A Dark and Hollow Star

Written by Ashley Shuttleworth

Narrated by Vikas Adam, Neo Cihi, Natalie Naudus and Imani Jade Powers

“Beautifully written and deliciously complex…I couldn’t get enough.” —Nicki Pau Preto, author of the Crown of Feathers series

The Cruel Prince meets City of Bones in this thrilling urban fantasy set in the magical underworld of Toronto that follows a queer cast of characters racing to stop a serial killer whose crimes could expose the hidden world of faeries to humans.

Choose your player.

The “ironborn” half-fae outcast of her royal fae family.
A tempestuous Fury, exiled to earth from the Immortal Realm and hellbent on revenge.
A dutiful fae prince, determined to earn his place on the throne.
The prince’s brooding guardian, burdened with a terrible secret.

For centuries, the Eight Courts of Folk have lived among us, concealed by magic and bound by law to do no harm to humans. This arrangement has long kept peace in the Courts—until a series of gruesome and ritualistic murders rocks the city of Toronto and threatens to expose faeries to the human world.

Four queer teens, each who hold a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer behind these crimes. If they fail, they risk the destruction of the faerie and human worlds alike. If that’s not bad enough, there’s a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal Realms, and one of these teens is destined to tip the scales. The only question is: which way?

Wish them luck. They’re going to need it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Feb 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781797122977

Ashley Shuttleworth

Ashley Shuttleworth is a young adult fantasy author with a degree in English literature and a slight obsession with The Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy. They currently live in Ontario, Canada, with their cat named Zack and a growing collection of cosplay swords. You can find them online at AshleyShuttleworth.com.

Reviews for A Dark and Hollow Star

[Elizabeth Aislinn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Offering magic, adventure, intrigue, queer leads, geek culture references, and more, there’s a lot to love in A Dark and Hollow Star. That includes an initial problem and mystery that expands into far more by the book’s end, and the tentative start of a sweet romance between a deeply wounded, seemingly disaffected immortal and a sheltered half-fae whose low self-esteem hides a courageous heart.

I do feel this book needed another round of edits. There’s a little bit of a pacing problem, some frustrating language choices (character dialogue doesn’t end with “said so-and-so,” nearly as often as “they sulked/exclaimed/scathed/proclaimed” etc.), and a fair amount of pop-cultural references from one character who supposedly has no friends and isn’t depicted spending time with normal human society. This could have been cleared up easily, but readers are given no more explanation for that than for why a Fury wields a katana.

That said, if you love video games and folklore with similar fervor, than you, like me, are probably going to enjoy yourself in these pages. There’s a D&D element to one special piece of magic that is both clever, fun, and feels very right, in context; and world-building that blends alchemy, Greek myth, and faerie courts.

I do wish a book set largely in a famously multi-cultural city (which the author spent time describing) had leads that weren’t all white/white-coded. The LGBTQ+ cast was a dream to see fill the pages of a YA book, but from Toronto to Nevada, with side-character faerie beings who are pink and gold and green, you’ll be hard-pressed to see a Black, Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, or Native character (I distinctly remember one briefly appearing Black character, a short mention of Japanese fox spirits, and a reference to a fae court existing in a India, but I think that’s it).

—While this isn’t at all a problem unique to the author or this book (the issue of non-white representation is a large one in all types of fantasy fiction), it bears pointing out, so that authors, publishers, and the genre as a whole can improve.

Final thoughts, though? This is one to read, especially for queer teens who have been waiting for an urban fantasy book that centers them. With at least two more books planned in the series, a fair amount of mystery to explore, a second potential romance that’s completely uninitiated yet (despite both parties longing for it), and the fate of many lives hanging in the balance, I’m excited to see what Ashley Shuttleworth has planned for us (and their characters) next.

[Jenna Vaughn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This had a really slow start.... Almost DNF but it picked up a little over half through.

[Chris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic, kept me one the edge of my seat the whole book! The characters are absolutely amazing, i’m so used to books queer baiting just to get a larger audience and I’m so relieved this series has genuine queer representation!!

[Julia Nuber · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book. Everyone should read or hear it. Absolutly amazing.

[Lizzie Rhoades · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A new urban epic fantasy! Sometimes the plot got a little confusing to me, but the banter and the character tension was off the charts excellent.

[Rebecca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was an amazing story! I couldn't turn away from it.