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natmartinez08's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
brittaneenash's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jennyleebla's review
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
buddahbeam's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thepagelady's review
3.0
Sister Stardust was a wonderfully written novel with vivid details of the time period settings and characters! Jane Green brings the 60s back to life and everything that came with it! Money, sex, drugs and yes rock-n-roll! This was an entertaining read for me! The life of both Talitha and Claire was interesting. Seeing everything through Claire's eyes was quite interesting. She is a naive young woman who begins to experience life on a completely different level when she crosses paths with Talitha Getty. It was definitely different from Jane Green's other books but it was a great read!
Thank you Random Things Tours and Jane Green for sharing this book with me!
Thank you Random Things Tours and Jane Green for sharing this book with me!
mbkarapcik's review
5.0
Women's lit author Jane Green steps out of her comfort zone with an excellent new book about the turbulent but thrilling mid to late 1960s and hits it out of the park. Her new book, Sister Stardust, focuses on Claire, a self-proclaimed mousy teen from England, who embarks on the adventure of a lifetime when she befriends the members of the acclaimed rock band, the Wide-Eyed Boys. From there, she meets and becomes ensnared with the group and real life ingenue, Talitha Getty, who is a party girl and married to ultra rich and suave Paul Getty. Claire, now known as Cece, follows them to Marrakech and lives the decadent life she only once dreamed of.
If you love living vicariously through the stories of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, this book has plenty of it strategically stuffed into nearly 300 pages. While it is supposed to be inspired by the real Getty couple, it doesn't read like a historical novel. It sounds completely fabricated, and you're swept away into a crazy yet glamourous lifestyle. Of course, not everything is as it seems.
You know how clouds are said to have a silver lining? Well, the cloud appears as the silver lining, and as the story progresses, you find the dark cloud that hovers over this crowd of revelers. This expertly brings the story to its climax and ending.
I really liked the characters who undoubtedly must be inspired by real life rock stars of the era. However, you do encounter many of those people like Mick Jagger, the Beatles, and doomed Brian Jones from the Stones. You also meet Yves Saint Laurent and made-up characters who help to formulate the stories. The main character I could relate to in that she's so stunned to be part of this crowd, and she wants a lot more than her modest upbringing could offer.
I felt that the characteristics of the era really ring true from my reading of it and documentaries I've seen. You can tell the author did a lot of research, but it's never stuffy reading, and the descriptions of the places, clothing, and furnishings paint an incredibly vivid (some may say psychedelic--haha) picture. Some reviews I've read cite that the dark aspects of drug-taking are glamourized too much, but this is a completely different decade with wildly different mores, so it's best to keep that in mind.
Some who have been faithful fans of Jane Green may not favor her delving into unknown territory and may miss her romance/domestic fiction novels, but I'm really impressed. I love her other books, but she really shines when writing about a time unlike modern ones. I hope she continues to explore this new facet of writing.
If you enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six, this is the perfect companion novel because Sister Stardust is a precursor to the era depicted in that book. As a consummate rock fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and really appreciated Jane Green going out on a fresh, new limb. So glad I picked up this book! BTW, we need a writer to tackle the 1980s and 1990s!
If you love living vicariously through the stories of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, this book has plenty of it strategically stuffed into nearly 300 pages. While it is supposed to be inspired by the real Getty couple, it doesn't read like a historical novel. It sounds completely fabricated, and you're swept away into a crazy yet glamourous lifestyle. Of course, not everything is as it seems.
You know how clouds are said to have a silver lining? Well, the cloud appears as the silver lining, and as the story progresses, you find the dark cloud that hovers over this crowd of revelers. This expertly brings the story to its climax and ending.
I really liked the characters who undoubtedly must be inspired by real life rock stars of the era. However, you do encounter many of those people like Mick Jagger, the Beatles, and doomed Brian Jones from the Stones. You also meet Yves Saint Laurent and made-up characters who help to formulate the stories. The main character I could relate to in that she's so stunned to be part of this crowd, and she wants a lot more than her modest upbringing could offer.
I felt that the characteristics of the era really ring true from my reading of it and documentaries I've seen. You can tell the author did a lot of research, but it's never stuffy reading, and the descriptions of the places, clothing, and furnishings paint an incredibly vivid (some may say psychedelic--haha) picture. Some reviews I've read cite that the dark aspects of drug-taking are glamourized too much, but this is a completely different decade with wildly different mores, so it's best to keep that in mind.
Some who have been faithful fans of Jane Green may not favor her delving into unknown territory and may miss her romance/domestic fiction novels, but I'm really impressed. I love her other books, but she really shines when writing about a time unlike modern ones. I hope she continues to explore this new facet of writing.
If you enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six, this is the perfect companion novel because Sister Stardust is a precursor to the era depicted in that book. As a consummate rock fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and really appreciated Jane Green going out on a fresh, new limb. So glad I picked up this book! BTW, we need a writer to tackle the 1980s and 1990s!
jessyjessx's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
bmusselman3's review
4.0
A mesmerizing tale, inspired by the life of Talitha Getty in Marrakech. This story is a small glimpse into what it was like to emerge from the repression of the fifties into the swinging sixties. It was heartbreaking. Lots of drugs and living life unapologetically, to a fault.
I do wish that the story was longer and more developed towards the middle. It really caught my attention in the beginning but then fell flat in the seemingly most jarring moments. I also thought some storylines were summarized too soon.
I do wish that the story was longer and more developed towards the middle. It really caught my attention in the beginning but then fell flat in the seemingly most jarring moments. I also thought some storylines were summarized too soon.
gukguk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5