Book Review: The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton
Genre: Sci-Fi
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
I loved this one. My only regrets are that I didn’t read this sooner and that I didn’t read this in time to feature it in our Pride Month!
Cleo and her friends are investigating the mysterious disappearance of the Providence crew, who were to start new lives in Proxima Centauri, leaving a dying Earth behind, before launch day, when they all vanished. What the small group didn’t intend to happen was for the dark matter engine to start up, for them to meet the ship’s captain in hologram form, and for them to end up trapped, on their way to Proxima Centauri. And Cleo definitely, really didn’t expect to become smitten with the hologram of Captain Billie, either.
Let’s talk characters. Hamilton has really crafted some wonderful characters here, and especially with Cleo and Billie. They’re a joy to read, and really fun to see interact with each other, especially as things get more dangerous and their feelings become clearer. But they’re surrounded by a lovely cast, too – Cleo’s friends are as engaging, and the friendship dynamics, that element of found family, really makes this book shine.
It's beautiful and tense and a lovely read. And it’s the exact kind of sci-fi I love; one that has core, underlying messages, plenty of tension (sexual and otherwise), but doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s space odyssey combined with sapphic rom-com, and the characters really do bring it to life, and provide plenty of humorous moments between the deeper ones. And they’re all dealing with a lot themselves; Cleo has always viewed space as a possible escape, something she has in common with the captain, both women have experienced loss, and on top of everything else, the dark matter engine seems to be having a strange effect on Cleo and her friends.
If you like your sci-fi on the ‘softer’ side, with engaging, fully fleshed characters and a trip across the universe, the kind of sci-fi you can lose yourself in and maybe-this-is-just-me-but-that-doesn’t-make-you-feel-less-smart-for-not-‘grasping’-everything, if you like rom-com sapphic storylines with plenty of “PLEASE JUST KISS OH SHIT YOU CAN’T ONE OF YOU IS A HOLOGRAM” moments (it works. Truly), then absolutely pick this up because you need to read it.
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter: @elleturpitt
Bluesky: @elleturpitt.bsky.social
I received this ebook from Gollancz via NetGalley for review consideration.
