It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

I am not even remotely a fan of romance, but my friend and I have been on an astrology kick so I thought this might be a fun change of pace.

I was worried in the beginning that the narrative style was going to be too cutesy and whimsical for my tastes, but overall it was well done, giving sweet flavor to the story. There were SO many characters, and thank goodness for the search feature in e-books - I think if I'd had a print copy, I would have went nuts flipping back, trying to find out if a character had been mentioned before and who they all were.

It was fun getting to read a novel set in Australia (I think?), as this isn't something I typically get to experience, and it was a refreshing change of pace. I honestly really want to try vegemite now.

Oh, and important word of warning - if you are a sensitive dog lover, maybe skip this one. I was fairly taken aback by some of the shockingly cold dog situations/viewpoints in what was otherwise a light rom-com. I wouldn't have even picked this one up if I knew I was going to encounter it.

I really thought I would like STAR-CROSSED more than I did. It has such an interesting premise, and seems like such a cute story, but I found the writing and the plot to be a bit of a mess. I couldn't keep up with all the characters and the flow of events. The book didn't ever have the chance to grab ahold of me and therefore, I skimmed a lot towards the end (it's a really long book too!)

Justine's actions -- editing the horoscopes in the magazine she copy-edits so that her horoscope loving crush will take an interest in her -- made for a great storyline, but in the end, came off extremely selfish and immature. Also, Justine's talks with her "Brain" were irritating and uninspired. I really wanted to love this rom-com, but instead it wasn't very romantic, the writing was sluggish, and I was itching to put it down.

Justine should not have played with the horoscopes in the paper but she did because Nick, who she believes is her fated true love, is a fervent reader. Changing things to make it work for her however, has a downstream effect on others who, like Nick, are Aquarius. You get snippets of that but this is mostly about Justine and Nick. It's a light quick read that might make you chuckle. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Very much enjoyed this sweet, cute book. Original concept, fun, easy read, though a tad draggy. Sometimes I wish there had been fewer characters, but that could also be because I was so busy, it took me a relatively long time to read it as compared to what it normally would have taken. I would recommend when someone asks for an easy beach read.

This book was so cute! Every single page was filled with horoscope talk which I can see how people thought it was a bit much, but that's literally the point of the book.

Justine works a the magazine publication where Nick reads his horoscopes and takes life advice from the Stars. Justine takes the opportunity to steer Nick into making career choices and possibly lead him to her. However, Nick isn't the only Aquarius following the advice of his Horoscope and many lives are shaped by Justines actions.

So many characters where introduced and it was so fun to follow along.

I could NOT put this book down! As a stars nerd myself, I loved how intricately astrology was woven into the core of this novel, in a way that didn't feel cheesy or forced. I loved the world-building here, visiting different charcters that all came together in the end, and I loved the love story here. It felt real and hopeful and messy and lovely, the way all love stories should.

The only thing I took issue with in this book is that, as a female journalist, I always have difficulty finding books (or movies or TV shows, for that matter) who portray journalists in real, believable ways, and unfortunately Justine's character was just as disappointing in that regard. No aspiring journalist would do what she did in the pursuit of love, and no respectable publication would have let her keep her job after that!

I loved this book! All of the characters were realistic, as was the story, I found myself wanting to learn so much more about astrology, so I've already started my own research. I have already begun recommending the title to book clubs.

2.5*
Nick and Justine grew up together from toddler into early teens. Destined to be together until Nick's family decides to move, not just across town – but across the entire country. Leaving the teens to grow in different directions.

A chance meeting in a market re-ignites long hidden sparks between the two. (Well at least for Justine).

Justine is trying to work her way up to the position of copy writer at a highly popular news magazine, the Alexandria Park Star. This, while poor Nick is floundering in the world of acting. Never landing the right leading role.

Nick is an Aquarius whose sole focus is following the stars. Who needs to settle down when you have astrology, right? After all, it is his guide in life. Justine...well she’s of the opinion that you create your own destiny.

But when Justine has the opportunity to make a tiny “tweak” to the latest astrology posting in her news magazine, little did she realize the repercussions that would follow.

When a character holds an inner dialogue I just love it! Feels it adds so much to the character. It’s usually humorous and quirky. Unfortunately, in this case, it just came off awkward . Justine and her “brain” chatting.

Oh I wanted to love this one! I really did! And I would read snippets that I thought were taking me down that road only to find that it was a road to nowhere. And yet again...I was left disappointed at a missed opportunity.

A buddy read with Susanne!

