Starworld is the story of Sam and Zoe - two high school girls who don’t run in the same crowd but end up exchanging numbers and building a friendship through texts that they both really need.

This was a much deeper story than I expected going into it - and that was probably my bad for not reading the description closely enough and going more from the cover. This isn’t a romance. This isn’t (just) about two very different people coming together. And (happily) there is no love triangle in sight.

Lots of times in YA it feels like each major character has one particular challenge they are facing. But in real life - that’s not how it goes. One person can be dealing with multiple challenges at the same time. In this case - Zoe knows she was adopted and has questions about her biological parents and her adoptive mom has cancer and her family is struggling with how to best care for her disabled brother. Sam is trying to help her mom with her OCD, isn’t sure of her sexuality and is missing her dad who moved to London after her parents’ divorce and has been largely absent from her life.

Both Sam and Zoe struggle with how much of their lives to share with their friends - who they are willing to let in and how much they want to be seen. I love the ways their friendship grows and the challenges they face together. I wasn’t as into the Starworld sections as written through their texts - but can see how this could appeal to the right audience.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

TW: cancer, adoption, OCD, anxiety, developmental disability.

I received an eARC from NetGalley.. Sam Jones lives under the radar and Zoe Miller puts up walls to maintain her people-pleasing status. Both girls are struggling with elements of their home lives. When their paths cross, Sam and Zoe find comfort in each other and in the new world they create - Starworld. But when Sam begins to have feelings beyond friendship for Zoe, their new world may not survive the inevitable explosion.

I requested this book because it sounded like a fun, deep, and memorable book. Now I’ve finished it, I’m not sure it ticks all those boxes. Firstly, Zoe and Sam’s friendship absolutely melted my heart; their banter and support for each other is so hopeful in amongst all the hard hitting things each girl is dealing with. Not only this, but the rep in this book I found to be very realistic, although I cannot personally speak for much of it. Where this book fell flat for me was the ending. I can’t say much beyond that without spoilers, but it just wasn’t what I was waiting for. There are some misunderstandings that felt... childish, for lack of a better word. I’m not sure if this is just me that thought this but it definitely frustrated me. Finally, this book has queer rep, but it is not a f/f romance like is advertised. I’ve looked at other reviews and some of them use the term ‘queer-baiting’ to describe this. Ultimately, while this was a fun read, it just could have been so much more.

“Thinking of the world in terms of fantasy is sometimes the only thing that helps me survive.”

“I am doomed to disappoint someone. And I hate disappointing anyone.”

“I will probably never know why my birth mother didn’t want me, but the pain of it never abates. Even the smallest slight reminds me of my first life experience and forever legacy: rejection...I wish being unwanted didn’t hurt so much, but it does.”

Sam is girl who couldn't be less interested in humans if she tried - she flies under the radar in school, and sees herself as a robot compared to everyone around her. Her mother's obsessive compulsive disorder is getting more out of hand than ever, and that's where Zoe comes in. Zoe is the pretty, popular, (seemingly) perfect girl who has a lot going on in the background. Though her grades and social life could hardly be better, Zoe faces the heartbreaking reality of her disabled brother, Jonah, being moved to a care facility now that her mother is battling cancer and it's become impossible to care for Jonah at home. Through unexpected circumstances, Sam and Zoe, who couldn't be more different, begin to text. Through their *star talk* the girls create a whole new world of adventures with dragons, and quests to solve to distract from their reality. Soon, Sam begins to catch feelings that run much deeper than friendship and she fears it'll be the end of their whole new world.

I'll start off this review by clearly stating that this is not a female/female romance. I feel this is crucial to add because the notion of this story as an f/f friendship-turned-romance was what first drew me to this book, and I was personally disappointed in learning that this wouldn't be the case. Sam is a character whose sexuality has been a non-issue in her life up until her unexpected crush on Zoe, due to her general disinterest in people. The way in which her sexuality is revealed and handled throughout is very low-key, and is ultimately unimportant in the midst of everything else going on in her life.

