all the stars and teeth amora and bastian

I loved the world-building and the magic system, the way each island contains one type of magical ability, even though it, of course, creates separation among the people, which has become a problem in and of itself. This book is dark and gritty and shimmering with power. It's up to Amora and Bastian to save their beloved homes, but only by working together. Some of the islands are rebelling, and want the ability to perform multiple magics, including the cursed soul magic. She is rescued by Bastian, who pirates her away onto his ship and told about horrors occurring within the kingdom. Instead, she gets distracted during the ceremony and loses control of her powers, causing the kingdom to lose faith in her. Her magic is dangerous and cursed, but she is fully in control. She's ready for this, has been training for years. The story revolves around Princess Amora Montara, who has been practicing soul magic her entire life, and is about to showcase her skills to the kingdom and officially become heir to the throne. ( Check out my review!) I will say, however, if you go into this one expecting a high-sea adventure full of mermaids and pirates and sea monsters, they're all there, but they're secondary, and the book is about so much more than that, about the intensity and high stakes of the kingdom in peril. Perhaps something like TO KILL A KINGDOM by Alexandra Christo, another of my 2018 favorite books, which is all about the mermaids and the pirates.

However, it wasn't at all what I was expecting! Truth be told, I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting.

This quickly shot up to one of the books I was most excited about in 2020, which made the pressure to love it as much as I wanted to super intense going into this one. And.sea monster tentacles? The summary was AMAZING. It had a blurb from Tomi Adeyemi, who wrote one of my 2018 favorite novels, CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE ( Check out my review!). I'm really glad I picked up ALL THE STARS AND TEETH by Adalyn Grace despite that fear.

What if it doesn't live up to my expectations and I get a crash of disappointment? But also, what if it supersedes those expectations and I fall desperately in love? Sometimes I freeze and can't read the book, out of that fear. I am always a little nervous when I pick up a book I've been desperately craving. I'm sure it will work better than I can imagine.' 'If it's a legendary weapon, it deserves a legendary name.' ” ~ALL THE STARS AND TEETH

All the stars and teeth amora and bastian