Happy Monday! Today I’m reviewing Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst and Paula Garner, and can I just say that I want to live in a world where someone texts me stuff like this? Please? If you’re looking for a book that explores difficult themes while making you fall in love, then Starworld is the perfect book for you!
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst, Paula Garner Published on April 16, 2019 by Candlewick Press
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: NetGalley
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Sam Jones and Zoe Miller have one thing in common: they both want an escape from reality. Loner Sam flies under the radar at school and walks on eggshells at home to manage her mom’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, wondering how she can ever leave to pursue her dream of studying aerospace engineering. Popular, people-pleasing Zoe puts up walls so no one can see her true self: the girl who was abandoned as an infant, whose adoptive mother has cancer, and whose disabled brother is being sent away to live in a facility. When an unexpected encounter results in the girls’ exchanging phone numbers, they forge a connection through text messages that expands into a private universe they call Starworld. In Starworld, they find hilarious adventures, kindness and understanding, and the magic of being seen for who they really are. But when Sam’s feelings for Zoe turn into something more, will the universe they’ve built survive the inevitable explosion?
My Favorite Part
My favorite part was the friendship between Sam and Zoe. I’m a sucker for friends who seem to have nothing in common and then realize they have tons in common, so I wasn’t surprised that I loved that dynamic so much! I also loved how the book dealt with some really tough issues without losing the hope that was at the core of this story. Plus, I love books where parts of the story (or the whole story! I grew up on Lauren Myracle’s TTYL series, so the whole story is good too!) is told in text form.
My Least Favorite Part
I really really really wanted View Spoiler » and I was SO DISAPPOINTED that it didn’t happen! It also took me a while to warm up to the characters, but sometimes that happens. *insert shrugging emoji here*
Summing it Up with a GIF
Judging a Book by it’s Cover
This cover is SO GOOD. It was 100% what drew me to this book, and then when I saw the title I knew I HAD TO HAVE IT! I really like how the text is sideways? Which I normally wouldn’t but it works really well here. Plus all the colors and space aesthetic are basically my personal aesthetic, so it’s like the cover was made specifically to make me pick it up. Which I guess it was, because that’s what book covers are supposed to do…
If You Liked…
The TTYL series by Lauren Myracle because of the texting format…
P.S. Longer Letter Later by Paula Danziger, with its switching viewpoint and friendship between two girls…
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, for the friendships and the hard truths that teenagers live with…
Then you will LOVE Starworld!
SPOILERS SWEETIE
Oh my god that ending! I am always in favor of stories where View Spoiler » There were a ton of little things that made me think Zoe was View Spoiler » I wanted View Spoiler »
LET’S DISCUSS
Have you ever had a friendship that was mostly text based? Like maybe you didn’t really talk to them at school/home/work but you would text them all the time? Let me know in the comments!
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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