Sam is the character that a lot of us bookish people expect to identify with - and yet I found her to be more deeply flawed than the what this story dealt with. Sam has always been a loner, expecting others to treat her like a "weirdo" because that's how she saw herself. Yet there are multiple instances throughout this book in which people try to reach out and include Sam, or express interest in her, and she dismisses them entirely. I can't deny that I'm not the biggest fan of other humans, or that I'm guilty of isolating myself, but on several occasions it seemed as though Sam blamed others for her own loneliness while she actively pushes them away. While this was quite frustrating to read at times, it dawned on me how realistic this was, particularly when you have a difficult home life, mental health problems, and/or low self esteem. Sam doesn't regard herself very highly, and gives herself as little of a chance as she does everyone else around her.

Zoe, on the other hand, is different. Painted as the popular, smart, pretty girl with the perfect boyfriend, Zoe defies her stereotype with her warm heart and undying love for her family. Zoe puts her family first, and still pushes herself to succeed in every other aspect of life. In her growing friendship with Sam, she quickly pours her soul and becomes attached to their mutual means of escape. The nature of their friendship is highly co-dependant, and jumps light-years ahead in such a short time that it's almost unrealistic. While I can't fault their need and joy in finding someone who can understand their difficult circumstances, both girls quickly put each other on a pedestal which warps their boundaries and expectations.

Sam's friend, Will, was so pure and kind and I wish we had of seen more of him. But the true MVP of this novel was Zoe's friend Cammie. Why Cammie isn't given more credit throughout this story, I don't understand. Where Sam would feed the whims of Zoe, both good and bad, Cammie was always the voice of reason, and was such a genuine and trustworthy person. A lot of the qualities Zoe admired about Sam were present but largely ignored in Cammie, which seemed a little unjust.

While this book is written in dual first-person perspectives, the atmosphere is equally charged throughout the novel. There is a constant underlying buzz of stress and the threat of growing co-dependency, and while the quiet moments are far and few between, the family environments at their best were so special. In terms of writing style, the language varied quite dramatically between the two girls; the way Sam spoke and described things was a little over the top or distracting at times, but I can't deny that her swearing capabilities were excellent and really funny sometimes.

The majority of the the intrigue in this book was tied to the conflict resolution. As a reader, you know that their situations are borderline impossible to resolve, and yet you hope both characters and their families find the happy endings they so need. Sam and Zoe had very heightened impressions of one another that often didn't meet how they were in reality, and there wasn't ever a point that this was realised or considered by either of them. This threw me off a little because it lead me to root for two different things at once, that honestly should have been one mutual goal. I'm sorry for being vague, but it's impossible to explain without spoiling, and we don't do spoilers on this blog! ;) What I can say is that the gay subtext, and later Sam's crush on Zoe, made me a bit uncomfortable. While their friendship was sweet and so essential, a large part of it was based on taking what they needed from the other person (willingly, of course!) and choosing to see things in their own way.

The plot itself was based purely on the drama in terms of Sam and Zoe's friendship arc, yet the best and most pure parts of this novel are the raw moments these main characters are with their individual families and facing their problems and realities with everything they've got. While I do think it was somewhat unrealistic how quickly they came to trust and care for each other, I know that at their age with all they have to deal with, it feels like a miracle to come across a person you believe can understand you.

Although Sam was painted as the nerd, there were very few instances in which she actually indulges in anything considered "nerdy", and is vocally very disinterested in the same things as her friends/acquaintances. Zoe is depicted as popular, and yet she spends little to no time with other people. Her boyfriend, Hunter (I definitely developed a nickname for him beginning with "C" real fast) was my least favourite character, but I'll say no more in that respect. I know it may sound like I have more complaints than praise, but I didn't give this 3 stars for nothing! Despite the high school setting, there wasn't the typical social hierarchy you come to expect with books in similar settings. I loved how there was so little pettiness, especially as they became so close to each other and their old friends accepted that immediately. There are some darker themes in this book that I've avoided speaking about, and I have to admit they were handled and written tastefully, and not in a way that was simply thrown in to give a character more depth or an excuse for how the are.

