Soul of Stars Paperback – August 18, 2020

Hands down my favorite series, the hardcovers are so worth the money :)))

I loved this book…and the first! Can that be my whole review? I loved Heart of Iron and Soul of Stars is just as good. Jax and Robb and Ana and Di and and and, so many cinnamon roles and such a great story. Please say there could be a book 3.

Series Info/Source: 2nd book in the Heart of Iron duology. I bought this book.Story (4/5): I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the last book but I am struggling to pinpoint why. I think there was just too much jumping around between characters. All the jumping around was a bit jarring and I just never fell into the story like I did with the first one.Characters (4/5): I feel like this book was a lot more focused on Jax and Robb than Ana and Di. Part of this is probably because Di is taken over by the HIVE for a lot of the book. Again, the short chapters that jumped from character to character prevented me from really engaging with the characters deeply.Setting (4/5): The sci-fi world that is built here is very well done and detailed. Good world building in general.Writing Style (4/5): The writing flowed well and was really easy to read but, again, the short chapters and constant jumping between POVs was distracting and made the story feel disjointed.Summary (4/5): Overall this book sums up the duology nicely. This was an easy read and I enjoyed the world and the characters. I felt like this story jumped around a lot more than the first book did and that resulted in me just not being as engaged in this book. It was still well done, it just didn’t blow me away like the first book did.

I honestly thought that this book wouldn't be able to top the first one. I was so wrong this book is amazing and soul grabbing and makes you hold your breath to the very last page!

Ash’s books are fabulous and this one definitely doesn’t not disappoint!!

It was a lot of fun to be able to binge read the Heart of Iron duology by Ashley Poston. Soul of Stars brings this series to a close and despite a few troubles on my own end, I have to say it was well told. I tend to struggle with "space" books and a slower reading pace and little time to read this one wasn't in my favor, but I still really liked this one overall.We pick up a few months after the events of the first book. Ana has healed from Di trying to kill her. Di has been HIVED and is ruling as acting emperor and his sister, Mellifare is the Great Dark personified. She's controlling all the Metals and is looking for her heart, a power source so to speak that will help restore her to her great and powerful being. So naturally, Ana is determined to find it first and find some way to rescue Di, restoring him to his former self. Should be easy, right?Not so much when you throw into the mix that her pilot and friend, Jax soon gets incredibly sick and is dying. Robb thinks that it would be best to take him "home" where he can hopefully be healed, but it comes at a great cost.Despite my usual struggles with space age books, I did find myself enjoying this one. But as I've been reading it for well over a week, I am struggling to put all my thoughts together because I was struggling a bit with the story itself. And thankfully it wasn't due to memory errors. Lol.I think one thing that threw me were the random flashbacks, sometimes the transitions weren't as smooth as they should be and when I thought I was on some secret mission with Ana on her own, I wondered why is Di there? And why is he Di and being all friendly like? It wasn't a confusion that lasted long, but it threw me sometimes.There was a great deal of tension in this one as Di is actively trying to kill Ana. I don't think he ever believed that she was truly dead like the rest of the galaxy, but she was very good at hiding and he wasn't so great at trying to find her even with the use of all the Metals everywhere! Ana wasn't really safe much of anywhere. Then there was also the possibility that among Ana's remaining friends and crew, a traitor was hiding among them. Too many attempts to do this or that were going haywire and Siege beings to wonder who among her crew is working against her and her daughter.There were quite a few twists and surprises by the end of this one that left me absolutely shocked! But on a whole, I have to say that I thought Ashley ended quiet well. It was definitely a fun series despite my few issues, which are really just "me" issues and nothing to do with the book or story which I did quite enjoy! I would definitely pick up a fantasy or sci-fi read of Ashley's again should she write one! This was a rather unique take or retelling if you will, of the Anastasia story and I thought it was well done! I know I've got another one of those in my TBR pile somewhere that I want to read at some point! It's definitely a story that is worth telling and has so many options available to it! All in all, Souls of Stars was a pretty darn good read!!Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars

Such a satisfying ending. I only wish there was more to come! Great characters, best action and a wonderful escape.

Was a let down for me after the first one. I was already debating wether to buy it or not and I should have gone with not .

Another really brilliant novel by Ash Poston!! I read the whole thing in a few hours, completely incapable of putting it down.After the cliffhanger at the end of "Heart of Iron" you wonder how the galaxy is ever going to survive, and the tension barely lets up throughout the entire of "Soul of Stars". No matter who your favourite characters are, you're going to have some very, very tense moments.I laughed a lot, I cried A LOT, and I called a couple of reveals that made me genuinely GASP when I was proved right. If you want a rollercoaster of a ride with a very satisfying, yet open ending, please pick this up!!(And though it's a duology, I think - I hope that Ash might return to this universe at some point in the future? Pretty please??)