The relationship between the goddess of galactic creation and the goddess of cosmic destruction is not as steady as they would hope. They create and destroy and start the cycle over again. But when a favorite star goes missing, one goddess blames the other, and the cycle is disrupted.

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Why this book?: I’ve had a review copy of this one through the Kraken Collective for a while, but I don’t really know what drew me to picking it up.

I would like to thank Kraken Collective for sending a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t expecting much when I dove into this novel–and that’s not supposed to be a bad thing. I’d just picked up this book not knowing what it was about, only really knowing that it was a SFF story told in verse. That was literally all I knew. So, I have to admit to also being wildly confused for the first half of this book. I didn’t know what was going on, and everything seemed to be metaphorical at first, when in actuality it was being blunt. I’d highly recommend going into this book after reading the summary, because without the summary, you won’t know what’s happening.

After I realized what was going on, I actually really enjoyed this story! It was really interesting to read it in verse, because not a lot of SFF stories are told in verse–normally they’re sweeping stories with dense writing that can be hard to follow. This story, though, was so nice. It focused solely on the relationship between the two goddesses, and that was it. Once I understood the storyline, I was flying through this novel and finished it in two sittings. It was such a compelling story and so easy to read. I felt investing in the relationship between the two goddesses, even though there wasn’t that much development of either of them.

The design of the book was also beautiful. Even though I struggled with the story at first and found the characters to be barely developed, I really liked this one. 

Final Rating: ★★★★☆

Overall?

Even though I struggled in the beginning, I really liked this book. It was beautifully sapphic and so fantastical. I loved that it was told in verse, but I just wish there was more to the characters.

Would I Recommend?

I feel like this would be a good book for anyone who struggles with science fiction or fantasy. It’s really easy to get through, and doesn’t waste time with unnecessary descriptions, instead opting for a beautiful sapphic love story told in verse.

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Additional Information:

Published: October 18th, 2018

Publisher: The Kraken Collective

Page Count: 117

Genre: Science Fiction/Poetry

Synopsis: via Goodreads

Too fondly have I loved these stars;
all these galaxies we once called ours.

A beautiful love story in verse.

The relationship between two goddesses is tempestuous at best. Seya is the embodiment of a galactic creation and Tia of cosmic destruction. They create and they destroy and then they do it all over again. Seya and Tia use their divine magic to make pulsars and nebula, to set planets spinning around stars and bind a galaxy together with a central black hole.

But when one of Seya’s favorite stars goes missing, she blames Tia. What was once a symbiotic cycle of life and death becomes a game of broken hearts and promises betrayed. These tensions and insecurities are explored in sonnets and villanelles; the arc of their love tracked in meter and verse. These poems touch on queer love, betrayal, trust, acceptance, and forgiveness cast against a backdrop of stardust and celestial detritus.

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