The Fate of Stars

Sea and Stars, Book 1

By: S D Simper

Narrated by: Lois Ridge

Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

"The Fate of Stars, the first book in the Sea and Stars trilogy, is delightfully dark and sexy, full of lush imagery, vibrant characterization, and enough adrenaline to keep me up way past my bedtime." (Anna Burke, award winning author of Thorn and Compass Rose)

A devout mermaid. A disgraced princess. A feud as ancient as the gods.

Worlds collide when Tallora is kidnapped from her ocean home and forced to be a pet to a tyrannical foreign empire. Her only hope for rescue lies with a sworn enemy - Princess Dauriel, infamous for her stone heart and conflicted past. But when Dauriel’s kingdom comes to the cusp of war, could their uneasy alliance be the key to defeating a common foe? Or will their growing feelings for each other lead them to ruin?

From the world of Fallen Gods comes a tale of ancient magic and cutthroat politics - and finding redemption through love.

"If you like your fantasy with an extra dark twist, exceptional world building and deeply complex characters then reel this book in fast. You’ll be hooked. Oh, and mermaids! Enough said." (The Lesbian Review)

©2020 Endless Night Publications (P)2020 Endless Night Publications

Nope

Well, the narrator’s choice of voice for the mermaid almost made me stop listening. If you don’t mind Barbie-goes-Valley-Girl voices then you’ll be fine.
This book probably makes for a better reading experience than it does in audio format. The author’s overuse of the word “stole” would drive me insane if I had to read it but hearing it throughout the last third of the book scarred me for life.
Fans of The Walking Dead tv show may remember the social media outrage over how they handled, or appeared to handle, pigs in one episode. (No real animals mistreated, of course.) Violence against animals, especially beloved creatures like horses, is a huge risk for an author. It’s unnecessary to the story line in this case when it happens near the end and left a bad taste in my mouth.
The political intrigue in this story is not fleshed out enough to make it a prime motivator for characters.
The epilogue tries to set the stage for the next book but it ain’t happening for me, folks.
It may not sound like I think so, fellow readers, but I think the author is talented. I came away thinking this book didn’t know what it really wanted to be.

Toxic

Kinda toxic some Stockholm syndrome vibes.
The relationship progresses to fast with no redemption arc (I mean kinda but it was so minimal and so fast I don’t really count it) and I just think this is not a good image to send considering the power imbalance

Not for me. TW: animal abuse, captive/torture violence

I really wanted to like this one- a mermaid falling for a princess?! I saw the reviews about the animal abuse towards the end of the book and was just planning to skip over. But I couldn’t even finish this. The narrator was a bit annoying with the valley girl, but it didn’t bother me too much. What DID is the constant description of being held captive. I knew the storyline but didn’t find the torture, chains, or hateful way the characters spoke to each other- even if they were building, it was too upsetting for me wanting a fun read. Not my style personally but if you enjoy BDSM, this is for you!

What’s not to love? It’s got mermaids/lesbians

I never know what to write for book reviews but I hope you give this one a chance. It’s not like any other books that I read or listen to. I think it’s really unique and different and it takes some twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. It has love anguish, romance, sexiness and action.

Couldn't finish

The story is weird and disturbing, feels like someone's sexual fantasy. The narrators choice in voices for the characters is strange and makes listening hard. It disturbed me and I stopped a few chapters in. To be fair, maybe it gets better.

Tear jerker

I absolutely adored this book, but cried the entirety of last few chapters. Angst abundant.

Need more woman on woman romance novels

I very much enjoyed this book. I was looking for some lesbian/bi/woman on woman novels. It is astonishingly difficult to find decent ones.

While not the saucy, heavy heated novel I was hoping for, it quelled my thirst. Enough so that I felt I should leave a review encouraging others to give it a listen.

A wild ride

I enjoyed the first few chapters, but I found forgiveness was given far too quickly and the romance unbelievable and unengaging. I even found myself rooting against them at times.

The VA for this book made some really interesting choices for the character voices and I have to say they did NOT pay off in my opinion. The valley girl accent made moments that were means to be tragic, sweet, serious and even deadly absolutely hilarious instead which really cemented my inability to take this book seriously.

It's not horrible. I could see someone liking it, I finished the whole thing, but it wasn't very good.
There's also a borderline fetishization of SA that made me uncomfortable. So read at your own risk.

Gay Mermaids, nuff said

Definitely worth checking out if you like wlw romance, butch lesbians, and gay mermaids. I honestly never expected to love this series as much as I do

Great story

Very unique story. Love the inclusion of two female lovers, however, I wish the performance wasn’t so “valley girl” for the main character. Everyone else’s voice was performed so well.

Excited for the next one

A good first installment, I’m excited to see what happens next! I enjoyed the majority of the book, but felt some incidences could have been more drawn out and detailed, particularly towards the end of the book. I liked the enemies-to-lovers romance between the two MCs. I really couldn’t stand the voice chosen for Tellora though, but with that being said, the narrator was excellent.