⭐ Starside Review: A Fun Fantasy Adventure That Feels Familiar (3.5 Stars)
⚔️🐉✨ Rating: 3.5/5 Stars ✨🐉⚔️
Trigger Warnings
Death of family members
Murder and violence
Graphic combat
Torture
Grief and trauma
Monsters and demons
Emotional manipulation
Betrayal
Animal/creature injuries
Explicit sexual content
🚨 Spoiler Warning 🚨
This review contains FULL spoilers, including major plot twists and the ending.
Starside Review
I have reached a point in my fantasy-reading journey where I'm starting to suspect that every fantasy author is secretly passing around the same giant binder labeled:
"Ancient prophecy. Magical quest. Chosen one. Enemies-to-lovers. Mysterious immortal man. Deadly competition. Dragons. Betrayal. Insert variations as needed."
And honestly? Starside feels like it pulled quite a few pages from that binder.
Despite being marketed as adult fantasy, the writing felt surprisingly YA-adjacent to me. The prose is straightforward, the character dynamics are familiar, and many of the plot beats felt like things I've encountered before in other fantasy series.
There's also quite a bit of repetition. Characters repeat the same emotional conflicts, Aris spends a lot of time reminding us of her mission, and some of the romantic tension circles the same territory multiple times before finally moving forward.
BUT.
Here's the thing.
I still enjoyed it. 😂
Sometimes a book doesn't need to reinvent fantasy to be entertaining. Sometimes you just want dragons, gods, sword fights, impossible quests, and a morally questionable immortal man who keeps saving the heroine while acting like he'd rather swallow broken glass than admit he cares.
And Starside absolutely delivers on that front.
🌟 The World of Stormside and Starside
The story takes place in a world split into two realms.
Stormside is the mortal side—a harsh, barren land where magic has long since disappeared.
Beyond the gates lies Starside, a magical realm filled with immortals, monsters, ancient powers, and gods.
Every fifty years the gates open for the Questral, a deadly journey where fifty human challengers travel through Starside to reach the Land of the Gods. Those who succeed can claim a goblet of magic capable of granting miracles.
Most competitors want magic.
Aris wants revenge.
And honestly, revenge is usually more interesting.
⚔️ Plot Summary
Aris is a blacksmith's apprentice living in the village of Nightfell.
Years earlier, her entire village of Silverside was destroyed by a goddess with silver-red eyes. Everyone she loved died.
Well.
Almost everyone.
A lightning strike left strange silver markings across Aris's skin and made her immune to fire. Because silver is associated with the gods and forbidden among mortals, she's spent her life hiding both the markings and her true identity.
Her guardian, Stellan, is one of the few people who knows the truth.
When Aris qualifies for the Questral, she's carrying a rare paladian dagger forged by Stellan from magical metal brought back from Starside fifty years earlier.
But before the competition begins, Aris discovers Stellan dying on the floor.
The dagger has been stolen.
With his final breath, Stellan tells her to find an immortal named Vander Evren before dying.
Naturally, this sends Aris into the world's deadliest competition while emotionally devastated and running entirely on spite.
A relatable fantasy heroine if I've ever seen one.
🗡️ The Culling
The first section of the book focuses on the brutal qualification rounds known as the Culling.
Aris befriends:
✨ Kira, who desperately wants magic to save her dying younger sister.
✨ Zane Sterling, a quiet noble heir.
She also encounters:
☠️ Cadoc Bolter, an arrogant noble who quickly establishes himself as somebody I'd cheerfully push into traffic.
⚔️ Harlan Raker, commander of the king's guard and possibly the most intimidating man alive.
During the trials, Aris discovers Cadoc possesses Stellan's stolen dagger, convincing her that Cadoc murdered her guardian.
The final challenge leads competitors through a deadly labyrinth, a graveyard filled with ancient weapons, and a monster-infested bridge.
When Cadoc attacks her, a buried paladian sword literally erupts from the ground into her hand.
Fantasy books love dramatic sword acquisitions.
And honestly?
I love them too.
Aris survives and passes through the gates into Starside.
🐉 Enter Starside
Once the story reaches Starside, things become significantly more interesting.
Aris, Kira, and Zane initially travel together.
Along the way, Aris learns that immortals aren't exactly welcoming guests. In fact, one scholarly institution plans to vivisect the human competitors, which is generally considered rude.
After stealing a vital map, the group continues north.
Unfortunately, Kira suffers a devastating injury and can no longer continue.
Before leaving, she makes Aris promise to secure magic for her younger sister.
