The sequel to The Starlight Heir and the epic conclusion to the romantasy duology that Rebecca Yarros calls, “a breathtaking, sexy romantasy full of twists and adventure.”
The Kingdom of Oryndhr has been saved by the will of the Royal Stars. But King Roshan, once Sura’s best friend and chosen love, has changed. She can sense corruption growing in him, and her own magic is being twisted by his command to dangerous ends. As dreams of her strange shadow guardian return in force, she is left unsure of her path—and of her heart.
When an attempt on her life leads to her rescue on the back of an azdaha, the dragon-like creature she once thought a myth, Sura truly finds herself in uncharted territory—in a land far beyond Oryndhyr’s borders. Everlea is full of magic, ruled by the deadly and enigmatic Night King, Darrius. And to Sura’s shock, Darrius is none other than the man in her dreams…and possibly her soul fated mate.
As a prophecy unfolds, the old gods awaken, and a war between kingdoms looms, Sura has no she must fully embrace her destiny as Starkeeper and the entirety of her power before it’s too late. But all power comes at a cost…and darkness has a way of slithering into the smallest spaces.
Queen of the Night Sky is a lush, fast-paced romantasy inspired by Indian and Persian mythology,
Open door spice “Why choose” trope Yearning and heartache Magic system inspired by Vedic astrology
Title: Queen of the Night Sky (Starkeepers #2)
Author: Amalie Howard
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: March 17, 2025
Review:
Thank you to HarperAudio Adult, Avon Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I've long been a fan of Amalie Howard and her ability to cultivate stories that are diverse and interesting. I was super excited for this second installment in the Starkeeper series. The ending of book 1 definitely left me wanting more so I could see where the story goes. This one picks up right after that one ends. If you have not read book 1, you need to go back and do that before you approach this one or you will not understand a thing that is happening, although there is somewhat of a recap in the first chapter.
Warning here, there are some spoilers ahead that I just had to include in order to appropriately review this title. I tried to keep them light so you'd still want to possibly dive in and see how they progress. But you have been forewarned.
I had both a kindle copy and audio copy of this book. The narrators were all new to me and in all honesty, I listened less than reading the Kindle version because I just didn't like how the narrators presented the characters. I did enjoy the male more than the female, but overall their narration grated on me and took me out of the story.
I remember having a bit of a hard time getting into the first book in this series but once I was surrounded by the story it took off and I loved it. This book started off similarly for me. I wasn't sure where it was going or if I would like the direction. But then I got to part 2 and started to see how the story was taking shape. I will be honest and say why choose is not one of my favorite tropes. I tend to pass on the books that have this theme. But since I was already invested from book 1, and I'm usually a fan of how Howard writes her stories, I figured she would nail it correctly and make me enjoy the trope. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
I really liked Suraya's character. in book 1. She had a lot of growth and I wanted to see more of her badness come out in this book. But all that is stilted in part 1 when she is more or less abused and taken advantage of. Now, I did have my suspicions of why and how this was going on (which were confirmed later in the book) but I still didn't like it. She was belittled and had zero way to defend herself. It diminished her so much. But in part 2, she has a what I consider a personality change. Is this because of her memory loss? Of course it is, but also the changes were so abrupt from book 1 to book 2 it really turned me off to her character. She does have some growth by the end of part two as she slowly relearns who she is and this was a nice touch.
I loved Roshan in book 1, in this book, not so much. Even after the big reveal, I needed him to be gone. Once the truth came out, it was like nothing he did in part 1 mattered. I hated this. Suddenly Suraya just forgave him and, oh, still had feelings for him. HUH? She didn't even have a chance to process her anger towards Roshan and then maybe slowly forgive him. There was not emotional work, no growth in this area, at all. And of course we are introduced to the second love interest, Darrius, Suraya's soul-fated, which I figured we'd see sooner or later given her dreams. I really liked his character so much more than Roshan. His struggle with his monster and how to keep Suraya safe was very genuine and endeared me to him. And, in all honesty, I don't feel like Howard did the why choose justice with how Roshan was presented. To me, there was a clear line as to who Suraya should choose considering how poorly Roshan treated her. This book would have been much better presented as a love triangle rather than a why choose. The why choose felt forced for me and I did not feel Suraya's struggle when trying to figure out who she wanted to be with. I could not be invested in her relationship with Roshan at all.
The world building continues in this book. Now we see a bit more of the magic outside of Suraya's home and how it is used. I enjoyed this part for sure and think Howard did a nice job incorporating it into what we already knew of this world. I loved the dragon type characters. And, while their introduction absolutely reminded me of Yarros's Fourth Wing, I was able to overlook this so I could see how they fit into the story. This story is filled with political intrigue and, or course, a villain who you probably do not see coming.
I will say, part two of this book felt like a completely different story from part 1. While part 1 is a continuation of book 1, party two introduces all new elements and characters. I almost felt like part 1 could have been a novella and then part 2 could have been the actual sequel. It all just felt rushed at the end, like Howard was squeezing in the why choose because it was what she thought people might want and then trying to wrap up the duology. I would have loved to see another book that explored the why choose and the potential throuple as opposed to just ending it. The whole story felt a bit unresolved.
And I have to mention there was one line in the book that completely took me out of the story and pretty much had me not even want to continue. At one point during a love scene, the MMC talks about the FMC's private parts as "glistening alter of worship" and this totally turned me off. It was not sexy. It was not an amazing way to decribe his thoughts. It was just gross for me.
This series had lots of potential but this second book killed it for me. The pacing was inconsistent and the turn it took was not in line with the first book at all. As much as I wanted to like this book, I just didn't. The book felt full of too many things as it tried it's hardest to end the dulology. I really think it would have been better with a third book. Despite my rating, there seemed to be lots of people who loved this installment and I think it will appeal to most of Howard's audience, for sure.
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