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bellebelly's review
3.0
Cage of Stars tells the story of a Mormon girl whose sisters are murdered, practically in front of her, by a schizophrenic man. Mitchard did a pretty good job on the voice of Ronnie, the protagonist, who is a young teen for most of the book. I could have done without the l33t speak IM transcripts, though--I see enough of that when I'm not trying to read a book. I am not a person who is disposed to like to characters who have organized religion as a big part of their identity, but the way Mitchard portrayed Ronnie's family and community made me very sympathetic to them.
pixieauthoress's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
synera's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book as a "pre-release" read while I worked at Borders Bookstore. While I will not claim that it changed my life or even had a significant impact on the way I view life, it was an interesting read and did not take long to get through. It gives an interesting insight to how an young woman struggles with faith after she witnesses a very gruesome murder early in her life.
livlosiewicz's review
4.0
Veronica Swam’s life is turned upside down when her two little sisters are brutally murdered in front of her by a delusional man. The courts let him off on insanity charges, and while Ronnie’s parents are guided by their Mormon faith to forgive the man, Ronnie can’t seem to do the same. So she sets out to find him.
Pros:
•I really liked the way that this book explored the themes of grief, guilt, resentment, and forgiveness. Though parts of the storyline might be unrealistic (I’m not positive but would they actually just let him off free like that?), it serves a larger purpose of allowing the reader to explore different character responded
•This book is pretty short, and I found it to be engaging the whole time. With one exception (see cons) I liked the pacing- it wasn’t plot-driven; you’re sitting in Ronnie’s life with her getting to experience her reactions and dilemmas
•I enjoyed reading a Mormon character, though other reviews have brought to my attention that there are a number of inaccuracies
Cons:
•The one pacing exception was the “climax” of sorts. It didn’t really fee like a climax; it was kind of rushed. This didn’t bother me in and of itself, but the book kept hinting that something big would happen and the characters acted like it was a huge deal. If that was to be the case, I would have liked more time processing it (the way we got so much time processing everything else)
•Seems like the author could have done a LITTLE more research on details to make the book more realistic in areas that didn’t disrupt the plot. This appears to be the case for LDS, and of course, my book pet peeve is when people have incorrect Harvard info that they could have googled (there is no “business” “major”). These things didn’t by any means ruin the book, but it can take the reader out of it a bit more
Recommendation: I recommend if you like engaging stories that explore themes through “catchy” plotlines- fans of Jodi Piccoult would probably like this one. There isn’t exactly one linear plotline, but it also doesn’t feel like it wandered at all- I’d put it smack in the middle on the scale of plot-based to character-based books. I found this to be a fun read that made me think (but not too hard) and had me wondering what would happen next. The ending has a nice little bow, so if that’s your thing this would be a good one to pick up! Avoid if you want something very plot-focused or will be turned off by things that are unrealistic.
Pros:
•I really liked the way that this book explored the themes of grief, guilt, resentment, and forgiveness. Though parts of the storyline might be unrealistic (I’m not positive but would they actually just let him off free like that?), it serves a larger purpose of allowing the reader to explore different character responded
•This book is pretty short, and I found it to be engaging the whole time. With one exception (see cons) I liked the pacing- it wasn’t plot-driven; you’re sitting in Ronnie’s life with her getting to experience her reactions and dilemmas
•I enjoyed reading a Mormon character, though other reviews have brought to my attention that there are a number of inaccuracies
Cons:
•The one pacing exception was the “climax” of sorts. It didn’t really fee like a climax; it was kind of rushed. This didn’t bother me in and of itself, but the book kept hinting that something big would happen and the characters acted like it was a huge deal. If that was to be the case, I would have liked more time processing it (the way we got so much time processing everything else)
•Seems like the author could have done a LITTLE more research on details to make the book more realistic in areas that didn’t disrupt the plot. This appears to be the case for LDS, and of course, my book pet peeve is when people have incorrect Harvard info that they could have googled (there is no “business” “major”). These things didn’t by any means ruin the book, but it can take the reader out of it a bit more
Recommendation: I recommend if you like engaging stories that explore themes through “catchy” plotlines- fans of Jodi Piccoult would probably like this one. There isn’t exactly one linear plotline, but it also doesn’t feel like it wandered at all- I’d put it smack in the middle on the scale of plot-based to character-based books. I found this to be a fun read that made me think (but not too hard) and had me wondering what would happen next. The ending has a nice little bow, so if that’s your thing this would be a good one to pick up! Avoid if you want something very plot-focused or will be turned off by things that are unrealistic.
library_hungry's review against another edition
I did not read this book. I started it and decided not to because the writing style reminded me too much of a 13 year old--whether because the narrator is young (though not that young) or the author mediocre, I do not know.
literaryliz98's review against another edition
3.0
I think I would give this 3.5 stars. It was an interesting story. I was engaged enough to want to find out what would happen next, but since the main character was a Mormon it was a little weird with all the inaccuracies regarding the LDS Faith. Obviously the author did some research about the LDS Faith, but there were many mistakes and things that simply aren't true.
anitaob30's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed the book immensely. It kept me enthralled the whole time.
Read it a second time and did not realize it until I came on this site to rate it! I don’t remember reading it before but once again, I enjoyed it very much.
Read it a second time and did not realize it until I came on this site to rate it! I don’t remember reading it before but once again, I enjoyed it very much.