Girl Made of Stars

I can't see the situation clearly. Can't see what to do about it. Can't help Hannah, can't hate Owen, can't say anything that matters. Anywhere I turn, I'm betraying my own -- my friend, my brother, myself. Belief isn't easy, it isn't black and white. I think I've been reading a lot of amazing books lately. As soon as I finished this one, I immediately pre-ordered a finished copy. This books is heavy and important. It asks us to question our beliefs and values and makes us wonder if there can be any exceptions. What would you do if someone close to you was accused of doing something horrible to someone else? What if you believed they actually did what they were accused of? Would you support your loved one or help seek justice for their victim? Would you somehow try to figure out how to do both? And how would your relationship with your loved one change? How would your life change? A Girl Made of Stars is told through the perspective of Mara. Her twin brother is the accused and her close friend is the accuser. It is heartbreaking to see how she wants to believe her brother is innocent while knowing her friend wouldn't lie either. Through Mara we see why many victims of violence choose to stay quiet. While confronting her own trauma, she feels stupid and embarrassed and wonders if what happened was her fault. She notices how even though bad things happen everyone's lives still look so normal, like nothing actually happened even though everything feels wrong. Aside from being pulled between her brother and her friend, Mara and her ex girlfriend, Charlie, question and explore their sexuality. The way Mara handles each situation and the choices she makes are all, in my opinion, not always well thought out at first yet always believable, and I admire her strength through everything she faces. Hannah is Mara's close friend and the girl who accuses Mara's brother, Owen, of rape. This book is full of strong female characters, and Hannah, Like Mara, is one of them. To me, being able to speak up about your experience takes a lot of strength. Hannah voices that she has been raped, but sadly, most of her peers believe she is to blame. Owen is handsome and charismatic. He is a talented violinist and gets good grades. He studies hard but parties hard, and he is Hannah's boyfriend until he is accused of raping her. I think that rape is always always always wrong, but even as the story progresses Owen never gives off an evil-bad-guy vibe. If anything, he seems scared and desperate.So when he spreads his "side of the story" it makes it easier to believe that he is innocent. I think the most controversial character in this story is going to be Mara and Owen's mother. She is described as a feminist and is proud of Mara for fighting the patriarchy, yet she vehemently defends Owen. I feel that she is in the hardest position because the accused rapist is her own son. I'm not sure about you all, but I can understand wanting to protect someone you created and molded despite their wrong doings. In the twins' mother's case, it seems she has convinced herself that her son is innocent in order to believe in him. This book isn't just about rape, it's also about moving on and changing as a result of trauma.As someone who has had a similar experience to one of these characters, I feel that Ashley Herring Blake perfectly captures how it feels to try to be your "old" self while knowing you aren't completely who you used to be. She fully captures the struggle and hope, and I think this book is worth reading if you were only to pick up on that. I just won't move through the world like I did before. Some parts of me are gone. Some others have come alive, woken by the need to fight, to matter, to be heard. Some parts are wary, others angry, others heartbroken. But I'm still me. I'm still moving. We all are, in some way or another. I urge you to read this book because there is so much to learn from it. Maybe if more books like this one were read, more victims of abuse would feel it was okay to seek justice for their experiences.

Mara, Owen and Hannah -- are just learning to navigate the world as young adults-- and they make mistakes. Some of them criminal. This narrative is full of confusion, fun, happy times, dark times and souls questioning their existence and relationships. Well- written in a descriptive sense, I sometimes found the plot a little convoluted-- going off in one direction or another -- but the main feeling I got from this was of Mara-- a Bi teenager in love with her girlfriend Charlie, even after breaking up with her, Mara is the most confused and hot-headed of them all, but in spite of this she pursues the truth -- about Owen, about her relationship with Charlie. Owen, who is greets the reader initially with his fun-loving antics, then becomes more of a shadow-figure in this book -- he's there -- but not centrally, and of course, he's wrapped up in the middle of the rape allegations. Hannah almost appears as an afterthought, whereas Charlie is the one here who is the MOST in control of herself and it is she who seems to bring out the best in Mara. And because of the turmoil surrounding her and the angst and healing she goes through with Charlie -- the situation with Owen also brings out something dark and awful which Mara has been hiding. I liked the ending of the book very much -- and it seemed to help calm down the anguish the reader feels from reading the previous chapters -- Mara draws upon a new strength when it comes to helping Charlie, who despite her own strength, has a secret of her own she needs to bring up with her family -- with Mara's help. The author has a very good way of involving the reader's emotional range while empathizing or even identifying (which I did in some cases) with the characters.

