Review: Where The Stars Still Shine, Trish Doller

Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is one of the reasons I love book bloggers and book bloggers with twitter feeds. This is not something I would have picked up for myself if I had seen it browsing in a bookstore or on Amazon. It sounds a little too afternoon movie for my tastes. Basic plot being girl kidnapped as a child by mom after a divorce, moves around the country and then reunited with the dad years and years later when mom is finally arrested and teen has to cope with new family and new life.

Though after seeing a mixture of three to five star reviews from some of my favourite bloggers, it got me thinking okay, I have to read this now.

I don't usually like teen drama without some sort of a paranormal romance theme involved. But as it turned out, I loved this book. I found Callie to be a very easy character to understand, and loved how she grew throughout the story. It can't have been easy to have been raised one way, sans normal family life and then suddenly at 17, have to cope with a family and some rules, and people who want to care. And at the same time its understandable why she still feels loyalty to her mom as well.

The story was an emotional one, sad, angsty, with some sweet moments, some happy moments, and at the same time kind of bittersweet. A mixed bag of feelings making the story engaging. It was excellently written, so clear and easy to picture. A wonderfully emotional book with full rounded characters, and even made me cry a little at the end.

So I'm glad I gave something different from my normal type of YA reading a chance, it's a really fantastic book.