First, I want to personally thank the author Alex Arch for sending out a review copy. Writing is a deeply personal experience, and he welcomed me into his world with open arms when he shared his book with me.
Overview
The Stars Within is a beautiful dual storyline with realistic characters and solid world-building. The main characters—Thomas and Colette—are each racing against their own clock to their own destination, giving the reader a sense of urgency throughout.
What Worked
The characters in The Stars Within are easy to empathize with because they feel real. Thomas and Colette are facing familiar problems that we see in everyday life. Thomas is fighting cancer, and Colette is fighting with her internal compass of right and wrong.
After reading I stopped to think about the impact I'm having on the world around me. I thought about how humanity is an insatiable species and we continue to leech from our surroundings—often without noticing until long after it becomes problematic. Alex leans on this when he alludes to humanity being a cancer to the universe—constantly draining resources from planets until they decompose—just like cancer causes cells to decay in the human body.
What Didn’t
Overall, the book was good, but there were a few areas that could use some polishing. For example, I found myself occasionally distracted by minor editing flaws such as elevated vocabulary or incomplete sentences.
The world-building and setup were great, but the resolution felt compressed. I was left wishing there was more, which is a testament to the strength of the storytelling.
Final Verdict
If you're looking for something different that will make you stop to think about humanity and what the future could hold, I definitely recommend checking out The Stars Within. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing what Alex comes up with next.