Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Where the Forest Meets the Stars

This book had me crying at the end. I loved it from the first couple of pages. I felt like I was going on a rollercoaster of emotions, and the plot had me turning page after page. I had this on both digital and audible formats. When I wasn't reading, I was listening to it. Highly recommend!

Content Warnings

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I read this as a buddy read with a friend.
"Where the Forest Meets the Stars" follows Joanna Teale, a woman who just recently lost her mother and who is trying to heal from her own battle with breast cancer. Jo is a grad student and wants nothing more than to finish her degree and get some control back in her life, but that becomes threatened when a little girl, Ursa, shows up at her home. Ursa claims to be an alien who cannot return to her home planet until she has witnessed five miracles. Jo tries to do the right thing and see if Ursa was reported missing, but she cannot find anyone who seems to know who this Ursa is. Jo befriends her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel, to try to have him help her get Ursa back home, but the pair quickly realize that Ursa may have been sent to them for a bigger purpose.
This was a really beautiful story that is rife with messages about the beauty of life and choosing how to react to the misfortunes around you. Ursa was by far my favorite character, and I was rooting for her and her story from her initial introduction. The way that she sees life, even after everything she has been through, is beautiful, and I loved how she was so focused on seeing the good in the world around her.
Gabriel suffers with his mental health, and I really appreciated how his character was represented. Additionally, I really liked how his struggles were presented. Male mental health is still not talked about nearly as much as it should be, and I think it is so invaluably important to see strong male characters presented and show an accurate portrayal of the struggles they may be facing.
Jo's character was slightly more off-putting from the beginning. She is very cold and closed off because of the obstacles she has faced in her life. I struggled to connect with her, however I did end up enjoying her story arch and how her and Gabriel, along with her and Ursa interacted. Ursa was exactly what Jo needed in her life to help remind her to truly live.
The biggest turn off for me in this book was the alien angle. I am not really into space and aliens, so having a character claim to be an alien did not hook me. Ultimately, I was fine with where the story went, and I appreciate the risk the author took in this angle, but it just did not hit 100% for me personally.
Overall, I do recommend this book to anyone who needs reminded to look at the moments of beauty in the world around them.

Content Warnings

noveltay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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eheath08's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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cin19's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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sarahmaemae's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

3.5

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oceanxbluess's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

4.0

Ornithologist and cancer survivor Joanna Teale spends the summer in rural Illinois, renting out a cabin in the woods, to study nesting success of the local Indigo Buntings (which are real & beautiful - look them up!)

One evening after work, Jo returns home to a lone girl, called Ursa, on her doorstep claiming to be from another planet sent to Earth to witness 5 miracles before she can return home. Jo & her neighbour Gabe spend the summer trying to figure out how to help this mysterious child.

This book wasn’t anything like I expected it to be, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story and I didn’t want to stop reading! It’s very fast paced, with a lot going on pretty much the whole way through the book, and almost all of the characters were loveable and relatable.

Jo was my favourite character. Her ornithology work is perfectly intertwined with the story - I loved all of the details of her nest sites and surveys.

This was such a heartwarming read, filled with love, family and compassion, whilst also satisfying my thirst for nature/environmental fiction.

For fans of: Once Upon A River, Sharks In The Time Of Saviours, Where The Crawdads Sing.

There are quite a lot of heavy topics, so I would recommend checking the content warnings before reading.

Content Warnings

ka_ke's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

Where the Forest Meets the Stars is the a wonderfully safe read. If you’re in the mood for something full of hope, found family and trauma-recovery this is the book for you!

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