It feels unfair to try to summarize this fantastic gem of a book in just a few words, to call this just a story about an anti-colonial space heist does not truly encompasse the emotional weight and joy this book brought to me. But fear not dear reader, for I shall do my best anyways to extoll the virtues of this book so you to will be convinced to read it and be as enthralled as I was.
Maya has given up her life of searching for the grail, and is mildly trying to force herself to focus on being a graduate student. But her dreams are deep, change is coming, and she is going to have to go back to stealing whether she wants to or not.

Besides all the obvious reasons I was excited to read this, a few hit close to home for me. One of my (gathering dust) degrees is in art history, and so Maya being an art thief and having (rightfully strong) opinions about Earth displaying other culture's artifacts just hit so good.
"'I just love your accent,' said Judy, as a segue to asking what she really wanted to: 'Where are you from?'"
As always, Kitasei writes microaggressions in that sly, prickling way that sticks under your skin just like they do in real life.
This was billed to me as a lighter read, compared to The Deep Sky. I found myself laughing more often, chuckling at the banter between characters, and humorous moments that felt profoundly relatable.
You were right when you told me that life cannot stay the same, and we cannot wait for dreams to come to us.
And then I reached chapter thirty-nine, and

my heart was torn to FUCKING TATTERS! ...and maybe it all came down to a fundamental misunderstanding between their people, a failure to see what the other would do in fear." It was gut wrenching.

The writing style Kitasei so masterfully weaves shifts between fast-paced action scenes, to more fraught moments, to even lighter ones with ease. You don't even realize it's happening until your heart is racing and the pages are crinkling because you're clutching them so hard.
Let me take a tangent dear reader, and discuss a little bit about this book.

It is with utmost irony that the very thing that Maya studies, anthropology, is what gets her in the end. One of the first things you learn in anthropology is the importance of never judging another culture, because by doing so you are already putting your own magically higher on a pedestal and making others conform to what your culture views right and wrong, or "normal". And in the end Maya realizes, several times, how much she has unintentionally humanized Auncle, and subsequently all the Frenro. Viewing the Frenro as something to be saved, something that needed help. Never once considering the implications that Maya knew to be true, and what that could mean. The reveal of the nodes, the Whole, and the virus got me. IT GOT ME SO GOOD. Masterfully done. Or maybe the theme of this book is just ignorance, and human hubris. Going to the planet after being warned to stay away, getting millions of Belzoar's killed, thinking to save a species and also your own somehow. Maybe just hubris in general with what happened to the Belzoar's, and to Dr. Huang.

I am not quite sure, though I am taking a literary analysis swing here, that the Infected and how they are treated is a call back to the (quite frankly still ongoing) COVID pandemic, and how stereotypes and racism led to a rise in hate crime against Asian Americans, and further mistreatment and prejudge. I would even go so far as to say the way Frenro aren't allowed to land on Earth could be a metaphor for immigration and restrictions on visiting from different countries because of racism.
But that is my take, so who knows how far off the mark I may be.
I was most surprised by the number of non-binary characters. (Assuming as such, based on pronouns) I've seldom read a book where there are those, and never one like this where there were several. The subtle inclusion without it being a conversation is a whole different kind of representation that just makes me happy. (Love you Pickle, give me your style! Also Greg!)
Speaking of characters I love, it's hard to pick a favorite. Wil grew on me like a spiky and stubborn bush. Medix was equal parts comedic relief, and thoughtful, yet painful belonging. For what does it mean to be human, and why not be a little bit of everything. For why is it that humans would be the only ones that are right in their emotions. Auncle's descriptions and dialogue was so fun to read, it was easy to imagine xe in all the squid like glory, over trusting and changing size.
"Even if your tubular insides feel twisty."
It almost irks me to say I might have enjoyed reading about Liam the most, but his ignorance and bumbling was endearing as it was infuriating how much I wanted to slap him. And of course Maya, relatable in a way that was almost painful, sparkling in a way her passion for what she cared about and her intelligence led her to such situations that made me want to shake her.
I was incredibly thankful for the timing of this. I had just dnf'd another book and was feeling morbidly displeased, on the precipice of falling into a reading slump. I had half a mind to just open up Ao3, but told myself to just read the first few pages to see if I could get into it. (And then of course, I didn't stop reading!)
There were a few moments in the first chapter where I was nervous, worried it wouldn't live up to the last book that Kitasei wrote. The more I read, the more I fell in however, and after that first chapter and every one that followed I just couldn't stop reading. (In fact I read this until just after midnight, and then I subsequently facetimed my best friend to rave and just go "omg omg omg omg" several thousand times)
There are books you give five stars because you enjoy them and they were fun to read. There are books that get five stars because they were just well written and smart, and you feel like your brain expanded.
And then there are books like this. Rare treasures, that are both enjoyable and well written. Stories that make you think and grow, laugh and cry. Ones that when you finish you feel somehow like you've become a better person after reading. Stories that make me want to shake Kitasei's hand and say "thank you for this experience", because reading The Stardust Grail is an experience, one I won't soon forget. (If that was not painfully obvious for how much I've just raved about it)
While the ending left room to be sure, for another in the series, I doubt we will get a sequel. I would love one though, but much like The Deep Sky, I think it is intended that way on purpose, open ended, hopeful.

Though I would like another book very much, if only that would delve into them forming tighter bonds with each other, and exploring more of the concepts of what it means to be an Infected, a part of the Whole, and the quest for more Frenro. There is just so much more I want answers to, but I don't think I'll get them. Which is why this review has become less of a review and more of an analysis/I don't know.

There is no question about if I recommend this book or not. READ THIS BOOK NOW! As was Kitasei's other book, this is a must read, perfect for lovers of well written stories about space, connection, and how painfully we all are just trying to do our best.

I received this book as an arc in the mail by the author, but as always, all opinions are my own, quotes are subject to change

One more thing to say, if you dear reader, are in fact still here, after whatever this review has turned into.
There is something inherently magical about how Kitasei writes. Everything flows wonderfully. From her prose, to her descriptions. The moments in describing something as mundane as leather briefcase and how much that tells you about Liam, just shows how GREAT of a writer she is.
."..probably had been in his family for a hundred years, and it was made of real leather, like from an actual cow that had eaten pasture grass all its life...like he massaged it nightly with oil...she was surprised he'd risked bringing it along."
This is her second book, and you know how when you read an author you just *know*, with that bone deep certainty that they are going to go on and do amazing things and blow up one day? That's how I feel about Kitasei. It would also be a boon to me, for then I would have more people to discuss her books with, and more to read by her.
Next book when?