Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable reading experience.

Piper feels pressured by her happily married aunts to find her "happily ever after," especially after her parents announce their divorce, creating a ripple effect throughout the family. of course there is a crush she wants to win and a best friend who love her, I like Leo and Pipe rand was rooting for them. It was an easy-to-read romance that blends the magic of a Swiftie universe with a friends-to-lovers trope. I highly recommend it to fans of the genre or anyone seeking a heartwarming and enchanting story. I think teens will really enjoy this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ebook to preview.

I spent a lot of this book really frustrated with Piper and her obsession with the family blessing and trying to “fix” her family. But, after finishing, I think I understand her motives a little better (and I’m glad of the growth she showed).

All of her life, Piper’s aunts have convinced her that their family has been blessed by fate to have one perfect match, and once they find that match all will be well. But Piper’s parents have gotten divorced, her mom is now an outcast for going against the blessing, and Piper feels like she has to fix everything to be accepted by her family.

It doesn’t help that Piper never really feels like she fits in anywhere, except with her two best friends, due to her disability. She puts so much pressure on herself to find “the one” and to take over the family’s jewelry shop to continue the tradition. Even though she would much rather do something else.

Leo and Piper have been best friends forever. And he has probably been in love with her for almost as long, though she has been obsessed with her family’s gift and refuses to even consider Leo because he isn’t the one fate chose for her. This has caused issues in their friendship and causes a lot of tension when she finally does meet Forest, the one fate has chosen for her.

Her relationship with Forest is strained and forced at times. They seem to have nothing in common and all of their interactions are on the surface, with nothing deeper. Yeah, they’re high school seniors, but there still should be some depth in their relationship.

Seeing the way Piper interacts with everyone, trying to fit herself into their molds, was heartbreaking. But it was also frustrating because she just refused to see why the mold didn’t really fit. Even after she finally starts realizing things, she still chooses her extended family over her own happiness.

Watching Piper grow and finally admit that she would make different choices without the blessing was good. And I liked the way the story finished, with hope and joy.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC for review consideration though NetGalley, on behalf of the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was described as Taylor Swift's Enchanted meets Cyrano, and I don't think that fits at all. Based on that description, I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark.

I found Piper infuriating and immature, which made this book difficult to read. The family dynamic was awful and made things worse. I understood Piper wanting to feel like a part of her family and to "fit in" when she has always stood out due to her disability. But she goes way overboard with it. She denies her feelings for Leo because he wasn't "fated". It was just too immature for me. The plot was extremely predictable and repetitive.

I enjoyed the disability aspect to Piper's character. I love to see diverse representation in books.

While there were enjoyable moments in the book, I just don't think I am the right audience for this book. I could see really young readers (pre-teens) enjoying this one.

All the women in Piper's family have had a particular life-changing experience: knowing their true love at first sight, then marrying and living with them for the rest of their lives. Piper is eager to have her own. She's grown up with story after story of that particular moment, and she wants to become a member of this club so badly.

But it hasn't happened for her yet, and she feels under pressure and on the outside of her family, which is only reinforced by her physical disabilities, and because her mother and father are now divorced, in spite of her mother's true love being Piper's dad.

Also, Piper's best friend Leo called a break to their friendship six months ago, and she's feeling alone. Her parents seems to be moving on with their individual lives, and she can't understand what happened, and wants desperately to get them back together.

Then she meets a boy, Forest, and she feels it: the butterflies, and a deep certainty that the boy in front of her is her true love. And then, Leo renews their friendship, but something feels a little different with him. She's just so happy that Leo is back, and can't seem to see him as anything more than her friend, despite her other best friend, and others, trying to get her to open her eyes to who is right there beside her.

Piper is just so happy that she's had her true love moment with Forest, and that her aunts seems to have finally accepted her. But she's afraid of not being able to keep Forest, so she asks Leo to help her communicate with her new love, which he does, despite it obviously being something he is reluctant to do.

The story is entertaining, if a little unbelievable. It reads fast, and Piper is sweet, but a little too taken in by her aunts and their stories and insistence that there is only one way to be a part of the family, and that fate is the only thing that matters.

Piper learns a lot about herself, her parents, her wider family, and about what is really important to her to be happy with herself and with those she loves over the course of this sweet, without being saccharine, story.

Thank you to Netgalley and to St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

DNF @ 25%

Thank you to the publisher for sending this copy to review. Unfortunately, it was not for me.

