The beginning didn’t grab me but I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. A very sweet tale of people and their star signs. The little side stories and how they connect with the main characters was charming. I especially loved Justine’s running conversations with her brain! Read it!

This is closer to a 4.5 for me. It was a slow burn, but once I got halfway through, I tore through it. It was super romantic and had a One Day in December vibe. I loved the characters and the humor. There were times the third-party storylines confused me and at the beginning I wasn't in love with them. Eventually, the author tied them all together brilliantly and I do think they added something special to the book.

I'm not entirely sure how to fully explain how I feel about this book. It is a complicated twisting journey of not just a few people, but many. It's really about the consequences of your actions and how they affect a lot more people than you expect and how you really just cannot mess with fate. The author's writing style is pleasant and gives the book a fairytale like feel. It was an enjoyable read, one that I will definitely recommend.

I was ultimately not impressed with this book, despite having high hopes for it. Justine's horoscopes felt too manipulative and made me question her worthiness of Nick. The writing was also oddly dense and did not flow the way I would expect it to.

I have to agree with other reviewers about the astrology aspect of the book taking itself too seriously - because of this, it was hard to get into because I felt like I was being pandered to the entire time. It's a shame because the premise was very promising and sounded very cute and whimsical - however, it was just a bit more than I bargained for.

I am a big fan of romantic comedies and romance books but unfortunately I was left a little bit disappointed with this one! When childhood friends Justine and Nick bump into each other Justine is hopeful that a romance will spark. Nick loves to read horoscopes and his favourite ones just happen to be printed in the magazine that Justine works for! Justine tries to give Nick some hints about his love life and his professional choices by taking his horoscope into her own hands at the magazine. Justine’s meddling not only impacts Nick’s choices but also the choices of some other people who take their horoscopes very seriously.
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I thought it was interesting how Darke would write about Justine’s newly written/ altered horoscopes and then include information on other characters and how this also impacted their lives but I felt it was just too much for this book. There were too many characters introduced, and this was done too frequently, for me and I found that it really took away from the main plot and characters of the book. I was actually getting frustrated with all the brakes in the main story line.
I found all of the added characters and their story lines made it difficult for me to make a connection with the main characters individually, let alone root for them as a couple. There was a lot of ‘telling’ to progress relationships and not a whole lot of ‘showing’, and in my opinion, seeing relationships form and getting those warm fuzzy feelings are some of the best parts of reading this genre! I would read another book by Darke as there were parts of her writing that I did enjoy but the format of this book just wasn’t for me.
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Thank you to Crown Publishing and Netgalley for a copy of this novel!

A cute rom-com. Not perfect, a little confusing or cringe-worthy in parts. Confusing: the interspersed chapters that followed other characters affected by Justine's interfering with the stars--many of the stories came full circle but were still hard to follow in regards to names, etc. Cringe-worthy: any conversation between Justine and her "brain" felt juvenile at best. My fiance is an Aquarius though so I love anything centering around the sign. It made for a good Valentine's Day read!

I loved the idea of this plot — childhood sweethearts who reconnect as adults, influenced by horoscopes penned by the woman herself. But it ultimately fell short for me, and I did not finish the book.

This book really appealed to me because it seemed like a very unique idea for a romance novel. I enjoyed the astrology aspect because it is such a great reminder that we are all interconnected. I find the idea of how small choices we make can have huge consequences, both positive and negative, for other people to be completely fascinating and I loved the parts of this book that focused on that.

Some of this book got a little wacky and went off on little spurts which were distracting for me as a reader but overall it was a cute and quick read. A big thank you to NetGalley and Crown Books for a copy of this book.

Star-Crossed has an interesting premise but I could not get into it as I never connected with any of it--the (re)meet cute, the wacky idea leading to repercussions, the you know what's coming cue the happy ending--none of it worked for me. In addition, the familiar plot took a while to get going as there's at least fifty or so pages that could be cut from the first third of the book. The characters were okay, as they hit the trope marks, but Justine and Nick weren't memorable. While Star-Crossed would make a great Netflix rom com, it doesn't quite connect as a book.

