Thank you to #NetGalley, Gretchen Schreiber, and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

All the women in Piper’s family have a gift and know their true love at first sight. This is the kind of love that lasts forever. Piper grew up with her ancestors' epic love stories repeated over and over and dreams of her own true love. Already singled out in her family due to her disability, Piper collects a second strike against her when her parents announce their divorce.

When she finally finds her true love at a party, she’s determined than ever to have her love story and finally earn a spot in her family. She soon botches their first meeting, she realizes that she’ll need help from her best friend Leo. There's a huge problem though. Leo and Piper haven’t talked in months due to him needing a break from their friendship.

To win love of her life and a place in her family, Piper must have Leo to teach her the ways to love. Things are going great until Leo confesses his love for Piper. Now, what is she to do? Which love will she choose?

A sweet and romantic YA read! I loved the disability representation!

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the review copy!

All the Stars Align is a charming YA novel that explores big questions about love—what it is, what it should be—and offers a thoughtful look at navigating divorce, family expectations, and figuring out what you want for yourself.

The disability representation in this story is important, as it should be, but it’s not the only theme. What makes it resonate is how it's woven into Piper’s journey of self-discovery—her fears, insecurities, and hopes about love and being loved for who she is, body and all.

I really enjoyed the way the story played with themes of fate and blessings (or maybe curses?), and how Piper comes to understand that love is more than just a spark or a feeling—it’s also about growth, trust, and aligning your heart with your dreams.

At times, the themes felt a bit repetitive or slow, but I think the pacing works well for a YA audience who perhaps have spent less years/decades reading books like this (in that the story felt fairly predictable to me, hence making it feel slow). It gives readers the space to really sit with Piper’s emotional journey, her struggles with her parents, and her questions about fate, love, and identity. It also allows time to connect with the core characters—Piper, Leo, and Forest.

What didn’t quite land for me was the role of the aunts and their meddling—it felt a bit too over-the-top at times—but overall, this is a heartfelt, thoughtful story with a lot to offer a YA audience looking for a gentle romance with interesting questions about fate and family.

Piper’s family has a magical blessing where they know their true love at first sight. But as Piper’s parents are newly divorced, Piper is on a mission to bring her parents back together,while looking for her one true love that she is fated to be with. But during her journey in “finding the one” she faces challenges and other love opportunities that she never considered before.

The author did a superb job delivering a disability rep through a teenager’s perspective. Being some of the toughest years most go through, I learned a lot from this story. I found Piper a bit challenging to warm up to. Her being dead set on believing her family’s blessing and bringing it up over and over again became way too repetitive. What saved the story for me were her endearing best friends and the way they played a part in Piper’s story.

Thank you Wednesday Books for the gifted copy. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own.

I started All the Stars Align as a physical ARC, and I want to thank Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read and review this title early!

This story was super cute, and I especially appreciated the disability rep—it felt thoughtful and well done. One of the challenges of being an adult who reads YA is that sometimes a book can feel a little too young, and for me, this was one of those cases. It didn’t immediately grab me, which is what led me to pause my physical read for a bit.
That said, once I picked it back up on audio after release, I was drawn back in. While I didn’t deeply connect with the characters on a personal level, I still found myself invested in the story and curious to see how it would all unfold.

One of the highlights for me was how age-appropriate and authentic the characters felt. Sometimes YA characters can come across as either too mature or not quite believable, but that wasn’t the case here. The cast felt like real teens navigating real choices, which I think will really resonate with younger readers.

It’s a sweet coming-of-age love story, and while love triangles aren’t usually my favorite trope, I think it worked here. It felt necessary to explore the broader theme of fate versus free will, which added a layer of depth to an otherwise soft and hopeful romance.

I wanted to like this book more than I did because I liked Schreiber's first book. Piper's story was an interesting exploration of personal choice but I never felt I got to know all the characters. Forest was underdeveloped and didn't feel like a real love interest. Much of the storylines were fully flushed out, and the conclusion felt rushed. I will keep reading books from this author, but her debut left more of an impression than her follow-up.

Thanks, Wednesday Books, for the arc!

The good:
-Disabled rep - we love to see it!
-One of the few times I've enjoyed a love triangle.
-Love the hidden Taylor Swift lyrics.
-Very YAromance/figuring out who you are, but those are necessary reads for that age group

The frustrating:
-I found myself frustrated that Piper talked about having a disability, but she never really talked about what it was. I had to go back to the beginning and search to ensure I understood the physical ailment. I'm glad it was part of the character, but it was confusing.

