Book Review: Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes

 

Set the Stars Alight - Amanda Dykes - 3.5 Stars - Poetic, whimsical and magical.

This book took me a while to get through but I’m glad I finished! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 on Goodreads. Amanda Dykes’ writing style is poetic, whimsical and magical. I liked our characters, storyline and mysterious aspect throughout the book. However, because I had to spend so much time trying to figure out what was going on throughout the story, specifically early on, it wasn’t a favorite read of mine. That is more of a personal thing – not necessarily anything against the book or author itself, so I’m rating this based on my personal reading experience. I know I missed several things in this story along the way, but I sort of challenged myself to get through this and see how I felt, and I am so glad I did. What a beautiful story of love, loss, history and magical stories.

The story is a multi-timeline historical fiction, with snippets of romance throughout the story. It’s hard to describe Amanda’s writing style without saying magical, flowery, poetic, artistic, etc. She writes so beautifully though that I sometimes miss what’s going on – again a personal thing. I also had a hard time keeping up with the many different timelines at the beginning but once we got going, I was ok with the timeline switches because they stayed the same.

We follow early 2000s and 2020 with our characters Lucy and Dash. They are best friends from a very young age. Dash doesn’t have parents so he lives with his Aunt who isn’t very fond of him. So, Dash ends up becoming a big part of Lucy’s family very young. Her Dad tells these beautiful stories, so they are a perfect family together…. When one day, Lucy’s mother passes away and her entire family is changed. The stories become a way to reach into their grief and fight the darkness surrounding them. Dash ends up going away to school, leaving Lucy with her sick father. Lucy always loved the stories her father would tell and one story she is interested in is the missing HMS Jubilee ship. She pulled books of maritime history, shipwrecked mystery, and ocean currents as she has always wanted to know about this shipped disappearance. Cut to 200 years prior in the early 1800s, we follow Frederick Handford who is goes abord the Jubilee ship, proving to be full of courage and kindness. Frederick is considered to be a traitor to England, but in this story we learn all about the missing ship and the secret story of his past with his friend Elias and Juliette….

What a multi-layered story that Amanda interweaved two timelines together for us to learn all about each character’s journey throughout their lives. We have so much sadness throughout the journey but we always have hope, light and faith that things will work out for the best.

The way this story ended and tied everything together was beautiful. I wish I had a better reading experience personally throughout, but still overall appreciate the story and glad I finished. This was my first Amanda Dykes book and I plan to check out Yours is the Night and All the Lost Places at least. 

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5255587397
Amazon: https://amzn.to/44E9czr
Baker Book House: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/38598
YouTube Review Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmUXgZGhqm4&t=64s