Title: Star Eater
Author: Kerstin Hall
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Horror, LGBTQ
Publisher: Tor.com Publishing
(Macmillan Publishing)
Date published: June 22, 2021
A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
All martyrdoms are difficult.
Elfreda Raughn will avoid pregnancy if it kills her, and one way or another, it will kill her. Though she’s able to stomach her gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Sisterhood of Aytrium’s magical bloodline horrifies her. She wants out, whatever the cost.
So when a shadowy cabal approaches Elfreda with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Sisterhood, and enters a glittering world of opulent parties, subtle deceptions, and unexpected bloodshed.
A phantasmagorical indictment of hereditary power, Star Eater takes readers deep into a perilous and uncanny world where even the most powerful women are forced to choose what sacrifices they will make, so that they might have any choice at all.
⤖ My Review ⬻
Kerstin Hall’s Star Eater was one of my most-anticipated reads of 2021, and it did not disappoint. I was obsessed! (I even posted a TikTok and an IG Reel about how obsessed I was.) The cannibal nun aspect of the synopsis was an incredible draw for me on its own, but once I started reading, things just got better and better. I had so many questions! And the story kept me engaged throughout. The horror aspects of Star Eater were great––I was stoked with how well it was integrated into the story and how gruesome some of the more violent scenes were. I also liked how genres were mixed in this one, and how the main genre (aside from the horror of course) was kept ambiguous for the majority of the book––it kept me guessing and I loved it!
I enjoyed reading this book from the perspective of the main character as it gave insight into the world of Star Eater, while also keeping some things hidden––e.g. the reader doesn’t know anything the main character doesn’t know. I liked that I didn’t find out some pretty important reveals until the main character found them out.
The last thing I want to note before wrapping up this review is that I’m not sure about the way Star Eater was categorized as an adult book. Initially I thought it might be because of the horror aspect, but I’ve been finding that not only adult books feature descriptive horror these days. My impression was that Star Eater read like more of a young adult book rather than adult. This isn’t a bad thing, of course, but categorizing it as YA might ensure that reader expectations are more likely to be met.
All in all, I really enjoyed Star Eater throughout––I enjoyed reading it quite a bit, and when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about how much I wanted to be reading it rather than whatever other thing I was doing. The writing was enjoyable, the descriptions were vivid, and there was quite a bit of gore and action, which made me happy! I definitely recommend this one to those who enjoy horror and/or books that blend genres.
⤖ About the Author ⬻
⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻
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Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
Great review! I was really looking forward to this one, but somehow haven’t picked it up yet, and you just made me super excited all over again about it!
Thank you so much, Destiny! And yay I’m so glad! And I hope you’ll enjoy it when you do pick it up 🙂