Review – Soul of Stars (Heart of Iron, Book 2) by Ashley Poston (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Release Date: July 23rd, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0062847331
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Heart of Iron series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Once Ana was an orphaned space outlaw. Then she was the Empress of the Iron Kingdom. Now, thought dead by most of the galaxy after she escaped from the dark AI program called the HIVE, Ana is desperate for a way to save Di from the HIVE’s evil clutches and take back her kingdom.
Ana’s only option is to find Starbright, the one person who hacked into the HIVE and lived to tell the tale. But when Ana’s desperation costs the crew of the Dossier a terrible price, Ana and her friends are sent spiraling through the most perilous reaches of the Iron Kingdom to stop the true arbiter of evil in her world: an ancient world-ending deity called the Great Dark.
Their journey will take their sharp-witted pilot, Jax, to the home he never wanted to return to and the dangerous fate he left behind. And when Robb finds out who Jax really is, he must contend with his own feelings for the boy he barely knows, and question whether he truly belongs with this group of outcasts.
When facing the worst odds, can Ana and her crew of misfits find a way to stop the Great Dark once and for all?”
Series Info/Source: 2nd book in the Heart of Iron duology. I bought this book.
Story (4/5): I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the last book but I am struggling to pinpoint why. I think there was just too much jumping around between characters. All the jumping around was a bit jarring and I just never fell into the story like I did with the first one.
Characters (4/5): I feel like this book was a lot more focused on Jax and Robb than Ana and Di. Part of this is probably because Di is taken over by the HIVE for a lot of the book. Again, the short chapters that jumped from character to character prevented me from really engaging with the characters deeply.
Setting (4/5): The sci-fi world that is built here is very well done and detailed. Good world building in general.
Writing Style (4/5): The writing flowed well and was really easy to read but, again, the short chapters and constant jumping between POVs was distracting and made the story feel disjointed.
Summary (4/5): Overall this book sums up the duology nicely. This was an easy read and I enjoyed the world and the characters. I felt like this story jumped around a lot more than the first book did and that resulted in me just not being as engaged in this book. It was still well done, it just didn’t blow me away like the first book did.
