Book Binge

Kris' review of White Star by Elizabeth Vaughn.

In Palins, a land in the throes of upheaval, Lady High Priestess Evelyn leads a rebellion against an unjust usurper. But when she is taken prisoner by Orrin Blackhart, their clashing souls will be forged in desire, redemption, and glory...

Not much of a blurb so I will summarize a little better in a minute. This is the second book in the star series, the first is Dagger Star. That book was decent but a lot of world building so it got a little tedious at times. With this book, the world building was already done for you so you could jump right in. Reading the first book is necessary for the storyline because it continues where the first one left off but from a different perspective. Red Gloves and Josiah were the main characters in the last book. This book revolves around Evelyn and Orrin. Orrin was a great hero. He worked for the "bad guys" in the first book and I love when that happens and you can see another perspective and the motives behind them.

Well, the blurb covers the first 10 pages of the book. Here is a little more: In the previous book Evelyn is taken prisoner by Orrin Blackhart who works for the evil Baroness Elanore. When messengers return with news that Elanore is dead, Orrin thinks quick on how to best save his people. So he surrenders. Evelyn is returned to The Chosen and is granted a boon. She requests the life of Orrin Blackhart as her boon. He is released under that condition that he cleanse the land of the Black Hills from the odium that have overrun it. He has a year to do it or he forfeits his life.

It took me a few pages to get into because I had to remember what happened in the last book but once I got into it I had a hard time putting it down. The storyline moved well, there were any big down times. The characters were engaging. Orrin was a very good flawed hero. He knew he had done bad things and was trying to atone for them. Evelyn was nice and stubborn but also had a good head on her shoulders. I liked her. The story wrapped up all loose ends pertaining to this segment of the story but also gave a good segue to the next story.

If you read the first book and thought it was just okay then try this one because it was much better.

I give this a 4 out of 5.

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Read more from Kris at The Reading Spot.

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