Overall, this was a cute story of unlikely friendship and hardship at home. Both main characters face a lot in their daily lives, and it was beautiful to see how much they were willing to sacrifice for their families and how they wouldn't trade them for the world. I wasn't anticipating the book to end in the way that it did, and I enjoyed how realistic it was!

This book was not what I expected. The description led me to believe this would include an f/f romance, and while there is good queer representation, I don't think anyone would consider it a romance. In the end, the plot and writing style wasn't enough to up my rating. However, I'm sure some teens would really enjoy those aspects of the novel.

Thank you NetGally for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

In this book we meet Sam en Zoe who both want to escape from reality.
Sam lives a lonely life and relies on her one friend Will. Her mom has OCD and this got worse since her parents divorced.
Zoe on the other hand is popular but her life isn't as great as people think it is. Het adoptive mother has cancer and her brother is being sent to a facility.
To escape their lives they create their own universe which they call Starworld.

I was really draw by the synopsis and the cover is just gorgeous!

Books written in several POVs are one of the favorite formats I love to read.

I did not really liked Sam's chapters, she was not a likable character in my eyes. She was not being sympathetic towards her mom which I can understand to some point. Also I felt that Will, as her best friend, did not get the atttention in the book that he deserved. Definately needed more Will in this story.

I feel sorry that I also did not like the way Starworld was written.
Also I did not found a real plot in this story....

The writing pace was quick and you can easily fly through it, but overal it was not the best read I had this year.
Eventual rating 2.5 stars.

Starworld is a beautiful tale about friendship and love, and accepting one's flaws as well as other's.
The book started with the two protagonists meeting and mostly complaining about their own selves. About how they were so lonely and ashamed of their family. Which irked me, to say the least. It annoyed me so much the amount of times the two have shown this concern; they wouldn't call their friends home because their families were problematic and they were ashamed.
Anyhow, apart from all these, I did enjoy reading the last chapters of the book. Sam was a sweet and amazing friend and u loved how their friendship blossomed. The book also had amazing mental health rep, let me tell you. The OCD and Anxiety rep was brilliantly done. Also, it was the first book I've read with a character with Developmental Disorder. I loved how the character, Jonah, was portrayed, and his role and stance in the family.

Another great thing was the premise of an adopted child. As clear in the blurb, Zoe is an adopted kid, abandoned at childhood. I liked reading about her dilemmas and how this abandonment led her to her theory of original defectiveness. It was a little critical to understand, but a good one indeed.

The book is fast paced and has loads of gaming, nerdy stuff in it. I loved the little details that were mentioned all throughout. Overall, the book was a unique one in itself and the concept was good. But I do think it could've been done better; maybe with some more editing. This is a book that will not work for anyone, but still if you wanna give it a go, I would totally recommend you to try it out.

Thanks to Netgalley for an e-arc of this book.

I am not crying on a bus. I am not crying on a...

Okay fine, this book made me cry on a bus on my way to college.

With a 4/5 star rating, the only thing I can fault this book for was the beginning which I found slow but as I read on it led to much more.

A place where worries can evaporate and the real world is far away, I wish I had my own place like Starworld.

Each adventure made me smile, and the story of Sam and Zoe woven in between had me laughing (and crying) and then feeling that my heart is full.

A story of discovery, friendship and acceptance, Starworld is a perfect book for anyone trying to discover themself

A sweet tale of friendships that help you grow, Starworld is told from the perspectives of its two protagonists, Sam and Zoe. Sam is a quiet, fly-under-the-radar sort of person, and she strives to be invisible in her life; she is also trying to take care of her mother’s OCD by helping her make it manageable. Zoe, meanwhile, is the popular overachiever girl, who has a sick mother and a disabled brother and feels like she isn’t really a part of her adopted family. Both the girls have insecurities about their life, and when their friendship blooms through a shared world they built, they grow into themselves.