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing and Minnie Darke for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Justine Carmichael, Sagittarius, is an aspiring journalist. Nick Jordan, Aquarius, is an aspiring actor. Best friends when they are young their families drifted apart when life moved Nick’s family to another city. Justine and Nick bump into each other after a decade apart and Justine learns that Nick is obsessed with the “stars.” Justine starts to use this information to her advantage at work and manages to start tweaking the Astrology section of the magazine she works at, specifically the Aquarius section.
Her meddling starts to affect the readers of the column and we learn about secondary characters throughout the book and the unintended consequences they go through because of these changes. If you are a fan of Love Actually, New Years Day, Valentines Day aka cheesy Rom-Coms, you will love this book! I love the idea of playing with fate and chance. I also love when books/characters are connected in a deeper way. Small actions can cause big ripple effects because you said yes instead of no.

Thank you Net Galley and Crown!

2.25 Stars

Nick has always lived his life by the stars. By stars I mean, astrological stars. Every decision he makes is determined by what his Horoscope tells him to do. Nick and Justine were best friends when they were kids and both felt “something.” Now, reconnecting in their late twenties, Justine feels “it” again. She works for the local paper and it’s there that she finds an opportunity to make Nick rediscover that they are the perfect match! She has this idea, this unbelievably zany idea and yes, she goes through with it. Justine decides to tinker with each month’s astrological predictions for Nick sign (he’s an Aquarius) thinking that he will, of course, follow the path she sets for him. Easy peasy, right?

Initially, Star-Crossed” held a lot of promise. If only it had delivered. Unfortunately, I found the writing style to be sluggish and clunky and also felt that the storyline was a bit far-fetched. So much of my time was spent frustrated by the characters actions that I had a hard time connecting and while I so desperately wanted to love this rom com, it just didn’t happen. Most other reviewers loved this novel thus I encourage readers to check out other reviews.

This was a buddy read with Kaceey. Thanks for reading this with me Kace!

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing and Minnie Darke for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 4.28.19.

"The machine whirred, readying itself for action, and then its printer head took off, zooming left to right, right to left, across a page. With each passing, it left a swipe of half words in its wake. Pixel by pixel, predictions and advice were spelled out for each of the signs of the zodiac in turn..."

Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke is an addictively witty story about Nick, horoscope enthusiast, and Justine, zodiac nonbeliever. When Nick doesn't call, Justine takes matters into her own hands, slightly abusing her role at the Alexandria Park Star by changing one month's predictions for Aquarians that will surely convince Nick to pick up his phone and give her a ring. Little does she know that her little ploy will send other local water bearers' lives into chaos.

I loved the omniscient narrator and getting a look into everyone's lives affected by Justine's actions. All characters were somehow connected, allowing their paths to cross at some point in the story. It gave off a Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve movie vibe. It made for a really quick, enjoyable read. I highly recommend!

What an entertaining story!

This book takes place in Australia so there are a lot of slang/colloquialisms that an American may take a second to get, but since I love that, it didn't bother me one bit.

Justine and Nick were childhood friends who lost touch; Justin is a skeptic while Nick is a firm believer in astrology. When Justine realizes she has feelings for Nick, she manipulates the horoscopes of a famed astrologer who contributes to her newspaper, and hopes that Nick will read and abide by the advice. Adventures and craziness ensue.

It was a little horoscope heavy--each character's sign was mentioned multiple times in a way that could make a reader feel like they have to have every characteristic of a zodiac sign memorized. It got a bit excessive at times. But underneath that, the characters were loveable, fun, and even the seemingly unrelated side stories of characters impacted by these wonky horoscopes ended up being a beautiful tie-in to the main story itself.

A great read overall.

I could not get into all of the astrology aspects of this book. I wanted to love the love story so badly, but the astrological component was a bit distracting for my taste.

I could not get through this book. When I first read the description, I was super excited, but I could not get into the story or connect with the characters. I kept reading in hopes that it would get better, but it did not for me.

There were things that I really enjoyed about this book and found myself wanting to find out how everyone’s lives were affected by the horoscopes. There were other things that annoyed me and prevented me from giving this a higher ratting but it was a quick, fun read and I would recommend it as a summer read.

Justine and Nick grew up together and their mother’s always thought romance was in their future. When they bump into each other years later, Justine is writing for a magazine and Nick is a struggling actor who believes in the astrological and always follows his horoscope—the horoscope that is published in the magazine Justine works for. When Justine realizes she is in love with Nick, she decides to rewrite his horoscope to make him see they are made for each other. The only problem? All the other Aquarius’s that are listening to her predictions and making life decisions based on them. Will Nick realize they are meant to be? Or will Justine find out that you shouldn’t mess with the stars?

