In my senior year of high school we learned about Argentina's "Dirty War" in Spanish class, so going into this book I had a basic understanding of what happened during that time and the effect of "los desaparecidos" on the next generation.

If you don't have prior knowledge on the Dirty War then this book will definitely serve as a surprise for you, and you may find some of the content triggering. However, I think this is an important story and it shines a light on what happened in Argentina before, during and after the brutal period in Argentine history.

This story follows a girl born in Argentina, but raised in New York, as she spends her summer break in Argentina with her parents. She learns something about father she didn't know so she starts to investigate, because she wants to learn more about her family's history. As she begins this process the book shifts to an alternate timeline and begins to tell her father's story from the beginning. It's a story of life, love and loss as a young college student during the Dirty War. As the timeline switches back and forth you begin to piece everything together and you'll figure out where the story is going before it gets there, but the ending will still surprise you.

I was actually a little disappointed in the ending, and wanted a little more resolved, but I think that's just my opinion and the author purposely ended it how they did to leave room for interpretation.

Overall, this book was fantastic, and when I wasn't reading it, I kept thinking about it. I wanted to read it in every free minute I had. The chapters were short and I believe that helped with the sometimes difficult to digest subject matter.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you're looking for an interesting book of historical fiction that examines a period of history that still isn't spoken about much. You'll learn so much about Argentina and what it was like to be a young person during that period in time.

**!!Content warnings: kidnapping, torture, murder, stalking

Andrea Clark's debut novel is a welcome addition to the sparse options for English language fiction set in Argentina. As historical fiction, On a Night of a Thousand Stars tells an important story of which many readers outside of Argentina have little knowledge. I give the book 5-stars for the historical element.
The writing is good, especially for a first novel, but I wanted more depth to the relationships portrayed - the chemistry was there, but the deeper aspects of the love ties were missing for me. Also, I'm just tired of dual timeline historical fiction. It seems like no one will publish anything in this genre without this disjoined structure.
I'll be watching for future books by this author and recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fiction and are looking for underrepresented settings and situations.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free ebook version of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this is story did not work for me. The writing style was fairly basic and formulaic. There was a lot of telling instead of showing, and the fictional plot felt like a series of disjointed sequences. It didn’t help that each chapter was pretty short. I usually love that, but something about the writing style felt stilted. Despite being an involved family drama, I never felt any emotional connection to the characters. Paloma, Santiago, and Valentina were all motivated by love, but the process of falling in love felt very quick, shallow, and circumstantial. I didn’t think their relationships were developed well enough to convince me that they would act the way they did in the story. The fictional characters simply existed as vehicles to convey the disturbing and tragic history.

On the other hand, the history was well-researched and incredibly interesting. It very much overshadows the fictional plot. Juxtaposing the fictional and historical aspects of this story reveals just how superficial the fictional portion was and how skeletal the characters were.

On A Night of a Thousand Stars was melodramatic yet easy to digest. I think that fans of From Sand and Ash or Beneath the Scarlett Sky will adore this, but it was definitely a miss for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ebook of ON A NIGHT OF A THOUSAND STARS by Andrea Yaryura Clark, out on March 1 💫

1998: Paloma Larrea, daughter to wealthy and handsome Argentine diplomat, meets a woman from her father’s past and begins unravelling her family’s secrets along with a student activist, Franco, who is part of a group seeking justice for the desaparecidos, people who were forcibly disappeared by the government during the years of the “Dirty War.” As Paloma begins to uncover startling answers to her questions in the present, we follow a young Santiago Larrea in the 1970s as he falls madly in love with Valentina, a dark-haired beauty. Differences in their families’ economic backgrounds and the turmoil of the impending Argentine military dictatorship pull them apart and back together.

From the breeziness of the modern-day Hamptons to the cafés of Buenos Aires to the Argentinian campos just outside of the city to the horror of the state-sanctioned prisons—ON A NIGHT OF THOUSAND STARS brings you there. I felt like I could smell the brewing coffee on the streets, the sweat in the desaparecidos’ torture chambers, the buzzing of discontent from people who would not be quieted by injustice. The only thing that I would change about this book is the prose. With a name and cover like this, I wanted more lyrical writing, more passages like song. Clark does an amazing job providing context and background to this story throughout the book though, giving voice to a violent and dark point in Argentina’s history. Pick up if you’re into historical fiction with a touch of romance.

Some of us are familiar with a snapshot of Argentinian history through the play/movie, Evita. This story focuses on the era of the return of Peron and subsequent military overthrow and takeover of the government in the 1970s and the stories of the desaparecidos, those murdered by right wing terrorists. The story unfolds in two timelines as Paloma, in 1998, visits Argentina and learns of her father’s history there in the late 70s. His early story is told in separate chapters. Dual timelines seems to be a very common device used by writers these days. In this case, I think it worked very well and was not at all confusing.

