I interviewed Jennifer Brody, author of A Sacrifice of Blood and Stars, back in the fall when the book released, but it took me a while for this one to make it to the top of my TBR. I’m glad I came back to it, because it was a really fun read!
A Sacrifice of Blood and Stars takes place in a dystopian future where climate change and world war have altered borders and states send their militaries to fight in space rather than risk destroying the fragile remnants of Earth. High school graduate Hikari Sky is excited to join space force, until she’s paired with wealthy bully Drae in a military pen pall program that will sync their brains for life.
What Kari doesn’t know is that Drae has a huge crush on her, and also that he longs to leave his friends’ bad influence behind and start a new life on the campus of Berkeley, where he’ll be heading off to study while she goes to boot camp.
As the two begin their pen pal exchanges, they discover how wrong they were about each other. But surviving basic training as the daughter of a hated deserter is more complicated than Kari realized, and when Drae is invited to join a secretive campus organization, he uncovers a galactic scale conspiracy that only Kari can help him solve. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
I really enjoyed the premise of this book. The enemies to lovers trope and the forced VR pen pal exchanges made for some fun scenes. I also enjoyed the characters, especially Drae. I found his struggles to overcome peer pressure on campus both tense and relatable.
The whole thing reminded me of my own life as a new adult, when my best friend went off to the military while I left for university. We went through really divergent life paths, but we kept in touch through diaries that we would mail back and forth. It would have been so cool to have a VR connection like Drae and Kari!
I will say that there were some elements of the plot that didn’t seem as believable, and a couple moments near the climax where I wish the emotional tension had been higher. But to be honest, these slight issues didn’t take me out of the story at all because I was so invested in the characters. I was rooting for Drae and Kari the whole time!
There was some kissing but no spice, and overall the story and characters felt closer to YA than NA to me, but the author left it open for a possible increase in spice as the series progresses. I’ll be interested to see where Brody goes with that. The author did a great job of fully wrapping up the main plot while still leaving plenty of room for new and interesting developments in the story (I don’t want to give the twist away, but I will say that I’m super excited about the possibilities!)
Overall this was a fun read with high quality writing and editing, a fun premise, and relatable characters. I recommend this one to space opera romance fans who don’t mind lower spice, and to fans of YA sci fi romances like Jill Tew’s The Dividing Sky. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m definitely putting the next book on my TBR!
If you read and enjoyed A Sacrifice of Blood and Stars, this is your official reminder that the sequel comes out next week! Be sure to preorder so you don’t forget! And don’t forget to read my interview with the author, where she talks about her experience writing for the Star Wars franchise, an inside scoop on the Sacrifice of Blood and Stars series and more!
