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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
It's always good for one to experience, ever so briefly, the problems of another to put things in perspective. Great story about adversity.
Where the Stars Still Shine is the very first Trish Doller novel that I have read. I have heard nothing but good things about this author, so I was super excited to read this book. Let me just say that this book definitely did not disappoint.
** This book contains mature situations.
Seventeen year old Callie has not had a normal life. How much of a life can you have, living on the road, from one town to the next, with her mother? But all that changes one fateful night, when Callie discovers the truth about why they live the way that they live, and the family that she has never known.
Callie was such an interesting character. Yes, she is a teenager, and we see a lot of that through her. Sometimes she frustrated me to no end, not listening to rules that her father set for her and on a few occasions putting herself in danger. But despite that, and despite all that she had been through, she was a really good kid. You couldn’t help but feel for her situation. It was interesting following Callie through this book, and watching her find herself, and change into a completely different person than she was in the beginning of the book.
The love interest in the story is Alex, who is the town’s resident bad boy. Or so it seems. I actually really loved the relationship between Alex and Callie. He is exactly what she needed, even when no one else thought the same. They were absolutely perfect for each other. (Although, I wish they hadn’t started their relationship off the way they did.)
I loved almost all of the secondary characters in the book as well. Callie’s father, Greg, was such a wonderful dad to her. Even when he had no idea what he was doing, he was so great. As was his family, his great big Greek family. (I adore those types of families!)
The storyline is probably part of every parent’s worst nightmare, having a child taken from you, and not seeing them or knowing where they were for years and years. I can’t even imagine. While the kidnapping is what the story revolves around, except for some flashbacks, the story is written after she is returned to her father. There will be many times that the story is absolutely going to break your heart, or at least it did for me. I felt like I had closure at the end of the book, even though I am super curious to see what’s next for Callie and Alex and the rest of the characters I’ve grown to love in this book. If there was ever a sequel written for this book, I would totally buy it.
Overall, this was my first read by Trish Doller, but it definitely won’t be my last! I seriously flew through these pages in no time at all. If you enjoy Young Adult Contemporary books, you will definitely enjoy this book.
Happy Reading!
As Posted on TheReaderBee.com.
Originally posted here
My life with my dear friend Erica is based on few things: a little bit of food, a lot of snark and book recommendations. Erica has never recommended me a book that I didn’t like. It’s a joke between us by this point because she has such spot on recommendations for me it’s nice.
This book was no different. I resisted reading it for months because it wasn’t a me book and what if I hated it? How could I look Erica in the face if I hated it? My worries were silly and not needed. Where the Stars Still Shine sucked me in right away. For various reasons. The first is this is a story I cannot remember reading before. What happens when you’re on the run with your mom and you get caught and are sent back to your father who always loved you and is trying? Callie’s mom has always loved her in her own way, but she was also a mom on the run who often looked out for herself and only herself. While Callie hates to think of her mom as selfish, she ultimately was selfish and now Callie has a dad who is trying to love her while not scaring her away.
It is a world that Callie really doesn’t know what to do with. She doesn’t know how to function when not on the run and putting down roots is something that confuses her. Why does she want to become comfortable with people if she she’ll just leave? Callie’s family loves her and seems to all live in this new city where her father lives. It’s the type of small town where everyone seems related but it’s big enough that people can still date.
While Callie adjust to having a dad, his wife and two brothers, she also has to adjust to the giant Greek family she comes from. The giant family who while thrilled she is back, is not only waiting for her to crack like her mother did, also wants her to be the child she was when she left and she’s not. If Callie is being honest with herself, she doesn’t know who she is. She has a cousin who jumps into the role of BFF, even though Callie didn’t ask, and the boy, Alex, that everyone asks her to stay away from but she doesn’t, because Callie has had to fend for herself for so long and have so many walls up, she doesn’t know any different.
This book swept me up and I didn’t want it to end. I hate that I feared it, because there was nothing to fear, it was everything I ask for in a YA novel: family, friends, finding yourself, love and the not perfect ending, but one with hope.
My life with my dear friend Erica is based on few things: a little bit of food, a lot of snark and book recommendations. Erica has never recommended me a book that I didn’t like. It’s a joke between us by this point because she has such spot on recommendations for me it’s nice.
