Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
Multi-generational story of Meredith, a fading actress, detoxing on her home island with her daughter, Audrey, who's dealing with the disastrous end of her marriage and her restaurant. So you have current day, around the time of Audrey's birth and the story of Prudence Dare, escaping on the Atlantic steamship before the shipwreck at Thanksgiving in the mid-1800s. Each story has it's own pull, but I was most drawn to the current day one. The relationships, the psychological patterns passed from generation to generations make for an engrossing and fascinating story. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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:
Yes
Told in multiple timelines Under the Stars is a dramatic family story centered around a New England shipwreck that occurred in the 1800s. While multiple timelines are becoming tedious IMO, the novel did move seamlessly through its storyline and was easy to follow. There is drama, mystery and romance. A very engaging read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
Despite being one of my favorite authors, Beatriz Williams is rather hit-or-miss for me at times. However, Under the Stars falls more in the “hit” category, which is fortunate for me, as the last few things I’ve tried have been rather dull. And while this one felt different from other Williams titles, particularly as the contemporary element was much stronger than the historical than this time around, I ended up enjoying it.
I love how Williams continues to expand her interconnected fictional world in clever ways; you don’t need to pick up every Easter egg (I’m sure I’ve missed some, even though I’ve read all her books), but the connections continue to catch me by surprise. And with this one in particular, I loved seeing how she’s continued her love affair with Winthrop Island as a picturesque setting (for four books now).
The mother-daughter relationship between Meredith and Audrey is the central focus of the novel, and I really liked both of them. Their relationship is somewhat dysfunctional, with toxic romantic relationships and bad habits on both their parts, and I loved the dichotomy of seeing the impact of her mother’s shadow on Audrey, as well as seeing what things were like from Audrey’s perspective.
Providence’s historical storyline was a bit weaker. I did like the historical setting, and how it was set around a real disaster, but her presence was much less prominent, and her sections felt disjointed compared to the rest of the book, and took a while to connect to the present timeline. The payoff was fairly clever, however.
And given how multilayered and intricate, yet compelling the book is, there’s a lot going on. The family drama, history, multiple mysteries, and romantic arcs for all three women, and Williams does manage to pull it all off, even if it does take time.
This was a solid book from Beatriz Williams, and I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy multilayered historical fiction/mystery/family saga style stories.
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Under the Stars made for a pretty great summer read. It had a bit of everything - mystery, romance, art history drama, family dynamics. I loved the way the story wove together multiple storylines, though I do feel like the reveal of how the stories related took a bit too long to get to and the ending felt a bit abrupt. I gladly would have read another 100 pages to get more of their stories.
Aside from that though, I loved how the stories did eventually come together and felt satisfied with how the mysteries were resolved. I love a good historical ripple effect storyline so that worked well for me. I would gladly read another book just examining the mother-daughter dynamics in the book because I felt like they had such a rich and complicated history.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Aside from that though, I loved how the stories did eventually come together and felt satisfied with how the mysteries were resolved. I love a good historical ripple effect storyline so that worked well for me. I would gladly read another book just examining the mother-daughter dynamics in the book because I felt like they had such a rich and complicated history.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes