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thepetitepunk's review
4.0
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I don’t think I’ve read a book quite like The Stars Will Guide Us Back in a long, long time. Actually, as I’m thinking about it, I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book exactly like this one.
This is a fascinating collection of short stories full of atmospheric writing and unique characters. I’m always a bit hesitant when it comes to speculative fiction or magical realism because sometimes I’m not the best at digging through the deeper meaning between the lines, but Sparks had such a beautiful balance of realistic characters and magical elements. I loved the individual chapters, which showcased different characters. Even though the chapters were short and we didn’t get too much time with each story, I still felt like there was just enough to keep the reader satisfied.
I also appreciated the ample LGBTQ+ representation plus the depictions of mental health and various illnesses. Personally, I tend to stray from the sci-fi genre (contemporary realistic fiction is my most read genre) because I often feel disconnected from the characters, but that was not the case at all here. I still felt like I could connect and relate to the characters while still being immersed in an unusual world.
I would 100% recommend this to anyone who loves gorgeous, flowing writing and unique takes on genre. Truly fascinating, with lots of thought put into it!
I don’t think I’ve read a book quite like The Stars Will Guide Us Back in a long, long time. Actually, as I’m thinking about it, I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book exactly like this one.
This is a fascinating collection of short stories full of atmospheric writing and unique characters. I’m always a bit hesitant when it comes to speculative fiction or magical realism because sometimes I’m not the best at digging through the deeper meaning between the lines, but Sparks had such a beautiful balance of realistic characters and magical elements. I loved the individual chapters, which showcased different characters. Even though the chapters were short and we didn’t get too much time with each story, I still felt like there was just enough to keep the reader satisfied.
I also appreciated the ample LGBTQ+ representation plus the depictions of mental health and various illnesses. Personally, I tend to stray from the sci-fi genre (contemporary realistic fiction is my most read genre) because I often feel disconnected from the characters, but that was not the case at all here. I still felt like I could connect and relate to the characters while still being immersed in an unusual world.
I would 100% recommend this to anyone who loves gorgeous, flowing writing and unique takes on genre. Truly fascinating, with lots of thought put into it!
lou_willingham's review
5.0
Thank you to the author for an ARC!
I think I'm unearthing a love for short stories. Every one of the stories in this collection is vibrant, moving and fascinating. I read the whole collection in two sittings, which is fast for me.
Sparks manages to create whole worlds in the space of a few pages. The speculative nature of some of the stories reminded me why I love reading: anything is possible in a story. It was a thrill to go into these unlimited worlds.
Every character you meet is going through something difficult and they're unified by a need for hope. I think "hope" is the stars in the title. Not all of the stories are what I would call happy or uplifting, but they all leave you with a sense of wonder. I'm still thinking about some of them days after reading, and I think that's always a good sign.
Thoroughly enjoyed THE STARS WILL GUIDE US BACK!
I think I'm unearthing a love for short stories. Every one of the stories in this collection is vibrant, moving and fascinating. I read the whole collection in two sittings, which is fast for me.
Sparks manages to create whole worlds in the space of a few pages. The speculative nature of some of the stories reminded me why I love reading: anything is possible in a story. It was a thrill to go into these unlimited worlds.
Every character you meet is going through something difficult and they're unified by a need for hope. I think "hope" is the stars in the title. Not all of the stories are what I would call happy or uplifting, but they all leave you with a sense of wonder. I'm still thinking about some of them days after reading, and I think that's always a good sign.
Thoroughly enjoyed THE STARS WILL GUIDE US BACK!
rjsreadingnook's review
4.0
This is a beautiful and captivating collection of speculative fiction short stories filled with magical realism and queer characters. Each story held my interest for varying reasons, and there were a few I really connected with. Particularly, “Sleeping Dogs Don’t Lie” and “Fire Starter” resonated with me on an emotional level. I recommend this book to any looking to expand their LGBTQ+ reads beyond the typical YA rom coms.
Thank you to the author for a digital ARC. This was my honest review.
Thank you to the author for a digital ARC. This was my honest review.
nickymaund's review
3.0
The Stars… is a series of inclusive, short stories spanning all manner of settings, demonstrating Sparks vast imagination - and it is vast! This comes with trigger/content warnings - see the end for more information.
Some of the stories really pulled me in, but unfortunately for me these were super short ones (particularly Fear Not the Gods and the mysterious Sleeping Dogs Don’t Lie).
Sparks covers topics such as mental health, grief, love and believing in yourself, so be prepared to read about heavy topics. But Sparks weaves into these stories positive messages.