The story is mostly character-driven, and so the pacing feels a bit slow at times. However, it is still an adorable and emotional development of their friendship, with Sam being an emotional support for Zoe and Zoe being a cheerleader for Sam’s artistic talents. When Zoe finds one of Sam’s paintings, they start of build a fantasy world inspired by it, and sort of have a roleplay-like conversation wherein they escape to this other world and have adventures. (The actual fantasy roleplay is a bit cringe-y, if you ask me, and I skimmed most of those because they weren’t that interesting) The book covers their relationship, the changing relationship with their parents, and the change in their outlook on life, with each of them anxious about what the future holds. I won’t spoil much for the readers, so I’ll just say that romance is not the focus of this book; instead it is about how a friendship that fits so well can help people grow. The ending might not be what one expects, but I liked its realism and what it meant for the characters.

*4.5 Stars*

Since her dad left to live in England, Sam considers herself a robot, no emotion, no attachment, the only exception being her best friend, Will. She barely interacts with anyone other than him and her mother and it's not like she can have people over anyway...
Zoe's life is perfect. At least, that's what she wants everyone to believe. Her boyfriend is great, her parents love her, she's pretty much already admitted into the college her dad works at and her mother's cancer is in partial remission which means she's doing better. But Zoe hides her feelings a lot, like how she wishes she could be be in the school play, how she feel about having been adopted or what's really gonna on at home with her brother... She actually hasn't had anyone over in years.
All of that gets shaken up when, out of the blue, Zoe starts talking to Sam about a painting she did that would be perfect for the set of the play Zoe is designing. The two girls start texting, open up and fly away into their own escape world, Starworld.

I started this book and I was mesmerized. I fell for Sam instantly and really liked Zoe. This book was undoubtedly character driven because not much happens, and still, I could not stop reading. I just loved the dynamics between the two girls but also between them and their family. The entire thing just rang true from beginning to end, from Sam's mother's OCD to Zoe's family and all that entailed but also Sam's anxiety and her relationship to the world.
It just made me feel so much. I laughed, I cried, I felt the shame, the anger, the despair, the yearning, the disappointment, all of it.
I saw a lot of reviews saying this book was bittersweet and it definitely was, but I think that was part of what made it rang so true for me. And, also, I think it brings hope, even in dark times...

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was great. I love the cover art. The characters are likable.

Check this book out. It's worth the read.

I was sent an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and I was really happy when NetGalley sent it to me since both of Audrey Coulthurst books are some of my favourites.

Both of the main characters are so lovable and I felt so emotionally attached to them and I wanted to know what would happen so bad the whole time.
So often in YA families are not present so it felt so important to have them matter so much during the book.
Also the ending was surprising, not like every YA book that ends the same way.

Synopsis
Sam Jones and Zoe Miller have one thing in common: they both want an escape from reality. Loner Sam flies under the radar at school and walks on eggshells at home to manage her mom’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, wondering how she can ever leave to pursue her dream of studying aerospace engineering. Popular, people-pleasing Zoe puts up walls so no one can see her true self: the girl who was abandoned as an infant, whose adoptive mother has cancer, and whose disabled brother is being sent away to live in a facility. When an unexpected encounter results in the girls’ exchanging phone numbers, they forge a connection through text messages that expands into a private universe they call Starworld. In Starworld, they find hilarious adventures, kindness and understanding, and the magic of being seen for who they really are. But when Sam’s feelings for Zoe turn into something more, will the universe they’ve built survive the inevitable explosion?

My musings
I wanted to like this more than I did—I was really rooting for it and hoped that my opinion would change in the end... but it didn't.