I thought the story started out a little “fluffy”…but once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. Beautifully written, the brutality of the era and grief of the families are treated with respect. Romance, intrigue, family secrets, political suppression, man’s inhumanity to man…it’s all here.

In the last four or so years, I’ve read a lot of novels about the atrocities of World War II in various countries, as well as some of the history of Latin American countries such as Chile. I have viewed each of them as cautionary tales for our time. A particular quote cited in the book struck me. It is from Golda Meir: “One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.”

Thank you Net Gallery for the opportunity to read this prior to publication. I love historical novels, and I especially enjoyed On a Night of a Thousand Stars because the setting of Argentina, amid the political unrest of the 1970's and 1990's has not been featured much. The characters in both time settings were linked in an interesting way that you did not fully discover until the end, which was well done. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, that unfortunately has a history that is not beautiful. The stories of "Los Desaparecidos" is just important today as when they occurred. This is a really good historical read, especially if you are looking for diversity from the usual European/American ones.
Highly recommend!

confession: I requested an ARC of this book on title alone. I really hadn't read the description or much about it, but as a Historical fiction fan and an Evita fan, i was humming the song as soon as I read it so I had to see what it was about. Fast forward to actually reading the book, I was enthralled. As a lover of Buenos Aires I was transported there, the descriptions are so vivid. The story is also very interesting, and really a lot of detail on history of Argentina that I was not aware of. A good balance of history and actual romance which is always a good idea in my book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Historical Fiction

Paloma is a college student in the US. Her father is a rich Argentinian diplomat. She becomes curious about her mother country and the status of her father back in the 1970s. When the family travels to Argentina she meets Franco there and with his help she decides to find more about her father and his political involvement as well as the romantic one.

The first thing I need to say here is that for a debut novel, On a Night of a Thousand Stars is a well-written book. It is not just a story for entertainment but also very educational about Argentina, especially if you don’t have much background about the country during those times of political instability in which Argentina was under the rule of a dictatorship. The book has two different timelines. One is in 1998 and the other is in the 1970s. The 1998 period is narrated from the perspective of Paloma. The 1970s period is more about her father and the disturbances in the country. It is heavy on politics. Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect with the characters as much as I wanted to because of the switching back and forth between the dual timeframes. This at times made things confusing for me especially since several characters appear in both timelines. I’m usually not a big fan of dual timelines in historical fiction. Most of the time I prefer a more linear style of storytelling. If you don’t mind this style of storytelling I think you might enjoy this book.

Many thanks to the publisher Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.

This is such a beautifully-written, heartbreaking novel.

"On a Night of a Thousand Stars" tells two stories: the first, in 1998, follows Paloma Larrea in New York as she watches her father, Santiago Larrea, become the official Argentinian diplomat for the U.N. She lives a near-perfect life, until she comes to realize that her father is hiding something from his past from the rest of his family. In Buenos Aires, he meets Franco Brunetti, an activist in the H.I.J.O.S. group, who joins her on her search for the truth. and The second story goes back in time to Argentina in the 1970s, centering on Santiago and his friends and classmates, as the "Dirty War" unfolds around them. As these two timelines converge, we see how past and present are intertwined, and just how deep the repercussions of the past are.

The novel covers a period of time that's rarely written about (at least in my experience), and I was genuinely shocked to learn the extent of political turmoil and the violent dictatorship that existed in such a recent period of time. As educational as the story might be, Clark has crafted some complex and multi-faceted characters; even the protagonists are not without faults and many are faced with near impossible decisions they're forced to make. It was difficult to put this novel down as I was determined to find out how the plot unraveled, and the writing flowed smoothly across different perspectives and time periods.

Definitely one of the best reads of the year so far for me, and I can't wait for the official publication in March 2022!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Before reading this, I knew nothing of the political history of Argentina. So I was completely taken in and horrified. I couldn't help thinking about the American way of thinking of how we'll never let something like the Holocaust happen again, meanwhile concentration camps of disappeared people were happening as recently as the 1970s. It makes me shudder to think of what other political atrocities we turn a blind eye to.

There were only a few things that bothered me about this book (SPOILER ALERT).

One was that Santiago apparently helped get Soledad out, but when/how would he have? It would have had to have been after Valentina gave birth to Paloma, so wouldn't Soledad have told Santiago the truth that Valentina was alive after the birth? And if he knew, wouldn't he have pursued it further? I'm also surprised he didn't go after Pedro at any point for justice for Valentina.

Another issue I had was that Paloma's life in America before the 'visit' to Buenos Aires seemed completely insignificant. I get that she was unsettled, but she was a student, she made jewelry, she had friends and a LIFE. And while it's understandable that finding out the truth of her birth would completely rock her world and change everything, you'd think there would be SOME connection still to who she was before (other than the mention of her friend Emily coming to visit). So while she wasn't ready to forgive her parents, she was willing to still let them financially support her while she coasts through life? At some point she would need to confront the privilege that saved her life and allowed her the freedom to pursue her past that she is still benefiting from.

