Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

The details in this book were so much fun! I loved the caves, reefs, and ship. There are amazing and dangerous fish. It was all so detailed and really made for a beautiful picture. I would have loved to have more of this added to the book. I felt that the second half of the book had less of this in it and it was one of my favorite things.

This book is a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, which I found interesting as that is a book I have not read yet. There is mystery and murder and adventure. The main premise is revenge that is filled with difficult choices.

The Characters represent a wide variety of our melting-pot society and I was so happy to see it. LGBTQ is well-represented here as well as people of color.

The Writing was good. It felt rushed at times and I would have liked the story to slow down just a bit so we could enjoy the moment. I appreciated Tara Sim’s descriptive writing that helped to build the story out. I hope to see more of that in book two as I really helps the reader to understand this story.

Overall, this was a fun book filled with adventure and I look forward to the second story!

Content Warnings:

This book references to child slavery and abuse, sexual assault, mention of suicide, cannibalism, parental death, child death, descriptive gore and bodily harm, and kid-napping.

To Read or Not To Read:

Readers that enjoy high-action and adventure in their fantasy books will enjoy this one!

Where To Find This Book:

Revenge. It was a simple word when spoken out loud, but it was so much bigger, like the hidden city under the atoll. It was a word of fire and blood, of a knife’s whisper and the priming of a pistol.

It was a word that consumed her, filled her entire being until she knew that she could no longer be Silverfish. Silverfish’s will was to survive, to simply make it to the next day, and hopefully the day after that. But that was no longer her will.

Now it was revenge.

Captain Zharo. Kamon Mercado. Moray.

They would all pay.

When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide.

Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…

Packed with high-stakes adventure, romance, and dueling identities, this gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo is the first novel in an epic YA fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo.

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim
Series: Scavenge the Stars book 1
Page Count: 336 pages
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pub Date: January 7, 2020

Tara Sim is the author of SCAVENGE THE STARS (Disney-Hyperion) and the TIMEKEEPER trilogy (Sky Pony Press) and writer of all things magic. She can often be found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California.

When she’s not writing about mischievous boys in clock towers, Tara spends her time drinking tea, wrangling cats, and occasionally singing opera. Despite her bio-luminescent skin, she is half-Indian and eats way too many samosas.

Tara is represented by Victoria Marini at Irene Goodman Literary Agency.