Customer Reviews

Silent Star

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I see the story in a different way than the previous reviewer. Sometimes I think it's a disadvantage to read previous reviews and at other times an advantage. I didn't see the Jesus/Andy theme referred to at all. I believe the author's intention was to show the life of someone who has lost everything (his entire family.) Because of his job delivering telegrams, he lost even the love most people receive as part of everyday life, and more importantly, the human contact people need to feel loved. He was ostracized, which made him bitter toward God, who he believed took his family and left him with nothing but a depressing way of life. Some days he didn't care if he lived anymore. Then in walks the older lady who treats him like a normal person with the need for care and concern, and things start to turn around for him in his heart. I thought it was a beautiful illustration of how the love of one person can change the future of another by instilling hope into the person's life. In regards to how the story was written, I found it a bit blah with two much backstory up front in the very beginning (about his parents) but once the older woman entered the scene it picked up from there and even got my eyes watering at one point (which rarely happens when I read.) It was definitely worth my while, though I probably won't read it again.

I finished this book in about 2 hours. It's a sweet little story about a boy (Andy) in 1944 who's lost both of his parents at a very young age, and is burdened with being the bearer of bad news. Andy works for a telegram company, and has the daunting task of delivering war telegrams to the family's of dead/missing soldiers.

Because of his job, the towns people of a small Pennsylvania town have come to fear, and ignore him. They look at him as a curse, and with his parents dead, his loneliness reaches an almost breaking point. But a sweet old widowed woman sees he's in need of a friend, and makes it her mission to turn this young boys life around.

While this was a charming little story, I was surprised at how religious it was. It's not that apparent in the beginning, but by the end of the book, I felt I was practically reading the bible. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, I felt it took away from a story that was already thin. If your looking for a spiritual uplifting, or a light quick read, then I definitely recommend this...but other than that, there's really not much here.

Silent Star was well written and captured the depth of emotion experienced by those surviving WW II - those at home, waiting and praying. This book explores the impact of war on a typical young man who did not fight in the war but was left to struggle with his own doubts and fears. It offered a glimpse at the positive, spiritual renewal of a soul lost to despair.

If you'd like a quick heartwarming read and don't mind that the end is predictable, then read this book. It's a simple but sweet story about a young man who goes to war in the only way he can. There is a theme of hope and the symbolism of stars interwoven throughout. I appreciated the point of view of the messengers during the war and the things they may have gone through.

The storyline flowed well, though I found myself able to easily put the book down. The characters were simple though there was some attempt at making them more three dimensional. Everything was happily wrapped up at the end, in a Miracle on 34th street sort of way.

Personally I found it a little boring because I don't like predictable stories with two dimensional characters. But I liked the ending of the star symbolism and the writing structure (grammar, etc.) was sound.

"Silent Star" is a heartwarming, very relaxed book to read, but I was unaware of its religious theme. From the synopsis of the book, I thought it would have been more of a historical fiction (which it is classified as, but it should be classified into the religious genre), as I had not read a book about anyone who delivered the dreaded messages telling families that their sons, fathers, and husbands had died in battles during World War II. This topic was barely used, and it was only to bring in the religious aspects, which disappointed me. Also, the protagonist kept changing from Andy to Estella, and it seemed that the antagonist wasn't very clear, either. There was absolutely no character development, and I wish more time was spent on the people, rather then their religion. My final complaint is that author Tracie Peterson was practically saying Andy was Jesus Christ, which I found erroneous. The similarities she presented to the reader were too similar, and I found that disturbing. However, this story does show the closeness of neighbors during this troublesome time in history, which we rarely experience in this day and age. I "sorta" recommend.