Reviews

On a Night of a Thousand Stars by Andrea Yaryura Clark

tbhwhoknows's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

short chapters great history writing, learned so much about argentinian history which was very cool. i did like the way it was written from two timelines and it was interesting following along to see where and how they intersect. HOWEVER it is SO MUCH telling SO MUCH details that were unnecessary and added absolutely nothing to the story. and also it is actually so unrealistic that literally every single person ever existed in this book is stunning and beautiful.

like if i’m reading about someone getting tortured i don’t actually care if the officer has a stunning handsome baby face, dudes still a dickhead.

 

also the ending from paloma, she was so mad at her mum for actually no reason?? did not understand why she was so mean like i get you need time to process but just do that?? without being so mean??

also first book club book! 

katiecleod's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

izzy_reads7's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

megangraff's review against another edition

4.0

4 stars is a bit generous but I found both time periods interesting and it made me want to know more about Argentinian history.

burns_cheadle's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars—fundamentally a romance novel (not my usual fare) set in the context of intergenerational trauma from Argentina's Dirty War. I enjoyed gaining some insights into the history of the dirty war, but found the setting descriptions a bit too sparse and character development relatively weak.

rebeconda's review

4.0

This novel does what historical fiction does best: draw us into a piece of history and bring it to life. This story jumps back and forth between the 1970s and 1998, centering the story of Paloma, who uncovers both Argentina’s and her own story.

jacqiesbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

_astronomay's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

katie_samsock's review against another edition

5.0

This was a Goodreads giveaway win

Wow the stuff that went down in the 1970’s in Argentina is heartbreaking to say the least. My father grew up in Chile so I’m familiar with a similar history of a nearby country but never knew the details of what transpired in Argentina. This book has two storylines going at once. One of Paloma in the year 1998 during a family visit to Buenos Aires. The second is about her father Santiago during the mid 70’s. It starts slowly and works it’s way up to a fast pace as things begin to piece themselves together.

Definitely add this to your TBR pile

rpych2's review against another edition

4.0

I don’t know much about Argentinian history, so this was a super interesting and informative book. The story started out a bit slow, but when I got into it I couldn’t put it down. I loved both of the alternating timelines equally, the way that the reveals in both of them played off each other was fantastically done. I’m a little mad at myself for letting this one sit on my shelves for so long.