Girl Made of Stars Hardcover – May 15, 2018

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.

"Girl Made of Stars" is about this girl named Mara. Her and her twin brother Owen are extremely close and they have been for their entire life. Everything is going fine until Owen gets accused of raping his girlfriend, Hannah. What makes matters worse is that Hannah is also one of Mara’s best friends. Owen denies that he raped her but Mara’s not so sure she believes him. She also is harboring her own secrets that makes this situation even more difficult to deal with.Well, this was a complete surprise for me. I did not expect this book to impact me as much as it did. This is a powerful novel that I think everyone should read. It handles the topic of rape better than a lot of other books that I have read on this topic.Mara, who is our main character, was amazing. She is bisexual, which I think was handled very well. The author does a fantastic job of showing how Mara was attracted to both girls and boys. When we meet Mara we find out that she has just broken up with her ex-girlfriend and she is struggling a little with that. Throughout the book, you also see her have a thing with a guy in the book, but the way the author handled this was extremely well done.We also have another character in the book who I believe is gender fluid. So, the rep in this book was great!What I loved the most about this book was how complex this situation was. I would imagine that it would be so hard for anyone to deal with a close family member being accused of such a heinous crime as rape. You see Mara struggle with what believing Hannah means; how that means that she thinks that Owen is lying. We see her struggle with still loving Owen, but being disgusted by what he did. The most amazing thing was that Mara NEVER once blamed Hannah. She didn’t even let Hannah think it was her fault.This book also shows us another form of sexual assault and how complicated situations involving authority can be. Once again, I think this was handled perfectly. I won’t go into much detail to try to avoid spoilers.Let me add that there is a lot of calling out sexism in here as well.I think the two most complicated characters in this book were Owen and Owen and Mara’s mother.Owen was complicated because while we don’t get a perspective from him we see him through Mara’s POV, and he’s not an awful person. Don’t get me wrong, he is absolute trash and needs to be punished for what he did. However, he is not who society tells us who rapist are. This book shows that “nice guys” can be rapist. Throughout the book though, you begin to see that Owen had his issues though and that Mara kind of ignored some of them.Now their mom was even more complicated. She definitely didn’t want to believe that Owen did it. She kept wanting them, including Mara, to support him as a family. It’s important to add that she is a feminist and encourages Mara to be one as well. So it was interesting to see her flip the script when it was her son involved, which I think is actually really realistic.Needless to say, I think everyone should read this and it has become one of my favorite contemporary books of all time.

I bought this because it had so much hype and I had heard many great things about it. I did not like it at all. I did not like the story, did not like the main character and I really hated they way told how to feel but nothing in the story brought about those feelings on my own. I just found myself really angry that certain things felt like they were forced upon the reader and I absolutely hated this book.

Oh this book broke all my hearts and inside pieces. This book is so good and so sad and just so much and I loved it. I loved Mara and I felt her struggle, I hurt for Hannah and Charlie is just the best friend. I originally said I didn’t want a book with sexual violence because it’s something I’m not good with but I’m so glad I picked this one up. Watching to girls struggle and overcome just lets me know I’m not alone and it’s okay to hurt. ♥️

Daughter was required to read this book over the summer for summer bridge interesting book it held her attention.

My favorite book that I have ever read. It gives amazing insight as to how society treats women of abuse and how hard it is for victims to live with abuse.

Amazing story. Terribly sad but very similar to the truth. Good read but be ready for the emotional roller coated ride it will take you on

I liked this book.

I can't think of enough words to describe this book. I devoured it piece by piece, while both wanting to read every word and close my eyes so that I didn't have to. This story is one that needs to be told everywhere. In every school, in every classroom. The best thing I can say about this book and this story is that it's important. The writing is outstanding, you feel every single bit of what you read which is both terrifying and wonderful. The book tore me apart bit by bit and then built me back up again. I felt ready to conquer the world by the end of it and I hope that every girl, woman, young and old can read this and feel empowered and heard. From the synopsis I knew I'd like this book, but god I didn't expect this. I know I'm gushing, but it deserves it and more. All I can say is thank you for writing this.

A beautiful and emotional story that will forever stay with me. I really really liked this book, and the story is so well writen,important and touching. Ashley Herring Blake did a marvelous job telling this very important and relevant story and I will read more of her work in the future, for sure.All the charaters are well rounded, complex and so real that I had no trouble immerging myself in this book.i defenely raccomnd this book if you're looking for a beautiful, emotional and well writen story with pleantyof diversity and real charaters that will touch you in more than one way.

"Because when they thought the Stars were sticking to her, really all the loneliness and sadness were falling off. The Stars were underneath.She glows, she'll always glow."Hauntingly beautiful!I don't have enough words for how much I loved this! It was as equally easy to read as it was difficult!The story follows Mara and her close twin Owen and how their relationships change as one of Maras friends accuses Owen of rape.On top of this Mara has her own fears and worries to explore, I don't want to ruin it by saying too much!But I will say that I loved Blake's writing style and ability to have me relating to each and every character and have me in tears!The relationships are real and contend with a lot of modern day progressive problems that I think every one from should read!

A beautifully crafted book that handles its themes well. I was tearing up a few chapters in and was captivated from the start. The characters are extremely lovable, and although the plot took turns I wasn't expecting, it made it all the more enjoyable. The exploration of the relationships was a refreshing take, showing the importance of both platonic and romantic love. Highly recommend!

This book made me angry and sad and cry, but it was filled with some of the most complex characters and nuanced discussions that I've come across in YA fiction recently. TW: for rape, sexual assault, and victim blaming (not from the narrative, is challenged within the narrative).