As a teacher, I have the privilege of seeing students at different parts of their emotional maturity journeys. There are some students who would, like the main character's friend Diana, think that Piper is too naive and idealistic and really have a hard time connecting to her. I have other students who are more like Piper and would hold out hope against the odds single-mindedly, despite warning signs. So, it's to these students that I would want to hand this book. As a grownup of some self-awareness and experience, I winced very hard throughout a lot of this book and started skimming through the parts in which she seemed to dismiss her parents being "wrong" about their divorce. But I signed up to receive galley copies with my students in mind, and it's those students like Piper that I'm thinking of as I type this.

(Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for my ARC of this book!) Gretchen writes about disability so beautifully – about how it affects the way you think about yourself, the way others view you, and the ways it can leave you feeling different and left out, despite the best efforts of the people in your life who love and care about you. Piper is part of a family that has a secret – everyone is able to know who their true love is the moment they meet them. There’s just a feeling, and a knowing. Piper is in high school, and spends every day wishing and hoping for the moment to hit her. As a girl with a disability, Piper is so used to being different from everyone else she knows, and all she wants is to be able to share this with her aunts and her parents. Then it happens, but Piper is… unprepared. And nervous. And the only person she can go to is her best friend Leo… even though he hasn’t been talking to her for the past six months after he abruptly told her he needed a break from their friendship. I really loved how this story was about taking fate into your own hands, and about how no one knows what’s best for you more than you do. It also has the rare love triangle where you can’t decide who you want to root for, which is impressive!

I really thought this book had a great premise. I was eager to read it based on that premise. Unfortunately, I didn't think it came together quite like I had thought it would and it didn't live up to my expectation.

Gretchen Schrieber has written a sweet novel about trusting yourself, the way families can stifle you even when they only profess the best for you and is fate really fate?

All the women in Piper's family have met and married their true loves due to the Blessing, and now Piper is trying to find her own Blessing and true love. But is the boy who makes her heart flutter with her Blessing her true love?

I quite liked this concept and also really liked how hard Piper works to fit her life into the confines of what the Blessing seems like to her before realizing that it's okay to want different things than what your family does and it's okay to have boundaries around your family.

A YA novel, I would recommend this for mid-teens and up.

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wasn't aware how YA this book actually was (and that's on me!), but I will start off by saying I'm not the target demographic for this novel. I would say this would work best for younger readers (specifically, tweens) as it explores those awkward years where you're no longer a child but also don't have all the agency you wish you did, all the while you're actively trying to understand yourself and relationships. Even though the characters were 17-18, I fear this might read too young for high school seniors already.

I loved the disability representation. It's so important that young girls see themselves in romance books as the heroine, so the author's decision of making her heroine physically disabled will hopefully bring joy to readers who identify with Piper. And not only does she have one love interest, but TWO! Piper was a great protagonist with a very empowering arc, where she decides life for herself instead of taking the route everyone else wants for her.

Even though there was a love triangle, the main male protagonist was clear from the start and the friends-to-lovers dynamic made this romance sweet and better than if it had been fated! I think the tension was there but I'm not too into young romances so it's hard to evaluate (again, not the target audience!).

Overall, I would recommend this to readers between the ages of 10 and 15, as I think the messaging is good and could be very relatable.

“I want you. I see you. And I’m no longer willing to let you go without a fight.”

This was cute. I was intrigues by the way Fate was brought into the story and how Piper’s (our MC) family had a “Blessing” which helped them know who the love of their life would be.

Piper has always felt out of place with having such a hard time finding “the one”. She feels that without this she will never fully be part of her family. But everything is about to change when she feels that special tug at a party with a boy and she decided that he is “the one”.

Since the Blessing helped all her aunts and even her mother find their significant other, Piper is determined to make this work. However, she considers herself awkward and out of place so she enlists the help of her long time best friend, Leo.

I enjoyed Piper and Leo’s relationship. Leo has always been a supportive friend and you could tell how much he cared about her. Piper on the other hand is completely oblivious, and there were moments she truly frustrated me with her actions. Piper had a lot going on at the same time and that sometimes mad her make rash decisions.

I was satisfied with the ending to Piper’s journey of finding herself. I feel like there was some good growth by the end of the story, although I did want to shake sense into her most of the time.


*Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Wednesday Books for providing me with an eARC for review via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.*

I didn’t enjoy this one and I ended up DNFing around 60%. There was a lot going on, probably too much and I just couldn’t bring myself to care about any of it. I’m not sure if it’s my age as this is a YA novel, but I just couldn’t connect to a single aspect.