Do I recommend?
Yes, because Gretchen Schreiber is one of the few writers who truly focuses on the disabled humans as MCs and writes them a story with them with respect. I loved Ellie Haycock is Totally Fine. So, I only hope she continues with her disability rep writing and allows our culture to be seen in books as "normal."

PS - Team Leo!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First of all: while this book started slow, it wasn't terrible. However, I was the totally wrong audience for it, a fact which became very obvious when I realized the mains were seniors in high school--in a contemporary romance in a *very young*, YA novel.

I think the audience for this book is teens and those early on in college, especially those who have felt ostracized by their peers and/or have divorced parents. Teens who are LGTBQ and/or disabled will likely feel especially represented, but I don't think that's necessary for readers to feel seen in this book. Those audiences will likely really enjoy this book.

Me? A thirty-something abled woman who has parents who have been together for 40+ years? Yeah, this didn't hit the spot. I don't mind the whole "fated romance" conversation, but for *contemporary teenagers*? It was a huge stretch and didn't feel realistic. Also, I am far from being or raising teenagers, so their antics annoyed rather than charmed me.

I did like the FMC's character arc in the end, but I felt like she only really redeemed herself the last couple of chapters.

Do I recommend this book to my audience? No. Do I recommend it to a teen/college-aged audience? Sure.

“How do you know what love is until you’ve been heartbroken?”

Everyone wants to find their person. But what if you come from a family that pride themselves on it? Meet Piper. She’s a teenager who comes from a long line of women, all who have found their one true love via a gifted blessing, all while Piper longs to find someone to call her own.

But Piper fears being lucky in love ends with her, especially since she feels like her physical disability stacks the odds against her. Keeping her afloat have been her longstanding friendships, but even those are on shaky ground-her best friend Leo taking an unexplained break from their friendship months prior.

Then one day Leo resurfaces, but without the explanation Piper craves. Despite this, she’s missed their friendship so much that she’s willing to just be happy with him being back in her life. But Leo’s return ends up coinciding with the moment Piper has waited for when she finally meets her fated love, Forest. Unable to put her feelings into words she enlists the more experienced Leo as her love coach. But as time progresses, what is fated and what feels right begin to get murky. Can Piper make sense of her feelings or should she let fate decide?

All the Stars Align is a YA romance that pays homage to Cyrano de Bergerac. While I enjoy angst ridden pining, I did feel like I was older than the intended audience for this book. For example, I felt teenaged Piper’s pouting about how she might never find the one a bit premature. I also felt the story behind her disability was too drawn out, feeling more like checking a box than something that added value to the story. Finally, there was the blessing itself, a phrase that is used ad nauseam (137 times to be exact).

All in all, the stars didn’t completely line up in this one for me. But if you enjoy sweet love stories with a twist of fate, this might work for you.

I just finished All the Stars Align by Gretchen Schreiber, and I’m still thinking about it. This story is so full of heart and charm, it completely pulled me in. At the center of it all is this beautifully layered relationship between childhood friends who slowly turn into something more, and it unfolds in such a real, emotional way. Piper’s journey through family expectations, big choices, and her search for real love felt so relatable and raw. Gretchen Schreiber’s writing has this magical quality that made me want to savor every page. If you love stories about love, identity, and finding your own way, this one’s definitely worth the read.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and PRH Audio for sending me an early physical and audiobook copy.

While I appreciated the disability and LGTBQIA+ representation, "All the Starts Align" left me wanting more when it came to the magical realism aspects. I wish there had been more discussions and lore around Fate, like if there were other families with different blessings. The romance was also very predictable and left me wanting more suspense. I feel like I knew the ending as soon as it started.

When it came to the audiobook, I was not very impressed. The narrator's voices were all very similar, especially when it came to the voices of the male characters. I switched halfway through to the physical version and I'm glad I did, since it was much easier to follow.

Without giving any spoilers, I did enjoy the conclusion of the novel regarding Piper's family and her parents' divorce. If you're looking for an everyday coming of age story with great disability representation, you'll love "All The Stars Align", especially if your a fan of YA stories like "Cupid's Revenge" and "Sick Kids in Love".

