Mini Review: The Starriest Summer by Adelle Yeung

The Starriest Summer

The Cycle of the Six Moons #1

Adelle Yeung

Publication Date: December 1, 2015

Genre: YA Fantasy

Fifteen-year-old Michelle saves the world on a daily basis…with her trusty video game controller, of course! Naturally, she jumps at the chance to play an experimental virtual reality game.

The beautiful fantasy world of Starrs? Check. The power to mold matter? Check. No reset button? Wait, she didn’t sign up for this!

Turns out Starrs is really real, and to make matters worse, Michelle’s interference awakens the Cycle of the Six Moons, a series of devastating trials that will devour the universe.

Fighting the apocalypse was way easier when danger stayed on the other side of the screen, but Michelle finds a secret weapon in her new-found powers. She uses them to rescue the crown prince of a powerful magic kingdom from their sworn enemies, a technologically-advanced cult that strives to eradicate magical blood.

Michelle starts to fall for Prince Jayse, the only one who believes Michelle to be a savior rather than a curse. But not even video games could prepare her for what the cult has in store for them…

Review copy provided by the author

I love my video games; and like with the books I read, I want to delve into them and be a part of that world and its adventures. However, like Michelle's brother, I don't think I'd last long in a harsh environment unless I am a Mary Sue and apparently know kung fu.

I was expecting a video game and a storytelling along the lines of Dragon Age - all serious and majestic with twists and turns that would make me hold me breath and a lot of ambiguous decisions to make like that in Dragon Age.

The Starriest Summer was not really as downright downtrodden as Dragon Age but it doesn't mean that it was not good. I liked it. I enjoyed reading it very much. If I'm going to compare this with any game, I would perhaps liken it to Aveyond.

I couldn't connect with the main character at first. I thought She's so childish. But I remembered that she was only fifteen and loves video games. I think I would've reacted as she did, too. And I really liked her happy attitude. There were times when she was overwhelmed by it all but I understood her predicament: she's fifteen, she's from another world and the fate of an entire world rests on her shoulders. But she bounces back every time. I liked it. A Mary-Sue though.

Notes:

*Guesses: Gediyon is a Taesmal. The Prince Impostor is either Jayse's brother or Prince Aloyin's son.

*And I liked the Prince Impostor very much. XDD

*There's something about trekking through a desert that brings it home to you that 1)You're in an adventure, 2)You're far away from home/in another world, and 3)You're in deep shit.