The Stars in Their Eyes by Kristy Gardner

Release: October 18th, 2022
Format: Ebook
Publisher: City Owl Press
Source: TBR and Beyond Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, __

The stakes were clear after the Change – survive together, or die.

Calay and Tess’s love has kept them alive four years after the aliens decimated Earth. But when Calay finds herself fighting for her life and Tess missing, she hears death knocking. Banging, really. She has nothing. Scraps for food, the clothes on her back, no safe place for respite. And yet, she determines to risk it all to reunite with the one woman she has ever loved. She only has one choice: she must find Tess.

Reluctantly, Calay braves the new nightmares of a ravaged Pacific Northwest, alone. Thrust into the darkness, she is haunted by horrors beyond her imagination — alien executioners, a mysterious man whom she can’t quite put her finger on, the rise of a sinister cult, and a shocking family secret that challenges everything she thinks she knows.

As the lines between good and evil blur, Calay’s desperation threatens to spill what’s left of her humanity. Her heart smeared across her tattered sleeve, she is pulled deeper into the madness of a world that has become kill or be killed. Calay realizes she must deny her feral instincts and resist becoming a monster herself, confronting her demons as share stares down the barrel of a terrifying truth: she may actually be forever alone. Time is running out and she knows it. Her only hope is to become who she is truly meant to be and unify with the love of her life once and for all. But, at what cost?

To survive, Calay must choose between the unthinkable: give up, or give ‘em hell.

About the Author:

Kristy Gardner is a queer sci-fi fantasy writer.

Her debut queer dark sci-fi novel, THE STARS IN THEIR EYES, is coming October 18, 2022.

Furnished with degrees in Gender Studies and Sociology, she crafts complex female characters that adventure through space, time, and emotional maelstroms questioning what identity – and home – really mean.

Her debut novel, THE STARS IN THEIR EYES, comes out October 2022. She is also the author of the award-winning cookbook, COOKING WITH COCKTAILS.

When she’s not jet-setting words on her laptop, she’s chasing stars, mountain adventures, belly laughs, coffee, big dog cuddles, and planning her next trip to SE Asia. She resides in Vancouver, B.C., with her partner and 90-pound rescued American Bulldog, Riley.

She is represented by Julie Gwinn at The Seymour Agency.

The Stars in Their Eyes Review:

“The Stars in Their Eyes” surprisingly turned out to be much better than I expected, and the story immersed me completely!

The highlight of the story was the relationship between Calay and Jacob. I loved the camaraderie that these two shared. Jacob suddenly appears out of the blue in Calay’s life as she embarks on her mission to find Tess. You don’t know his true intentions, but Jacob surprised me and turned out to be my favorite character, even more than Calay. Similarly, Calay is also lovely in the lead, as she learns a lot about her history and has to endure secrets, betrayal, abduction, romance, action, and thrills, to name a few.

Moreover, I enjoyed how the author constructed the world. It’s like “War of the Worlds” meets “Mad Max,” and I loved the concept of aliens, planets traveling, hybrids, etc. The author writes the story so beautifully that it does not overwhelm me with the events that transpire. I was delighted reading this book as a standalone. Yet, when you finish this book, you want it to be the beginning of a series because it is terrific. Some of my favorite moments were when Calay meets Jacob or what she discovers in the restricted access room. Even Max was adorable, and Guy was devious in the negative role.

Perhaps the only improvement I would have liked to see is if we got more history on Smith and Adam. I felt these two had a lot of potential to add more to the plot but have a minimal presence, and you quickly forget about them.

Apart from that, I loved “The Stars in Their Eyes,” and I hope the author turns it into a series, as I would love to revisit these characters.