I was really excited to see that the book was handling the treatment of anxiety and OCD, but man was I let down. Sam's mom was clearly struggling with something, and Sam was not being sympathetic at all. I mean, I get it, if you have a single mom and you spend more time taking care of her than anything else, I can see you being annoyed (as a teenager), but as a really, really smart teenager, I don't know how she couldn't see that her mom would benefit from some counselling. She got there in the end, but it wasn't really because of Sam. Sam's character just seemed so immature and self-centered. (Never mind the fact that she's supposed to have this best friend, Will, who gets her and doesn't judge, and we only get one real scene with him, and it's a good one. The book definitely needed more Will.)

That same comment can be said about Zoe. Her character also has to deal with some pretty serious stuff (a brother on the spectrum, being adopted, her mom having cancer), and though her life is pretty good, she just seemed to be focused on why her biological mom gave her away. And I mean, as a person who isn't adopted, maybe that is a thing that people dwell on constantly, but the fact that she thought it was because she has a birthmark on her forehead? Really? Her obsession with needing to be perfect was just a little too out of control and, really, never really dealt with.

Now I get to actually talking about Starworld—the world that Sam and Zoe create to escape reality. I thought it was going to be way more "space" than it was, but it was really just a very underdeveloped fantasy land with a dragon named Humphrey. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not really the demographic for this book, but the way it was written was not realistic and not very appealing. *wonders whether people agree with her or not* *waits with bated breath for a response*

My final point is going to be about the "love story," because there definitely was one forming... though it was terribly one-sided. Sam was very clearly in love with Zoe, and she pretty much told Zoe many times in Starworld and with notes and messages, so when Sam kisses her, she really shouldn't be surprised. The fact that that kiss destroyed their relationship didn't sit well with me. It was handled immaturely by both characters—they really only needed to have one conversation and could have cleared the air. Though I understand they're teenagers, and young love is really tricky.

2 STARS

This review will be posted on https://themodestreader.com/2019/04/15/starworld on April 15th at 7:30 am.

*i was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 📚 this book.... it was so sweet, heartbreaking & magical all at once.

I loved both the main characters equally which doesn’t usually happen!

I loved Sam’s sarcasm & creative mind. I loved Zoe’s relationship with her family, especially her brother.

I have to admit, I went into this story thinking it would be quite predictable but I was so surprised with where the story went.

Both Zoe and Sam have family members with disabilities and chronic medical conditions that make both characters' lives fairly miserable and leads them to a shared escapist fantasy. This could be a powerful novel if done well, but it isn't. I stopped reading after 17% when Sam's interactions with her mom while her mom is in crisis felt like someone had read a textbook description of those dynamics and tried to imagine what it might be like.

At the point at which I was debating whether to continue reading I skipped ahead to get a sense of how this ends, and it's queer baiting. I had assumed from the book description that Zoe was going to be straight and not reciprocate Sam's feelings, and I was happy to read about an unreciprocated romance since it's important to show all kinds of queer stories. But Zoe is written like she's in the closet making it seem like the romance could happen, which is pretty appalling.

This book wasn't bad, but it didn't really live up to my expectations.

I was so ready for this to be all about a girl obsessed with outer space!! And like, it was, but also it was really more just a standard contemporary but with less romance and not much outer space in it at all.

The concept was really good though, and quite unique which I enjoyed.

The characters were okay, but neither of them felt super unique? Which I was especially surprised by, because there were two different authors I expected totally different character voices, but they just blended together a bit for me which made the first person perspective hard.

But both of their family lives were super interesting to read about, and that was definitely my favourite aspect of the book.

Here's to hoping my next read has more rockets in it!!

Starworld was one of my anticipated release of the year and it delivered ! This was such a beautiful story about friendship. I love how Zoe and Sam understand each other and stay together through whatever happens to them. They both grow as a character and as friends.
It's a heavy book and heavy topics but they were all handle with care and I cried so hard !

