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A review by brooke_review
Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter
4.0
If you could discover what the future holds for you, would you want to know? If you are a girl born into the fictional world portrayed in Laura Maylene Walter’s debut novel Body of Stars, you wouldn’t have a choice. Like in many societies where choices have been stripped from women, this one is no different, but here, girls are born with their futures told right on their bodies. In the form of moles, freckles, and birthmarks, a girl’s entire future is available for all to see and interpret right there on her skin. Girls have no choice but to know what awaits them in the upcoming years as they are constantly subjected to scrutiny and interpretation of their markings. Would you want to live in Walter’s exploitative world? I know I sure wouldn’t.
Walter’s debut is a timely and important book about a world different, but also akin to our own. Women’s bodies have been on display and obsessed over throughout time, and Walters takes this fixation a step further by putting the future of society on the skin of women. Skin that is examined, scrutinized, and obsessed over.
Even more harrowing, Walter writes of the time period during which a teenage girl reaches “puberty” - when she is a “changeling.” During this time, these young girls become irresistible to anyone who is near them and are often subjected to kidnapping and rape by men who cannot keep their eyes and hands off of them. At the end of the changeling period, the girls’ “wow factor” disappears, and all kidnapped girls are returned to their families. If you guessed that the girls are blamed for these attacks and that the men are rarely prosecuted, you are right - yes, in Walter’s twisted world, women are subjected to misogyny just like they are in today’s society.
While marketed to adults, Body of Stars reads much like YA dystopian fiction, albeit with a little more meat and grit than you may find in the standard young adult fare. Therefore, this novel can be enjoyed by adults who love or grew up on the YA dystopian genre, but are looking for similar novels with a bit more substance. This book can also be appreciated by maturing young adults who are looking to move beyond the dystopian novels marketed to their age group.
Easy to read & get into with thought-provoking topics and lyrical writing, Body of Stars is a fresh take on the role and impact women and their bodies play in society.
Walter’s debut is a timely and important book about a world different, but also akin to our own. Women’s bodies have been on display and obsessed over throughout time, and Walters takes this fixation a step further by putting the future of society on the skin of women. Skin that is examined, scrutinized, and obsessed over.
Even more harrowing, Walter writes of the time period during which a teenage girl reaches “puberty” - when she is a “changeling.” During this time, these young girls become irresistible to anyone who is near them and are often subjected to kidnapping and rape by men who cannot keep their eyes and hands off of them. At the end of the changeling period, the girls’ “wow factor” disappears, and all kidnapped girls are returned to their families. If you guessed that the girls are blamed for these attacks and that the men are rarely prosecuted, you are right - yes, in Walter’s twisted world, women are subjected to misogyny just like they are in today’s society.
While marketed to adults, Body of Stars reads much like YA dystopian fiction, albeit with a little more meat and grit than you may find in the standard young adult fare. Therefore, this novel can be enjoyed by adults who love or grew up on the YA dystopian genre, but are looking for similar novels with a bit more substance. This book can also be appreciated by maturing young adults who are looking to move beyond the dystopian novels marketed to their age group.
Easy to read & get into with thought-provoking topics and lyrical writing, Body of Stars is a fresh take on the role and impact women and their bodies play in society.