Member Reviews
Elizabeth R, Reviewer
In the beginning, there were four: Bex, Jenni, Ellory and Ret. "Ret Johnson was the sun. Hot, bright, at the center of our universe. That we revolved around her was simply a fact." Then came Matthias. Now there's just Ellory. The before. And the after. Secrets and lies have torn apart the once inseparable foursome. Senior year is about to start, Ellory is back at school, and she isn't sure if she can handle her new normal. I was fortunate enough to receive an early copy of SEE ALL THE STARS via NetGalley, and I absolutely loved it. I love the language, the description, the story, the back and forth time jumps. We start with the foursome, with Ret at the center. To be quite honest, Ret is a manipulative little biatch who seems to have everyone wrapped around her little finger and fighting each other for her attention and affection. Ellory can barely stand to be around Jenni and isn't close with Bex at all, but Ret is the glue that binds them all together. Except Ellory meets someone. A boy. Matthias. And Ret is no longer the only sun that she revolves around. Unfortunately, Ret doesn't like that. The chapters alternate between past and present. We know that SOMETHING happened, but we don't know what. What caused Ellory to leave town? What was big enough to come between these friends? As you get closer and closer to the end, the pieces start to come together faster and faster until you find out what "the fall" really entailed. |
4.5/5 stars ‘’We were liars meets 13 reasons why..’’ was the description for this book, and just to get it out there, it absolutely was. Just the description was enough for me to get hooked. I knew already from the very first chapter that this book would be something special, unique. I absolutely did not want to put this book down when I first started it. The characters where likeable and real, and it kept the suspense from the very beginning. I just wanted to know what happened. What happened then to make the story as it is now? The book was well written with some beautiful lines throughout the story. An amazing book for a debut novel, and I can’t wait to see what more the author has in mind. |
Cynthia E T, Reviewer
Thank you for allowing me access to this title however I’m unable to read non kindle format books. |
Adopting the Then and Now narrative style which I'm a fan of, See all the stars slowly unravels the events of Ellory's Junior year and the effects it's had on her senior year. As far as the pacing of this novel goes, I thought it was pretty good. Nothing was revealed too soon and it didn't feel like it was dragging on, which can so easily happen when you're switching from past and present narratives. The characters all felt honest, well fleshed out and interesting. The book has just the right amount of mystery. I found myself getting some Pretty Little Liars vibes when I was reading this. Which isn't a bad thing. One thing I liked a lot, was that it wasn't completely predictable, which kept me interested. Overall, I found this book a really good read, one which I'd definitely recommend. |
Unfortunately I am unable to open the downloaded PDF file, even in Adobe (which says the file is broken). The blurb for this book sounds very interesting and I will look out for it elsewhere upon publication. |
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. Unfortunately I’m unable to download the content as it’s not in Kindle format. |
This unexpectedly ended up being my “read in a day” book for my 2018 challenge. It’s not long, but not short. It took a bit to get into this one. The characters you’ve seen before the click and inside jokes, the competition among females and for males. But it distinguishes itself as it goes on. Flipping between “then” and “now” you slowly get a picture of the story. This is well done. The ending was somewhat predictable. That’s the only reason for 4 stars. Otherwise this is quite good. Characters I was interested in, a story line I wanted to see a resolution to and good writing style did have me finished in a day. Similar to quite a few other books out there lately, but still stands on its own. I was unable to download this to overdrive so did need to read on my physical computer which was not so convenient. |
I wish it stated somewhere that this was only available as a PDF document as I don't use PDF's and wouldn't have clicked for a copy if I had known despite loving the sound of the premise. As I am unable to give feedback on the actual novel itself the only thing I can really say is that I feel that a number of people will have the same issue as I did. If there ever was a copy in ePub or Mobi format I would definitely give this a go! I am sad I can't read this as it sounds right up my street. Having it in these formats would open it up to more readers, in my opinion. Due to this I feel it would be unfair to give a star rating but I am unable to post this without one. The rating is no way a reflection of what is in the book. Thank you for the ARC, if I do happen to get my hands on a PDF reader I will add a review of the book. Please do not hesitate to contact me via the email address if there is an alternative format added or available. |
One thing I know for sure after finishing this book - Kit Frick knows how to write. The writing was absolutely the best part of the story. The way she went from past to present, and back to the past, paralleling the timelines, was enough to keep me reading. Unfortunately the story itself was a little too predictable. I loved it, don't get me wrong. It just felt like I've already seen the same plot devices over and over again. I caught onto one of the biggest plot twists from the moment it was hinted at. I was hoping so much that I was wrong and the writing even had me second guessing myself often, but alas, I wasn't wrong. Even though the plot itself was a little disappointing, Kit Frick's writing in See All The Stars is enough for me to pick up more books from her in the future. |