The family legend says the Hadley women will know their one true love immediately when they find it, the love that will last for forever. They call it the Blessing. Suffering a physical disability and the child of divorced parents, Suffering a physical disability and having divorced parents, Piper already feels isolated from the rest of the family, especially her Aunts. Looking for acceptance, she goes all in on the legend, always on the lookout for "the one", determined that she will find that special person. And she thought she had. Only, it doesn't feel quite right. Because "the one" doesn't make her feel the way her best friend Leo does.

I picked up this book because I thought the premise was intriguing. Unfortunately, once I started reading it just didn't work for me. I think the biggest obstacle was the age of the main characters. I think the idea behind the Blessing would work better if the characters were older, even just college seniors would have had more weight

I also had trouble believing that Piper was so desperate to be accepted by her aunts that she was willing to live her life for them. They may be divorced, but her parents were loving and supportive. Her two best friends, Leo and Diana were accepting and encouraging. She had so much going for her..

My favorite character in the story was Diana. Part of the trio of best friends, caught between Leo and Piper, she had to be the most mature. She was the one with right words and a willing ear. And tough love when it was needed. She didn't sugar coat the truth both Leo and Piper had to hear. Piper's parents were also strong characters. It was clear that despite being divorced, they both still loved each other, they just couldn't be married to each other. And they were still there for Piper when she needed them.

I really wanted to like this book. But imagining that high school seniors, especially in this day and age, would be ready to accept that fate had found their true love was a bit much. There just wasn't enough substance behind the blessing to make the story work.

I love reading Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal last year.
To see another novel written by Schreiber was so exciting.
I couldn’t get enough of this heartfelt and totally unputdownable story.
The characters were all really well written, and I appreciated the relationships they had with each other as well as with other side characters.
I thought this was such a relatable and beautifully written novel.
With just the right amount of emotion to keep me so engaged and focused.
I adored this book and I’m looking forward to seeing what Gretchen Schreiber creates next.

This was such an interesting book that peaked my interest from the beginning of the blurb. Once I got into it, it was interesting and I loved the disability representation most of all. However, it just felt very predictable to me and don’t get me wrong, I love a good love triangle because there’s always someone you root for more, in my case I was cheering for Leo, however it just felt hard to see a good in Piper’s friends, which really made it difficult since they were with her so much. I’m not a big YA reader as much anymore, but this one was still very interesting, and I definitely recommend it to younger audiences!

The premise of the story sounded really good, unfortunately it did not play out well as a read. I was hopeful in the beginning with the wishing fountain and thinking it may be a little more of a fairytale where wishes come true. In a way it was, but not in the way I thought. It was more of a forced fairytale come true. It was also a bit predictable. There were some good lessons learned in the end, but it was a struggle just to get there. It is considered a YA book and I can see where it could be an interesting read for that age group, but in my opinion, it was too long and drawn out to be enjoyable. Piper the main character had a disability, a better description to visualize what she was going through would have been helpful. This story was missing that visualization throughout. The other thing I did not care for was the manipulation the aunts held over Piper, when all they really cared about was their own agenda. I appreciate that the relationships were held to mild kissing, but I didn’t care for the foul language. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Piper’s family owns Hadley’s Treasures and hopes to one day take over. She also hopes to feel Fate guide her to meet her one true love like the rest of the Hadleys in her family. So far, it hasn’t happened. And her Aunt Shelly believes it’s because of her own mother who divorced her one true love. Now, they’ve decided they have to get Piper’s parents back together, and Piper is just the person to do it. And if she happens to find her fated love, then all the better.

I had such mixed feelings about this book. It started off really well, and I really tried to put myself in the FMC’s shoes and I understood how she felt having such thoughts ingrained into her mind by her family, especially her aunts, just truly wanting what they had no matter what and no matter how others felt about it.

I admired Piper’s determination and her sticking to her beliefs despite what her friends thought, and they were vocal about the whole fated stuff. I’m surprised they stuck with her with how she seemed to just ignore how they felt and only thought about herself.

Before I get into that, I really liked the idea of the story and the idea of the romance, like I said, it started out good. The romance itself I think would have been lovely, but the execution was off. I also think if the book was shorter, it would have made the story more enjoyable since everything would have been resolved sooner and quicker.

I loved the friendship and the focus on family and familial relationships and how they can change and coping.

