The Stars Too Fondly: A Novel

💫 Bookish Thoughts 5 stars! I knew I was going to love this, but it still managed to exceed every one of my expectations. Billie and Cleo? Black cat & golden retriever perfection. I was obsessed. 😍 The beginning was a bit slow and slightly confusing, but once it found its rhythm, I was hooked. The sci-fi and romance were beautifully balanced, and the ending? A little cheesy, but I adored it! Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook! I will note that the characters are supposed to be in their mid to late 20s, but they definitely read much younger. It didn’t take away from the story, but it stood out. 🪐 What You Can Expect • Sunshine x grump • Queer cozy sci-fi • Forced proximity • Sapphic romance • Found family • Healing arc ✨ Favorite Quote “You’ll find her, Cleo. And she’ll love you, because she’s me, and there’s no version of the universe where any version of me doesn’t love you.”

THE STARS TOO FONDLY is a charming sci-fi adventure with a touch of romance. Cleo and her friends grew up hearing about the Providence - it was going to save the world. Using a spaceship with a dark matter engine that allowed it to travel near light speed, it was going to travel to Proxima Centauri, a planet with habitable enough conditions. If it worked, the rest of humanity could travel there in the future. However, it not only didn't work, it failed spectacularly with everyone on the crew disappearing entirely. The mystery remained unsolved. Seeking answers, 20 years after the disappearance, Cleo and her friends decide to break into the Providence and investigate themselves. When Cleo touches the engine, it starts up and begins to bring them to Proxima Centauri. While they are stuck on their course, they luckily are able to communicate with the ship through a holographic interface of the original crew's captain, Billie. As they spend time on the ship, they will learn more about the disappearance, the dark matter engine, and humanity. This was a fascinating sci-fi read, and I appreciated the way that the mystery unfolded. Things slowly revealed themselves to the crew and the readers with potential plotholes well filled in. Aside from the main mystery of the Providence, the story also contains strong themes of friendship and love. Cleo and her friends will need to rely on each other more than ever, stuck aboard this ship. And as Cleo gets to know Billie, she finds herself…

I wanted to say that the story here is quite fun. The world building is interesting and I enjoyed learning about each of the characters. The format makes it more immersive as you move from recordings and current events. The multiple perspectives keep you guessing while building onto the mystery. The jargon around the dark matter engine and the conterminous dimension makes it feel like everything is fleshed out and I came to care for Cleo and Billie as they navigated their precarious situations. The revelation of powers from the dark matter exposure was a fun twist and the ending, though pretty predictable, felt well-paced. I was quite happy with the ending. I wouldn’t change a thing.