This book was no different. I resisted reading it for months because it wasn’t a me book and what if I hated it? How could I look Erica in the face if I hated it? My worries were silly and not needed. Where the Stars Still Shine sucked me in right away. For various reasons. The first is this is a story I cannot remember reading before. What happens when you’re on the run with your mom and you get caught and are sent back to your father who always loved you and is trying? Callie’s mom has always loved her in her own way, but she was also a mom on the run who often looked out for herself and only herself. While Callie hates to think of her mom as selfish, she ultimately was selfish and now Callie has a dad who is trying to love her while not scaring her away.
It is a world that Callie really doesn’t know what to do with. She doesn’t know how to function when not on the run and putting down roots is something that confuses her. Why does she want to become comfortable with people if she she’ll just leave? Callie’s family loves her and seems to all live in this new city where her father lives. It’s the type of small town where everyone seems related but it’s big enough that people can still date.
While Callie adjust to having a dad, his wife and two brothers, she also has to adjust to the giant Greek family she comes from. The giant family who while thrilled she is back, is not only waiting for her to crack like her mother did, also wants her to be the child she was when she left and she’s not. If Callie is being honest with herself, she doesn’t know who she is. She has a cousin who jumps into the role of BFF, even though Callie didn’t ask, and the boy, Alex, that everyone asks her to stay away from but she doesn’t, because Callie has had to fend for herself for so long and have so many walls up, she doesn’t know any different.
This book swept me up and I didn’t want it to end. I hate that I feared it, because there was nothing to fear, it was everything I ask for in a YA novel: family, friends, finding yourself, love and the not perfect ending, but one with hope.
“I want traditions. Eggnog. Peace on earth, goodwill toward man. I want to kiss Alex Kosta under the mistletoe. I want memories untarnished by ugliness. I want all of that without feeling guilty about wanting it.”
After years growing without a real home, living in seedy apartments with seedier men, and moving from place-to-place after her mom kidnapped her, Callie is reunited with her large, close-knit Greek family in a small town in Florida. She starts rebuilding broken relationships and forging new ones. She starts to want things that are actually in reach. Real, tangible things like love, acceptance, friendship, and family.
I started the book filled with empathy for the life Callie was living. I connected with her immediately and became her cheerleader. I could see how broken she was. I wanted her to be put back together. I was so relieved when she went back home with her father. I was pleased to see how well she was accepted into his, their, new family. They made a place for her. She finally had a home. It was obviously tough for her. Tough to realize that she was putting her life back together while her mother’s life was falling apart. But, we’ll get to that later. I wanted to cry when she was throwing herself at guys, continuing an old pattern of thinking she was only wanted for one thing. Callie grew up beautifully in this book.
“He glances up, and his face is something so fine and beautiful, it makes my chest ache the way it does when I hear a sad song or finish a favorite book.”
“Listen, I work with him, so I’ve see the way he operates. Alex Kosta can be described in two words: man whore. Or maybe that’s one word. Hyphenated?” She shrugs. “Either way, just… no.”
We’re introduced to Alex (Alexandros) Kosta almost immediately upon Callie’s return to Florida. I wasn’t so sure about Alex when he first came into the picture. The last thing Callie needed was another man to use her or treat her like trash. I was afraid Alex would do just that. I could not have been more wrong. Alex Kosta is beautiful, inside and out. He’s also greatly misunderstood. People see what is on the outside and make assumptions and don’t take the time to get to know the guy underneath. He’s deep. He’s dealing with his mom’s illness and just wants to get away. He and Callie connect immediately. Their chemistry is palpable. Contrary to what others believe, they are just what the other needs.
“Let’s go to the mall and you can do your blank-canvas… thing.”
“It’s not a thing, I want to help you. I want to be your friend.”
“Why? So you can tell everyone you know the kidnapped freak?”
“Callie! This is you and me when we were four. When we were best friends. Of course, I don’t remember it very well, and when you’re four, even the next-door neighbor’s dog is your best friend. But I’ve spent all these years imagining what our friendship would have been like if your mom hadn’t taken you. In my head we had sleepovers and took gymnastics lessons and had first dates with twin brothers, which is hilarious because I don’t even know any twins. And when you came home, I hoped—”
“God, I suck.”
