by Tara Sim
Series: Scavenge the Stars #1
Published on January 7, 2020 by Disney Hyperion
ISBN: 9781368051415
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide.
Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…
Packed with high-stakes adventure, romance, and dueling identities, this gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo is the first novel in an epic YA fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo.
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I wasn’t really sure how I’d feel about Scavenge the Stars, knowing it’s a re-telling of a book I never read (The Count of Monte Cristo). I’m a re-telling “purist” — I like to read the source material first. But instead I read a synopsis of Monte Cristo, dove into this book, and ended up really loving it.
I do love a good revenge story, after all.
What initially hooked me wasn’t either of the characters but the way they’re presented. We’re given alternating points-of-view each chapter but also alternating timelines for the first third of the book and while I had my guesses, I couldn’t confirm if what I thought was happening was true if I stopped reading.
So I kept going.
Scavenge the Stars was an easy world to fall into. It’s not overly complicated with a vast world and all the details and descriptions that come with it. Instead, it centers on a ship and, for most of the book, in the city-state of Moray. And it worked in its favor. I felt like I could walk the streets and see the gambling dens, the docks, the manor houses, everything. I didn’t feel lost in this world. Rather, a visitor and witness to one of the biggest cons Moray has likely ever seen.
Because oh, this isn’t just a story about revenge. It’s about all the plotting and scheming that comes with it… but also about trust. How it isn’t easily earned but quickly broken.
I really felt for Amaya. Sold to a debtor’s ship for her father’s supposed crimes, she’s worked day and night so she can return to Moray and her mother. And then she’s forced to place her trust in a stranger and everything seems great with the world. But stories have a habit of twisting and turning when you least expect it.
She’s a strong protagonist, though. Amaya will do anything for the other children who were part of the debtor ship crew she was with, and she’s also prepared to do what it takes to bring down the man responsible for putting her there (even if she doesn’t know yet how far that will take her). Amaya is a survivor, and her bravery and resilience help her more than a few times.
Counter to her is Cayo, son of a noble and relatively recently clean of a gambling addiction that nearly bankrupted his family. I admired that he was working to stay away from it all, his sister playing an important role in his life as a voice of reason, but he still struggled. if anything, it made him human. Cayo is forced to face uncomfortable truths much like Amaya and it’s what he does about them that really says something of his character.
Also there’s very little romance in Scavenge the Stars (for those who would rather avoid it) and for those like me who live for it, let me just say this is a seriously slow burn but if it’s endgame in the next/final book, it’s going to be perfect.
My only real issue was the pacing at times. There was a while there in the middle that dragged a bit and I didn’t feel the urgency that I did at the beginning or end, enough that I won’t rate this as high as possible, but it’s still good. Really good. As in, you should definitely have Scavenge the Stars on your TBR right now good.
I am very much looking forward to the sequel.
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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