With all eyes on Starfleet Academy over the weekend, a New York Comic-Con stealth announcement slipped through the cracks of most people noticing, a new YA romance Star Wars novel, aimed at Reylo shipper fan-fiction readers, called Eyes Like Stars by Ashley Poston is set to hit shelves.
Star Wars, like many boys’ action adventure brands, has been under a constant onslaught in the last several years of trying to turn the concept of a galaxy far, far away into a feminist tentpole. Lucasfilm leader Kathleen Kennedy has repeatedly pushed new shows and movies with feminist themes through the brand, much to the chagrin of many fans.
It started with the new Disney trilogy, with the character Rey Skywalker becoming a Mary Sue that seemed to be better than every other male protagonist before her. The entire trilogy was about humiliating various men while Rey seemed to do everything better than everyone.
As Disney Star Wars went along with more feminist shows like Ahsoka and The Acyolyte, it became so bad that South Park even mocked the concept with an alternate universe Kennedy shouting, “put a chick in it and make it lame and gay!”
Despite this, Star Wars still seems to want to detract from their core military science fiction action audience and push toward the demographic.
Part of what came out of the new Disney trilogy was a group who calls themselves “Reylos,” who fantasize about Rey and Kylo Ren, the series’ villain, getting into a relationship together. This has spawned a lot of fan fiction over the years, and Reylos are known as some of the most aggressive, annoying people on the internet.
Ashley Poston first gained recognition with her debut novel “The Sound of Us,” published in 2013 as part of the Radio Hearts series. However, she became widely known in the book community with her “Once Upon a Con” series, especially after the success of “Geekerella” in 2017, which was a modern, geek-culture inspired retelling of Cinderella and earned critical acclaim and a loyal fan following. “Geekerella” brought her broader fame and helped establish her reputation for blending romance with fandom and pop culture themes.
Though she isn’t known for Reylo fan fiction, multiple sources suggest Poston has been influenced by the Reylo dynamic (Rey and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo) in her romance writing, with fans and reviewers drawing clear parallels between her book “The Dead Romantics” and Reylo fan fiction tropes, including the male lead named Benji and his personality traits. She has acknowledged that magical or telepathic connections in her stories, as seen in “Sounds Like Love,” were inspired by romantic motifs similar to Reylo’s famous Force connection from the films.
With a large Instagram following based on the geek community and girl fandom, she has now been chosen to write Star Wars’ first official romance novel, a YA book aimed at young girls, apparently, given the cover.
This news slipped through the cracks at NYCC without much notice, but it appears as if the industry still hasn’t learned its lesson with these brands.
Will you be getting the Star Wars romance novel?
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Every time I think Disney has hit bottom, they find a way to sink to new lows.
Maybe it’ll sell! Who knows? I’m not sure why any YA romance would need to be in the Star Wars universe though. Seem like some skinsuiting.