All the Stars Teeth by Adalyn Grace — ARC Review

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

Summary:

Publication Date: February 4th, 2020

Set in a kingdom where danger lurks beneath the sea, mermaids seek vengeance with song, and magic is a choice, Adalyn Grace’s All the Stars and Teeth is a thrilling fantasy for fans of Stephanie Garber’s Caraval and Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series.

She will reign.

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer—the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.

When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.

But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder—and more peril—than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.

I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.

Review: 3 Stars

When I first saw the cover of this novel and read it’s blurb I was very excited. The hype for this book grew and I started to worry if it would live up to my expectations. There were so many aspects of All the Stars and Teeth that I had such high hopes for and in many ways I was pleased with how this one turned out, but there were also some aspects that fell very short of my expectations, I had hoped that this could be a 5 star read, but as the book went on I found it easier and easier to set it down.

All the Stars and Teeth had island and ocean settings that I really loved. The story was filled with pirates, royalty, magic and mermaids, all of which were described in detail. The world building was done really well, helping the reader form a vivid picture of this magical world surrounded by the sea. I also really enjoyed the writing. Adalyn Grace knows how to show a reader things rather than tell them plainly. Her writing easily captured feelings that are impossible to describe like freedom, love and loyalty. When I was about halfway into All the Stars and Teeth I felt as if the book could turn out to be a 5 star read for me.

But then the book took a turn for the worse. A little over halfway through the book I started steadily losing interest. The plot felt as if it was falling apart and by the end I didn’t care what happened at all. The evils that Amora was fighting against didn’t feel real and the truth and the lies about magic and the history of the world became convoluted. I felt like the author was trying to pull off this big twist and somewhere in there I lost interest. The beginning of the book was so great and I tore right through it, but the second half really dragged for me and I couldn’t make myself care about the plot anymore. The first half was fun and entertaining, but the second half felt muddled with politics and a twist that just didn’t work for me.

Overall I’m disappointed. I think I will check out the next book that Adalyn Grace comes out with, because her writing really has potential, but this book fell short of what it could have been. I enjoyed a lot of this book, but I also dragged myself through about half of it. I really wanted to love this book, but All the Stars and Teeth was a big disappointment for me.