All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace - HIGH

All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth, #1) by Adalyn Grace, 373 pages. Imprint (Macmillan), 2020.  $18.  

Content: Language: G (1 swear); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: R.  

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  

Amora Montara is the princess who has control of dangerous soul magic for her whole kingdom. She has been practicing her whole life to wield the magic when her time comes so she can take her rightful place on the throne.  The day that she is supposed to demonstrate that magic, she loses control and gruesomely kills a man.  She is sent to prison, but when a young man shows up to offer her escape, in exchange for her help to restore magic to his home island, Amora finds herself on a new mission.  As she tries to escape with her own kingdom chasing her and running towards the unknown, Amora finds people she trusts and loves and begins to figure out secrets of her kingdom.  

I got completely caught up in Amora’s adventure I loved her friends and the rules of the magic are explained well as the story unfolds.  My biggest issue with this book is the disturbingly gruesome descriptions of death, amputation, and torture.  The other content includes mentions of prostitution and a heavy make-out session.  I think readers will get caught up in Amora’s world.  Although it says it's the beginning of a series, it can stand on it's own.

Reviewer, C. Peterson