Review - The Whisper of Stars by Cristin Williams

 

  

 

 Title: The Whisper of Stars

Author: Cristin Williams

Pages: 448

Publisher: Gollancz

Release Date: 6th November 2025

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 A frozen island.

A monastery turned political prison.

A cipher inked in blood.

When anarchist poet Katya Efremova is transferred to the prison colony on Solovetsky Island, she finds an enigma among her returned possessions - a blood-stained book containing a cipher left by her murdered mother, written on the day she died.

Following her mother's clues, Katya begins to unravel a centuries-old mystery woven into the history of Solovetsky Island. Finding the island's legendary power might be the key to overthrowing the Bolshevik regime, but Katya wasn't sent to Solovetsky by chance. The head of the government's spy network is watching, and there will be no hope of a free Russia if he takes hold of the magic hidden beneath the White Sea snow.

 

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My Review: 

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group*

Katya is a prisoner and enemy of the state because of her political stance. However, Katya also has a powerful magic that her enemies want to use for themselves.

When Katya is transferred to a prison on an isolated island, she finds a book amongst her returned belongings that contains an encrypted message from Katya's dead mother.

Trapped on the island, Katya will have to form an alliance with the enemy to survive long enough to uncover her mother's last message.

The premise of this book intrigued me, especially the mix of an historical Russia setting with magic thrown in.

There are three protagonists - Katya, Dima, and Natasha. I liked both Katya and Dima, and empathised with them. Natasha was not meant to be a likeable protagonist, but I did enjoy learning more about her and her motives.

The setting of 1920s Russia was interesting, as was the magic and lore in the story.

The plot was mixed for me - I enjoyed it to begin with, but after a while I found it harder to stay interested in the storyline, and was not at all invested. The pacing was a bit off for me, and I felt that some parts could have benefited from a little more fleshing out.

I'm a bit disappointed I didn't enjoy this more, but this was a case where the execution didn't quite work for me.

Overall, this was a mixed read.