And because fantasy novels operate on emotional devastation, this promise becomes very important later.
🐉 Dragons, Demons, and Raker
At the Beast Tree, challengers leap from enormous heights hoping to bond with flying creatures.
Aris ends up bonding with a spectacular silver dragon, which immediately elevated my enjoyment level.
Because everything is better with dragons.
This is simply science.
After becoming separated from the others, Aris runs into Raker.
She proposes a partnership.
What follows is essentially several hundred pages of:
💀 "I hate you."
💀 "I also hate you."
💀 Accidental emotional intimacy.
💀 "This changes nothing."
💀 Changes everything.
Classic fantasy romance behavior.
The pair travel through increasingly dangerous regions, battling demons, monsters, venomous creatures, magical forests, and emotional baggage.
The chemistry is strong, even if some of the romance beats felt pretty familiar.
⭐ The Godsword and Vander Evren
Eventually Aris summons Vander Evren, the immortal Stellan wanted her to find.
Vander reveals several important truths.
Most importantly:
⚔️ Aris's sword, Stellaris, is actually a legendary godsword.
⚔️ The weapon once belonged to one of the original gods.
⚔️ Powerful divine forces are hunting her because of it.
This revelation helps explain why Aris keeps stumbling into increasingly absurd levels of destiny.
❤️ The Romance
The romance between Aris and Raker was probably my favorite part of the book.
Was it predictable?
Yes.
Did I know exactly where it was headed?
Also yes.
Did I still read every scene?
Absolutely.
Raker has all the classic fantasy love-interest traits:
✔️ Dangerous
✔️ Emotionally unavailable
✔️ Constantly saving the heroine
✔️ Terrible at discussing feelings
✔️ Secretive to an almost comical degree
The emotional vulnerability toward the end worked better for me than some of the earlier physical attraction scenes.
Their relationship isn't groundbreaking, but it was engaging enough to keep me invested.
🔥 The Ending Explained
The final section is packed with reveals.
First, Aris reaches the Land of the Gods and successfully claims a goblet of magic.
She intends to use it to save Kira's sister, Anise.
Then she confronts the goddess responsible for destroying her village.
The goddess reveals she burned Silverside because of a prophecy involving Aris and claims that killing the God of Death could potentially restore Aris's family.
After swearing a blood oath not to kill the goddess, Aris finds a loophole and has her dragon eat her.
Honestly?
Respect. 😂
That was one of the more memorable moments in the book.
Then comes the biggest twist.
Aris discovers that Raker is actually the God of Death.
Not possessed by him.
Not connected to him.
Not working for him.
He literally IS the God of Death.
Years earlier he hid part of his divine soul on Stormside and lost his memories. The Questral was his path back to reclaiming his power.
He reveals that his sword and Stellaris were originally one weapon.
He wants Aris to join him in overthrowing the other gods.
Aris responds by telling him she thinks she loves him.
And then immediately stabs him through the heart.
Fantasy romance really is a beautiful genre.
Unfortunately for her, Death is notoriously difficult to kill.
Raker survives.
Aris escapes through the closing gates carrying:
⚔️ Both legendary swords
🏆 A goblet of magic
🐉 Her dragon
💔 A broken heart
☠️ An extremely angry God of Death who is now obsessed with finding her
The gates close.
Raker warns her that they won't keep him away forever.
And that's where the book ends.
Final Thoughts
Starside didn't feel particularly original to me.
I've read versions of many of these ideas before. The writing style often felt younger than the book's marketing suggested, and there were moments where the repetition became noticeable.
However...
The pacing was strong.
The world was entertaining.
The dragon was fantastic.
The romance worked.
And that final twist absolutely sets up an intriguing sequel.
Not every fantasy novel has to reinvent the wheel.
Sometimes it's enough to take familiar ingredients and make an enjoyable adventure out of them.
That's exactly what Starside did for me.
⭐ Final Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
📚 Books I'd Recommend If You Enjoyed Starside
📖 The Serpent and the Wings of Night — Carissa Broadbent
📖 When the Moon Hatched — Sarah A. Parker
📖 A Court of Thorns and Roses — Sarah J. Maas
📖 The Bridge Kingdom — Danielle L. Jensen
📖 Fourth Wing — Rebecca Yarros
📖 One Dark Window — Rachel Gillig
📖 The Book of Azrael — Amber V. Nicole
📖 The Ever King — L.J. Andrews
🐉⚔️✨ If your ideal fantasy includes dragons, immortal enemies, magical quests, deadly trials, and enough romantic tension to power an entire kingdom, Starside is probably worth a look.
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