Set the Stars Alight is Amanda Dykes‘s second novel. After reading her first, Whose Waves These Are, especially since it was one of my favorite reads of 2019, I couldn’t wait to read this one. And it did not disappoint!

The story follows Lucy Claremont from a young girl full of curiosity to a woman set upon finding a lost ship. Her father, a clock maker, would tell story upon story to her and her friend Dash, feeding their sense of discovery. Where Dash’s eyes were on the stars, Lucy’s was on the water. In particularly, a tale about a traitor who, on the night before he was to be executed, vanished along with the prison ship that held him.

I loved Set the Stars Alight. It’s the type of story that needs to be digested slowly over a mug of warm cider. Even writing a review about it, my words don’t seem to do it justice. It’s a the type of tale that is carried on the wind. Drifted over the sea. Best read under the stars.

The way the words are woven, the way the story bends and twists, it is captivating. Like watching a fire dance in a fireplace. It’s the type of story you read once for the wonder of it and twice to catch all the hidden depths you didn’t catch before.

So, do I recommend reading Set the Stars Alight? Absolutely! Just go into it with that sense of wonder. It will not entertain like a suspense, but it won’t let you go. It has hints and simmers of romance, but not when you expect. And the characters, they wrap themselves around your heart so that you don’t want their story to end.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC guidelines.