And the Stars Were Shining Brightly by Danielle Jawando

Wildcard ~ September

andthestars

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

My opinion in three sentences:

This novel was such a high-quality character expose, proving emotionally-wrenching yet poignant, and sensitive yet realistic. Jawando handled the difficult themes with grace and understanding, whilst equally not shying away from some of the grittier and more challenging aspects, which added depth and realism to the tale. Sure, it was slow to begin and difficult to get momentum at first, but once you got your teeth in, there was no letting go.

(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:

The ending was just *chef’s kiss*. And I’m not necessarily talking plot-wise. It’s a very character-driven book rather than storyline rollercoaster, but the juicy insight into ideas of grief, identity, reputation and self-worth in our contemporary world was just exquisite. No words can really describe justly how perfectly Jawando captured such complex themes – you’re just going to have to read it for yourself.

A warning for the book:

Don’t be too quick to give up on it. It took me a good half of the book to really find my place in the novel and gain some momentum to keep going (beforehand, a lot of self-cajoling kept me coming back, but largely only because I’m trying to stay on-track with my reading challenge for the year!) The second half, however, more than makes up for it, and adds weight to my reluctance at DNF-ing books. The emotional and thematic exploration is too good to miss and really a golden example of realistic writing for contemporary teens.

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