All the Stars and Teeth drew me in with its odd title and gorgeous cover. When I looked around, I found nothing but stellar reviews, claiming this would be *the* YA book of 2020.
Though All the Stars and Teeth was not bad by any means, I'm afraid it was your average YA fantasy.
Amora is the princess of Visidia, a kingdom comprised of seven islands. Each island corresponds with a different type of magic (elemental, enchantment, and so on). Every citizen may chose ONLY ONE type of magic to specialize in, and they must move to the corresponding island. No one is allowed to practice multiple magics, as legend says too many magics will overwhelm the body and corrupt the soul.
The idea is simple enough, but in all honesty, I never fully grasped the names of the islands or their specializations. They are info dumped in an early paragraph, in a rapid-fire list of names and magics and corresponding gemstones. Yes, like early fanfiction, every color is described by gemstone.
Though this is clearly high fantasy, where we can always expect to have the first few chapters laden with world-building, it took me several months to get past the first chapter. Not a good sign, but so many people loved this book, so I powered through.
My efforts were rewarded by another two chapters of awkward exposition laying out the history of the kingdom. But finally, I reached the action.
The royal family possesses soul magic, a wild and uncontrollable force that threatens to consume its user. To prove herself worthy of taking the crown, Princess Amora must publicly display her control over her power.
Except she doesn't. She is publicly overwhelmed by her magic, failing her test, and terrifying her subjects. Instead of winning the crown, she is imprisoned until the high court can decide what to do with her.
She breaks out of prison with the help of a pirate, and the two of them make a deal. Amora will help him save his island, if he helps her prove she is the worthy heir.
For the most part, the story is a promising one. I'm all about princess and pirates, magic and mermaids. But the execution didn't work for me. The narration and dialogue often feel stiff, especially early on in the novel. Though it does eventually feel smoother, it never feels quite right.
In fact, a lot of the chemistry feels forced. The story gives us the setup for a love triangle.
Will Amora choose the wild and mysterious pirate, or her nice-guy fiance?
Except, it doesn't go anywhere. Very early on, Amora makes it clear she will never love her fiance, and... she's kind of awful to him for half the book. The pirate is literally her only choice. The love triangle gets dropped as soon as it's teased.
Luckily, the romance is mostly the backseat plot, while saving the world remains front and center.
I enjoyed Amora leaving the capitol island for the first time and discovering the realities of her kingdom, as well as her determination to right the wrongs of her ancestors. But overall, this novel could have been a little more polished.