⚠️Trigger warnings and potential spoilers: mental health and suicide, bereavement, terminal illness ⚠️
Some of the stories really pulled me in, but unfortunately for me these were super short ones (particularly Fear Not the Gods and the mysterious Sleeping Dogs Don’t Lie).
Sparks covers topics such as mental health, grief, love and believing in yourself, so be prepared to read about heavy topics. But Sparks weaves into these stories positive messages.
⚠️Trigger warnings and potential spoilers: mental health and suicide, bereavement, terminal illness ⚠️
eliseswritings's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'm not normally a short story fan, but there's something captivating about these ones, about meeting a character at a pivotal moment in their life and following them for a key chapter in that journey. This selection had me reading on at the end of each story.
My favourite was The Wild. There's something magical about adult office workers and links to their childhood dream jobs.
I wasn't sure if I could give it a star rating, having enjoyed some stories more than others, but as the longest ones all captivated me, I'll round it up to 5 stars as a collection.
My favourite was The Wild. There's something magical about adult office workers and links to their childhood dream jobs.
I wasn't sure if I could give it a star rating, having enjoyed some stories more than others, but as the longest ones all captivated me, I'll round it up to 5 stars as a collection.
annettenis's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
lbelow's review against another edition
I wanted to push through this because the author is queer, disabled, and a widow (like me!) but a lot of these stories just feel unfinished. When I reached "Transdifferentiate" and the main character decided to experiment on an 8-year-old child without anyone's knowledge or consent that was what pushed me into putting it down. It's just not what I want to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Child abuse
snappydog's review against another edition
4.0
OK, first thing to say: if you're someone who doesn't enjoy feeling sad, you should probably not read this book. It frequently got me to experience some pretty intense emotions - heck, I think I was almost in tears before any of the stories even started thanks to the opening poem and its devastating dedication.
It only took me about an hour and a half to read this whole volume, and I wasn't rushing - it demands to have attention paid to it. So there's really no reason not to pick it up, because it won't take you very long and it'll be time well spent anyway. I suspect I'll come back at some point to revisit some of the stories, though, to see what new depths I can see in them (or they can draw up from me).
It almost doesn't feel fair to be critical of something so obviously, intensely personal, but I think the author values honesty so let's try to be balanced.
I don't think all the stories work equally well; I think any of them may well work to draw out a strong reaction from a reader who has a particular investment in the themes they address, but on a less punched-in-the-gut sort of level there are one or two that feel to me like they just get to the point of observing their main topic and then cut off before exploring it at all. I think it was generally the very short stories that gave me this sense, so perhaps I just don't like microfiction! I dunno. To me, though, they stood out because even the longer stories aren't that long and they do manage to really say something about the point they're making, rather than feeling kind of like a teaser for a something to say that doesn't materialise in the text. And again, I'm sure many readers will be able to generate that something in their minds after the fact, and may well find it more effective as a result. So, basically, don't listen to me on this one - check it for yourself.
(Even the ones that don't really do all that much for me personally are still frequently beautiful in their own right, but their effect - again, just to me personally as one subjective reader - is to strike me as beautiful in the way that a glass sculpture is: less... functional, perhaps, where the ones that really do work are both beautiful kind of in the abstract or as an end in itself and also in a way that serves another purpose, doing something too. Impressive multitasking.)
The other thing I couldn't help but notice is that this book might've benefitted from a bit of a closer proofread. There aren't that many typos, but a couple are distracting in places where you really just want to be able to focus on the story and the feeling. Plus most if not all of the stories are in the present tense - I don't mind that at all, and it works to make it feel immediate and personal, but there are one or two occasions where it slips, usually auxiliaries. That's the kind of stuff I imagine only sticks out to me, though; most readers'll probably be able to glide over that fine and it won't hurt their experience at all. (It didn't really hurt mine either, to be clear. Very minor thing.)
OK, that's that out of the way.
To the good stuff!
The rest of the whole thing is the good stuff.
There we go, done.
Joking aside, Sparks' actual prowess in the craft is frequently breathtaking. Their prose is elegant: beautiful where beauty is appropriate and simple where simplicity hits hardest. And their imagination! My goodness, their imagination. Some of the stories contain outright speculative elements, while others are... I want to say sort of optimistically Kafkaesque (I'm thinking especially of the one in which an office worker finds himself followed by an actual, physical, literal rain cloud but deals with this by just accepting it and trying to work out how to deal with that situation rather than, say, asking anyone else whether they can see the impossible rain cloud too). There's something of an existentialist undercurrent running through a lot of the stories; many of them deal with grief and loss, but perhaps just as many are concerned with finding ways to live.
