Cover Image: Becoming Starlight

Becoming Starlight

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Member Reviews

The introduction was boring but I found the beginning of the author’s story a good read. I am, however, unable to read the rest of the book. In the chapter called The Crocheted Heart, the author completely conflates knitting, crocheting and quilting. She has not a clue which is which or how they are accomplished. As a practitioner of two of those three arts, I found it so disconcerting that she didn’t care enough to research them, even within her family, that I had to abandon the book. Too bad. I never got to the part about becoming starlight. But if I can’t trust her on the little things, I can’t trust her on the big things. I wish she would do this book over, make it a little less self-pitying, and get more of the details of her analogies correct. Thank you for at least letting me start it.

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Becoming Starlight by Sharon Prentice

I am not sure what to think about this book.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I am supposed to like it...but there's a part of me that feels like I just read the new age version of the Notebook.

Don't get me wrong. It's well-written. It's a beautiful love story with an unfortunate ending. Prentice is raw with her words. She delves deeply into her pain and her anger and her sadness. She makes no excuses for the avoidance of her grief and how that interfered with her life.

But that jaded part of me can't get over the idea that she is romanticizing the past a little to honor her dead husband. which is completely a writer's trope and one that I have used myself. So, I can't be mad.

I originally picked up this book because it claims to be an account of a Shared Death Experience (SDE) and the phenomenon as a whole. However, it's more an autobiography about one woman's journey of dealing with the death of her daughter and then the subsequent death of her husband. (That isn't a spoiler. It's pretty clear at the beginning of the book what is going to happen.)

In the end, Prentice does find her redemption through a shared death experience that changes the way she views mortality. It gives her insight into what the other side looks like and helps her reconnect to her own self and her version of God.

Although her experience was profound I am not sure if I learned anything about SDEs. I was hoping for a more objective look at the phenomenon and its effect on the human experience. I guess I got that in a way. Just not in the way I expected.

I would recommend this book if you like to read about personal accounts. Or if you are struggling with grief. Or your own spirituality.

I give it 3.5 stars.

***This review was posted in my 2 Facebook groups and my newsletter***

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There are no words for how good this book is. Sharon's story is amazing and I am so happy she took Wayne Dyer's advice and wrote it for everyone. She will touch many lives with this book and I feel honored to have read it.

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What a beautiful reading experience! I am not a religious person but I would consider myself spiritual and this brought me to tears on a number of occasions. While there is talk of God, it's a more generic God which is good because it didn't feel overly preachy to me.

Becoming Starlight would be a good gift for someone struggling with the very questions discussed in its' pages. Is there more to this than just our mortal lives on earth? Is there a "heaven"? Should we fear death? For people open to the spiritual, it would be a reassuring read and could provide great comfort, especially while grieving the loss of a loved one.

Thank you, NetGalley for this e-book in exchange for my honest review!

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"Becoming Starlight" is a great redemption story. Sharon describes her descent into a horrible, cruel and thoroughly undeserved world of hurt. Suffering illness and loss at an age when one's hopes and dreams should be flourishing rather than being trampled on by a seemingly blind and malevolent fate. It's a very personal account and the somewhat naive tone of the writing is a help not a hindrance. I think it may have been Truman Capote who said that the first three rules of editing are "cut, cut, cut" and I think this story may have benefitted from that advice. That said, the book is fairly short and does offer many pearls of wisdom regarding the "gifts" which extreme hardship may confer on a life when one sees the light, or, in this case, the Starlight. Much of the wisdom is Sharon's own but it is augmented by the quotes of many other 'lightworkers'; the product of the extensive study and research which she has undertaken. The Shared Death Experience is difficult terrain to cover if you feel you're writing for those who have not been there. Sharon has done a great job of that. Those who have been there, and there are millions of us, will understand immediately and easily. Nice work.

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I was given an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

I thought the story was truly wonderful and beautifully written. I would definitely recommend this read to others. Can’t wait to see what the author does next.

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This was a beautiful story. I found it hard to put down. It is one I will definitely read again.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

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