Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Là où les arbres rencontrent les étoiles

This was a surprisingly fun read for me. I did struggle a bit to get into it at first, but once I was in, I really liked it. I thought the plot was cute and I liked the interactions between the characters. The only thing that really stuck out to me as a negative was how Gabe's mental health was handled. I feel like a book being written in 2019 should have a better attitude than "um have you tried being less depressed??" because that just ain't it. I'm also just kind of over the "mental illness is scary" trope.

Despite that, I still really enjoyed this book and had a lot of fun with it. I'm looking forward to reading more from Vanderah in the future.

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shyleek's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm not a sci-fi reader but this alien book has me intrigued. The characters in this books were so well created and deep without feeling like I was reading character descriptions for 200 pages. A predictable read but in the way that you were pretty sure how it was going to end but knew it wasn't going to be easy to get there and wanted to go on the adventure with Gabe, Jo, and Ursa.

I don't have triggers when I read normally but check the trigger warnings because there is some sensitive material.

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jenbean's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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booksemmahasread's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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yaelm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Most of this book was closer to 4 stars or even more, but some parts…

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jazzyinthewild's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

4.0

Ornithologist and cancer survivor Joanna Teale spends the summer in rural Illinois, renting out a cabin in the woods, to study nesting success of the local Indigo Buntings (which are real & beautiful - look them up!)

One evening after work, Jo returns home to a lone girl, called Ursa, on her doorstep claiming to be from another planet sent to Earth to witness 5 miracles before she can return home. Jo & her neighbour Gabe spend the summer trying to figure out how to help this mysterious child.

This book wasn’t anything like I expected it to be, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story and I didn’t want to stop reading! It’s very fast paced, with a lot going on pretty much the whole way through the book, and almost all of the characters were loveable and relatable.

Jo was my favourite character. Her ornithology work is perfectly intertwined with the story - I loved all of the details of her nest sites and surveys.

This was such a heartwarming read, filled with love, family and compassion, whilst also satisfying my thirst for nature/environmental fiction.

For fans of: Once Upon A River, Sharks In The Time Of Saviours, Where The Crawdads Sing.

There are quite a lot of heavy topics, so I would recommend checking the content warnings before reading.

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sierracook14's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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sophonax's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

I'm not sure what I'd think if a child turned up claiming to be an alien from the stars, from a whole other galaxy, but Jo and Gabe's journey with Ursa was so lovely. Jo is recovering from loss and her own illness when Ursa turns up on the doorstep of the cabin she's working in collecting data for her graduate research. What follows is a fantasy tale which soon turns into something more sinister and frightening. The only thing which I would have changed if I could was the author's use of 'he said' 'she said' 'Jo said' at times it felt repetitive and the language felt stilted in some cases. This was minor and the story more than compensated for this. The past trauma of each individual member of the trio pulled them together and forged wonderful understanding healing relationships, the twists and turns in the story were approached with communication which I loved. No storming off never to return over little things, and misunderstandings never lasted long between Gabe and Jo because they talked then had time to think. The backstories of all of the characters had wonderful dept and it really meant that as a reader I rooted for them, celebrated with them in the happy moments and was worried for them when they were in peril.

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