Rating: /10

Synopsis

Two friends, three days, one haunted spaceship.

After spending the past few years hosting a successful ghost hunting webseries, Magnolia and Korinne score the ultimate opportunity of their career: tagging along as one of humanity’s ancient generation ships flies to its final resting place. It’s the perfect setting for the show’s finale, and possibly the last chance to admit the feelings they’ve long denied for each other.

From the beginning, the investigation has the potential to be scarier than all the rest. Before, Magnolia assumed the ghosts were present; now, she can see their faces, feel their fear, and hear their warnings. Korinne, forever a skeptic of the supernatural, finds it difficult to understand Magnolia’s unease. After all, she only believes in things backed by irrefutable evidence, and there’s definitely no proof of a malicious spirit in the engine room.

The pressure is on, both for the finale and their lives. As the strange occurrences pile up, Magnolia must fight to convince Korinne of a malevolent threat, and of some unlikely allies in their corner. If they can’t land the ship before it’s torn apart, their souls—and the souls of all the passengers gone before them—will be lost forever.

Quick Review

Death Between the Stars is a paranormal murder mystery wrapped up in a sapphic romance. It’s delightfully fun, with some serious themes about autonomy and time (or, running out of time).

Full Review

There’s something about Nico Vincenty’s writing that perfectly balances whimsy and drama in a way that I absolutely adore, and that’s baked into Death Between the Stars. This standalone novel centers on Magnolia and Korrine, close friends and ghost hunters who are filming a three-day adventure aboard the space ship Arkana. Most importantly, they’re investigating the murder of a woman who was aboard the ship during its initial flight: Cassie.

Cassie is a major part of this story. Very quickly, you’ll discover that she’s also a point-of-view character, living her best posthumous life aboard the Arkana as a ghost. At first, she has a laugh haunting the girls, but over time begins to help with the investigation. After all, she can’t remember how she died either.

All of this is occurring while Magnolia and Korrine silently worry over what will happen after this adventure. Both would like to be more than “friends” but neither is convinced the other feels that way. Their relationship is stressed as the paranormal happenings get more dangerous, and the trip nears its end.

Worth noting, there’s a bit of spice here. There’s an open-door scene which takes up a full chapter. Everyone’s tolerance is different so I’ll just say that I don’t really seek out spice in books, but I’m not avoiding it either. Here, it all made perfect sense for the girls’ story and never crossed a line for me, personally. Your mileage may vary.

The ghost encounters and sapphic romance are tied together by some excellent themes about control (concepts of bodily autonomy take on an interesting new look when ghosts get involved) and time. Specifically, running out of time, and taking action before an opportunity passes. I’m speaking broadly to avoid too many spoilers, but suffice it to say that while the ghost-busting sapphic romance is very whimsical, there are some serious topics underpinning it all. I really love that balance. It makes the romance in this book not just about the romance itself, but about two people who are overcoming something together.

There is a lot to love in Death Between the Stars, but I do think the ending might grate against some readers. The finale involves a fight against a being called the Malevolence. It threatens both the ghosts and the living, and there’s some really fun action; but the Malevolence itself is so abstract and unexplained that I found it difficult to connect with or even picture what was going on. I’m not opposed to some things in a story being left unsaid or unexplained, but I struggled a bit with this one, especially in comparison to another antagonist from earlier in the story.

The first antagonist was somebody Cassie had a personal connection with, who was involved in the history of the Arkana. They felt like part of the story. They had a grudge, a personality. However, they never make it to the end. Instead, the Malevolence is just a faceless paranormal being, a thing that craves rage and destruction—but as far as I can tell there is no motive or reason beyond “evil thing does evil things.”

That said, not every story needs a compelling villain. Sometimes, the good guys just need a bad guy to beat the crap out of. And, after all that is over, there are some really cute moments in the final chapter.

I recommend Death Between the Stars. Nico Vincenty is a phenomenal writer, and she’s exploring some really exciting themes with this story which tie perfectly into both the paranormal and romance parts of it. I’m so impressed with how she found a way to accomplish that. If you’re looking for something paranormal, or a new sapphic romance novel, this’ll have something for you.