Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

The Stars Never Rise

Author: Rachel Vincent
Series: The Stars Never Rise #1
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: YA Paranormal
Format: ARC
Release Date: June 9, 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher
Rating: 4 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Nina Kane should be worrying about her immortal soul, but she's too busy trying to actually survive. Her town's population has been decimated by soul-consuming demons, and souls are in short supply. Watching over her younger sister, Mellie, and scraping together food and money are all that matters. The two of them are a family. They gave up on their deadbeat mom a long time ago.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their very existence, she'll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal Church and its army of black-robed exorcists. And Mellie's sin has put her in serious trouble.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a fugitive with deep green eyes who has already saved her life once and who might just be an exorcist. But what kind of exorcist wears a hoodie?

Wanted by the Church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she can't survive on her own. She needs Finn and his group of rogue friends just as much as they need her.

My Review:

Oh man, this book was good. It’s about a world still recovering from a massive battle of humans versus demons. Now that the demons have been defeated the Church has taken over and rules with an iron fist. There are crazy rules and severe consequences for breaking them. The things that the Church put people through made me sick. Including deciding whether or not girls were fit to procreate; if they don’t pass the Church’s test, they’re sterilized. Sick.

But I loved the intertwining nature of the devout beliefs with the lurking danger of demons. It was so interesting to try and decide which was the lesser of the two evils since they were obviously both terrible.

The main character, Nina, was really interesting. I loved how loyal she was to her sister. Sister stories just make my heart melt. She was so protective of her sister Mellie, doing whatever it took to make sure she was safe. I loved how determined she was, even in the face of extreme danger and shocking revelations. Nina kept her cool no matter what. I also loved that she didn’t let herself be pushed around even if she was the “new kid on the block”. She had that strong confidence that I admire in a female heroine.

And then there was Finn who was perfection. Finn was such an interesting character for reasons I can’t reveal here. I loved the depth to him and I am dying to learn more about him. I thought the romance was a tad quick, though no one muttered the big “l” word which was good. So it was more insta-attraction to me than insta-love which I have a much easier time dealing with. I just felt like they didn’t really know each other, but I’m very excited to see how the relationship will develop in the next book.

This book is fast-paced and filled with never ending plot twists. A lot of them I didn’t see coming, some of them I did, but that didn’t really take away from the story. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and read the book in one sitting with only a small break to cook and eat dinner. I can’t wait for the next one and will definitely be checking out more of Rachel Vincent’s stuff.

Have you read this one yet? What did you think? What did you think of Nina and Finn together?