Review: The Stars May Rise And Fall By Estella Mirai

Review: The Stars May Rise And Fall By Estella Mirai

For the first time ever, I’m reviewing a book by one of my moots here on tumblr, and the moot in question is, as you might have guessed, Estella Mirai! I didn’t read the synopsis before I bought the book, I must confess that right away. I skimmed it, and I saw, gay Phantom Of The Opera retelling set in 2000s Japan, and I knew I had to read it. My little readers’ heart fell in love at hello…And boy, did it stay that way.

Little bit about the premise first, Teru is the drummer of failing visual kei band La Rose Verboten, who are, in his own words, good, but not great, or at least, not great enough to land any real success in Japan’s cut-throat music industry. Their only claim to fame is their lead singer, Bara, whose vocal range is mediocre at best, but his attractiveness has garnered the attention of a small group of girls who regularly show up at La Rose’s performances, not for the rest of the band, but for him. Naturally, this all changes when Teru gets a text from a mysterious stranger who claims that he can help him, and after said stranger, known only as Rei, orchestrates an incident that causes Bara to quit the band, Teru is forced to become the band’s new lead singer. Thus begins the story of La Rose’s rise to fame, and Teru’s relationship with Rei, a disgraced former star who was left permanently disabled after a car accident which killed his previous boyfriend.

I must confess, I don’t know much about the visual kei scene—I hadn’t been born yet when visual kei was in its prime, but I didn’t need to come in with prior knowledge—Everything about the visual kei scene was explained organically by an author who clearly knows their stuff about it. I truly enjoyed seeing La Rose’s progression from nobodies to stars, and the problems that the band face—From Minori and Teru’s parents disapproving of their sons’ career choices, to Minori facing the threat of having to give up on his dreams if the band doesn’t start making more money were very true to life and well done. I also enjoyed Rei’s character development, starting from wanting to vicariously live through Teru, and enjoy the success he feels should have been his, and ending with him sacrificing his relationship with Teru so that he won’t choose him over his dreams. By the end of the book, my neighbours must have thought that I was crazy, because I was full on screaming, kicking my legs like a teenage girl. This book left me on the best emotional high possible, and I would’ve loved to see a little more of Teru and Rei rekindling their relationship, and making up for all of the lost time. My ramblings aside, this was a great read, and I would highly recommend it. Head to Goodreads to be redirected to the right Amazon page for your country if you want to buy a copy!

Easy answers for this one. White roses are one of Nathaniel’s main motifs, so if he had a fragrance, it would definitely smell like roses, and maybe orange blossom too. Orange blossom was a popular flavour/scent in the Victorian era, and despite him being from the modern world, he dresses like a Victorian gentleman.

As for Solana…Hers would probably smell like raspberries and dark chocolate. Something sweet, flirty, and rich, just like her.

Get To Know Your Character

If your character had a unique fragrance that represented them, what would it smell like?

Okay, WIP Question time! Feel free to send as many of these or as few of these as you want, to each other. Reblog and have fun

Which of your ocs would survive the longest in an apocalypse, what type of apocalypse and why?

Have you ever struggled with keeping a wip to 1 book and not making a series?

Have you ever thought about giving your oc some pets?

Who would be the ones to save the animals first and not the humans/ other species in your wip

Which ocs do you think would make the worst Vampire?

Which ocs would make the best Vampire? Who would adapt well?

What hobbies would you say your ocs have that could either come in handy, or also get them into trouble?

Do any of your characters have memory problems? What type of problems?

What's the most fun thing about writing for you?

Do you love to write dialogue or write description more?

Do you like worldbuilding?

Have you ever put a friends ocs in your story or written a crossover with their permission?

A character from a long-abandoned WIP of yours as at your door. They’re angry that you never finished their story. What do you do?

What’s going on behind doors of a writer

In Honour Of Storytelling Saturday, here’s another snippet from the first draft of Night Of The Blue Moon!

“You ok, Ariel? You seem a little distracted today,” Solana said as Ariel came into the food bank to drop off her weekly donation. 

Ariel turned away, hiding her face in her hoodie. “It’s nothing, I, uh…I was just wondering if what I brought in today was good enough…” It was a terrible excuse, but it was all that she could come up with. 

Solana opened the pastel blue tote bag Ariel always brought her donations in with. This week, Ariel had brought cat food, dog food, tampons, pads, and some bottles of shampoo and shower gel. “This is perfect! This is exactly what we needed,” she responded happily, “Thank you so much!”

Ariel let out a nervous laugh as she took her empty bag back. “W-well…Last week, you said that you needed hygiene products, and pet food, so that’s what I thought I should bring…”

Solana smiled her million watt smile back at her, and Ariel almost melted right on the spot. Solana’s smile didn’t just light up the room–It could probably light up the whole city. “You’re so thoughtful, you know that? Other people bring in tins of gross-looking food, and instant noodles, but you bring in stuff that we actually need. You read the signs, and ask what we need, and then you buy it for us to give to people.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what I should be doing, isn’t it? I donate to you guys because I wanna help you help people, and the only way I can really help is by giving you the things you need,” Ariel responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “I wouldn’t be helping if I was giving you stuff that no one needs or wants.”