This story was very emotional and moving. It is not the typical type of story that I read but I loved it.

Trish Doller's "Where the Stars Still Shine" was an extremely well-paced, layered journey with a relationship at its center that will make you ache in every way possible. It's an emotionally mature story that is beautifully told.

This book was requested when I was young and requested more books than I could possibly read. Sadly, I no longer have access to this book and my tastes have changed. Thus I will not be able to give feedback on this title.

Thank You for the opportunity to review this book. Sorry, I attempted to read this book. However, I couldn't get in to it. So, I was unable to finish reading and reviewing it.

Some books have a beauty that defies words and is so hard to talk about even though you want to talk it up to the moon and back because it’s that good. Where the Stars Still Shine is one of those books and coming from a picky reader like me, that’s not praise to be taken lightly. Doller paints a messy picture of Callie and who she is because of the life she’s led, but it’s a lovely one too. It could have easily gone wrong, but she makes all the right brush strokes to bring out just the right images and emotions.

Callie. Oh wow, Callie. The poor girl has had it anything but easy after so many years of being on the run with a mentally ill mother whose disease runs her life (and whose struggles are portrayed without judgment or ableism, thank goodness). The girl uses sex to cope and goes off alone at all hours and pushes people away when they only want to help, but flashes of how Frank abused her and what else she went through helped me understand her. Victims cope in all sorts of ways that can be healthy or unhealthy. That’s hers.

Callie’s family and friends really come to life too. Her best friend/cousin Kat is often annoying, but the rest of the family is larger than life and may conform to the media stereotype of a Greek family, but they feel real all the same. There’s more focus on the romance-ish thing she has going on with a boy named Alex than her family for most of the book, though. I’m a fan of Alex and Callie mostly because of how their relationship develops and turns out. It gets a pretty satisfactory conclusion, especially considering the fact he’s her step-uncle. No true relation, but it’s still weird to think about.

Doller has such a way with words and characters, which makes me sad that Arcadia Falls, her next book, isn’t going to come out until at least 2015. I guess I can occupy my time until then with rereading her books and hoping the many non-Trish books I’ll read between now and 2015 will be as good as hers. (Fun fact: This short little review took an hour of banging my head on the keyboard and another hour of tying to find the right words after I stopped the aforementioned head-on-keyboard shenanigans.)

Trish spins a tale like no one else and she really knows how to create characters. I loved Callie, flaws and all, and I just wanted to follow her on this journey no matter where it took her. There are a lot of things happening in her world, and a lot of new people whose lives she is suddenly a part of, but Callie's life has not been an easy one and nothing about her story is simple.

Where the Stars Still Shine is a beautifully written and powerful story about love and growing up. Callie was raised by her mentally unstable mother, exposed to dangerous situations and constantly on the move. That is until her world gets turned upside down and she ends up living with her father. The relationship between father and daughter is strained under expectations of things turning “normal” now that Callie has returned home. But Callie isn’t used to having someone care about what she does, who she is with, or where she goes. A survivor that has learned to fend for herself, Callie struggles with letting people close to her.
I found this book impossible to put down. I just couldn’t get Callie’s story out of my head. It definitely wasn’t something I was expecting when I first started the book. I figured I was reading another YA love story. I was wrong; this story is so much more than the relationship between Callie and Alex Kosta (who really reminds me of that guy from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). Where the Stars Still Shine touches on mental illness, sexual abuse, kidnapping, drug use, and growing up as a child with divorced parents. It’s an extremely emotional read.
I found the ending somewhat bittersweet, there really wasn’t a happy ending to the book. But then I think it is more realistic this way. Instead of wrapping up everything with sunshine and roses, Doller leaves us with a sense that Callie’s future has room for many changes good or bad; a realistic ending since life is always ripe with possibilities.

Where the Stars Still Shine was one of my most anticipated reads of 2013 and I’m happy to report that it was even better than I was expecting. Trish Doller’s writing is absolutely amazing and I can honestly say that I will read anything and everything she ever writes.


Seventeen year old Callie doesn’t know what it’s like to stay in one place for long. Callie’s mom, Veronica, kidnapped her when she was younger so they have spent most of Callie’s life on the run. When Callie and her mom get pulled over while on their way to yet another town, the police arrest Veronica and send Callie back to the dad that she doesn’t remember.


Callie doesn’t immediately settle into her new life in Florida with her dad, instead it takes some time for her to get used to staying in one place and it takes even longer for her to get used to the fact that she has family and friends who care about her.


Callie was very easy to like, she’s been through so much in her short life but it doesn’t leave her hard like it would most people. I absolutely loved Alex, he’s so charming and caring and he is exactly what Callie needs. Kat is also another character that I instantly liked, she is a great friend who was always there for Callie whenever she needed her.


Overall, Where the Stars Still Shine is a wonderful and heartbreaking story that will have you thinking about it long after it’s over.