Do you remember the person in you had when it felt like your world was crumbling around you? Do you remember how that person helped you grow and develop into who you'd become today? The friendship between Zoe and Sam is a representation of that time in your life.

This is not an f/f romance. This is two, young teens, who become very close through text messages and form a deep bond. Very well done on themes of LGBT, mental health and disorders, and adoption feelings.

As a YA title, the ending is a little tough on being believable, but wraps up the story nicely.

*Received an ARC from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review of the title.

I have to give this book credit for dealing with realistic issues including parental mental illness, adoption, and the mixture of love and stress that severe cognitively/intellectually atypical family members can bring, and doing it overall fairly well. However, I had some fairly major issues with the story.

First, the whole startalk texting style was so cringe-worthy, so mid-2000s Livejournal, that it made me absolutely want to die. I ended up skimming most of those chunks, which might be why every time these (allegedly high school aged???) girls talked about how meaningful Starworld was for them, how they loved slipping into this amazing, magical story they were creating together, it didn't ring true to me.

I also found Sam a really hard character to like. Whether it was due to taking care of her mother and hiding her increasingly troubling behaviors or because of the robot persona that she assigned herself, her standoffishness and awkwardness frequently didn't read as introverted or withdrawn, but instead really troubling for her as well. She had something of the "I'm not like everyone else, I'm SPECIAL" attitude that it pretty common in teenage protagonists, but her dismissal and judgement of basically everyone, including Kitty and Will's group of friends, just came off as mean. Scenes like the one where she was sitting with Will's friend group at lunch and just ended up silently making fun of things like how they chewed and ignoring questions about her favorite character from a certain TV show because she didn't have the emotional bandwidth to answer didn't show her in the best light. The fact that her chapters had to stand beside purposefully perfect Zoe's narration didn't do her any favors either.

I was pretty disappointed by the way a lot of the different plotlines wrapped up, too. There's one obvious thing: the romance plotline. I didn't like Sam enough to want there to be a romance between them, but I think I would be really disappointed if I had been misled by the promo materials in this respect. I didn't think that Zoe's whole pathological perfection issue was really solved, and the fact that after all that concern (and all the times that her parents apparently shut down discussion of her adoption) her mom is apparently totally chill about it seemed either too pat or too open-ended. I wish, too, that there had been some kind of wrapup/closure with Zoe's friends: half the time they seemed perfectly nice and, in fact, really attentive to someone who kept spending friend time texting someone else, and the other half they were heavy drinking Mean Girls who Zoe couldn't connect with and who made her uncomfortable. I felt like either their appearances in the narrative needed to be smoothed out, or there needed to be some conclusion.

There was something of a conclusion to the Sam's mom storyline, but the piece about her seeing a therapist was basically buried in a paragraph. Is the implication supposed to be that talking about her miscarriage was somehow cathartic for her and helped her begin to heal? Because if so that doesn't seem a particularly accurate portrayal of OCD - in my understanding, it can be escalated by a major life event, but was always going to present (based on factors such as genetics) and isn't helped by "getting over" the specific preceding trauma. It also didn't seem likely that she is so intensely overcome with her compulsions (counting, repetitive "checking" of doors and appliances, catastrophizing scenarios) that she has basically destroyed her home life, but that at work she is absolutely fine and no one has any idea that she might need help.

Might be worthwhile for a particular reader/type of reader, but I found the book had too many flaws to count myself among them.

This was such a beautiful and wonderful book, full of magic (of the imagined variety) and oh so much love and affection. I love the friendship between Sam and Zoe and how they both helped one another understand that their lives could be better if they were just willing to stand up for what they wanted. I love the magical world of Starworld they created and the adventures they went on with Humphrey, that was all so adorable and perfect.

I really loved all the great friendships, and the beautiful families we got to see through these two amazing women. It was an absolutely lovely book <3

Okay. This book made me speechless. Loved everything about this. The plot,the characters. The ending was really good. Can't wait to have my own copy on my hands