I adored Callie’s cousin, Kat (Ekaterina). It was apparent from the beginning how excited Kat was to have Callie back in her life. Kat wanted to help her fit in. She wanted to protect her. She was convinced Alex was a “man whore” and totally wrong for Callie. Of course, she was also nursing a crush on and rejection from Alex herself, so I think that played into her feelings a lot. She and Callie were able to move past the issues there and grow even closer, get back to being the best friends they were when they were four. Kat was sweet and sassy and opinionated. We would totally be friends in real life.
“How could my mom be so selfish? Taking the pills would have kept us here. Taking the pills would have kept her from hooking up with Frank. All she had to do was take the goddamn pills and her life, my life, would have been ordinary. Happy.”
With so many likable characters, there had to be one that was 100% unlikable, right? In this book, that character is Callie’s mom. To say she is selfish just might be the understatement of the century. I mean, duh, she kidnapped Callie when she was 5, took her away from a family who loved her, and was a terrible mother. She put Callie in horrendous situations when she was young. Situations that led Callie to be damaged as she is today. She wasn’t a parent. She was too busy hooking up with men and abusing alcohol and drugs. We find out there is a deep-rooted psychological issue there as the book goes on, but I still had no sympathy for her. She could have controlled the issues she was having, but she chose herself over her daughter. That’s just plain despicable to me.
I could go on about the characters forever. Trish Dollar writes wonderfully complex and believable characters. Every single character in this book – down to Ariel, the girl who works in the bookstore in town – is well-developed. I wanted to know more about each and every one of them. I wanted to be friends with them. The detail Trish uses makes these characters come alive. They reach out and pull you into the book.
Trish is also a brilliant storyteller. This book has so many different layers: family, love, friendship, hope, betrayal. It’s about Callie’s journey to becoming the person she’s now free to be. It’s about her relationship with Alex, her friendship with Kat, her building a family again with Greg and Phoebe and the boys and the rest of her big, crazy Greek family. I loved the big, crazy Greek family. I loved the names and the traditions. I’m not very familiar with the Greek culture, so I felt like I was learning right along with Callie. I was embracing her family and their traditions as she was.
After her debut novel, Something Like Normal, Trish Doller went on my auto-buy author list. I was beyond thrilled when I received the email saying my NetGalley request for this book was approved. There may have been a happy dance involved. By may have, I mean was. There totally was. As far as I know, this book is a standalone, but I could do with a sequel to this one. I loved these characters so much. It hurt to give them up.
I received this book from the author, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Callie and her mom have been living a transient life for almost ten years, since her mother stole her away from her dad and family. When her mom is arrested, she is suddenly plunked down into the life she was supposed to have--and an enormous Greek family that she doesn't know at all. She is completely lost on how to act and what to do. Especially once she starts interacting with Alex.
Y'all, I can't even...it's just...Callie is so great. She's hurt and confused and loyal to her mother but still starting to feel real affection for her dad and family. She doesn't know how to be a daughter, or a friend, or a girlfriend, and she has her own baggage. Watching her work it out, her loyalties pulling in multiple different directions, is heartbreaking and lovely. I loved Callie. I can't wait to share her with my teens.
Y'all, I can't even...it's just...Callie is so great. She's hurt and confused and loyal to her mother but still starting to feel real affection for her dad and family. She doesn't know how to be a daughter, or a friend, or a girlfriend, and she has her own baggage. Watching her work it out, her loyalties pulling in multiple different directions, is heartbreaking and lovely. I loved Callie. I can't wait to share her with my teens.
*I received this as an ARC from netgalley.
I started this yesterday, and I finished it today. I don't have a lot of time to read lately, so that should tell you how I felt about it. It was engrossing and honest, and I didn't want to put it down. It was heartbreaking and bitter and sweet, and beautiful. I think Trish Doller can definitely write and communicate loneliness and pain and bitterness and hurt and abuse, and I think she does a good job of not shying away from difficult subjects or making the answers come too easy.
I would definitely say this is a little more mature YA, because it deals with some heavy subjects like abuse and mental illness. There's also honest discussion and description of sex, which definitely makes sense in this book. I think Doller communicates how confusing it is for Callie. She knows she was taken by her mother, and that she was subjected to the hurt and pain of the world and that she was betrayed, but there is so much loss and confusion and frustration. Callie is a real character-she's not some angel that went through a difficult situation. She's bristly and she makes bad decisions sometimes, but it feels real because abuse like that can make it hard to trust other people and find home. That is what this is about, really, finding forgiveness and home and finding the ability to want. She constantly feels like she owes people certain types of behavior, and her journey is learning to figure out what she owes herself and her family. Its about family and loss and abuse and mothers and daughters and fathers and daughters and sex and love and friendship, and its not easy or simple, but I liked that about it.
I would definitely recommend picking this up once it comes out in September.
I started this yesterday, and I finished it today. I don't have a lot of time to read lately, so that should tell you how I felt about it. It was engrossing and honest, and I didn't want to put it down. It was heartbreaking and bitter and sweet, and beautiful. I think Trish Doller can definitely write and communicate loneliness and pain and bitterness and hurt and abuse, and I think she does a good job of not shying away from difficult subjects or making the answers come too easy.
I would definitely say this is a little more mature YA, because it deals with some heavy subjects like abuse and mental illness. There's also honest discussion and description of sex, which definitely makes sense in this book. I think Doller communicates how confusing it is for Callie. She knows she was taken by her mother, and that she was subjected to the hurt and pain of the world and that she was betrayed, but there is so much loss and confusion and frustration. Callie is a real character-she's not some angel that went through a difficult situation. She's bristly and she makes bad decisions sometimes, but it feels real because abuse like that can make it hard to trust other people and find home. That is what this is about, really, finding forgiveness and home and finding the ability to want. She constantly feels like she owes people certain types of behavior, and her journey is learning to figure out what she owes herself and her family. Its about family and loss and abuse and mothers and daughters and fathers and daughters and sex and love and friendship, and its not easy or simple, but I liked that about it.
I would definitely recommend picking this up once it comes out in September.
Really strong realistic fiction! Raw & achingly real as it deals with important, incredibly relevant issues including mental illness, neglect, trauma (of various kinds that I don't want to spoil here) and the ways that such issues can affect sexuality, familial relationship, self-image, and healing. Especially great in its honest & sensitive portrayal of female sexuality and complex child-parent relationships.
The protagonist's voice is strong--simultaneously vulnerable and tough and never whiny or melodramatic. The setting is rich and unusual (a coastal Florida town with a high American Greek population) and the supporting characters interesting and individualized.
More complete review to come! But definitely put this September release on your watch list!
The protagonist's voice is strong--simultaneously vulnerable and tough and never whiny or melodramatic. The setting is rich and unusual (a coastal Florida town with a high American Greek population) and the supporting characters interesting and individualized.
More complete review to come! But definitely put this September release on your watch list!
I'm still not sure how I felt about this book. There were aspects of it that I really liked - like Callie being reunited with her father and her family and finally letting go of her mother, but there were aspects that really bugged me too. Like Callie falling into bed with Alex instantaneously. I get WHY - she was used to doing that sort of thing and looking for affection through sex, and thought that was all she had to give, but I just didn't like it. Maybe I am too much of a prude. I didn't really buy that there was really anything else between these two but sex. The Insta-Love thing was something I wasn't buying, but then they never talked about their feelings. They shared some Chinese food and lots of sex and no real conversation until the end. I just wasn't feeling that at all.
Callie fell flat for me as a character. She didn't really seem to do much but have sex with Alex and worry her father by taking off whenever things got overwhelming for her - which was a lot. I guess I just didn't have a whole lot of sympathy for her.
The whole aspect of her not going to school really bothered me. I mean, she had only attended kindergarten and then didn't go to school at all while she was on the run with her mother. So now she is back home and able to go and her father just so easily says "Okay, you don't have to go then." It just didn't work for me. Part of me got it and the other part of me was thinking not making her go was a mistake.
Callie fell flat for me as a character. She didn't really seem to do much but have sex with Alex and worry her father by taking off whenever things got overwhelming for her - which was a lot. I guess I just didn't have a whole lot of sympathy for her.
The whole aspect of her not going to school really bothered me. I mean, she had only attended kindergarten and then didn't go to school at all while she was on the run with her mother. So now she is back home and able to go and her father just so easily says "Okay, you don't have to go then." It just didn't work for me. Part of me got it and the other part of me was thinking not making her go was a mistake.