Scan barcode
halierivers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Firstly, let me address what I didn’t see ANYWHERE else and had to hunt down myself - one of the POV’s is not in American-Standard English. It’s written with Trinidad Folk Language/Grammar as one of the MC’s is from there. It took me a few chapters to move past this, as it is quite jarring, but your brain picks up smoothly after that.
Secondly, THIS WAS SO SAD AND SO GOOD? Ughh I just am so glad I read this and thank the Muses that this book exists for teens and adults out there who stumble upon it. It’s about love, rejection, grief, death, and spirituality. And on top of that, we have a cast of (mostly) wholesome, loving, supportive parents which we do not see enough in media.
Lastly, the ending was not my favorite. But it makes sense with the story. I just wish it were drawn out a bit more bc I didn’t feel like I got to really say goodbye to these amazing characters.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, and Homophobia
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Child death and Child abuse
kegila's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Child death, and Drug use
Minor: Transphobia
Incarcerationdandeliongirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Grief, Sexual content, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Child death, and Police brutality
ghorsford's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
Moderate: Child death
cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Cancer, Lesbophobia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child death and Child abuse
meagan2020's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Child death and Death
skudiklier's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Homophobia, Child death, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Drug use, Confinement, Grief, Sexual content, Child abuse, Racism, and Transphobia
Minor: Slavery, Medical content, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Outing, Murder, and Mental illness
lettuce_read's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Child death, Death, Lesbophobia, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racism
lily1304's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
It's impossible for me not to compare this book to The Fault in Our Stars. Though they have a really similar basic premise, they each deal with love and death and grief in totally different ways. I relate much more strongly to the pessimism and spiritual doubt of TFIOS than the optimism of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them. Because I'm John Green trash, I know that he wrote TFIOS based on his experience serving as a hospital chaplain for teens with cancer - an experience which made him decide not to become a priest - and that really shows in Hazel's anger and despair and "what if God - I mean, the author, I mean, Peter Van Houten - is real and wants nothing to do with us?" Petrus being a Black woman already gives her a different perspective than John Green, and I wonder what life experiences inspired her.
I didn't expect New Age spirituality to be so intrinsic to the book - to the point that it's somewhere on the border between realistic and speculative fiction. It made me more mindful of my biases and attitudes about things like astrology and past lives - I have to constantly remind myself that my own religion would sound just as weird if it weren't the dominant religion in the United States. There were some anti-medicine/"food is medicine" vibes too, though, which concerns me a little.
Despite all that... I liked the ending.
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Sexual content
katboykin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Cancer and Chronic illness
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Homophobia