Customer Reviews

Star Light, Star Bright (Mira S.)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First off, things I liked about the book: (1) the title, it's a nice touch of whimsy, (2) the cover colors, and (3) the little shooting star above the chapter numbers (hey, it's cute!). I'm sorry to say that's about it.

This book was just a disaster; there was an excessive amount crammed into 360 pages, and all of it was predictable, over-the-top, and unbelievable. All the characters are supposed to be flawed but they were one-dimensional and boring. Lily and Peter were an exception; I think they had possibilities, most likely better suited to a completely different book. Brooke was an absolutely horrible character; she's boring, whiney, and did many things that I don't think her character would do (such as leave her horses without a by-your-leave), not to mention when her mother tells Brooke about her father and she's not affected by it in the least. What?! Then she spends the whole rest of the book a whole mess of a person who really needs to be sent to a psychiatric clinic, it's just too bad no one else sees this. Ugh, why would anyone like this person, let alone love her?

I don't think the author knew quite what to do with the book. First, the prologue, I'm sorry but it really didn't make sense to the rest of the book, not that the rest made much sense either. Secondly, the author was always changing direction; from the back of the book, I thought it was a love triangle, not exactly. Ms. Stone shifted to and from that but never really settled on a solution to have the triangle. Next, the conversations were a joke; everybody just opens up to a stranger and tells them a whole story? Every conversation was so melodramatic too.

Now for the relationships... No love triangle, that's why I read the book, I thought it sounded interesting. Rafe and Brooke: he's 26, she's 17 when they meet, they spend 9 days together...they're in love? Ha! Not to mention it's very creepy. I can pretend that Brooke is a mature 17 but I don't think a relationship for 9 days would reckon they love each other, they don't even know each other well. I'm sorry but 9 years in between, especially when the younger is 17 is huge; it's not like when someone is 30 and the other is 39, it's a big difference. I also find it hard to believe that 12 years later, everyone is the same and feels the same, no one has really changed. Then from here, the rest of the book is played out in a week, and the last bit totals a month. Way too much for the time period.

I know I had many, many more problems with this story but I think I'll stop here because I gave the main ones. If I continued on I might give spoilers and I don't want to do that in case someone actually wants to read this book. I don't know if this story was supposed to be like a fable, but if it was, it was a dismal failure.

When his Mexican village and four neighboring hamlets high in the clouds are destroyed as Rafael defeats the Rain God, he leaves in exile for America using the name Rafe McClure. He accepts a job as a stable hand in the Forsythe's FoxHaven estate in Virginia. Rafe's natural talent and his love for horses come to the attention of Brooke Blair, whose mother Marla is an informal member of the Forsythe family through her relationship with her best friend Carolyn. Brooke and Carolyn's daughter Lily are not only best friends, but raised as sisters.

After receiving medical treatment in Europe, Lily returns home to an apparent suicide murder as Brooke's mother and her father are dead. Unable to cope, Brooke flees FoxHaven leaving Lily to cope with the aftermath. Now years later Brooke has returned to FoxHaven only to see the intimacy between her "sister" and the man she loves, but left behind.

Best-selling author Katherine Stone usually provides her fans with a pearl of a novel, but her latest tale seems disjointed as if the wonderful writer could not decide between a contemporary triangle and a fantasy romance. The story line of STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT contains several intriguing subplots, but the two prime themes never merge in spite of three strong and delightful charcaters. The contemporary aspects with its mystery and relationship drama is a powerhouse, but the fantasy elements remain out of place and never fully integrate. Though not one of her brighter lights, the audience will still enjoy Ms. Stone's latest tale.

Harriet Klausner

I am halfway through this book and not enjoying it as I have all of her others I have read. I decided to look on Amazon to see what any other comments were about this book. I looked, and have decided to give up on this one and continue on to another one of hers. I just found this one very hard to follow and I don't like having to work that hard trying to keep up with a story line. My sister-in-law, who is also an avid reader, once told me that if you're not "into" a book by page 100, it may not be worth the effort to continue.

I have read all of Katherine Stone's books. They all took me away and were a very fast read. This one was not up to her usual standards. The first chapter lost me, but I prevailed and continued and eventually got into the book.I am someone who eagerly looks forward to the next Katherine Stone book but this one left me a bit lacking. I do want to comment that once it got going though it was easy and a fun read.

I have read a couple of her books and while i realise that she has a thing for writting her books like poems, i think this was taking it a bit too far. Not only was the book truly disjointed the narrative was like something out of a bad shakespare story. The story is too unreal for the day and age we are in

I'm a great fan of KS, but this book was awful! Not only was it hard to follow, Brooke and Rafe were totally boring. Only when Peter and Lilly got together did it become even remotely interesting, and that was more than halfway through the book. And their relationship consisted mostly of phone conversations!
As passionate as Rafe was about horses and flowers, why didn't he ever get his own place with his own horses and flowers? In the real world, he would have been considered something of a gold digger, or moocher.
KS tends to use the same names for her characters in her books. Why?
If you're new to KS's work, don't start with this one! I only finished it in deference to this usually talented author.

The prologe of the book lost me, I almost stopped reading all together but stuck with it. The rest flowed wonderfully and was a really great read. I will definatly be trying more of Ms. Stone's books