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Writer's pictureSelena | Beauty's Library

A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice Review

This is a remarkable book that I think anyone who is captivated by the Titanic legacy will want to read.


Rating: 5/5

Based on the remarkable true story of the Carpathia—the one ship and her legendary captain who answered the distress call of the sinking Titanic.


Shortly after midnight on April 15, 1912, the captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Rostron, wakes to a distress signal from the Titanic, which has struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage. Though information is scarce, Rostron leaps into action, determined to answer the call for help. But the Carpathia is more than four hours away, and there are more questions than answers: Will his ship hold together if pushed to never-before-tested speeds? What if he also strikes an iceberg? And with the freezing temperatures, will there be any survivors by the time the Carpathia arrives?


Kate Connolly is a third-class passenger on Titanic, and she is among the last to receive instruction and help after it hits an iceberg. Despite the chaos of abandoning ship, Kate is able to board a lifeboat, though after seeing the Titanic sink into the abyss and hearing the cries from hundreds of people still in the water, she wonders if any rescue is even possible.


Told in alternating chapters from both Captain Rostron and Kate Connolly.

 

received an ARC of A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice through Shadow Mountain Publishing. Thank you so much for this opportunity!


Based on the remarkable true story of the Carpathia—the one ship and her legendary captain who answered the distress call of the sinking Titanic.


I can’t think of any other words that could properly describe this book other than those above. This historical fiction novel beautifully describes the true story of the ship and its captain that answered the distress call from the Titanic. This is a remarkable book that I think anyone who is captivated by the Titanic legacy will want to read.


This is a remarkable book that I think anyone who is captivated by the Titanic legacy will want to read.

I found this story to be incredibly heartwrenching as we follow not only the captain of the Carpathia but also a third-class passenger of the Titanic who managed to board one of the few lifeboats. Although this is fictionalized, the afterword from the author clearly shows that so much research went into writing this to ensure its credibility to the stories shared by the true survivors.


And we also get to see quotes from the real captain and passengers of both the Carpathia and Titanic during this horrific event between each of the chapters. Which I simply just loved reading. It added a higher sense of reality to this already heartbreaking story.


It’s genuinely hard to put into words to describe how much I enjoyed reading this. It evokes so many emotions. I’ve always been captivated by the Titanic legacy. So getting the opportunity to read this historical fiction story was simply amazing. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and is interested in the Titanic legacy.

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