Reviews

The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels

Only show reviews with written explanations

akira0513's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

colormecaro's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Loved the Bowie references and the way the last chapter is summarises the main character Brian’s life in the style of a Bowie song. The writing in the rest of the book was good but didn’t particularly stand out to me. I did however appreciate the details like the sister’s fascination with whales.

The book definitely gripped me and despite the heavy topic it was an ‘easy’ read. As in, I wanted to keep on reading and almost read it in one sitting. There’s a somewhat superfluous romance subplot that I didn’t see the point of but it doesn’t significantly detract from the plot either. However, ultimately the ending ruined it a bit for me (see spoilers at the end of this review).

From the beginning, it is very obvious what’s going to happen throughout the book. The beauty lies in how it is told. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the main characters (except Brian’s grandma Lettie, but while reading I saw myself in her and I imagine her perspective is that of any sane and compassionate person who would read this book, so there was no need to include it) which is often infuriating in a good way, like when the mom is making excuses for her and her husband’s shitty behaviour.

Personally, I also didn’t like the way that the main character Brian’s thoughts were only narrated as video tapes he records. I liked it as a stylistic device but it seemed like there could have been more depth from his perspective and the video tape style created a certain distance and especially at the beginning it feels a bit forced. But then again, the last Brian video tape chapter was perfect.

Early on, I also took a closer look at the table of contents and was curious because the second to last chapter was going to be told from the (incredibly bigoted and emotionally stunted) dad’s perspective. I had high hopes for this but that chapter fell very flat for me and left a very sour taste.

The man behaved absolutely despicable towards his dying son up until the very end, but then we get a chapter where he acts like he understands now, but that lacks and depth. He references the Vietnam war he fought in and survived by chance, paralleling the AIDS epidemic and how it claims lives haphazardly. He has a revelation that he helped kill his son. Like no sir, I don’t want your half-assed redemption now, you failed your son. In the last chapter everything is summarised (beautifully!) in the style of a Bowie song and again, the dad gets a redemption in the very last sentence even though he has failed his dying son at every step of the way.

Content Warnings

lit_laugh_luv's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I have a lot of respect for this book - it highlights the AIDS epidemic with dignity and grit that doesn’t shy away from the harsh lived experiences of people who were diagnosed and those around them. With that said - I didn’t feel much emotional draw to the characters in this book, and it felt a bit one note in its delivery.

I enjoyed the subversion on the typical queer coming of age story (returning from the big city) - but the setting felt a bit hollow for me. Jess’ character arc was particularly odd to me - it tries to accomplish a lot of things, but most of them don’t pay off and it felt increasingly muddled. Otherwise most characters felt very one-note in their perspective on Brian and they felt more like literary devices than realized people.

I would have appreciated more of Brian’s insight and a more streamlined resolution to the events of the novel to have a bigger emotional payoff. The ending feels like it’s looming the entirety of the book, but by the time it arrives I felt ready to put this down.

Overall - by no means a bad book, and does a great job portraying a very sensitive (but necessary) part of queer history. I’d still recommend this, but unfortunately the characters and plot didn’t really resonate with me.

pleasereadittome's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

bbratmafia's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

susrutha_sam's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Brutal, beautiful, heartbreaking. I wasn't as into this story at the halfway point as I thought I would be but I ended up loving it. I lost sympathy for most people by the middle but they came around. There is no sugar coating, it's too real.