Girl Made of Stars Hardcover – May 15, 2018

This is similar to my story, too.Navigating it as a teen was hard.The loneliness, the fear, the exhaustion.If this book resonated with you, you’re not alone.

Mara, Owen and Hannah -- are just learning to navigate the world as young adults-- and they make mistakes. Some of them criminal. This narrative is full of confusion, fun, happy times, dark times and souls questioning their existence and relationships.Well- written in a descriptive sense, I sometimes found the plot a little convoluted-- going off in one direction or another -- but the main feeling I got from this was of Mara-- a Bi teenager in love with her girlfriend Charlie, even after breaking up with her, Mara is the most confused and hot-headed of them all, but in spite of this she pursues the truth -- about Owen, about her relationship with Charlie.Owen, who is greets the reader initially with his fun-loving antics, then becomes more of a shadow-figure in this book -- he's there -- but not centrally, and of course, he's wrapped up in the middle of the rape allegations.Hannah almost appears as an afterthought, whereas Charlie is the one here who is the MOST in control of herself and it is she who seems to bring out the best in Mara. And because of the turmoil surrounding her and the angst and healing she goes through with Charlie -- the situation with Owen also brings out something dark and awful which Mara has been hiding.I liked the ending of the book very much -- and it seemed to help calm down the anguish the reader feels from reading the previous chapters -- Mara draws upon a new strength when it comes to helping Charlie, who despite her own strength, has a secret of her own she needs to bring up with her family -- with Mara's help.The author has a very good way of involving the reader's emotional range while empathizing or even identifying (which I did in some cases) with the characters.

I can't see the situation clearly. Can't see what to do about it. Can't help Hannah, can't hate Owen, can't say anything that matters. Anywhere I turn, I'm betraying my own -- my friend, my brother, myself. Belief isn't easy, it isn't black and white.I think I've been reading a lot of amazing books lately. As soon as I finished this one, I immediately pre-ordered a finished copy.This books is heavy and important.It asks us to question our beliefs and values and makes us wonder if there can be any exceptions. What would you do if someone close to you was accused of doing something horrible to someone else? What if you believed they actually did what they were accused of? Would you support your loved one or help seek justice for their victim? Would you somehow try to figure out how to do both? And how would your relationship with your loved one change? How would your life change?A Girl Made of Stars is told through the perspective of Mara. Her twin brother is the accused and her close friend is the accuser. It is heartbreaking to see how she wants to believe her brother is innocent while knowing her friend wouldn't lie either. Through Mara we see why many victims of violence choose to stay quiet. While confronting her own trauma, she feels stupid and embarrassed and wonders if what happened was her fault. She notices how even though bad things happen everyone's lives still look so normal, like nothing actually happened even though everything feels wrong. Aside from being pulled between her brother and her friend, Mara and her ex girlfriend, Charlie, question and explore their sexuality. The way Mara handles each situation and the choices she makes are all, in my opinion, not always well thought out at first yet always believable, and I admire her strength through everything she faces.Hannah is Mara's close friend and the girl who accuses Mara's brother, Owen, of rape. This book is full of strong female characters, and Hannah, Like Mara, is one of them. To me, being able to speak up about your experience takes a lot of strength. Hannah voices that she has been raped, but sadly, most of her peers believe she is to blame.Owen is handsome and charismatic. He is a talented violinist and gets good grades. He studies hard but parties hard, and he is Hannah's boyfriend until he is accused of raping her. I think that rape is always always always wrong, but even as the story progresses Owen never gives off an evil-bad-guy vibe. If anything, he seems scared and desperate.So when he spreads his "side of the story" it makes it easier to believe that he is innocent.I think the most controversial character in this story is going to be Mara and Owen's mother. She is described as a feminist and is proud of Mara for fighting the patriarchy, yet she vehemently defends Owen. I feel that she is in the hardest position because the accused rapist is her own son. I'm not sure about you all, but I can understand wanting to protect someone you created and molded despite their wrong doings. In the twins' mother's case, it seems she has convinced herself that her son is innocent in order to believe in him.This book isn't just about rape, it's also about moving on and changing as a result of trauma.As someone who has had a similar experience to one of these characters, I feel that Ashley Herring Blake perfectly captures how it feels to try to be your "old" self while knowing you aren't completely who you used to be. She fully captures the struggle and hope, and I think this book is worth reading if you were only to pick up on that.I just won't move through the world like I did before. Some parts of me are gone. Some others have come alive, woken by the need to fight, to matter, to be heard. Some parts are wary, others angry, others heartbroken. But I'm still me. I'm still moving. We all are, in some way or another.I urge you to read this book because there is so much to learn from it. Maybe if more books like this one were read, more victims of abuse would feel it was okay to seek justice for their experiences.

Two days ago I finished -- for the second time – this hypnotically serious and entrancing book about truth and belief and assault, Girl Made of Stars, by almost surely -- by far --the greatest work yet of the incomparable author Ashley Herring Blake. Even greater than her other works.To me it’s about many things, obviously assault, and sexual assault, and mainly about women, and queer girls and women, and in this novel in high school, and about the trauma – and at the bottom of all lthis about concealment and truth and belief in what people say happened to them and speaking your truth— especially and of course girls and women, and unavoidably everyone.To me just beyond stunning. And again entrancing. Blake’s gripping and riveting narrative starts fast and never lets up a nanosecond -- never dips even one inch beneath the very highest conceivable possible level. I am immersed and soaked saturated in it. Under its hypnotic spell.Nearly every page blows my mind. And no last page ever gets better.