THE BOOKS DESK · REVIEW
From Stars to Seas
4 stars · Beautiful character development, complicated relationships, imaginative realms, and plenty of spice.
Started: 9/14/2026 · Finished: 9/27/2026
Spoilers ahead.
From Stars to Seas did something I really appreciate in fantasy: it made me care about the people as much as I cared about the magic.
Sol is trying to piece together more than her memories. She’s trying to figure out who she is now, what parts of the woman she used to be still belong to her, and whether she even needs to become that woman again. That ended up being my favorite part of the story. There’s something really beautiful about watching a character realize that losing pieces of herself doesn’t mean she has to spend the rest of her life trying to recreate the person she was before.
And then we have Gallen and Malinar.
Listen.
I was skeptical.
A relationship between three characters can very easily feel like it exists because the author wanted the spice rather than because those three people genuinely belong together. But I actually believed this one. The book takes the time to develop the relationships separately—Sol and Gallen, Sol and Malinar, and Gallen and Malinar—so when those relationships finally begin fitting together, it feels surprisingly natural.
And yes, the spice is SPICY. But what worked for me is that their relationship isn’t only about that. There is jealousy, history, resentment, guilt, tenderness and a lot of complicated feelings underneath it.
Malinar might actually have been my favorite character.
Her relationship with Sol is complicated in a way I really enjoyed. She has legitimate anger toward her, but the deeper we get into the story, the more we realize that some of what Malinar carries isn’t really about Sol at all. Watching her confront her own choices—and the guilt tied to Ranor—gave her so much more depth than I expected.
The world itself is also wonderfully imaginative. We move through these very different realms with their own magic, creatures and cultures, and I especially loved getting to experience the Ocean Realm. This is the kind of fantasy where you can actually picture the places the characters are traveling through rather than feeling like someone simply changed the name on the kingdom map.
Where the book lost me a little was the pacing.
There is a lot happening.
We have Sol’s memories, the relationships, the different realms, politics, the quest, the Past Holder, Kattegat, Helzaf, the phoenix, and an impending war all competing for attention. There were moments in the middle where I wanted the story to tighten up because I could feel myself waiting for the next major thing to happen.
Then the ending comes and suddenly everything is MOVING.
I enjoyed that final stretch a lot, especially Sol’s confrontation with Helzaf, but I almost wish some of that urgency had been spread throughout the middle of the book.
And while the ending gives Sol a satisfying emotional resolution, there is obviously a much bigger problem waiting beyond the final page. This feels very much like one chapter of a larger story rather than a completely contained adventure—which isn’t necessarily bad, but it kept the ending from giving me that huge five-star payoff.
What ultimately worked for me was Sol’s journey.
She doesn’t need every missing memory returned to her before she’s allowed to live again. She doesn’t have to become exactly who she was before everything happened. She gets to decide who she is now.
She gets to choose her people.
She gets to choose her home.
And she gets to choose what comes next.
4 stars. Beautiful character development, an unexpectedly convincing relationship between three very complicated people, imaginative worldbuilding, plenty of spice, and a story that made me want to continue the series. I just needed tighter pacing and a little more payoff from the larger plot to push this into 4.5–5 star territory.
And yes—I would absolutely read the next one. That is always one of my biggest tests for a four-star fantasy. 📚✨
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