Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Body of Stars

I loved the idea of this book. Some parts made me very uncomfortable, which I know was intentional and always a sign of a good author, but I didn’t find it super enjoyable. It was a ~good~ book not a great one.

Content Warnings

bookmarked642's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I love anything to do with stars, the night sky, galaxies, constellations and so on, so naturally, I was drawn to this book instantly. I had no idea how much I would fall in love with it! It's beautifully written, addressing such potent topics while still being enjoyable, and has a fantastic sense of mysticality and magic realism alongside a torrent of emotion. It's a coming-of-age story with a strong feminist core that I think readers of varying ages can appreciate. It's not actually about /stars/ exactly, but rather the constellations of marks that females have across their bodies that can give insight into what one's future holds. All girls go through a 'changeling' period when they gain they adult markings. For this time, the girls have a sort of ethereal glow about them that draws others in. Many girls look forward to this time, but it can be extremely dangerous.
The book follows one particular girl, Celeste. She sees older girls becoming changelings, and often going missing. Then when they return, no longer in their changeling phase, they often can't remember a thing. Walter avoids any explicit details of what happens to these girls, but it's not hard to piece together. When they return, there is a huge amount of stigma around these 'taken' girls, and they are always blamed for what happened to them, rather than the men who actually abducted and abused them. Sound familiar? Yeah.
As I mentioned above, there is a lot of relevance in this book in regards to misogyny in society. Not just the blame on the taken girls, but also the amount of strange rules women and girls have to abide by, including showing their new marks to their fathers. In fact, the girls' bodies in this book are hardly their own; their marks must be regularly documented and interpreted.
There are also some key moments in Celeste's personal life. For one, her brother, Miles, has always been fascinated by the markings on his sister's skin. Boys don't get markings; they're also unable to pursue the career of interpreting, which is what Miles dreams of. When Celeste changes into her adult markings, Miles is desperate to see them, but Celeste refuses. She hides her marks from everyone; the stars on her skin have revealed a terrible truth that she is not ready to face.
There's so much more to this book than what I've written, though. There are girls who'd dreams are dashed by the abuse they suffered; girls who are raising children when they are hardly more than children themselves; there are even girls who are 'fated' to be taken. But I won't get into all that.
If you can't tell, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even though I know the plot, I think it's one of those books I'd happily reread. It's definitely on my favourites list for 2021 - 5 stars!

Content Warnings

storyfilledflowers's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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ruthywithas's review

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought it was a interesting concept for portraying the struggles that women go through; hence throughly enjoying it.

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kng_writes's review

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dark 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

4.5

This book incredibly reminiscent of the dystopia craze of 2012-2015 without dragging things out over three books!! Additionally, the author is skilled at including themes of rape culture, sexual assault, and MeToo without the preachiness found in many of the most popular YA/Adult Fiction reads. Beautifully crafted, and at times chilling. Worth a read for sure!

Content Warnings

nateysmama's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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