Burn Your Starry Crown by Román Leão was such a fun book to read! I was immediately drawn in by the title and cover art. If there was a second book, I would have gone right to it.
There are two main timelines and a multitude of characters throughout the book. Leão keeps the reader engaged, and having the “cast” of characters at the front of the book was helpful.
Leão included many genres: science fiction, paranormal, fiction, historical fiction, young adult, and comedy in one book. I recommend it, no matter what your favorite genre is.
I found a lot of organic humor; It’s refreshing to see an author who can portray humor effortlessly in the story. I laughed often.
I appreciated the short chapters. It kept me turning the pages and helped keep other timelines and characters’ events fresh in my mind, never feeling lost.
My appreciation to Román Leão for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers printed copy. ( )

Fascinating story. Not sure I've ever read a Christian horror story before, but I have to say, it makes me think of what Stephen King would write if he didn't hate religion. Well written, easy to follow, and lovely.

What attracted me to this book originally was the cover and title. On original reading I found it confusing and disjointed because of the skipping from one location to another, but on rereading, I appreciated the humor and some of the turns of phrase. The author played around with his subjects, the Upstairs and Downstairs entities, and those surrounding the new "avatar", Philomena: Hawaiians, white people and benign ghosts.
She manifested a gift of healing after reaching puberty in Hawaii. I really enjoyed the nosy Confederate soldier's ghost, J.E. Washburn III, who popped up from time to time and helpfully drove some of the action. He'd either carry his head with him or put it on his neck whenever warranted. I know he'll be a favorite character from anything I've read from now on. I got the impression the author had a ball writing this novel. ( )

Unexpected and delightful ( )