Trish Doller writes incredibly real teens, and this searing story of love, betrayal, and how not to lose your mind will resonate with readers who want their stories gritty and utterly true.
First Line: Yellow light slashes the darkness as Mom sneaks into the apartment again.
Review: I never read Trish Doller's Something Like Normal so I'm a complete newb when it came to her work and even though I didn't completely fall in love with Where the Stars Still Shine I did like it enough to where I am looking forward to reading more novels by her.
Okay so Where the Stars Still Shine is about Callie who was kidnapped by her mom at the young age of five years old. She never had a normal life they were always moving from place to place. Her mother suffers from a mental illness, she never went to school, or had friends and she was a victim of sexual abuse, basically a stable home life was non-existent for her. So when she is thrust back into the life she would of had had her mom not kidnapped her she has a lot of things to work through.
I could not get myself to like Callie. In the beginning of the book before she got reunited with her family I sympathized for her but after being reunited with her family her character became a little frustrating to me and I just couldn't connect with her. What really threw me off was how sexual she was. I didn't like how the insta-love thing happened between her and Alex and by the second meeting they were already having sex. Another thing about Callie that bugged me was how she treated Kat she was so mean to her for the most part when all she was trying to do was be a good friend. Then there was her mom and I couldn't stand how she kept letting her mom back in even after realizing how toxic she was.
What I did enjoy were the parts that involved her family. She came from such a wonderful Greek family who really loved her and were thankful to have her back. We saw her dad struggling to connect with his daughter, her step-mom not fully trusting her with her step-brothers and working through her issues, then there was also her grandma who was there for her also throughout the whole ordeal.
Overall I did find this book to be predictable and true the main character was not someone I really cared for much but the book as whole was actually still a good read and I would recommend picking it up.
Okay so Where the Stars Still Shine is about Callie who was kidnapped by her mom at the young age of five years old. She never had a normal life they were always moving from place to place. Her mother suffers from a mental illness, she never went to school, or had friends and she was a victim of sexual abuse, basically a stable home life was non-existent for her. So when she is thrust back into the life she would of had had her mom not kidnapped her she has a lot of things to work through.
I could not get myself to like Callie. In the beginning of the book before she got reunited with her family I sympathized for her but after being reunited with her family her character became a little frustrating to me and I just couldn't connect with her. What really threw me off was how sexual she was. I didn't like how the insta-love thing happened between her and Alex and by the second meeting they were already having sex. Another thing about Callie that bugged me was how she treated Kat she was so mean to her for the most part when all she was trying to do was be a good friend. Then there was her mom and I couldn't stand how she kept letting her mom back in even after realizing how toxic she was.
What I did enjoy were the parts that involved her family. She came from such a wonderful Greek family who really loved her and were thankful to have her back. We saw her dad struggling to connect with his daughter, her step-mom not fully trusting her with her step-brothers and working through her issues, then there was also her grandma who was there for her also throughout the whole ordeal.
Overall I did find this book to be predictable and true the main character was not someone I really cared for much but the book as whole was actually still a good read and I would recommend picking it up.
Memorable Quotes:
~ Most of my life is recorded in this book, starting when I first learned to write in crooked letters. Most. Because there are some secrets you don't even want to tell yourself.
