I started with the eARC and just couldn't get hooked, but the audio version is fantastic. The narrators are wonderful, and I really liked the parts that sounded like a recording. I might not have stuck with this book if the audio hadn't been so good!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this eaudiobook, Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray.

I have to admit that I was skeptical at first for a young adult title with multiple time periods, but the author did a great job weaving them all together. This title also offers a historical aspect and mystery.

There’s Sophie/Hannah in the 1940s, Jenny/Lena in the 1980s, and Miles/Chloe in 2020.

CW: events of 2020 (pandemic, zoom school, murder of George Floyd), atrocities of WWII, murder, homophobia of 1980s.

I tend to shy away from multiple timeline historical fiction books, but I love Libba Bray and wanted to see how she tackled the complicated eras of 1940 Germany, 1980 West Berlin, and 2020 New York City. The content warnings on this book are steep, but it's YA so they are handled with skill and care, and a lens to process them.

In 1940 Germany, Sophie and Hannah have been best friends forever, but seem to be growing apart with the rise of the Third Reich and their parents' political allegiances. In 1980 West Berlin, Jenny is distraught to be missing her friends from Dallas, but she opens her eyes to a world of punk music and resistance. In 2020 NYC, Miles is a senior completely isolated from his family with one mom in healthcare and the other stranded in Europe, and he and his best friend connect Chloe over a mystery of the Bridegroom's Oak and a cold case about two missing girls who vanished 80 years before.

While I don't love the multi-generational-let's-solve-mysteries-in-multiple-timelines typically, it works really well for me here. Each era has its own intensity, and I found it really helpful to move from one to another to break that up. The book is on the longer side, but you get a really good sense of all the characters in each timeline, and it's worth its page count. There are some moments that as an adult reader I found a little cheesy, but overall this is such a strong book about resistance and love and being united when everything feels dark. In a sense, the perfect book to read on January 19, 2025, looking bleakly into the future. Every timeline has a message to bear for us today, and this book delivers it in a firm and gentle manner: be present in the moment and show up to defend justice.

The audiobook is narrated by January LaVoy, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, and Major Curda, and is an excellent listen.

A tree in Germany, referred to as the bridegrooms oak, plays an important part in the lives of young adults in the 1940s, the 1980s, and the early days of Covid. The two teenagers drawn to the tree in 2020 find themselves caught up in the mystery of two young adults who disappeared from the tree in the days ofWorld War II. This is a beautiful, moving story that will appeal to lovers of All the Light We Cannot See