Literary Review

Review: 'If All the Stars Go Dark' by S. G. Prince

Not all gravity pulls from the outside

Neil Czeszejko

06 Jul 2025 — 2 min read

Created with Midjourney

Some stories shine with the precision of language; others slip beneath the skin through character and plot. If All the Stars Go Dark, a young adult sci-fi novel, manages to do both in quick succession.

The story follows Keller, a young gunman chosen to join the most prestigious space crew in the Legion, an interstellar force tasked with keeping peace across galaxies.

But when tragedy, mystery, and horror begin to seep through the fragile boundaries of both ship and mind, Keller’s sense of self slowly unravels. His struggle is deepened by his flying partner, Lament, a striking figure whose painful duality stirs equal parts longing and anguish in Keller’s core.

As might be expected from a novel intended for younger readers, the language often leans on levity and humor. Yet what seems, at first glance, to sit too lightly on the page gradually reveals its necessity: humor here isn’t a distraction but a heartbeat, pacing both thought and dialogue.

It becomes the unlikely vehicle through which relationships are forged, tested, and, at times, strained beyond comfort. Its shadow twin, honesty, is never far behind.

And while the plot is propulsive—brisk with adventure and rich with cosmic intrigue—it’s the interpersonal that takes center stage. Relationships, rendered in startling psychological depth, are the true terrain of this novel. As a result, the characters’ choices emerge not from whim but from believable inner landscapes, each shaped by loss, fear, and fragile hope.

Particularly striking is the relationship between Keller and Lament. Carefully paced and woven through twists, desire, betrayals, and the frayed edges of sanity, it offers an unforced, intimate exploration of tenderness beneath scar tissue.

The result is a portrayal of yearning rarely afforded such rawness in young adult fiction: anguished, luminous, and disarmingly real.

Surrounding this emotional core is a vibrant cast of secondary characters and a plot that thrums with life, lending an adventurous lift to the novel’s darker introspections.

It’s this tension—the push and pull between outward spectacle and inward unraveling—that makes If All the Stars Go Dark not just absorbing but quietly profound. A novel that, beneath its sci-fi shimmer, speaks to the architectures of connection, identity, and the quiet devastations we carry in orbit around one another.

An advance copy was provided by Godwin Books.