I appreciated Piper and how strongly she felt about finding a fated match and keeping it. She does have growth in this book, but I think it dragged on unnecessarily and she just seemed like such a rude and uncaring friend. She had two friends who really cared for her, and yet all she ever talked about was herself and finding her fated love. This got to the point that her friends were keeping secrets from her and she wondered why. Or she wondered why Leo would ignore her, and yet she would turn around and do the same. It’s like it was only okay for HER to have secrets or for HER to do the ignoring, not the other way around. She was rather selfish. And it was sad because she had these amazing friends who still put up with her, and yet it took forever for her to realize that.

Which is why I wish the book was shorter because it just went on and on about Piper and finding her true love while everyone else suffered, including her parents. Piper did grow in the end, but like I said, it was too long to me.

It’s also very YA focused. Definitely more for younger generation, and maybe I would have liked it more when I was younger, but I’ve read great YA books, this one just seemed for an even younger age group.

It’s an okay story. It’s definitely middle of the road for me, so solid 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Heartfelt and refreshingly authentic, "All the Stars Align" brilliantly executes the friends-to-lovers trope with a perfect balance of swoon-worthy moments and genuine emotional depth. The disability representation felt authentic and natural by being present and impactful without defining the protagonist, which is exactly what I love to see. The family dynamics explored themes of tradition, belonging, and self-acceptance and had my heart feeling cleaved in two for Piper. However, for me, Leo's character steals the show as the pining best friend turned dating coach. There's a lot of tension that builds with each interaction between him and Piper that felt natural to the plot. The love triangle outcome was predictable, but that is what I like most.

I enjoyed reading All the Stars Align by Gretchen Schreiber. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

I’m always happy to see disabilities represented in romances, as Piper is a girl with a physical disability that makes her feel different from others. This is a cute, charming, and angsty romance that demonstrates that the love you’re seeking may be right in front of you.

There's a hint of magic in the fact that Piper’s family believes in fated love, or the Blessing. However, things seem a bit off course recently, especially with her parents getting divorced. Piper is determined to listen to fate, even though she doubts that anyone would want her because of her disability. So, she asks her best friend Leo to help her learn how to flirt and win over the guy she thinks fate may have chosen for her.

I enjoyed Piper’s small friend group, which includes Leo and Diana, especially Diana, who always seemed to know what was happening and had a bit of a snarky attitude. Piper is going through a lot, and while she tends to self-deprecate - something most teenagers do, if not all of us at some point - I think it’s important to remember that these are high schoolers, and the author portrays that well.

In the end, Piper made important choices and ultimately reached heartfelt realizations. Overall, it was a light and tender YA romance, and I enjoyed spending time with these characters.

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you @wednesdaybooks @stmartinspress and @gretch_schreiber for the gifted book and ebook via #NetGalley. #SMPInfluencer

Thank you to Gretchen Schreiber, the publisher, and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.

The story is about a girl, Piper, whose family has a gift of knowing their true loves form sight. Piper is feeling pressure from her aunts to find "her guy." She ends up meeting one at a party and reaches out to her best friend, Leo, to help her get a second chance with this guy until Leo expresses his love for Piper.

I'd say that this is a light-hearted, cute little romance but didn't even closely blow me away. I didn't really like any of the characters and, honestly, the book is fairly forgettable. I am writing this review a few weeks after finishing and, truth be told, can barely remember what it was about. But, my initial response was 3 stars, and I'll stick to that.

While the premise of this book sounds sweet, the reality is somewhat creepy. The way Piper sees Forest and immediately becomes convinced that he is her forever person is more disturbing than romantic. It takes two to fall in love at first sight; otherwise, it's just an unrequited crush, and Forest does not seem particularly interested in Piper when they first meet. If he could hear her thoughts, he probably would have run away screaming, thinking that she was a crazy stalker, and he would have good reason to.

It is hard to care about the character of Forest anyway because he is not very developed. The story concentrates more on the relationship and interactions between Piper and Leo. Forest is more of a plot device to keep Leo and Piper apart; otherwise, there would be no story. As for Leo, his feelings for Piper are sweet, but he handles them quite immaturely, so it's hard to care about him either or feel like he would be better for Piper.

It is also incomprehensible that Piper, who has lovely, caring parents who encourage her to be herself and choose her own path in life, is more interested in following the expectations of her narrow-minded and controlling aunts. The aunts are actually quite disturbing on a whole other level as they enlist Piper in their scheme to reunite her divorced parents, a scheme which resorts to outrageously extreme methods. These are not the kind of family members she should want to idolize and emulate; these are the kind of family members she should want to run away from and cut out of her life.