DNF @ 10% Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I really wanted to love this one. I thought this premise was so interesting but I felt like the pacing didn't pick up enough for me to get hooked. I did read to the end to figure out what happened and what I expected to happen did happen. I think the characters read a bit younger than 18 but I still think this story would work well for younger YA readers.

3 stars. Tops.

What happens when you live for Fate? Piper is a senior in high school and comes from a thick family history of Fated loves in the cozy town of Crescent Falls. Along with her best friend Diana and Leo, she makes her way through their senior year searching for her Fated one. Meeting Forest at a party one night, thanks to Leo, she suddenly feels the Blessing of Fate and knows him to be the one for her. But she’s never dated before and enlists the help of Leo to teach her the way.

I loved the idea/concept of this book, but it just fell so flat for me. Was the book enjoyable, I guess. But there could have been more. Predictable, even in the early pages, there was only the question of how far the FMC would go to keep the Blessing going. I really had to force myself to finish this.

While I didn’t love this book I think it be great for someone else definitely a younger reader. This book’s premise was almost identical to anther book I read this year ( and enjoyed a lot more). There was much back and forth when the outcome seemed obvious from the beginning. Just wasn’t my favorite.

Did not finish. I could not get into the story. The writing was nice but I wasn't connecting with the plot.

All the Stars Align by Gretchen Schreiber is the kind of story that doesn’t just entertain. It reaches into the quiet, complicated corners of your heart and holds them with startling tenderness. I went into this book expecting a sweeping love story and vibrant world, but what I found was so much deeper. It is a raw, beautifully layered reflection of what it means to live with chronic illness/disability and the exhausting emotional gymnastics of constantly balancing not only your own expectations, but the expectations of those around you.

Piper is, without question, one of the most resonant protagonists I’ve ever encountered. Her journey feels achingly familiar to anyone who has ever carried the invisible weight of a body that doesn’t always cooperate. A body that people either misunderstand, romanticize, or resent. Schreiber masterfully portrays the emotional tightrope of navigating illness, ambition, and legacy, weaving Piper’s personal struggle into the larger constellation of family history and cultural identity. There is this heartbreaking nuance to how Piper shoulders both her dreams and the dreams inherited from generations before her. Expectations carved by love, heritage, and unspoken sacrifice.

What truly elevates All the Stars Align is how seamlessly Schreiber balances the personal and the fantastical. The worldbuilding is lush without ever feeling overwhelming. Every star-studded sky and every moment of cosmic wonder is threaded with the same quiet ache and hope that pulses through Piper herself. The universe here feels vast and intimate all at once. A place where love, legacy, and pain collide under a backdrop of shimmering possibility.

Character development is where this novel absolutely shines. Piper is complex, vulnerable, and resilient in ways that feel deeply real. Especially to those of us who understand the dual exhaustion of managing our own limitations while constantly translating them for others. Some might perceive Piper’s optimism as a flaw of the young. But I see it as something far more powerful. There is a beautiful kind of strength in holding on to hope when the world meets you with sidelong glances and quiet judgment. When your body betrays you, when others doubt you, choosing to keep believing in your own future becomes its own quiet form of rebellion.

The pacing is beautifully calibrated. The story unfolds with a steady rhythm, giving space for introspection without sacrificing momentum. Schreiber knows when to linger in the quiet, reflective moments and when to let the plot crest into heart-stopping emotional turns. It is a rare balance, and it makes every chapter feel earned.

All the Stars Align is more than a love story or a coming-of-age tale. It is a luminous testament to survival, identity, and finding your place in a world that doesn’t always know what to do with complicated, imperfect bodies. It is for the chronically ill and disabled, the dreamers with aching bones, and the quiet fighters trying to carve out space beneath the weight of legacy.

This book is hope written in stardust, and I will be carrying it with me for a long, long time.

Inspired by Taylor? Say less. Bonus points for such a cool cover.

I enjoyed this a lot! A really beautiful story that, at it's heart, is all about learning to respect your own desires. As a recovering people pleaser, I related to Piper's journey immensely. This book felt like glowing fairy lights, warm and somewhat magical.

Piper has always believed in a magical blessing that would tell her exactly who she was fated to be with. Everyone in her family lives and breathes the true love blessing, and Piper wants nothing more than to fit in. When she finally feels it, she enlists her best friend to help her figure out what to do next.

This has shades of Cyrano alongside Taylor Swift’s Enchanted, combining to make a slightly magical YA romance.

This was sweet and refreshing, though I will admit that there were points where Piper drove me a bit crazy. I think this would really find its home among younger teen readers.