"I think you know what it's like to be the star of a story that you didn't write." Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the first ARC that I ever received, and I was so excited to read it! Thank you so much Netgalley for this opportunity. This book has been described as a mix between We Were Liars and 13 Reasons Why. Unfortunately, I haven't read either one of those books, so I can't really compare them, but I can say that I can see a Pretty Little Liars vibe in here. That comes from one of the main characters at play, a girl that goes by the name of "Ret". See, from the vibe that I've gotten from her, she is very manipulative with the group of girls that she hangs out with. She is the one that brings them all together, and she is the one that broke them all apart. Think of her as the Alison DiLaurentis of the group, exactly why I can see a PLL vibe. It gets to the point where the main protagonist, a girl named Ellory (I'm actually really digging her name, by the way) even feels like she "needs" to have Ret in her life at some point, and that she "belongs" to Ret. She even has some sort of jealousy custody battle thing with one of the other girls named Jenni, because according to Jenni, she's known Ret longer. It's like they are in competition for Ret's affection, and that's honestly no way to have a good "girl friend" kind of relationship. Not at all. The more that the book progresses, the more you can see just how abusive Ret really is to her friends. You see it because Ellory is able to finally see it, even if she hasn't done anything to stand up for herself or the other girls yet. There will be moments where it seems like Ret is being genuinely nice, but we have Ellory telling us that it's an ulterior motive, and then we can see it. Everything that Ret says and does to her friends is to make them under the impression that without Ret, they have nothing. They almost are nothing, and Ret knows that. If they don't tell her something immediately, Ret punishes them by not telling them something. If Ret wants to find out information, she pulls the "don't you trust me?" trump card that makes the other girls feel guilty. It's a psychological battle that Ret knows she's doing, and it seems like maybe Ellory is noticing it too. I also really liked the way that this book would switch between the past and the present. It reminded me of The Roanoke Girls, and for me, it seems like the story flows better that way. One on hand, you can see how Ellory's friendship with Ret, Jenni, and Bex was good, and then you can see just how alone she really is in the present. What happened that made this sudden change? The story doesn't really tell you exactly what happens until you get towards the end (as a good book usually does), but the suspense was killing me! I just wanted to know what the heck happened that was so bad! It had to have been bad if she was out of school on a suspension for two months. Should she have even gone back to that school? Was it worth it to be back in the same situation and these people that caused her so much pain? Was she also to blame for her pain? In the past, Ellory even had herself a boyfriend, the elusive and beautiful Matthias Cole. But in the present, she didn't even have him. Throughout the book, the more that Ellory shared her past, you could see that Matthias was drifting. Was he out of love with her, or was something else going on? He was keeping secrets, and Ellory didn't understand why he felt the need to keep secrets from her. She had never judged him before, was always supportive of his love for music, and yet something was changing between them. Could it have been blamed on the fleeting sensation of high school romance, or was it something else entirely? This may not be my regular genre (the contemporary part, not the YA part), but I did enjoy this book. I thought it was well written, and the characters left me feeling something. I don't know if I'm completely happy with everyone, but I could tell that things were real for them, like I could have gone through something similar, even if not the same thing. I hurt for Ellory, I hurt for them all, and yet I didn't feel sorry for them. I just could understand them. |
I received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley. 3.25/5 stars To start off, I need to acknowledge that contemporary YA fiction is not my favourite genre. I'm more of a fantasy/paranormal reader, but the synopsis and cover of See All The Stars had me intrigued. The book is very well written, but the structure of the time jumps and the withholding of the reason for the break down of the friendships and relationships until the very end kept me at a distance as a reader. I enjoyed the beginning, but as the story progressed I realized the only reason I was continuing the story was to find out what the fallout between the friends had been over. I struggled to find a likeable character in the whole book, which added to my disconnect. The author is a very a competent writer, and I can see the appeal if this style of book is your thing, but it's just not for me. Definitely give it a try though if you enjoy contemporary high drama, time jumping examinations of the pieces of a friend circle fallout. |
