All the Stars and Teeth

Full of adventure and twists!

"I'm excited to be a part of the ALL THE STARS AND TEETH blog tour with The Fantastic Flying Book Club from February 4th - February 11th, 2020!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, Imprint via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this affect my rating or review.

All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication.

"The sea is a beast more fearsome than even the Lusca. But we don't need to rule it. We need only for it to trust us. Work with us. Be partners.:

The island kingdom of Visidia is made of up many. Each island nation within have their own, special magic that they use and practice. Among elemental, enchantment, time, restoration, and curse magic is soul magic. Soul magic, "Animancy" is a peculiar, yet awful magic that only resides within the royal line. Unlike everyone else, royalty cannot choose which magic they desire to learn. Being the only heir to the throne that wields soul magic, Amora Montara will soon ascend the throne-if she can pass the test proving to her people that she has mastered her magic. To her horror, she learns that it masters her when she fails to keep control while exacting judgement on a criminal.

Temporarily imprisoned, Amora awaits her fate. Usually, failing the test results in a swift execution. When her betrothed visits, the son of a diplomat isn't far behind, and offers to break her out and help her prove she can rule in turn for something else. Terrified that her people won't give her another chance, she and Ferrick follow whom they soon find out to be someone else.

The pirate Bastian has wandered the ocean since he was a young boy. Cursed to his ship, he's lost the magic he could once wield. Privy to a plot much running deeper than Amora could ever suspect, he leads the duo on a nail-biting excursion across the isles to frigid waters where the home to where cursed magic lay, Zudoh. Having been banned from the kingdom previously, Zudoh is known by reputation. A terrifying ruler there began practicing more than one magic, which has always been deeply unacceptable. Forcing his people to do the same, Kaven had lost the support of Amora's father, the king, long ago.

"There's no rationalizing with a man who craves nothing but power."

Much of this information is new to Amora. The more she travels, the more she discovers that she had been kept in the dark. The entire picture is unclear, and she can no longer feign negligence. What she uncovers is a truth more unpleasant than she could have ever guessed.

"But even our idols--even those we want to love and trust more than anything--can let us down."

All The Stars And Teeth is an action-packed ride riddled with earth-shattering secrets. There is certainly an addictive quality to this sort of story. An unlikely team bands together to work fix a major problem. The reader walks directly next to Amora, experiencing life and finding out truths along with her. Naturally a steadfast and duty-driven character, Amora learns what it is like to second-guess herself and that which she believes. Raised as royalty, she's always willingly sacrificed herself for the greater-good. However, when the grounding for her standards is shaken, Amora must learn to fight for what she believes is right.

"She's more than her blood."

Opposite of her character lies Bastion. Life as a pirate isn't a kind one. Having to fend for himself, and living a relatively isolated life while cursed to his ship has forced him to grow into a complicated character.
I'm a pirate...All my life I've had to play that role just to survive, and the more I played, the more the lines got blurred of who I really was.

All The Stars And Teeth investigates the truth that when faced with adversity, there are two options: ignore the truth and become hostile, or accept that you were wrong and work to right that wrong. Bastion, Ferrick, and the mermaid Vataea each encounter this in their journey in different ways. Puzzling out solutions together is what makes this team grow and their dynamics so interesting.

I really enjoyed this story. It was easy to get swept up and away with all of the different elements and the setting. I loved many aspects of the world building, but desired more time in each place to really get a feel for how the culture shifts between each island. As most YA novels, I found that the lack of character description is present, and I wished I could have gotten a better grasp of the physical attributes of each character besides their hair and eye color. Even so, this was an entertaining story, to say the least.

Vulgarity: Minimal.
Sexual content: Passionate kissing.
Violence: Quite a bit.