by Adalyn Grace
Series: All the Stars and Teeth #1
Published on February 4, 2020 by Imprint
ISBN: 9781250307781
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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.
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All the Stars and Teeth sounded exactly like the sort of book I would love. Dangerous magic. A mysterious (and likely swoon-worthy) pirate. High seas adventures. So many things to look forward to, so it took me by surprise when I struggled to get through this book.
I think it comes down to a case of “it’s not you, it’s me” because it seems like most others enjoyed this one. For me, I was kind of bored? The first half moved pretty slowly and something about Amora’s trial and the whole losing control and having to flee sounded like it should be high tension, high action. Something you can’t put down because you have to know what’s going to happen. Instead I lost interest. Some of that was the writing which did get better as the story progressed, but a good bit of it was also the protagonist, Amora.
I just… didn’t like her. No, that’s not quite right, because I don’t necessarily need to like the main character of a story. But I didn’t care about Amora or what happened to her. Her character development felt forced and she certainly wasn’t the most interesting of the cast (with the exception of her magic taking the form of this slumbering beast which was cool, but not really given much page space to make a difference).
Oddly enough, I not only liked the side characters better, I actually shipped Ferrick and Bastian hard even though that was clearly not in the cards for this book. Bastian, the “mysterious pirate,” jumps in to save the day and at first I thought he was going to be the typical roguish love interest (which he was). But his character had so many different layers too that made me love him all the more.
And Ferrick was such a sweetheart. He and Amora are supposed to marry and he’s accepted the fact that she doesn’t love him and is just trying to make the best of the situation. This is a good guy and he’s basically used for his body (not in that way) throughout the whole book. HE DESERVED BETTER.
I even liked the mermaid, Vataea, better than our angry stubborn princess. She’s ready to tell you like it is and doesn’t put up with crap. Did I mention she’s a mermaid, and one with some wicked powers too? But she didn’t get the love I think she deserved and like Ferrick, ended up serving Amora’s story and lacked the depth I think she could have had.
In terms of the story and world… they were okay? I didn’t feel like the story itself was anything amazing, and I never really felt like the little crew was in any serious danger. There was a point around 90% through that I felt like the plot had reached its natural conclusion, just in how it was written. But the story kept going and I understood at the end why but something about it seemed off. Like I said, the beginning was slow too and while the writing and pacing improved after about 50%, that ending lost it for me. Plus, while I don’t need to be surprised all the time, the plot wasn’t terribly interesting save for one moment.
In terms of the world, there was so much and so little of it all at once, and as a whole, it came across as an attempt to have ALL the fantasy in a single space. There wasn’t enough plot to really develop that massive world, though, and I felt it suffered because of it. I’d have rather seen a tighter but more in-depth view.
I think All the Stars and Teeth was a good debut, but not great. I may consider reading the rest of the series in the future but it’s not high on my list as far as YA fantasies are concerned.
About Austine
I'm a 20-something research proposal developer with a background in the life sciences and education. Reviewer of books since 2011, amateur photographer by day, and aspiring author by night. I believe animals (and books) are better than people.
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