Love love love my girl Felicity and my fav goblin Nigel. Unfortunately, Jas drove me kinda crazy but the dual pov helped balance it out. The continuation of the series was unexpected but didn’t feel manufactured or forced and I enjoyed the continued exploration of this world. Do not pick this up if you haven’t read prior books though. 

I really enjoyed the These Hollow Vows duopoly and was so excited to read Beneath These Cursed Stars, it is the logical and sequential follow up from the perspective of Jasalyn.  But this story is dual perspective, we also see events from the perspective of Felicity, who has taken on Jasalyn’s form and is posing as her.  The set up of this story is genuinely delightful and I feel like I scored big at a two for one sale, two fleshed out protagonists who feel a large spectrum of emotions, including inner strength but also crippling fear.  Two for one adventure in a world I was already pretty familiar with (so there was less set up in the realm of world building, I was genuinely surprised at how much I remembered, it all came rushing back to me as I read) and two for one slow burn romance.

At first I was a little disappointed with the concept of the return of Mordeus, I was hoping for a villain not yet explored or someone who could have stepped into the power vacuum he would have left.  However, it was really well done and integral to the plot and the characterisation, my initial reaction was way off!  The characterisation of Jasalyn and Felicity was spot on, I particularly liked how Felicity would remind herself of how exactly Jasalyn would act or what she would say, it gave the story another layer of legitimacy.  I did find certain elements in the relationship capacity a little predictable, but other parts of the plot completely smacked me in the face, I had no idea it was coming.  The writing was accessible and had a good flow, it was an easier read for a fantasy genre whilst still really descriptive and immersive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, I had a great time and these thoughts are all my own.

tl;dr
Dual leads and plots with plenty of romance. Not necessary to read the previous series to enjoy this one.

Thoughts
I spent so much of this book thinking "The sister has so much MC energy." Turns out the sister was the MC of the previous series, so, nice. The good news is I had no trouble understanding this book, even with no knowledge of the prior one. (There are, however, significant spoilers for the previous series.)

There are two main POVs and two plot lines running parallel. Jasalyn gets the lion's share of plot and development, with more action and adventure. I found myself caught up in the main mystery, and the reveal with equal parts surprising and scary. Jasalyn herself could probably have an easier time of it if she didn't hate all fae so much, something that other characters point out to her pretty quickly. I understand she'll likely grow out of it, but it was a frustrating roadblock. Felicity is easier to read because she has no such prejudices, although she falls prey to one of my lesser liked plot conceits - instalove. Even with the instalove, her storyline was my favorite, and I want only good things for her. I think fans of two broken hearts finding each other will probably really enjoy her plot.

I have no idea how this stacks up to the previous series, but readers who think this one sounds interesting should be totally comfortable jumping in here.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for an advance copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.