ARC Review: The Stars Never Rise (The Stars Never Rise #1) by Rachel Vincent

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The Stars Never Rise
Series: The Stars Never Rise #1
Author: Rachel Vincent
Published June 18th 2015 by MIRA Ink

Goodreads Synopsis
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.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Wow, this book was perfect in every single possible way. The Stars Never Fade tells the story of Nina Kane, a 16 year old living in a dystopian world unlike any I have ever read before. Over 100 years ago the Demons ravaged the world, leaving only a few settlements intact, though they had consumed the souls of many who'd perished. As such, there is now a severe shortage of souls, leading to many still born pregnancies. To combat this problem, the Church have taken control, and a whole multitude of sins are severely punished in order to ensure that the remaining population are pure and worthy of the souls they use.

Considering I have read a lot of dystopian novels, I was quite pleasantly surprised to discover how unique and fresh the concept was in this novel. I'm not a religious person, but to see the controlling nature of a society run wholly by ecclesiastics was a definite shock to my system. As the book progressed, the church government became an even larger part of the plot, and there were twists and turns at every moment. The biggest plot twist involving the church was so shocking that I definitely hadn't seen it coming, which is a nice surprise.

Nina was a perfect teenage protagonist: strong, a little angsty, and imperfect. There was definite character development with her, and I can't wait to see how she progresses in further instalments. Finn was a great male character; whilst he was a love interest for Nina, that's not all he was. There were layers to his character, which is shown throughout the course of the book, and he, and the rest of the group, were there for Nina when she needed them.

Overall a really enjoyable novel, and I would definitely recommend it to lovers of YA dystopian/fantasy.

Dates Read:
April 2 to 7, 2015

Rating
5 Stars