I knew this was special right away, commenting on how I loved the voice as early as the first few pages. But HOLY COW did I not know how much I would ultimately love this book. See All the Stars does something I LOVE which is that it makes me care a ton, even though I don't love the characters. For the most part. Ellory, our narrator, is so special. I adore her in both the Junior and Senior year timelines. Ellory feels real. Flawed in all the right ways and so, wholly teenagerific. Nothing bothers me more than when teenagers in books don't feel like teenagers, and Ellory is spot on. Matthias, Ellory's boyfriend in the THEN timeline, is perfect. Not likable, an important distinction. But perfect for what he is. Sometimes, the good girl and bad boy thing is so very nauseating. But this is utterly believable. I believe Ellory would fall for Matthias. Their relationship feels real to me. Ret, Ellory's best friend in the THEN timeline, is kinda the same. I love her character, even though as a person I can't stand her. Also, I wanna say, I tweeted a very long time ago: "I just want to read ONE book with two female characters where it's not a main plot point that one is jealous because the other is prettier." WELL IT FINALLY HAPPENED. There are FOUR main female characters, and there is none of that shit in this book. Thank. Goodness. The writing is wonderful! SO much can go wrong with alternating timelines, and I'm generally weary, but this is done so very well. The differences between the two are perfect, also. The THEN timeline being more about relationships and dialogue, and the NOW timeline being more about solitude and with very, very little dialogue. To be able to pull off both writing styles so well is wonderful. Magic. The pacing is spot on, too. I enjoyed the first half, but the closer we got to the end I HAD to keep reading, had to know what would happen. I don't want to say too much, no spoilers, but the end made me SHOUT SO LOUD. I was genuinely surprised. I had a lot of theories, and this wasn't one of them. Thanks so much to NetGalley & the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review! |
Hannah J, Bookseller
Lies and secrets can tear people apart and that's exactly what they did to Ellory and her group of friends. Follow her as she tries to live in the now and let go of her past. Being a teen is hard and it's the people that you surround yourself with that make it easier. This book really made me appreciate the friendships I have had, while also making me sad that some people really get their lives destroyed by someone who (however misguided) thought they were doing the right thing. |
Hi, thank you for the opportunity to read and review the novel. I've received it in my shelf today, but unfortunately, there was no indication that it offered only PDF format. The problem is that I read books only on a e-reader, thus, apologies, but I'm not going to be able to read and review it as I don't have the time to read on a PC. Thanks again! Best wishes! ######### |
Wow, I finished this book in one sitting, one sitting that had me on the edge of my seat. This book completely tore me apart. It starts out in this amazing world of love, light and friendship, and slowly as the novel progresses, it all begins to fade away into horrific, heart breaking agony. This is the second book I have read this year and it will be tough to beat, definitely going to be my favourite for 2018. I love Frick's writing style, the way she engages the reader with her characters, but I think, the thing I love the most is that she has created characters that are real. That don't have a constant progression, they regress and take backward steps that are logical and make sense. This book is fantastic. I'll be recommending it all year! |
***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of SEE ALL THE STARS by Kit Frick in exchange for my honest review*** Holy unputdownable, Batman. GRADE: A++++ 5+ STARS SEE ALL THE STARS is one of those books that gave me a tingle in my stomach, an excitement that only book lovers can understand. Even in the first chapter, I knew I was reading something special. Kit Frick’s gorgeous words danced off the page into my mind. And heart. I wanted to read quickly to see the source of Ellory‘s pain, but slowly to savor the story. I knew I’d reread immediately after finished. Although I have an ARC, I pre ordered SEE ALL THE STARS for my Kindle. That’s how much I fell in love with Ellory and her story. She narrates the story from then, beginning the summer before junior year, to now, the start of senior year in alternating chapters. Something happened to shatter Ellory’s life and her friendships. What, we do not know. She’s no longer friends with her inner circle, including the troubled, yet alluring Ret. Matthias is no longer Ellory’s boyfriend. Her classmates alternate from ignoring her to bullying. When former friends try to reach out, Ellory pushes them away. Frick’s compelling writing made me ache for Ellory, even when I didn’t know why. When looking for her other works, I wasn’t surprised to see she’s also a poet. Readers, don’t read too many reviews before beginning SEE ALL THE STARS. You don’t want any hints to spoil the beauty arc of the storyline. You may guess the source of Ellory’s pain before the story unfolds, but that won’t diminish your enjoyment if you allow your revelations to happen organically. I have several favorite books which I reread at least once a year, sometimes more frequently when I need to rely on an old familiar book friend. SEE ALL THE STARS has made that list and I think Kit Frick for writing such a special novel. |








