Book Review: Starsigns

Starsigns

By:  A.F. Grappin

Publish Date:  December 12, 2016

Format:  eBook

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  Stand-alone

First Impression:  Two beliefs collide in one world, with one person.

Synopsis:
Cair has waited his whole life for the Night Festival and the ceremony where his fate will be read. His family has a history of amazing fates, and Cair can barely contain his anticipation to have his future revealed at last.

But fate is cruel. The stars reveal that Cair is among the Fateless, those doomed souls who bring disaster and ruin to all the lives they touch until a horrific death finally claims them. Unwilling to accept this destiny, Cair forms a plan.

He's going to find a way to change his fate.

Or die trying.

First Sentence:
I heard the unmistakable sound of glass breaking on the other side of the door and jumped.

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My Thoughts and Summary:
*I offered to read this book for an honest review.

We get to know the world in the beginning with Cair going to the Night Festival to have the Face of his star sign read his fate. After the fairy believers "crash" the festival, Cair learns he is among the small number over the years to be Fateless. But his sister and brother got fates that scared them, to say their good-byes. Maybe, like a Fateless in the past, Cair can change the fates of his siblings and save their lives.

Part one is from Cair's POV. Part two is from Almira's POV. Both children with fates they don't want or like. Or, in Cair's case, no fate. Part three is from Tivory's POV. Tivory is an interesting character that I don't want to give too much away on. He's special.

There was a point, toward the end of the book, when Cair makes a complete 180 turn in his belief and thinking. I didn't understand the drastic change. I think it's to be related to him wanting a fate and finally being told he has one that's to make that flip in him, but it didn't feel to work for me. He'd spent much time with his friend that's a fairy, to see things from their side and learn. I can see how both sides are related and should work together, but they are working at drastic extremes and Cair is going with it, he's a young and impressionable kid.

Cair learns about the world in his adventures. There is more to what is around him than he knew. And with Almira's help, he starts to see that. Even with Tivory, he learns things about what he believed that aren't as he was taught.

Cair makes mistakes as the story goes, but he learns from them. Or tries too. Cair has the right intentions but things go a little askew and don't result in the planned way. This is something that happens to many people, and we have to deal with the results, just like Cair is trying to do.

I liked the world created with star sign readings as a way of life in contrast to the way of faery life beliefs. The world building comes through in the story strongly with these two beliefs. They are two different subjects now, and people believe one or the other. Depending on which you believe is where you live, and how the other group treats you. The thing I saw though, that the two different groups didn't see, is they really needed each other. They felt to be two halves of a whole that probably was separated many, many years ago - so long ago that people probably don't remember. In the end of the story this feels to come to this feeling. I really liked it.

The story feels like a gentle, one step at a time read. We get through one problem and come to the next focus with Cair. It's a book that feels to be a very good read for young adults. The story is one of growing for Cair and Almira. Even of accepting yet fighting on, maybe you can make a change.



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