This was a cute book that I imagine will be quite popular once released. The story was clever and definitely entertaining, if a bit circuitous. The side plots between chapters came together beautifully and very satisfyingly at the end in a very Love Actually kind of way but were rather confusing and lacked context through the first 80ish% of the book. I ended up really enjoying the story and was definitely invested in the last quarter of the book, but it did took me a while to get through it. The ending was wacky and adorably chaotic and tied together perfectly making any kind of “trudging” I did fully worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nick and Justine are childhood best friends until their families move a part. They later run into each other as adults, Justine a copy runner and Star Magazine and Nick an actor. Justine still finds herself in love with Nick and Nick loves astrology and is a big believer the Stars in the big shot astrologists horoscopes, and astrologist that no one has seen. When she gets promoted and now transcribes the horoscopes for the magazine. Justine decided to change Nicks horoscopes to make him fall in love with her but little does she know she’s turning him to an ex girlfriend and making life changes to many other readers.

Nick and Justine are childhood friends who meet cute again as adults, only Nick doesn’t quite feel that initial spark. Justine looks to the stars to give destiny a nudge. This will they/won’t they rom com will delight fans of astrology. It’s already an international hit and will certainly take the US by storm.

Justine and Nick are childhood friends who shared both the sandbox and one night of teenage romance. Now ten years have passed without contact until they unexpectedly run into each other. Their friendship is quickly rekindled and Justine's crush on Nick is as well. Unfortunately Nick has a supermodel almost-fiance and Justine has missed her chance at a grown-up romance with her childhood friend. Then again, Nick also makes most of his important life decisions based on his monthly horoscope; the same horoscope that Justine edits at her job so maybe not all hope is lost. Obviously Justine messes with his horoscope and obviously it has ripple effects on other readers in their community and obviously I loved it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's full of laugh-out-loud antics, awkwardness, and angst. Darke does a fantastic job of creating characters who are so flawed as to be relatable, but loveable at the same time. The story is also unique in that, in one sense, it's many stories that weave throughout an overarching love story. They all come together in a satisfying finale. Absolutely wonderful!

I came across Minnie Darke’s newest novel, Star-Crossed, on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Instagram page and then went on NetGalley to request for it immediately. Star-Crossed follows Justine and Nick, childhood friends, who bump into each other as adults. When Justine learns that Nick has complete faith in the stars and religiously reads his horoscope in the magazine she works for, Justine decides to take Nick’s horoscope and fate into her own hands. Overall, this was a cute romcom and it reminded me of when I was growing up, I used to read the astrology section in the newspaper everyday along with the advice columns which were a guilty pleasure of mine. I liked the way that the chapters were broken out and that it flowed pretty well. There were so many characters introduced, but it somehow worked well. The story was a bit too cheesy for me though. I wasn’t a big fan of the cusp chapters and felt that the other subplots were a bit boring even though I understood why the author included those. If you’re looking for something light to read or are a fan of romance novels, I’d recommend this.

Disclaimer: I received a free advanced digital copy of this book from Crown Publishing in exchange for my honest opinion. This has no effect on my opinion, review or rating.

"When the Moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars,
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars" *

Yes, there are more to these words than one can imagine. There are those, whose horoscopes rule their lives. For Justine, a Sagittarius and Nick an Aquarius it would be the stars that might (or might not) bring them together. As it happens, Justine is a writer for Nick's favorite magazine, and Nick is an actor who is completely devoted to reading the magazine's horoscope as if his life depends upon it. As children they were friends until his family moved away until one day they reconnect. With a little help from Justine, the stars are re-aligned...

This delightful romcom was a delight to read. For myself I am not a reader of horoscopes, but putting that aside, this book was a light story that was entertaining, humorous and a joy. My thanks to Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

*Lyrics from the song Aquarius from the play "Hair"

I wanted to like this book, but I found myself bored. The astrology bit was too cutesy for me, although I do like books about people reconnecting (that's what kept me going). I can see a lot of people liking this however. It just wasn't for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing.

I really wanted to love this book. The idea behind it was so cute, but it just didn’t draw me in like I’d hoped. While I enjoyed the side stories about how the horoscope effected others, it just made the book feel a bit too choppy for me. I got invested in someone and then you didn’t hear about them again until the end where everything was wrapped up nicely. The story was there and I did enjoy it, but the choppiness threw off my reading vibes.

I received an advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

I thought this book was extremely unique. I had never read a book quite like it before to be honest. It had a super cute romance within it and full of astronomy/zodiac elements. Definitely recommend!