I had never heard of Argentina's Dirty War before I read On a Night of a Thousand Stars. We really don't learn enough in school about history, both in the US and around the world. From 1976 to 1983 up to 30,000 people were "disappeared" in Argentina during the last military dictatorship. While this book is fiction, it centers around stories and people that were real. Told by Santiago in the 1970s and Paloma in the 1990s, the cruelties of the Dirty War are revealed as we learn more about the characters. Although there were some parts of the story that weren't truly needed, this is a solid debut and an eye-opening read. It also takes place in the not-too-distant past and would be a good introduction to the historical fiction genre.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

On A Night of a Thousand Stars by Andrea Yaryura Clark

A well thought out family saga that uncovers long held secrets, this debut novel is an impressive undertaking. Paloma Larrea returns to Argentina after living in New York, and finds herself embroiled in a search which will upend her world.

Many characters play a role in this tale which toggles between the 1970s and the 1990s. The focus, however, is on the “desaparecidos”(missing people). Just when you think it would never happen again, you will learn about a dark period in Argentina’s history, not unlike Nazi Germany.

Answers are unveiled to mysteries within Paloma’s own family, too, as she tries to reconcile her past after a search for Valentina, her father’s long ago love interest.

This is a book club must for historical fiction aficionados and family saga lovers alike.

Many thanks to #GrandCentralPublishing and #NetGalley

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: March 1, 2022

This sweeping historical fiction is told through dual timelines—in 1973 we follow the story of Santiago and his world in the years leading up to and during the dark times of Argentina’s Dirty War, and then in 1998, we follow his daughter Paloma on her quest to find out the truth about her dad’s life while on a return visit to Argentina for Santiago’s UN ambassadorial appointment.

This novel is beautifully written and wildly engrossing while also providing a plethora of historical information. This will give you hopeful moments and heartbreaking moments—ultimately giving you a glance at the humanity of these lives through the depth of these characters. A stunning debut novel!

Highly recommend!! This book is a definite page-turner! You'll be left thinking about the story long after you put the book down. First book to read by this author but definitely not my last!

I knew very little about this time period in the History of Argentina. This book helped me understand this and what a story this author does with this information. Told between two periods of time. we learn about these characters and their fates in the terrible time of Argentina's history. I will strongly suggest this book to book club members and my friends..

There was a wealth of history in this book which I was really interested in. As a Spanish [language] major with an emphasis on South American life and literature, the political turmoil and evolving dictatorships of the mid Twentieth Century have always held a fascination for me.

The problem I had with this book was the flip flopping back and forth between 1998 and 1973 (or so). Most of the characters were the same, many of the scenes were in the same locales and many of the main characters were doing the same thing - 25 years apart (ie. playing polo, at a cocktail party, etc.). It was most confusing and frustrating to remember which era each chapter was in. I think I would like to read a print book, just reading chapters from the 70s and then reading the chapters set in 1998.

I applaud the author on her research which seemed to be quite thorough. The characters were well defined and ~I think~ the storyline moved nicely in a forward progression. It was just impossible for me to keep up with it with all the flip flopping. I gave up at 50%.

Best wishes to the author on bringing to light this sad time in the life of Argentina. I appreciate this ARC from NetGalley and the Publisher, Grand Central Publishing, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I loved everything about "On a Night of a Thousand Stars". The author does a fabulous job of creating the atmosphere of Argentina, both 1970s and present day. I learned a lot, too, of which I was unaware, in terms of Argentina's tragic political history. At turns sad and uplifting, I was completely immersed the entire weekend. Highly recommend.

P.S. thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC.

I have heard of Argentina’s Dirty War but knew very little about it. When I came across debut author Andrea Yaryura Clarks’s On A Night of A Thousand Stars on NetGalley I was intrigued. Toggling between 1998 and the early to mid-1970s the political world of Argentina and the effects of it are brought to life.

I quickly became absorbed in the book and while I appreciated both timelines the one set during the 1970s really caught my attention. It is hard to wrap the mind around the atrocities that took place or the sheer number of young men and women who simply disappeared.

There is a twist within the story that I hadn’t expected and while not shocking, in light of the complicated relationships that took place, it was incredibly sad. As was the fact that this happened many times to others during this period. The Author’s note at the end was sobering and should absolutely be read.

I’m so very glad I read this book as it was not only a story that had me completely engrossed but one that made me stop and think - upon which I’m still doing over this story.

A very interesting and informative book about Argentina’s “Dirty War” in the 1970’s, that also included a dual timeline in more recent times. The story was not unlike similar books about war in other countries, including unspeakable tragedies, unanswered questions and losses, and the kindness of many, but it definitely kept my attention and I could not wait to see how the timelines connected and the story unraveled. I learned quite a bit about Argentina as my previous knowledge stemmed only from watching Evita, one of my favorite musicals. Recommend!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advanced reader’s copy of this book.