Suraya Saab is the daughter of a tavern owner and works a blacksmith dabbling in illegal runes in a quiet town. However, her life changes suddenly when she receives an invitation to the Royal palace where the crown prince will choose his bride from the invitees. While Suraya is not particularly taken with the idea, she longs to see the capital city and embarks on a journey that will take her further than she ever realized, 

The Starlight Heir is a romantasy that takes place in a desert kingdom - I enjoyed that we were not in a european mythology system as that really dominates the genre. There were also fun touches like the characters saying "Sands!" as a point of emphasis. We get a literal shadow daddy, an illegitimate prince with mystery, rebels, an evil queen and more. 

That being said, I had trouble with this one - I don’t know if it was the pacing or the world building or maybe a combination of both, but the stakes and twists and turns just did not hit for me. I do not mind having tropes and was able to predict many of the twists, but it felt as if some folks just popped out of nowhere to save the day. The characters emotional reactions to things just didn't sink in for me. I enjoyed how the book started, but I felt like after the rebel attack we were being whisked off around to a bunch of people and places without having a better understanding of the world. 

I did listen to this as an audiobook and felt the main narrator underacted a bit - it was tough to get at the emotions of the characters, which may have been part of why I felt a disconnect there. Additionally, I had trouble with the narrator's tone changes and had a harder time realizing when different characters were speaking. 

Overall, it just didn't quite work for me - but with amazing praise from so many other folks, I'm sure it will find its audience. Thank you to NetGalley and to HarperAudio for the advanced copy.