Name: Corinna
Grade: 11th
Title: Star Eater
Author: Kerstin Hall
Published in: 2021
Pages: 448
Rating: 3 stars
Star Eater is a fictional fantasy describing the life of Elfreda Raughn and her place in her city’s matriarchy. The book describes a gruesome world where certain women, or “Sisters”, have the power of “lace”, a magic that helps them use invisible lace to move and control the world, and even other people. Sisters are expected to carry on the power of the matriarchy by having children with evil-doing men, essentially having daughters to take on their legacy. Elfreda uses her powers to unravel (haha lace pun!) the secrets and stories of the Sisters, and rebel against the controlling system.
What I enjoyed about Star Eater was the fantastical world-building. Readers learn the rich history of the matriarchy and the Atrium (where the story takes place). Even so, just from the description or cover, it’s hard to learn the real contents of the book. Star Eater takes many surprising and even gory turns, having dark themes such as cannibalism, rape, and murder. Before reading, I suggest readers should prepare themselves for a violent, yet interesting, story. Hall uses rich descriptions to describe the city and Elfreda, giving us a thorough look into the thoughts and minds of everyone in the book. The inclusive book features LGBTQ+ characters and provides a focus on women. Even so, the book was hard to follow sometimes, and talked about certain topics as if the reader already knew everything about the people and subjects of the book.
I would rate the book 3 stars because of its deep and interesting story. I would recommend Star Eater to readers who enjoy fiction, world-building, stories about women, and gruesome stories. This book is not for the faint of heart!
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