(Moon Mountain Trilogy, Book 2)
Morgan Thomas has lost the battle.
Her body? Stolen as a new vessel for a mysterious being.
Her mind? Trapped inside a prison within her subconscious, placated by familiar but lifeless settings as she fades away.
But if her former enemy Vera Gallagher has any say, the war against these shadowy and inhuman thieves has only begun.
Bound to Morgan by a bizarre but providential string of events, Vera strikes the match to light a new path for Morgan, leading her out of the darkness. But with deceptions around every bend, Morgan must ultimately find the strength within herself to break free.
Trekking across mind-bending discoveries and with new mysteries to unravel, including the unexpected fate of the noble detective who sacrificed everything for her, Morgan uncovers the only hope of defeating these monsters. But it lies in the most unlikely of places, setting her on a course to face her most perilous task yet… and one step closer to the ultimate showdown against a ruthless enemy.
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Isle of Stars is a compelling and well written supernatural thriller that is full of tension and intrigue. Porto's consistently engaging storyline sees Morgan Thomas battle for survival against a strange and slippery enemy, resulting in an imaginative and absorbing read.
Prose: Jess Porto's text features intricately described characters, with their idiosyncrasies and nuances succinctly realized. Isle of Stars effectively explores the subconscious in a novel rife with mysterious entities and a brilliant attention to detail.
Originality: Isle of Stars is written with guile and confidence, effortlessly emitting wit, charm and dramatic tension from the start. Its biting melodrama and supernatural charm literally seeps through its pages in a passionately written swarm of self-discovery and sacrifice.
Character/Execution: Morgan Thomas is the protagonist of Isle of Stars, a gripping mystery filled with well written and engaging characters. The dialogue is realistic and believable, allowing the reader to become fully immersed in Porto's excellently crated supernatural realm.
Blurb: A strong, character-driven mystery thriller.
Date Submitted: April 25, 2024
The surprising second entry in Porto’s 1990s-set supernatural Moon Mountain trilogy continues to chronicle the increasingly complicated life of Morgan Thomas, now facing a true nightmare in her charming North Carolina hometown: a mysterious entity has occupied her body as a “vessel” while her mind languishes “deep inside” a subconscious prison. Stranger still, adversary-turned-ally Vera Gallagher, the mother of a friend, actually shares Morgan’s body, and must explain this situation, through Morgan’s own mouth, to those Morgan trusts most. Soon, Morgan embarks on a perilous, twisty quest for survival against elusive foes who possess humans and wreak havoc. She unearths new mysteries, forges surprise alliances, and carries g the burden of those who have given all in the fight against an elusive invasion that, she learns, is led by a “cold and calculating” entity “with no qualms about torturing and punishing its enemies and using those around it for its own pleasure or gain.”The saga unfolds at a swift pace with ever-rising stakes as Morgan faces the “slithering fingers” of a blankness she could fade into, and possessions continue in the outside world, which powers a strong sense of uncertain anxiety. Pages devoted to Vera explaining things about these “foreign essence”s and “the Beyond” to Morgan—and to readers—find Porto taking full advantage of this imaginative setup, as Vera conjures visions of her own life and Morgan’s efforts to control her own memories kicks up literal storms. Porto skillfully defies conventional good vs. evil tropes by imbuing the invaders with shades of gray, and the subconscious realm and surrealist liminal spaces through which Morgan journeys are, as the title suggests, inventive and evocative.
At its core, this inward-looking thriller is a journey of hope and self-discovery, psyche and sacrifice, a story concerned with what it’s worth risking everything to save. (A character declares, “One word: humanity.”) The characters make clever use of Porto’s worldbuilding, and the ending satisfies, while pointing to revelations to come. New readers should start with the first book.
Takeaway: Tense, effective thriller of body takeovers and what’s beyond consciousness.
Comparable Titles: Sara Gran’s Come Closer, Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
“This story will blow you away… “Exceptional,” “thrilling,” “adrenaline-charged,” and “absorbing” would all be excellent words to describe Isle of Stars. It ends on a temptingly strong cliff-hanger, and we can’t wait to read the third masterpiece in this trilogy!"
“Intense and dark; a riveting psychological fantasy…
Porto’s second installment in the Moon Mountain series plunges readers into the murky depths of memory, identity, and self-determination.”
