*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*

I was expecting a sort of typical fantasy story about a struggling boy making a connection with a dragon (albeit a star dragon, and don’t get me wrong, typical can still be great), but what I got was something unique and surprising and creative with an interesting mix of fantasy, sci-fi, and the real. Maybe these ideas are in other stories, but they were new to me or used in ways I’ve never seen them used before. And I’m not just talking about the star dragons that can erase things from existence and memory with their starfire. (When that’s not the most interesting thing in a book, you know you’re in for a treat!)

And the story itself kept me on my toes. There were emotional moments and tense moments and dangerous moments. There was some action, but also a lot of quiet, relationship or internal-focused scenes. A lot of the book took place on a submarine, which sounds terrifying to me but was more cozy for the characters, aside from the occasional giant eel encounter. And as it went on, I really didn’t know what was going to happen or how they were going to solve their problems.

Peregrine, the main character, was caring and anxious and determined. Z, the handsome submarine captain, was enigmatic and grumpy but had his own less obvious ways of showing kindness. Anthem, Per’s sister, was pushy but also determined and a problem-solver. The sibling bond was a strong and sweet and a big part of the story. There was also a small bit of romance, and I enjoyed the tension between them.

There was disability rep! Peregrine had harm OCD with intrusive thoughts, and I can’t speak from experience, but it seemed to be portrayed realistically and with care. Z used a hover chair (like a wheelchair).

Small complaint #1: I could not get a handle on the ages of these characters. The main character was 17 or 18. Ok. His sister was a year younger than him, but she was interning to be a therapist and mentioned having bad bedside manner. At 16 she’s working with patients? And Z was 19 or 20, I think, but a mechanical/engineering genius, and Per found an article from 10 years ago about him working with his mother to repurpose a ship. So he was building ships and doing research when he was 10? Maybe I just missed something. But this would have made a lot more sense to me if the characters had all been like 3 years older. Because then it would still make sense for the MC to be struggling and figuring things out in life, but his sister would be in college, and Z would’ve been working with his mother in his teens. This wasn’t a huge deal, but it did distract me for a moment every time these things were mentioned.

Small complaint #2: I’m no expert, but there were some things that I don’t think would’ve happened the way they did, in terms of science. (I’m not talking about the dragons, obviously those were never going to be realistic.) So you have to be able to just let that go for the sake of a good story and some touching moments.

Overall, I found this creative and unique and didn’t know what would happen, but I cared about the characters and loved this take on dragons living among the stars!

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2024 // Format: Ebook via TTS*