Book Review: Stars and Smoke
Genre: Romance
This. The romance in this book was exactly my type but may not be everybody’s. This book left me wanting a similar flirty and subtle romance. I’m also really loving female bodyguard romances and the spy and undercover aspects worked with this trope so well.
Continue reading for more details.
Synopsis:
Meet Winter Young – International pop sensation, with a voice like velvet and looks that could kill. His star power has smashed records, selling out stadiums from LA to London. His rabid fans would move heaven and earth for even a glimpse of him – just imagine what they’d do to become his latest fling.
Meet Sydney Cossette – Part of an elite covert ops group, Sydney joined their ranks as their youngest spy with plans to become the best agent they’ve ever had. An ice queen with moves as dangerous as her comebacks, Sydney picks up languages just as quickly as she breaks hearts. She's fiery, no-nonsense, and has zero time for romance – especially with a shameless flirt more used to serving sass than taking orders.
When a major crime boss gifts his daughter a private concert with Winter for her birthday, Sydney and Winter's lives suddenly collide. Tasked with infiltrating the crime organization’s inner circle, Sydney is assigned as Winter's bodyguard with Winter tapped to join her on the mission of a lifetime as a new spy recruit. Sydney may be the only person alive impervious to Winter's charms, but as their mission brings them closer, she’s forced to admit that there's more to Winter Young than just a handsome face . . .
Review:
Winter Young, an international sensation, was recruited to be a spy. Sydney, who would be his partner and disguised as his bodyguard, expected Winter to be a burden as she expected he would be a very clumsy spy. Though, his skills from training to be a popstar transferred over to make him an unexpectedly perfect person for this case they are assigned to do together. Sydney despised Winter at the beginning of their partnership, she was icked by him for no reason at all. Though, once they became more comfortable with each other, they started to warm up more without even meaning to.
Winter has always been in his brother’s shadow, even after he died. His mother was distant and couldn’t look him in the eye because he reminded her of his brother too much. I feel like younger siblings could really relate to Winter as I’m sure many may feel the same way. I appreciated how Winter’s personality wasn’t too chirpy or too dull, it was a good balance of entertaining character traits. He was extra-sarcastic and teasing, both traits I love in a person. He was serious when needed to be and chill most of the rest of the time.
“I really thought I had more time with you, he whispered, more to himself than anyone else. All I ever wanted was to be like you."
Sydney also had a depressing past with a father and brother who didn’t care for her and her loving mother passing away. This had made Sydney closed off and not the sweetest person ever. I loved seeing her let Winter in and become closer to him since she seemed like she needed someone. Sydney was really tough and brave and I loved seeing her in action!
"Be like you, Winter.”
The chemistry Sydney and Winter had was to die for! Both of them had overlapping traits while still being different from each other to feel like they were perfect for each other. This was a really good contemporary enemies-to-lovers, especially with some of the scenes where there was so much tension. Would this count as a slowburn? I think so and I enjoyed it so much! The way they “fake flirted” when they were supposedly hating each other was amazing. Their chemistry was really shown off so well in that scene. Marie Lu’s writing style and the tiny details came together so well to create their scenes and make them as great as they were (I listened to the audiobook and the narration was definitely the cherry on top, I loved the narrator). Though, disclaimer, this is definitely more of a YA romance and I do hope the second book builds upon their relationship because the ending left me wanting more of them.
“Once the world got a glimpse of them, it would move heaven
and earth just to see them again”
The plot at the beginning kept me hooked because I was eager to see how everything played out, but towards the end when the action had been happening for a while now, I wasn’t as attached. This was probably because things felt repetitive and as if they were being drawn out for too long. I remember myself wanting to have things be wrapped up because I thought it was enough problems and interventions, but for the people who love continuous action and adventure, you guys probably won’t find this to be a problem. For the most part, the plot was quite interesting and the author threw out some major plot twists that I honestly didn’t expect but some could have been predicted if more thought were put into it.
I have to say, the author did a fabulous job in representation. There was a diverse cast of characters, all unique, all with amazing personalities. Each had qualities differentiating from each other and they were so easy to love and become attached to.
A problem that kept on recurring for me was that some minor-ish parts were kind of cliche and predictable. They weren’t really meant to be big plot twists, I know, but I felt as if some small aspects I’ve read multiple other times in other books, or at this point are just old (considering this book was published in 2023). Though, again, it wasn’t a big deal and didn’t affect the overall story.
Overall, this was pretty good and fun to read. I love reading about new concepts, so a spy + bodyguard merged story was very enjoyable as both of these are interesting topics. If you haven’t read anything like that before, this is the perfect book to begin with. If you’re hesitant because you may not enjoy popstar stories, don’t worry, me either. This story wasn’t very popstar based so don’t let that part keep you from picking this book up.
“Sydney’s words from his training week echoed in his mind.
It’s a lonely job, but you won’t realize just how lonely it is until you start.
He could already feel it. And somehow, it was familiar.”
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