Review: Once We Were Starlight by Mia Sheridan

Once We Were Starlight by Mia Sheridan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tearjerker

This standalone novel is without doubt a total tearjerker. I spent a lot of the book with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. This author knows how to tug on the heartstrings and does so with relish.

This is an unusual book because the characters start together, however they are very young. They are also in an appalling situation, even if only one of them really understands that. Zakai and Karys live in Sundara, a compound in the desert, surrounded by beauty and luxury. They sleep in each other’s arms every night and they love each other with every fibre of their being. What they don’t have is their freedom. Trapped with lies, manipulations and location they are forced to sleep together as a performance for the enjoyment of rich men and women.

Kept in ignorance, Karys seeks happiness in her prison. She loves her family, the other inhabitants of the sideshow. They each have a piece of her heart and they have protected her from the worst of their situation to keep her sweet heart intact. She brings sunshine and happiness to the compound and no one has the heart to destroy that.

Zakai is three years older than Karys and remembers much more of life before Sundara. He understands much more of why they are there and the evil that lies at the heart of their home. He is angry and trembles on the edge of violence, but holds himself back to protect Karys.

When they are finally rescued and transported to the other side of the world their love is tested in ways they never expected. Zakai is angry at what they went through and the situation he now finds himself in and Karys mourns the loss of the beauty and simplicity of life before rescue. They both have to find themselves before they can ever be happy.

Not only is this book a tearjerker it is also quite uncomfortable in places. Whilst Karys and Zakai only ever have sex with each other, they are forced to put on a sex show against their wishes, as children. I think this book conveys how people who are subject to abuse of any kind can find enough happiness and beauty in their situation they are prepared to suffer anything to keep that one small part. It also shows how frightening it can be to be taken out of everything familiar even if your new situation is better than the one you left.

The story is mainly told from Karys’ point of view, with the exception of the epilogue, so we never really know what’s going on inside Zakai’s head. He’s not a particularly sympathetic character as a result. We get to understand Karys and the way her mind works but never Zakai’s and I think that’s quite sad because I feel that he would have an awful lot to say. In fact, there are very few conversations between the two, in the book, after they leave Sundara. I think this detracts from the romance aspect of the book. In some respects, this doesn’t feel like a romance novel, though the HEA would say otherwise. This feels like an author attempting to write a literary novel but is scared to let go of their romance roots.

I also had problems with the set-up. Two young people born in a desert country and rescued from trafficking end up in New York, with a scholarship each for a college education when neither of them learnt to read or write until quite late on and didn’t have any real access to books once they did. It’s sort of believable that Karys ends up in the US because her father was from there, but I don’t know how they swung it for Zakai whose only connection to the USA is that law enforcement from there freed him.

There is also no mention of any counselling or much support in transitioning to the outside world after being shut in the walls of Sundara since they were children. The culture shock was glossed over and I thought that was an opportunity that was missed.

However, this was a moving and enjoyable read and will be added to the shortlist of books I recommend when people ask for books that rip your heart out.

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