One Starry Knight

Starry Knight Saga, Book One

By: Carrie Lynn Thomas

Narrated by: Joyce Oben

Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Sage Cassidy is falling for a boy from out of this world.

Her mom is an alcoholic with a taste for abusive boyfriends, her only friend at school quit talking to her, and the popular girls call her a freak. But none of that matters to 17-year-old Sage. Not since seven years ago when a mysterious boy named Adam pulled her from the dark depths of Lake Superior and gave her something to live for.

A best friend. A confidante. A first kiss.

When Adam appears in the lake one spring night in an explosion of light, Sage learns he is more than just the boy who visits every summer and leaves her to dream about him all winter. Adam is part alien, and he is caught in a cosmic custody battle between a human mother and a powerful otherworldly father.

Eighteen years ago, Adam was given permission to spend his summers with his mother. But the agreement ends this summer, and unless Sage can find a way to keep him with her on earth, Adam will be leaving earth and Sage...forever.

©2019 Carrie Lynn Thomas (P)2019 Carrie Lynn Thomas

Amazing

I received this book by request in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing!! I couldn’t stop listening. It completely began and kept me in the story the whole time. Friendship and love. Abusive relationships and overcoming obstacles. This book had everything. I couldn’t have asked for more. I look forward to more in this series and from this author. The performance was also stellar!!

I may pick it back up again...

When I saw this book offered on Audiobook Boom I didn't hesitate to request it- it sounded like something I'd really enjoy. Even though I'm way past the typical YA demographic, it's still one of my favorite genres.

Unfortunately, I should have taken more heed of the first part of the second sentence in the blurb. While I was enjoying the storyline with Sage and her best friend Adam, and learning about his background, I have such a hard time with parents like Sage's mom. I really cannot stand when a parent is so selfish that they only care about their happiness and have no concern for the child they brought into the world. She played a big enough part in this book that it made it hard for me to get past. And ultimately the reason I'm putting this aside for now. That may not make sense to others, but when I found myself listening and then getting so frustrated that I'd stop, then starting it up again just for her mom to irritate me once more, it just wasn't enjoyable.
I will probably pick this up again at a later date to finish, as I am intrigued by Sage and Adam's story and would like to know what's to come, but at this point I don't want it lingering around open-ended, so it's a dnf for now.

The narration is good. I think Joyce Oben was sounded convincingly like a teen girl- that can be hard sometimes I've found. She did give an interesting cadence to Adam and Luke's voices, I'm not quite sure if that was intentional, or if it's just how she sounds voicing young males, but it was different. Not off-putting or anything, just *different*. But all-in-all I think she was a good choice as narrator for the story.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Fun story; too high school, but entertaining!

Listened to the story on Audible. Narrator did a good job; her girl voice is good and had a nice tone, but she makes the boys seem a bit dopey. Overall, she did a nice clear performance.

Loved the alien aspect; some really interesting and unique ideas. Sage and Adam have been best friends for a long time; they both feel deeper feelings for the other, but it turns out things are going to be majorly complicated when aliens start getting involved. I really enjoyed the overall story idea, so I rounded up my 3.5 rating to a 4, but this was a bit too YA for my liking; too much YA cheesiness going on. A lot of the problems arise because of lack of communication and immaturity; too many stupid, petty jealousies, so it got annoying at times.

The story moves a bit too slowly as well; lots of added side stuff that didn’t add to the story. There was too much stuff with her pathetic mother, and some scenarios seemed repetitive. Sage is too sappy and overly dramatic too, so that also gets annoying. She’s a teenager though, so I let her get away with some of it. A lot of the characters weren’t exactly people you want to hang out with, so comparatively, Sage wasn’t too bad. Adam is such a sweet guy, and I liked Sage and his connection. She was a little too sappy and mopey at times, but I think Adam is good for her.

The ending isn’t exactly a cliffhanger, but you’ll definitely need to read the rest of the series for a more complete ending. I’m excited for it! I hope the characters mature and the petty jealousies stop as the series continues. Overall, an entertaining read that kept me interested.

Could Not Finish

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Review is not spoiler-free for the first half of the book.

Despite young adult romance and sci-fi being some of my favorite genres, I could not get into this book. The characters fell very flat, and Sage in particular was terribly annoying. At every turn, she was whiny and selfish, and she always seemed to fixate on the entirely wrong things. Like, when she discovered her sort-of boyfriend was a alien, the first question she asked was why he kissed the mean girl at the Christmas party. On top of that, I could never be bothered to care about their relationship. All the development happened off-screen, and the author did not do a good job of making it clear why they even like each other, other than being childhood friends. In all, the writing felt very lackluster, and nothing about it was terribly engaging.

As for the narration, she emphasized Sage's whining to the extreme, and I think that is a big part of why I couldn't stand the book. I think she took the teenage girl voice too far, making nearly every single line sound like a whine.

I would not recommend this book.