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!

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?

I swear, my muse is a petulant child sometimes. My MCs barely know each other at the point in the story I’m currently on, and yet my muse is screaming, ‘Fluff! Make them kiss! Make them declare their undying love for each other!’ No, muse, we can’t have our fluff and kissing now. We can have them once we’ve finished our buildup.

I have a habit of cooking whenever I get writer’s block. Yesterday I got distracted while working on a scene and I made red velvet cupcakes. They’re not helping me get my draft written but they are delicious

“Wake up every morning with the thought that something wonderful is about to happen.”

— Unknown

This seems fun, so let’s do it! Top is me (Goat horns were a must, because I’m Alina Capella, and Capella means goat ^_^)

And bottom is Ariel/Blue Moon, the MC of my current WIP, Night Of The Blue Moon:

Tagging @moonfeatherblue!

Fantasy Picrew (oc tag game) ✨

Rules: use this picrew to make yourself as a fantasy character, then make some of your OCs into fantasy characters or use ones from a fantasy story! Tag whoever you want to play next

left : myself in fantasy, right : my baby rhett in sci-fi wip, currently going through hell and questioning his whole life (sorry bb)

Open tag ! Show me your ocs (you know i can't resist a picrew)