Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

Abstract

Reviewed by: Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim Natalie Berglind Sim, Tara Scavenge the Stars. Hyperion, 2020 [336p] (Scavenge the Stars) Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-368-05141-5 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-368-05232-0 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 9-12 Seventeen-year-old Amaya Chandra has been aboard the Brackish since she was ten, when she was wrongly sold into service for her father's nonexistent debt. Amaya yearns to return to Moray to reunite with what's left of her family, but this converts to a desire for revenge when a man rescued from the sea gives her the tools she needs to exact justice upon the merchant responsible for her sale. With newfound money and a bit of training, Amaya poses as Countess Yamaa in an attempt to get close to the merchant's son, Cayo, and ruin his family from the inside out—but Cayo is more complex than he seems, and the man who helps her has an agenda of his own. This retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo carries all the weight of a classic revenge tale, emulating the original's epic scope and maintaining a plot that tantalizingly paces its reveals. In Moray, LGBTQIA identity is the norm, with characters spanning nearly every identity on the spectrum (Cayo, for instance, is a viewpoint character attracted to men and women). The relationship between Cayo and Amaya develops naturally and culminates in a steamy kiss that will appeal to fans of romance. The clashing agendas and alliances make for a sweeping tale of revenge, backstabbery, and old-fashioned unearthing of societal corruption, and readers will eagerly anticipate the sequel in the duology. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois