Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Starry Eyes

I LOVED this book. It’s so fun and easy to read, and I instantly felt myself pulled into the world and its characters.

I love both Zorie and Lennon and seeing how Zorie grows throughout the events of the story from someone who plans meticulously to someone who learns to kinda go with the flow. I loved seeing these two grow back together, and just their overall chemistry is amazing and so fun to read. Lennon is annoying in the most endearing way, and Zorie’s the perfect one to combat him.

I also loved Zorie’s relationship with her mom, I feel like it was really well done, especially since she’s technically a stepmom, and they grow to be closer than Zorie and her dad.

(Who is kind of a scumbag, by the way). I don’t even know how I feel about Zorie’s dad at the end, I kind of feel bad for him, but at the same time I really don’t.

I also loved Lennon’s parents as characters, they were so funny anytime they appeared on-page, and I love how they incorporate his dad into it too.

I felt genuinely bad for Lennon when he revealed his dad died, and his crying just broke my heart. PROTECT THIS MAN.

Zorie’s hives were also interesting to see, as I had never heard of that condition, and I feel like reading about that kind of thing really expanded my horizons and opened me up to the realization that others have those kinds of conditions. Not that I was completely ignorant before, but I had just never heard of anything like that before other than excema. It was really cool to see.

The one tiny, TINY problem I have with this book is a couple of amateur spelling and grammatical errors. It happened enough for me to be annoyed by it, but I am NOT going to lower my rating to a 4.75 because this book does not deserve to be rated that low.

I love this book so much. This is my second favorite YA romance novel I’ve read (right behind All This Time by Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott), and that is a HIGH compliment. 5 stars. AMAZING.

Content Warnings

missgray's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

al3x4ndra's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.0

it was very predictable but i loved it and very interesting plot

Content Warnings

a_l_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? N/A

4.75

Content Warnings

emilyburdick's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.0

…for the love of PETE! (*eye roll*). I have been duped by a cute cover. I know I shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but I constantly continue to do so, to my own downfall. I had higher expectations for this book, seeing as I thought I loved Alex, Approximately (which looking back I only gave three stars so maybe that should have been a sign), but this was such a snooze fest!

The main characters, although I know they’re teenagers, sounded so stupid the entire book. Like, we get it, Zorie, your entire personality is being Type A to the highest degree and Lennon’s is liking reptiles and wearing black. SO one dimensional.

There are blatant displays of homophobia and abuse (emotional and physical) that go practically unchallenged by the other characters. I have never been so grossed out by a YA parent before, and that entire plot line felt so unnecessary. In my opinion, it was put in there solely for Zorie to have daddy issues as a way to relate to Lennon and his own struggles with his father and the two situations are so NOT on the same level. Zorie continued to diminish what Lennon went though and the reason he stopped talking to her; going so far as to be mad that he didn’t tell her and still keep bringing up that he ditched her at homecoming.

When the characters so openly talked about sex I got kind of excited because it’s good for YA to promote safe sex, but my god, I also don’t need to know that two teenagers went though an entire pack of condoms in two days. One, I think it set a totally unrealistic precedent for intimacy, and, it didn’t add anything to the story for us to know that two underage teenagers bumped like bunnies immediately after they started dating. Maybe it’s not that deep, but it gave me the ick.

This review ended up a lot longer than I anticipated, but I’ve literally been taking mental notes about how much this book irked me while I read it. I think Jenn Bennett might be a one and done for me as far as good books. Or maybe I’m just outgrowing YA contemporaries.

Content Warnings

valpyre's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i have to admit i was not vibing with this book at the start. zorie's attitude rubbed me the wrong way, but i'm really glad i kept with it because i definitely got more and more drawn in as the story went on.

i think my issue was that, as much as i don't mind a bit of miscommunication as a plot point, it got to be a bit too much (though i admit when zorie and lennon finally, actually talked about things, it was more plausible). aside from that, miscommunication between zorie and the "popular kids" also got annoying -- i felt like she was being purposefully obtuse about things that were right in front of her face.

still, this was pretty heartwarming at times, and the ending was pretty satisfying when a certain someone got their comeuppance.

Content Warnings

thatsssorachael's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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 really like Jenn Bennett's novels. This is my second of hers, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It had a bit of a slow start, but once Lennon and Zorie got going, I was hooked. It's the perfect summer read. I liked that it had a bit of depth, it wasn't just a teen romance. There is sex in this novel, but it's not explicit. It's sex positive, safe sex representation, and has consent representation. I really like that about Bennett's books.

Content Warnings

adrianabooks's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

More...