the genre or even readers who are curious and want to dip their toe into the fantasy/sci-fi world.
