Children of the Stars

This story was a disappointment to me. The narrative was clunky and uneven—I couldn't tell if the writing or the translation or both was the issue. It would go from choppy to lyrical with a suddenness that left me frequently dizzied. The voice wasn't consistent throughout. The narration is in an omniscient POV that can't seem to focus on the same characters very long. I generally really enjoy omniscient narrations but this was the most jarring I've ever read as we'd get deep into one character's thoughts and then be surprised by something another character was thinking in the same paragraph.

Another thing that really bugged me was that the author's philosophical wanderings were most likely to occur in the thoughts of the twelve-year-old boy. Had it been presented as a truism from the narrator at all times, I'd not have found it jarring, but to think of a boy on the run stopping to think these transcendent thoughts felt very unlikely and made it harder for me to connect with Jacob as a character.

The story is mainly clean, with bad language mostly limited to vulgarities, but does include some episodes of graphic violence. It is marketed as Christian fiction but it isn't; the MCs are Jewish.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.