Date of Completion: 23/02/2021
There’s no denying that ‘All the Stars and Teeth‘ is an entertaining, action-packed read. Even so, it could have been far more thrilling if it were not stuffed with various tropes associated with most young adult (YA) fantasy books. These tropes make the storyline painfully average and predictable.
Take, for instance, the main character – princess Amora Montara. The burden she feels from the expectations of others and herself makes her very relatable. However, her character soon becomes repetitive and one-dimensional as her desire to be a great ruler is mentioned repeatedly.
I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.
Unfortunately, the other characters in this book do not fare any better. We have a typical love interest who is handsome, charming and shrouded in mystery. Of course, Amora initially finds him both annoying and attractive so that the enemies-to-lovers trope can be checked off. Whilst this did lead to some very entertaining banter, these moments were not enough to keep me invested in the forced, budding romance.
Naturally, to complete the classic love triangle, there is also another love interest who Amora is not interested in. I honestly pitied this poor guy as she initially treats him like crap by constantly cutting him off and dismissing him. Thankfully, before the book ends Amora recognises her terrible behaviour and the situation is handled.
It’s not too late for us; we are not the mistakes of our family.
Then there’s the writing. Picturesque and imaginative, it is actually one of my favourite things about this book. Even the action scenes were easy to follow as Adalyn Grace skilfully details what takes place. That being said, certain features of the writing also made the story less engaging for me.
Firstly, there are far too many exaggerated descriptions of Amora’s feelings for my liking. These quickly became jarring and were rewarded with numerous eye-rolls. Secondly, the world-building mainly consists of a huge information dump at the start of the book. While Adalyn does try to convey this information creatively, there’s no denying the paragraphs filled with undiluted information about the various islands and magic system.
Nonetheless, I did learn something new which I found really exciting: Pink dolphins exist! In all my 20+ years on this earth, I did not know this and I initially thought it was part of the world-building. However, a quick Google search proved that these animals really exist and are known as Amazon river dolphins. For those like me who did not know this, you’re welcome!
In a nutshell, ‘All the Stars and Teeth‘ is another nice and entertaining book that falls prey to the use of many YA fantasy tropes. I would still recommend it as an easy, fast-paced read set against the beautiful backdrop of the sea.
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