Saturday, June 6, 2015

Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

First, thanks to Delacorte Press and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an egalley of this title.  I was very excited to read it as I love the books that I've read so far in another series by the author, the Soul Screamers series.  This was a different sort of story.  Still had some of the same sense of humor though for the characters as seen in the other books I've read.

The main character is a 16 year old girl named Nina.  In her world, a future for us, demons have tried to take over, and so the Church has had to kind of take over everything to keep us safe.  It all started when babies were being born, and almost every one of them would die within a day or two of being born, with no reason.  It turns out that there were no souls left, no new souls, and without a soul the babies or any human for that matter, would die.  So they had to have exorcists start taking care of the demons, which led to a war. And then they had to have people die in order for new babies to be born and live.  So someone would have to apply for a parent license first, in order to get a soul.  Usually, if you were lucky, you had a family member that would donate it to their grandchild.  If you didn't have anyone like that, there is a public registry.  Nina and her younger sister live with their mother, who is not a very good mother.  They go to the Church school, and learn all about what life should be.  But because their mother doesn't earn money like she should, the girls have to steal, well Nina does for her sister and herself.  One early morning when Nina is on her way home from getting some food, money, and uniforms for them, she is attacked by a degenerate, which is someone who is possessed by a demon. Without a soul their body degrades. She is saved by a cute boy, but she runs off before anyone can find her or that she has been out somewhere she isn't supposed to. 

This boy will end up being a part of what she will have to turn to for help when things start to just go wrong.  When her sister has a secret that could destroy all of their lives, and their mother turns out to be an even worse mother than they'd originally thought.  And they learn that the Church may not be telling them the truth, and there may be more demons, and less exorcists to help than they had thought.  And when Nina finds out that she may actually be an exorcist herself, things get really weird.

I like the story, it's a different one.  It didn't quite grab me as much as the other series did. But it did leave off in a manner that I will be eager to get the next one and find out what happens next.  I'm not sure about the romance in the story.  It's got a bit of insta-love, but it's a strange one, not sure quite how it will end up working.  When you learn about the boy, Finn, you'll understand my qualms about him.  The author does do a good story though, so it was a very interesting read, one that will hook you in so that you have to know what is going on.