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readingredhead's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Child abuse
akacya's review against another edition
5.0
2024 reads: 147/250
content warnings: sexual assault (childhood & adult), biphobia, homophobia (including from a parent), suicidal thoughts, mentions of drug use and drinking
when hollywood’s bad boy logan gray and golden boy mattie cole are cast as leads in a new romance movie, they quickly have to devise a publicity plan after logan calls mattie talentless. they’re thrust into a fake dating scheme, which quickly brings about real romantic feelings for one another.
since i’ve read and enjoyed a couple other books by kacen callender, and was interested in this premise, i was expecting to like this book, but didn’t know i’d love it so much. i will say that i’d consider this more of a contemporary novel than a romance, as it focused more on the individual characters’ growth throughout the book. this was dual pov, which i really appreciated since it meant we got to see into both logan and mattie’s minds instead of relying on one narrative.
i’d recommend this to readers of adult contemporary novels, as long as you’re okay with the content warnings.
asnakeinthebookgarden's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
miariinfinityreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
spark_879's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i really enjoyed reading this and zoomed through it in just 2 days!
lindseynippert's review against another edition
3.0
couldn’t recommend the audiobook less, I’d probably like it more if I didn’t feel like I was suffering for 9 hours
ramunepocky's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
5.0
“But that’s part of the healing process, too. Learning about responsibility and accountability. Having the courage to own up to mistakes and apologise and make change.”
This review is not spoiler free
I read my first Kacen Callender book this year (that book being Felix, Ever After, that I have now read a total of 5 times) and this was my third book I’ve read by them, and I adore every book I’ve read by them. Their writing style flows so beautifully and scratches my brain just right, making their words addictive and I literally fly through every book by them. They have an expert way of creating characters – each of them well-rounded, flawed and subsequently human. This book was no different. I started it one morning with the idea of reading a few chapters before bed, and then stayed up hours past my bedtime at suddenly 70% of the way through the book, forcing myself to sleep only so I could get up with enough time to finish it before work. Which I did. And dayum, I loved every second of it. The topics in this book are difficult to read about, but extremely important, as the main focus is the way that trauma/traumatic experiences can affect relationships and your behaviour. It was hard reading about the way that Logan’s experiences affected him, especially without him realising how deeply it did hurt him, and how he deemed himself unsavable and unworthy of love because of it. I also think this was a really interesting commentary on celebrity culture and Hollywood and how toxic and destructive the industry and the environment is, both from within and outside of it.
“You learned how to survive in a world that was harmful to you. Now, it’s time to thank your younger self for helping you survive this long. Now, it’s time to find another way to exist.”
Logan really broke my heart throughout this. It was so sad to see him just lean into everyone’s worst assumptions of him and let everyone use him for their own gain because he believed himself to be unlovable and because he was so mentally destroyed by what had happened to him that he didn’t care if people thought he was a bad person. It was so hard to read about the way that people treated him, about how his father had let him be assaulted and raped as a child and growing up, how he continued connecting with people in that way as an adult, and how he was constantly used and abused for publicity or for his body. I appreciate the fact that falling for and dating Mattie didn’t suddenly “fix” Logan and make him suddenly better and have zero trauma because I hate that trope and it’s not how the real world works. The real world works much more like it did in this novel, it’s messy and sometimes, as a result of your trauma, you can lash out and hurt the people you care about the most. I liked the fact that their relationship did not work out and ultimately, the two of them split up and went down different paths. And though being with Mattie didn’t suddenly “fix” Logan, I like that it helped him realise that he is worthy of love and that he deserves to help himself and get better, and he deserves to be able to consent and feel safe in his own body. I’m glad he took the jump he needed to cut himself off from his father and get the help he needed away from substances, away from the press and with therapists who could help him process his trauma. It was really nice to see Logan after the time skip, to see him working a mundane job, having hobbies, feeling safe in his own body and having been able to work on healing and reflect on the mistakes he’d made in the past. I appreciate that he apologised to Mattie when he saw him again, and didn’t try to justify his actions because of his trauma. He owned up to his mistakes and moved on from them.
“There is no guarantee that one person will make us happy for the rest of our lives. Instead, there’s something else more powerful, even deeper: the realisation of love that we have for ourselves – and the joy in sharing this love with someone else, and experiencing the love they have for themselves, too. Instead of depending on each other for happiness, we find our happiness individually, and then share that happiness with each other.”
I really loved the conclusion to this book, and how, after having time to heal and grow, they reunited and still felt the same way for each other, subsequently giving it another go. They were both truly right person, wrong time, and in reuniting, it became right person, right time, as Mattie’s last memoir suggests that they both spent many more years together after the story ended. It was really nice to have a hopeful ending, and have them both find their happiness in themselves first, and each other second.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Racism, Child abuse, Biphobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use
thegreenship's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
kindairisponsible's review against another edition
1.5
its a very cliche storyline, but i knew this going in and even chose it, so thats not the issue i have with this book.
its the dialogue that is so overly cringey and the writing that feels like its done by a 12 year old who has legit no idea of how the movie industry works. half of it made no fucking sense and was so unrealistic it pissed me off. plus the youtube & ao3 snippets gave me the ick fr fr
its the dialogue that is so overly cringey and the writing that feels like its done by a 12 year old who has legit no idea of how the movie industry works. half of it made no fucking sense and was so unrealistic it pissed me off. plus the youtube & ao3 snippets gave me the ick fr fr
justinkhchen's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars
An earnest, if slightly disjointed effort, Stars in Your Eyes is Kacen Callender's first foray into adult romance, and it definitely shows—the novel is a buffet of elements/tropes, from rom-com, hard-hitting drama (triggers beware), social commentary, steam, to alternating POVs/formats (tweets, fanfic, etc.). While the individual pieces are objectively on point, as a novel one can't help but feel like the author is throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks.
I became more engaged in the plot once we passed the cliché setup (co-stars fake dating for publicity), when the novel dived into both heroes' personal challenge and public scrutiny. The story then took on a more candid, serious tone, which I found rather refreshing within a romantic context, and I appreciates the author's effort in challenging the required happy ending, leaning more into realism rather than just a straightforward, all encompassing HEA.
Overall, even though Stars in Your Eyes is not a complete home-run, due to its slight identity crisis (straddling between a tropey romance and intense character study), the potential is evident, and I look forward to the next adult entry from Kacen Callender!
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**
An earnest, if slightly disjointed effort, Stars in Your Eyes is Kacen Callender's first foray into adult romance, and it definitely shows—the novel is a buffet of elements/tropes, from rom-com, hard-hitting drama (triggers beware), social commentary, steam, to alternating POVs/formats (tweets, fanfic, etc.). While the individual pieces are objectively on point, as a novel one can't help but feel like the author is throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks.
I became more engaged in the plot once we passed the cliché setup (co-stars fake dating for publicity), when the novel dived into both heroes' personal challenge and public scrutiny. The story then took on a more candid, serious tone, which I found rather refreshing within a romantic context, and I appreciates the author's effort in challenging the required happy ending, leaning more into realism rather than just a straightforward, all encompassing HEA.
Overall, even though Stars in Your Eyes is not a complete home-run, due to its slight identity crisis (straddling between a tropey romance and intense character study), the potential is evident, and I look forward to the next adult entry from Kacen Callender!
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**