Overview: ‘Eyes Like Stars’ is a recent, enjoyable, and candy YA Star Wars story

A damaged lightsaber. A Wild Spacer with stars in his eyes. A proficient younger lady on the lookout for a uncommon e-book in her favourite sequence. Pieces of Alderaan. The encroaching First Order. And the perfect historical past tour cruise line within the galaxy.

All of those parts mix to make Eyes Like Stars, an adventurous, healthful, and romantic younger grownup Star Wars novel by Ashley Poston. It’s the primary e-book in Star Wars’ new assortment of style tales. YA romance Eyes Like Stars is up first, then comes Hiding from the Dark by Kiersten White (middle-grade horror) on Sept. 1.

In Eyes Like Stars, we step into the well-traveled sneakers of Ardent Quay, a younger pilot who works aboard her household’s trip starship, the Starfarer. As a part of Hyperlight Tours, the Starfarer and the Quays ferry vacationers across the galaxy to go to historic websites — from the Graveyard of Alderaan and Yavin 4 to Naboo, Geonosis, and Ghorman. Basically the cruise ship itinerary of my desires.

The Century of Change Tour begins on Coruscant, the place Ardent sneaks off the ship to enterprise into the decrease ranges of the city-planet to discover a uncommon copy of a e-book — the final installment in a pulpy romance serial Ardent’s late mom beloved. It’s on Coruscant the place Ardent’s actual, life-changing journey begins after getting snarled with Sian, a (actually) starry-eyed archeologist on the run from the First Order with a damaged lightsaber. Sian turns into a stowaway on the Starfarer, and Ardent will get a style of the thrills and adventures available outdoors the partitions of her well-traveled spaceship residence.

Because of the e-book’s advertising tags and abstract, I went into Eyes Like Stars with sure expectations. As Star Wars’ first romance novel — no less than, one which’s particularly labeled as such — I anticipated a candy love story to be on the coronary heart of the e-book. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The romance between Ardent and Sian was extra of a subplot, as was the specter of the First Order, till the top of the e-book.

What we obtained as an alternative was a completely pleasing, well-paced journey from a recent voice within the Star Wars publishing group. Eyes Like Stars is stuffed with connections to previous tales, however can simply be loved by itself by even the latest Star Wars readers. The massive cameos and Easter eggs don’t really feel shoe-horned in or clunky, however as an alternative assist set up the story through the New Republic period of the timeline (slightly over a yr earlier than The Force Awakens).

With a powerful begin, a bittersweet finish, and an enthralling fundamental character informed from her perspective, Eyes Like Stars is a superb addition to the Star Wars canon. It is a genuinely good story with new characters you could’t assist however love immediately. It meets the excessive commonplace for complicated, character-driven storytelling set by earlier YA Star Wars tales. It’s a stable standalone e-book that additionally builds out a spot within the timeline. It’s additionally a kind of books you could inform how a lot enjoyable the creator had writing it.

My solely gripes with this e-book don’t have anything to do with the story itself, however with the way it was labeled and promoted. Billed because the “first ever Star Wars YA romance,” Eyes Like Stars is extra about Ardent’s character journey. Her relationship with Sian is integral to her development, however I’d argue that their slow-burn love story will not be an important component in driving the plot. Meeting Sian was the catalyst that put Ardent on the trail to a distinct future. What she realized and skilled alongside him led her to query her true emotions in regards to the household enterprise and her place within the galaxy. The driving forces behind her selections had been the relationships with and emotions about her father (Captain Hansifred Quay) and her brother (Val Quay), who had been gone for 3 years. Ardent’s budding romance with Sian was simply one other a part of that journey.

I fear that the romance label will set unrealistic expectations for readers who’re on the lookout for slightly extra kissing and steamy pressure. I blame (positively) Lost Stars for setting the usual for Star Wars YA romance.

Again, Eyes Like Stars is a superb e-book. The romance is good and healthful and made me want there was extra witty banter, flirting, and craving. The romance facet of the story would additionally profit from a couple of chapters from Sian’s POV — the younger man’s a yearner, I’m certain, and I’d like to learn his ideas about sure scenes with Ardent. There can be numerous coronary heart, humor, and attraction that steadiness out the high-stakes adventures. As quickly as I completed the e-book, I missed the characters and wished to learn it over again. When the audiobook comes out, I simply would possibly try this.

Star Wars: Eyes Like Stars by Ashley Poston is out now from Random House Books for Young Readers.

Thank you to Random House Books for the evaluation copy!