I think maybe I am too old for this book. This follows 18 year old Anna, she is moving to Liverpool to start a career working in the theatres, this is the first time she has left home and fending for herself. However, not everything goes to plan.
This book has way too many characters and not enough backstory. There are loads of different topics whirling around and feels very surface level and not delved into.

Readers have been talking about Keris Stainton for the longest time so when I started to read Counting Stars, I was excited to read it. While I wasn't blown away by Counting Stars, I will read more from Keris Stainton in the future.

As I have just finished university, I have always wanted to read some more books centred around those who did not go to university or more about adult life. Reading a YA book seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I felt like it made the book more mature and the main character seems like she is growing throughout the story and through adulthood. They make mistakes and they have to deal with the consequences that come with that.

This happens especially towards the end and I have to admit that I didn't really love the ending, and it dampened how I was overall. The story seems to go far away from the story that had been going and I just didn't love it.

I have to admit that I did enjoy the setting as it is set in Liverpool. With the London centric narrative, reading about this city was a nice change and I liked seeing the city come alive in the book.

I also liked the YouTube element in the book. When it first came out, they mentioned that it was quite accurate and it did feel like that from an outsider perspective. I feel like it also tackled issues of overstaring on the Internet and the impact that it can have on daily life.

A lot of the book obviously takes place around friendship and relationships of all shapes and sizes which I really loved. Especially towards the end, the complexities of the relationships are tested and I liked that it dealt with that element.

I also really loved the writing and the humour throughout. The characters were really relatable and I genuinely really found the humour to be funny. It also made me really want to read more about Keris Stainton in the future!

The Verdict:

Counting Stars balances hard issues with a light tone that makes a really compelling read.

Counting Stars is a great book! Kind of a modern day coming of age story. The characters are awesome, the setting of Liverpool city centre is perfect and the whole story flows so smoothly. I absolutely love and identify with Anna and I think she's a great role model for young women. Well done, Keris, on another fantastic book!

This is my first Keris Stainton book and although out of my usual genre (contemporary romance isn’t really my forte) it was a fun read and I much enjoyed it. I’m afraid for me it comes under popcorn as a quick read that doesn’t stick in the memory, but that’s due to my personal tastes. However, I would happily pick up any other Stainton novel based on Counting Stars, knowing that I would have an enjoyable and well written read ahead of me.