Umbra: Sentient Stars

By: Amber Toro

Narrated by: Megan Carver, Benjamin Farmer

Umbra is the first book in the Sentient Stars trilogy, an intergalactic, space opera, adventure story, with a slow burn enemies to lovers romance, told from 3 POV’s with fully sentient starships, a militaristic society, alien worlds, and a signal in the darkness that threatens to destroy humanity.

Earth That Was has faded into myth. After millenia spent wandering, humans are no longer nomads. Twelve tribes stand allied under the United Tribal Axis; but there is a signal in the darkness that threatens to destroy everything.

All Skyla wanted after leaving the Navy was to be left alone. Just her ship, the stars, and a new adventure. But when a strange virus disables her ship, she is thrown into the middle of a conflict she doesn’t understand, forcing her to take on responsibilities she swore she never would again.

Hinata always followed the rules, honor above all else. He always won, until he didn’t. Sentenced to exile for his failures, he is determined to prove himself, until a mysterious woman arrives on his station and chaos threatens to break already fragile alliances.

Freyja was always angry, an outcast, playing the part of admiral and black ops operative. But she is tired of being a pawn in the Empress’ games and when she’s stranded on the wrong side of enemy lines after a vengeful battle, she’s forced to ally with her adversaries to clear her name.

A Rogue. A Commander. And an Admiral. Brought together by circumstance, held together by duty. Can they find a way to work together to save humanity?

©2024 Amber Toro (P)2024 Amber Toro

Space opera, love story, action!

Get this if: You love slow burn romance, you love space opera, you like a big emotional ending that pays off a lot of loose threads.

Once the two love interests begin to interact, I didn’t want to put it down. Investment in back stories pays off in megaton quantities. The bang-up conclusion features suspense, action, and an emotional tying up of some loose ends that had me wiping away a tear.

The voice actors made choices regarding some side-characters’ accents that I really enjoyed. It made it easier to distinguish among them.

Sci-Fi Slow Burn

I love sci-fi and I love romance but anytime I’ve attempted to read a book that tried to blend the two genres, they always came up short. The romance always felt half baked or the sci-fi was seriously lacking. Until now. This book is a wonderful blend of both. It is a bit heavier on the sci-fi than the romance but it is a delightful slow burn with a strong female lead. Can’t wait for book two!

Firefly meets Arora Rising

This is a 4.5 star read in actuality, but closer to a 4 than a 5.

This review is for the readers, not the author. I would say I mostly loved it with very few things I didn't.

The writing was SO good. I was brought into the story right from the beginning and the whole time I wanted to know what would come next.

It has all the things I like about a space opera. It was like it pulled from very familiar stories such as Star Trek, Star wars, Red Rising, and even Sanderson's Skyward series.

The characters were fantastic. Everyone had their own voice and personality. I loved the different ways they played with and against the other personalities.

I loved the relationship between Skyla and her ship Pele, and I had feelings about Hinata and his ship too.

I'm very invested in Sky and Freya's friendship!! ,

I wasn't a huge fan of all the profanity. I don't know why. But that really bothers me. And I strongly disliked Tristan's playboy nature and exploits. He was believable, but gross.

What I did not find believable was the romantic tension. When the lovers would get together, I wasn't feeling it. That might just be me. Except for a moment of extreme stress at the end.

Even with those criticisms I really really loved it and can't wait to read the next one!!

Thanks to Amber Toro for the complimentary audiobook. All the opinions in this review are my own.

Space Opera with heart

An interesting story that makes an excellent setup for a series. The opening is a bit confusing but once the story takes off it’s characters are great and the action is well written.
A male narrator does the chapters for the MMC very well and I wish he had a few more chapters. Both narrators did good, but the female narrator spent more time in the gutter trying to voice the MMC.

Excited for book 2

Story started off a little slow and confusing, but after the first few chapters the pacing and character perspectives actually became one of my favorite parts . Similar vibes to a combination of “ to sleep in a sea of stars “ and Aurora Rising”