This book was very cute and enjoyable. There wasn’t too much angst and even though the reader should find Justine somewhat unlikable based on her actions, I still found myself rooting for her and Nick. What I found surprising was my interest in the other characters and stories more than the central one. I found both Nick and Justine to be okay characters but I didn’t feel as though they truly loved each other and was frustrated that Justine didn’t just tell Nick how she felt. Nick was a bit boring as a love interest and I didn’t feel like he truly loved Justine. At the same time, I was confused where Justine’s strong feelings of love came from all of a sudden. They shared one kiss, one night together when they were teenagers and all of a sudden she is so in love with him that she risks her entire career and her credibility to send him secret messages through the horoscope? Despite these issues, I wanted to see how their story would conclude and I liked the ending. Of more interest to me were the side characters and how their lives and decisions were influenced by the altered horoscopes. Most of the humor was found in those sections and I found myself laughing out loud several times. I would have read books on several of them if Darke were to write a follow up.

Overall, this book is a great summer read and people who like movies like “Love Actually” where multiple characters fates are seen will enjoy it. I would read other books by this author if I am looking for something without too much angst and some clever dialogue.

This book should be right in my wheelhouse, but I just couldn't connect with the characters or the story. I returned to it time and time again only to find myself putting it down in favour of other titles. In the end, I didn't finish it.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The author weaves a cute and clever web of stories, the threads a cast of characters who are, for the most part, unconnected to each other aside from their habit - and sometimes reliance - on the horoscopes published in a monthly newsmagazine. There is a central storyline that the author returns to and develops, and this central thread pulled me along when the other threads appeared disjointed, unrelated and random. As the stories continue some context is revealed, though not really in a satisfying way. Overall I enjoyed the book, despite feeling lost when a new thread of characters appeared.

This was a thoroughly delightful Aussie romance. If you are a fan of romantic comedies like Serendipity, you will love this.

*Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Younger me would have been all over this book. A book about how your astrology sign rules you life? I loved reading all of that stuff and figuring out what aspects of being an Aquarius I had. My friends and I all loved tarot cards and fortune tellers. Heck, I had a best friend who would go on about how her boyfriend was such a Gemini which meant full of contradictions and selfishness at times.

"Star-Crossed" has a lot of heart. We don't just follow the two main characters of Justine (Sagittarius) and Nick (Aquarius) we follow a bunch of other secondary characters who are affected along the way too. Not everyone gets a happy ending, but I found myself smiling and even tearing up a bit here and there. I also loved that the setting is Australia. I am all for romance books not always taking place in London and New York. The ending was definitely a great HEA.

"Star-Crossed" follows Nick and Justine from the day they were born and allows how the date of their birth is nudging them along. Nick and Justine's mothers are very good friends so these two do grow up together. But after one of the family's move, the two don't see each other again until they are 15 years old. And after that, almost another 10 years goes by. And when Justine runs into Nick again, she finds herself thinking about him and how maybe now they could have a relationship with each other. Nick has a girlfriend though. However, when Justine realizes that Nick's favorite astrologer writes for the magazine that she is employed at, she starts to wonder if maybe fate needs a helping hand.

I honestly took a little warming up to Justine after a bit though. I wasn't down for what she was attempting to do and I honestly didn't get why she couldn't just talk to Nick. That said, she leans a lot more Aquarius at times I thought with her sense of romance and how fate keeps throwing Nick in her path. Justine is sarcastic and obsessed with grammatical errors to the point I kept cracking up about it. She dreams of being a reporter and is worried that she's not going to get a real life while she watches her friends and family couple up and move on.

Nick was a dreamer, but I thought at times quite pragmatic. He's trying to make a living as an actor and finding it hard going. His model girlfriend is quite tired of him being poor and wants him to give up acting for more steady work. And though he is thinking about it, he keeps getting pushed by Justine to stay with acting.

The two together have a wonderful shared history and I loved their backstory.

Darke also follows a ton of other characters influenced by their horoscopes and this is where sometimes you will end up laughing or be sad. I thought it was great to follow them all from the beginning of the book to the end. Heck, we even get a dog as a character in this one and I won't get into his side-plot, but I was worried for the dog for a good portion of the book.

The writing takes a bit to get going along with the flow. However, once it does, the book really snaps along. I had a hard time putting this one down while I was on the road. I know a lot of people will probably roll their eyes about astrology, but honestly I think Darke does a good job of showing both sides of things. Those who rely too heavily on their astrological signs and those who focus too much on things being black or white.

Darke follows the secondary characters in the Cusp sections so at first you get introduced to a lot of new people, but she circles back to them again though so you can follow the progression of their stories separately from Nick and Justine (though sometimes they do interact with the cusp characters).

The ending was pitch perfect and I was sad to put this one down. I will definitely be on the lookout for future Darke books.