Review: All the Stars and Teeth

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What if you had been raised to believe a bunch of half-truths or outright lies? - A rather universal question asked by young adults who come to question everything their parents told them.

Following in the classic form of a bildungsroman, Adalyn Grace's All the Stars and Teeth is a polished debut novel telling the story of Amora Montara, heir to the throne of Arida. Like many a young person, Amora finds that her father hasn't been upfront with her about a few things, and those things, well, they aren't pretty. And Amora's magic, for this is a magical world, has great power and with that power the ability to do grievous harm. The novel opens with Amora reaching the age of majority and already realizing that there are just too many things she hasn't been informed about. Her father wants her to marry Ferrick and make shiny new heirs. There's plenty of time to learn about her future kingdom... later. Only after a public display of her powers that goes gruesomely wrong, Amora flees her kingdom of Arida and finds herself on the Keel Haul with a dashing young pirate named Bastian along with her bethrothed, Ferrick. Together they must solve the mystery of Bastian's loss of power, battle Kaven, and restore Amora to her rightful place.

All the Stars and Teeth is well-written and manages to use its tropes in a constructive fashion. Chief among its assets is the lesson that sometimes, it's good to question what you've been told by your parents and to try to find truth and justice yourself. While not breaking immense new ground, I did enjoy this world and the potential darkness of Amora's magic. I also loved Vataea and the mermaid rights issues in this novel. A clever way to present civil rights and the effects of chosen or involuntary displacement.

The novel is well narrated on audiobook by Shayna Small.

CW: Gruesome deaths, attempted sexual assault, abusive relationships (as per author's disclosure to readers.)

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