Skip to content
  • Home
  • Meet Travis & Whitney
  • Our Books
    • The Throwaway Queen
    • Destiny Seeker Series
    • Finding Your Future Fans
    • Speechless
    • The Ancients Stirred
    • The Fight of Fallen Stars
  • Editing Services
  • Our Clients
  • Events
  • Contact Us
  • SHOP
clear

Wit & Travesty

Book Review: Starlight

BOOK REVIEWS
book review starlight p.s. malcolm wit and travesty

Hey, writers and readers!

It’s not a good month without an indie novel or two. Today I’ll be reviewing Starlight by P. S. Malcolm. This is a prequel novella to her Starlight Chronicles series.

I’ve followed Malcolm’s nonfiction work for a while now—she has a lot of great blog posts and freebies for indie authors of all levels and experience. Now, it’s interesting to see how she practices what she preaches in her own fiction writing.

Shall we dive in, then?

Check out the review below. I’ll be sharing some thoughts about what I love about this book and why it’s a good read for you.

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis

A treaty upholds the peaceful lands of Ersarence— who have suffered from the spilt blood of their humble goddess, Titania, which stains the hands of the ruthless Urenphians.

Julian Rancewood— a small town delivery boy— wishes he could afford to save his dying mother. He never imagined a larger life for himself until he meets Adrina Hesfetter, the village seamstress’s daughter.

After striking a deal with the elusive King’s advisor and joining the royal army, he finds himself helping to search for a missing, unknown heir. Against all odds, Adrina and Julian soon meet again within the palace walls.

When Julian discovers Adrina’s fire magic— an impossibility among non-royals— they uncover a scandalous secret that will cause whispers of a Urenphian rebellion to travel through the kingdom. A thirst for revenge and a passionate romance causes the two villagers to set the events in motion which will bring down the entire Starlight Kingdom.

What I Enjoyed

This book is your classic “boy meets girl” narrative but it’s so much more. I love a good fantasy novel (novella, in this case) that addresses magic, social class, and justice vs. mercy. There’s quite a few twists and turns here that made this prequel stand out from the others.

Most prequels carry the task of establishing world-building and the rules for magic so when we dive into the series, we’ve already been briefed on what to expect. So the novella is arguably strong on the worldbuilding and secondary on establishing characters. It’s clear that we’ll need to remember a few of them for the series but ultimately it gave us an excellent teaser for what Malcolm has in store later down the road.

Without spoiling anything, there’s a mighty fine twist in the novel that I didn’t see coming and was possibly my favorite part. I can’t give too much away but all I can say that as a feminist reader, I appreciated this unlikely team-up that made the protagonist less predictable and more relatable.

My Final Thoughts

Prequels/novellas are hard to write sometimes. Mainly because prequels involve huge time jumps and characters that might not make it to the actual series. They also tend to have sad endings because the story propels the plot for the series, too. I feel like Starlight did these things but it didn’t make me sad. Instead, it made me more excited for Lanterns in the Sky, which is book 1 of the Starlight Chronicles. I’m ready to see how the themes and characters manifest in a full novel.

I hope I shared enough to still pique your curiosity without giving too much away. If you’d like to learn more about P. S. Malcolm and her work, you can catch up with her via social media:

  • Website
  • Amazon
  • Goodreads
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Patreon

Do you have thoughts about this book? Share with me in the comments! You can also see all of my other book reviews by checking out the Book Reviews tab.

Share

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
Leave a Comment on Book Review: Starlight

Post navigation

Previous postDestiny Seeker: The Messenger Book Sale!
Next postBook Review: The Wolf Witch

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Amazon
  • Etsy
  • Instagram
  • Goodreads
  • TikTok
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Spotify
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • MARKETING/SELF-PROMO
  • OUR WORK
  • UPDATES
  • WRITER'S LIFE ADVICE
Rachel Barnard
I won a contest via Wit & Travesty in the summer of 2017. The prize was a professional edit of the first 100 pages of a WIP. My middle grade fantasy was only 90 pages, so she read the entire manuscript. She was communicative and positive about the project. Her edits markedly polished up my manuscript and were easy to understand.
Tori Nix
Working with Whitney was a breath of fresh air! I enjoyed every minute of my experience with bringing my book to life! Whitney not only did an exceptional job, she is also a very kind, patient, and I hope to continue to do business in the future!
Jessica Frazier
Whitney McGruder has created a vast and imaginative world in Destiny Seeker with surprises to delight the reader at every turn. Readers can settle in to devour the diverse and ingenious magic Destiny Seeker has to offer. I highly recommend it.
Jonathan Baker
Whitney and I worked together in a writing feedback group some years ago and have remained in touch since then. From the beginning, I was struck by her absolute responsibility as an editor. Even in the capacity of a group member, not even being employed or contracted by me to edit my work, Whitney was unerringly punctual, thorough, and accurate with her feedback. Her advice is genuinely insightful and I believe the marketability of my work was noticeably increased due to her guidance. I so value her skills that I still turn to her as a resource after three years of working with her in-person have passed.
Angelika Offenwanger
Whitney did a copy-edit on my third novel, Checkmate. She was a pleasure to work with, and helped me give my novel that final polish that it needed before publication. Put her on your list for editors that help your work shine!
Brittany Olsen
Whitney helped me with two short projects written for children, and she was very pleasant to work with. She has an eye for detail, helping me with small grammar errors as well as insights about adding scenes that would enhance my story. Her turnaround time was extremely quick, which I really appreciated when on a deadline!
Jessica Thompson
Whitney was great to work with. The whole experience was professional, yet flexible. Helpful, yet kind. My manuscript improved so much through Whitney's guidance that I received my first book deal!