Cover Image: Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars

Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars

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Member Reviews

For old-time Astrology fans to newbies to the club, Madame Clairevoyant's Guide to the Stars is perfect for any reader who is interested in the star signs. As we learn about each new sign, we also learn different nuances about beloved celebrities, writers, notable figures, and more. I loved this new approach as it was a unique way to see the 12 signs from a whole new perspective. This Scorpio approved!

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This book provides limited information on astrology through the lens of celebrity's profiles. It seemed to look for exceptions to general personality qualities held by signs to provide another angle with which to look at how personality profiles are attributed. I don't particularly care for celebrity culture but if you do this is a good pick up.

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I thought I could claim this title when I started eating avocado toast and began following Glossier on Instagram, but I can finally congratulate myself on reaching peak Millennial: I've read an entire book on astrology. And you know what? I really loved it and I'm not ashamed!

I've been a loyal weekly reader of Claire Comstock-Gay's "Madame Clairevoyant" column on The Cut for years now, so I was incredibly excited when I learned she was coming out with a book. What I love about her work here was that she doesn't pretend that all of those Instagram zodiac meme accounts don't exist or that astrology is some pretentious higher form of existence. Instead, she adds a critical cultural lens to how and why humans have long looked to astrology and instead uses it to encourage introspection within all of us. At the end of the day, that's what it's mean to do: Think of how we can combined our celebrated strengths and perceived weaknesses to move forward.

Most importantly in this book, Comstock-Gay looked at traits that have long been considered negative around each sign and instead framed them in different ways. Taurses, for example, aren't lazy bitches who bathe in their own stubbornness. Instead, they stand their ground and defend their turf. They can't be moved. There's something to be said for staying where you are and fighting the current no matter the pressures or forces. (We also might love a good snack and indulge in a daily nap or two, but that's part of the charm!!!)

Even if you think that astrology is a bunch of flimflam, this book talks about Nicki Minaj annihilating Miley Cyrus at the VMAs, Ernest Hemingway being a paragon of toxic masculinity and assholery, and Mariah Carey representing the ultimate Aries. In other words, zodiac signs or not, it's entertaining as hell.

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This was a very enjoyable read for someone who has no experience wist astrology or horoscopes. I wasn't expecting this to be a collection of essays on each sign, and I was pleasantly surprised.

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