Everyone Must Read "To Astera, With Love"
It’s been a while since I’ve finished a novel. A lot is going on in the world, and reading has been difficult.
The pandemic.
Police brutality.
Nonviolent protests.
It’s understandable that people aren’t reading the same stories they might have read six months ago. Or reading as much as they might like. My days currently consist of a few hours of writing/editing, eight hours as an attorney, and a few hours heading downtown to attend BlackLivesMatter protests.
But today, on Sunday, June 14, I sat down and read the entire paperback of “To Astera, With Love” from cover-to-cover in one sitting.
I haven’t read an entire book in one sitting in well over a year.
And with “To Astera, With Love,” Amanda Ross has managed to write a novel uniquely reflective of the current zeitgeist. It hooked me on page one.
Imagine a world where the president is a literal vampire. Imagine a world where witches live among us, with powers capable of throwing a man against a wall. Imagine a world where race relations and police brutality mix with the racism and prejudice of a centuries-long war between vampires and witches.
With wit, wisdom, and astute creativity, Amanda Ross creates a wonderfully entertaining narrative that also intersects powerful themes of systemic racism. And we all know how powerful fiction and narrative are to cause people to think. You’ll laugh. You’ll probably cry. You’ll reflect on your own prejudices.
If you’ve been marching in the protests across the United States and the world, read this book. It will give you a moment of reflection, humor, and introspective analysis regarding the race relations of our country. If you’ve not attended a protest, but want to read a story focused on the current transformative moment in which we live, Read “To Astera, With Love.”
By the end of the book, you’ll be out in the streets alongside everyone else, chanting Black Lives Matter.
Writing: 8/10. The prose is exceptionally well-crafted, with well-timed moments of humor and perfect reflective essays on the pseudo-America of the novel that also happen to make you think about our real world. If the comparisons feel too real, good. I imagine that’s the point.
Plot: 9/10. What a story. Constantly driven by its heroes (Mercury and Sloane are absolute gems).
Characters: 10/10. I can’t stress enough how much life Amanda Ross breathed into the stars of the show. With a crew of five “leads,” traveling across the country together, it’s difficult to pull off the level of distinct characterization that occurs in “To Astera, With Love.”
Setting: 10/10. Seriously. A faux-America filled with witches and vampires mirroring the insidious racism seeping through our country? It’s pulled off with superb skill. Amanda Ross writes her debut novel like she’s written ten novels already.
Overall: 9.25/10. Five Stars. Read it. Seriously. Just read it.
