Can you really go wrong with a book like The Sound of Stars? In my eyes? NOPE. Sign me. I'm smitten. I'm here for the long haul.

The Sound of Stars
by Alechia Dow 

Can a girl who risks her life for books and an alien who loves forbidden pop music work together to save humanity?

Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world’s population.

Seventeen-year-old Janelle “Ellie” Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. Deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, humanity’s emotional transgressions are now grounds for execution. All art, books and creative expression are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her.

Born in a lab, M0Rr1S (Morris) was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie’s illegal library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. They’re both breaking the rules for love of art—and Ellie inspires the same feelings in him that music does.

Ellie’s—and humanity’s—fate rests in the hands of an alien she should fear. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution—thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while making a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.


Did I know that I was going to love and devour The Sound of Stars? YES. Did I know just how much? NOPE. Dang, was this book fun or what! Colour me impressed, smitten and fully entertained. This book was a blast and exactly what I didn't know I needed. It was intriguing, unique, dazzling and completely lively. The Sound of Stars carries itself with a confident, never-know-what-to-expect air that makes reading it all the more addictive.

While there were some flaws in the pacing and world-building, they were easy to ignore due to the highly exhilarating way the central plotlines began to develop and escalate into the bigger picture. If you like a slower build, then The Sound of Stars will definitely takes its time in sweeping you off your feet in the best way possible. 

While this novel is, naturally, a deep dive into fantasy and science-fiction, it also tackles a great deal of important topics. The Sound of Stars is one of those stories that is out of our world, but still relevant to us. Armed with these topics and wonderfully crafted LGBTQIA+ representation, words can't do justice the importance of The Sound of Stars. 

If you love Once & Future and The Raging Ones, you will devour this debut.

The Sound of Stars is truly one of the most enthralling young adult books of the year and, again, a great example of just how great the year in literature was destined to be from the start. Alechia Dow knows how to tell a story in a way that feels entirely its own, even when it dips itself into familiarity.

Consider this book to be at the top of the must-read YA of 2020.