At their best, the stories in this collection remind me of something whipped up out of a dollop of Ted Chiang, a splash of Kafka, a swirling of Murakami, perhaps a little sprinkle of Borges or even a slightly sunnier version of something like Camus. If a dollop, a splash, a swirling, and a sprinkle don't sound like enough to make a cake, or whatever unholy dish this is turning out to be, that's because the... flour? I dunno, but whatever the main bit is that holds it all together is all Rue Sparks. Quintessential, brutal, beautiful Rue Sparks.
So, look, the long and short of it is that you should read this book, OK? Something in it will speak to you, and I've spent much more time reading much longer books that said nothing to me whatsoever. For the length it is and the wonder it packs in, you can't really get more bang for your buck.
It only took me about an hour and a half to read this whole volume, and I wasn't rushing - it demands to have attention paid to it. So there's really no reason not to pick it up, because it won't take you very long and it'll be time well spent anyway. I suspect I'll come back at some point to revisit some of the stories, though, to see what new depths I can see in them (or they can draw up from me).
It almost doesn't feel fair to be critical of something so obviously, intensely personal, but I think the author values honesty so let's try to be balanced.
I don't think all the stories work equally well; I think any of them may well work to draw out a strong reaction from a reader who has a particular investment in the themes they address, but on a less punched-in-the-gut sort of level there are one or two that feel to me like they just get to the point of observing their main topic and then cut off before exploring it at all. I think it was generally the very short stories that gave me this sense, so perhaps I just don't like microfiction! I dunno. To me, though, they stood out because even the longer stories aren't that long and they do manage to really say something about the point they're making, rather than feeling kind of like a teaser for a something to say that doesn't materialise in the text. And again, I'm sure many readers will be able to generate that something in their minds after the fact, and may well find it more effective as a result. So, basically, don't listen to me on this one - check it for yourself.
(Even the ones that don't really do all that much for me personally are still frequently beautiful in their own right, but their effect - again, just to me personally as one subjective reader - is to strike me as beautiful in the way that a glass sculpture is: less... functional, perhaps, where the ones that really do work are both beautiful kind of in the abstract or as an end in itself and also in a way that serves another purpose, doing something too. Impressive multitasking.)
The other thing I couldn't help but notice is that this book might've benefitted from a bit of a closer proofread. There aren't that many typos, but a couple are distracting in places where you really just want to be able to focus on the story and the feeling. Plus most if not all of the stories are in the present tense - I don't mind that at all, and it works to make it feel immediate and personal, but there are one or two occasions where it slips, usually auxiliaries. That's the kind of stuff I imagine only sticks out to me, though; most readers'll probably be able to glide over that fine and it won't hurt their experience at all. (It didn't really hurt mine either, to be clear. Very minor thing.)
OK, that's that out of the way.
To the good stuff!
The rest of the whole thing is the good stuff.
There we go, done.
Joking aside, Sparks' actual prowess in the craft is frequently breathtaking. Their prose is elegant: beautiful where beauty is appropriate and simple where simplicity hits hardest. And their imagination! My goodness, their imagination. Some of the stories contain outright speculative elements, while others are... I want to say sort of optimistically Kafkaesque (I'm thinking especially of the one in which an office worker finds himself followed by an actual, physical, literal rain cloud but deals with this by just accepting it and trying to work out how to deal with that situation rather than, say, asking anyone else whether they can see the impossible rain cloud too). There's something of an existentialist undercurrent running through a lot of the stories; many of them deal with grief and loss, but perhaps just as many are concerned with finding ways to live.
At their best, the stories in this collection remind me of something whipped up out of a dollop of Ted Chiang, a splash of Kafka, a swirling of Murakami, perhaps a little sprinkle of Borges or even a slightly sunnier version of something like Camus. If a dollop, a splash, a swirling, and a sprinkle don't sound like enough to make a cake, or whatever unholy dish this is turning out to be, that's because the... flour? I dunno, but whatever the main bit is that holds it all together is all Rue Sparks. Quintessential, brutal, beautiful Rue Sparks.
So, look, the long and short of it is that you should read this book, OK? Something in it will speak to you, and I've spent much more time reading much longer books that said nothing to me whatsoever. For the length it is and the wonder it packs in, you can't really get more bang for your buck.
evmb_c's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
lizreads05's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Thank you to the author of this book for sending me a copy as an extra little gift with my order .
I don't thing i ever read anything quite like this book each and every story in thins book was engrossing and had unique charters and they all had a deeper meaning then what meets the eye. the things explored through the stories in the book were explored very well and with care all this is to say that this book was amazing and i couldn't love it more
I don't thing i ever read anything quite like this book each and every story in thins book was engrossing and had unique charters and they all had a deeper meaning then what meets the eye. the things explored through the stories in the book were explored very well and with care all this is to say that this book was amazing and i couldn't love it more