Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Grade: 3 Butterflies
Series: The Stars Never Rise #1
Author: Rachel Vincent
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Goodreads Summary

Sixteen-year-old Nina Kane should be worrying about her immortal soul, but she's too busy trying to actually survive. Her town's population has been decimated by soul-consuming demons, and souls are in short supply. Watching over her younger sister, Mellie, and scraping together food and money are all that matters. The two of them are a family. They gave up on their deadbeat mom a long time ago.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their very existence, she'll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal Church and its army of black-robed exorcists. And Mellie's sin has put her in serious trouble.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a fugitive with deep green eyes who has already saved her life once and who might just be an exorcist. But what kind of exorcist wears a hoodie?

Wanted by the Church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she can't survive on her own. She needs Finn and his group of rogue friends just as much as they need her. 

This book disappointed me a bit. I went in expecting a really good book full of action and danger and what I got was a decent book that was kind of filled with action and danger. Although I still ended up enjoying it. It was a solid start to a series, it laid down a good foundation for the next few books. However, it as an individual book wasn't really great.

The characters never seemed very memorable to me and I never felt a connection to them. Whenever any of the characters were in a dangerous situation I honestly didn't care if they died or not. I had no emotions for them and that led to me having no emotional connection to the plot.The plot was good, don't get me wrong, it was good enough for me to keep on reading, but I was never on the edge of my seat in suspense. Another thing about the characters, it felt like their character development was very forced and rushed. When the Nina was introduced to the group (no spoilers) she went from being the insider to a close member of the group in 5 scenes flat. She had no emotional connection or friendship to these people and then BAM! She is instantly best friends with everyone.

The world was, hands down, the best part of this book. It was interesting and so infuriating, which was what the author was getting at. The Church angered me so much and I like how the bad guys turned out to be a surprise. I also thought the way Rachel Vincent handled religion was perfect and shows how much of a pro she is. This world is heavily surrounded by religion and yet it never felt like the author was shoving any of her ideals down your throat. I think that is because it was never said what religion The Church was, they were just The Church. Also because the religious ideas of the church were never focused on for long. The church is a big deal for the plot and the setting, but the author never went on a tangent about anything deeply religious. You got history facts and demons, but you were never preached at. I really appreciated that.

Overall, this book was a solid start to this series and the plot has a lot of protentional. I enjoyed reading it. I really loved the setting and I can't wait for the next one to explore this world a bit more. The plot was also interesting and kept me reading even though it was a bit predictable. However, the characters didn't impress me and I felt no connection to them what so ever, I honestly didn't care if any of them died. Added on to that was how the character development felt very forced and rushed. I would recommend this because it was a very enjoyable, quick book.

This book got...

3 Butterflies

Basic, nothing special.

Recommended if you like: Supernatural, Paranormal, Quick Reads

Happy Reading