A Wilderness of Stars by Shea Ernshaw Pages: 400
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on November 29, 2022
Genres: Young Adult
Source: Finished Copy from Publisher
An illness cursing the land forces a teen girl astronomer to venture across the wilderness in search of the stars’ message that will, hopefully, save them all.
If magic lives anywhere, it’s in the stars…Vega has lived in the valley her whole life—forbidden by her mother to leave the safety of its borders because of the unknown threats waiting for her in the wilds beyond. But after her mother dies, and Vega sees the fabled twin stars in the sky, it’s an omen she can no longer ignore, forcing her to leave the protective boundaries of the valley. But the outside world turns out to be much more terrifying than Vega could have imagined. People are gravely sick—they lose their eyesight and their hearing, just before they lose their lives.
What Vega keeps to herself is that she is the Last Astronomer—a title carried from generation to generation—and she is the only one who carries the knowledge of the stars. Knowledge that could hold the key to the cure. And so when locals spot the tattoo on Vega’s neck in the shape of a constellation—the mark of an astronomer—chaos erupts as the threats her mother warned her about become all too real.
Fearing for her life, Vega is rescued by a girl named Cricket who leads her to Noah, a boy marked by his own mysterious tattoos. On the run from the men who are hunting her, Vega, Cricket, and Noah set out across the plains in search of the cure the stars speak of. But as the lines between friend and protector begin to blur, Vega must decide whether to safeguard the sacred knowledge of the astronomer. Or if she will risk everything to try to save them all.
A Wilderness of Stars is a young adult novel by Shea Ernshaw. I have been meaning to read Shea Ernshaw’s books for a while now. I have two of her last releases patiently waiting on my TBR, but when I saw the summary for A wilderness of Stars I knew I was really in the mood for this atmospheric, slightly supernatural read. I enjoyed it, and if you like reads that are a slow burn plot with descriptions that leap off the page and come to life before your eyes, you will really enjoy Shea Ernshaw’s writing style.
In A Wilderness of Stars, we meet our main character Vega, who is an astronomer. This story follows Vega on a journey to try and find a cure for a mysterious illness that is sweeping the world, including her mother. You all know I love a good quest style adventure and this one did not let me down. Vega has a lot of obstacles in front of her as she tries to live up to her title as the last living astronomer, and tries to find the secret to the cure. I loved Vega, but she was really the only character that totally stood out to me.
I will say that this story has a very slow burn. The writing is stunning and beautiful but the actual plot takes a while to really take off. I wish the first half of the book was just a smidge faster paced, but other than that I enjoyed the story. If you are a fan of richly detailed writing that is a beautiful experience to read, and you don’t mind a slower pace, I think A Wilderness of Stars is the perfect book for you to check out.
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