Two days ago I finished -- for the second time – this hypnotically serious and entrancing book about truth and belief and assault, Girl Made of Stars, by almost surely -- by far --the greatest work yet of the incomparable author Ashley Herring Blake. Even greater than her other works. To me it’s about many things, obviously assault, and sexual assault, and mainly about women, and queer girls and women, and in this novel in high school, and about the trauma – and at the bottom of all lthis about concealment and truth and belief in what people say happened to them and speaking your truth— especially and of course girls and women, and unavoidably everyone. To me just beyond stunning. And again entrancing. Blake’s gripping and riveting narrative starts fast and never lets up a nanosecond -- never dips even one inch beneath the very highest conceivable possible level. I am immersed and soaked saturated in it. Under its hypnotic spell. Nearly every page blows my mind. And no last page ever gets better.

An excellent read. I was taken in by the story and characters from the beginning. There are important issues in this book, especially sexual assault and the horrible consequences that come about because of it, particularly how female victims are usually treated quite poorly. The main character Mara finds out early on that her twin brother has been accused of rape by his girlfriend at a party she had attended, who also happens to be a close high school friend of hers. Loyalties are challenged and many issues must be faced by the core of main characters, including the twins, the victim, Mara's best friend and her former girlfriend Charlie and the twin's parents mainly. Ms Blake writes this story beautifully and examines everyone's journey through the difficult minefield presented. I really enjoyed the book a lot, yet is was indeed sad at times. I finished 'Where the Heart Is' by Jo Knowles within minutes of this book, which was also one of the saddest, yet also wonderful books I have read in a while. Lots of tears tonight. Both highly recommended.

This is similar to my story, too. Navigating it as a teen was hard. The loneliness, the fear, the exhaustion. If this book resonated with you, you’re not alone.

Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault, Rape Representation: Bisexual, Lesbian, Genderqueer, Korean American Before I knew anything about this book, I was absolutely blown away by the stunning cover! The story and the message behind it were really what pulled me in. I absolutely had to pick this up! This story follows twins, Mara and Owen, as Owen is accused of raping his girlfriend, Hannah. At first, Mara is really conflicted, not knowing who to believe. Her feelings for her twin brother and her family's actions conflict with Hannah's story, her friendship with Hannah, and her own feminist ideology. This is a story that definitely needs to be told so I'm not surprised by the four and five star ratings. It confronts our society's prevalent rape culture, blaming vs. believing the victim, slut shaming, feminism, and reconciling a person's actions with what they've done. And it does all of this amazingly well. However, I felt that the writing style and where the story picks up in the timeline of events really kept me from engaging with the characters and really feeling for them. I think if we, as the reader, could've seen some of the relationships beforehand rather than simply being told about them, I might have connected with the characters a lot more. And the focus on Mara and her best friend turned girlfriend turned ex-girlfriend really took away from the main plot of the book for me. While I see why this relationship was included and that the resolution was crucial to Mara's own healing process, I was frustrated with Mara and Charlie's miscommunications and the will they/won't they tension throughout the book. I do seem to be in the minority, however, and would definitely recommend anyone pick this up for the very important conversation on rape culture, if nothing else.

"This. This is why I never said anything. Because no one ever believes the girl." Girl Made of Stars is an important book. It's a searing look at rape culture in high school that is a quick read, but not an easy one. Mara McHale is a feminist. She's an out and proud bi girl, and she's the founder of a group at her school that empowers young women. She and her twin brother Owen as close as two peas in a pod. She recently broke up with her girlfriend Charlie, and since she and Charlie were best friends before they were a couple, Mara is struggling with their post-breakup relationship. Then Mara's close friend Hannah accuses Owen of raping her. Owen and Hannah were dating, and she says he raped her at a party, while Owen claims they had consensual sex. Mara is caught in the middle. She believes her friend, but she also loves her brother and doesn't want to believe he could be capable of rape. But she was at the party where it happened, and she saw how drunk he was. "I can't believe it," I say to Charlie, locked-up tears strangling my voice. "I physically can't. How can I believe either one of them? How can I not believe them?" Sadly (and all too predictably), people are awful to Hannah because she's accused a popular, good-looking boy of rape. On her return to school, she's greeted with a chorus of "Hey, slut, welcome back." Mara's mother insists that it's all just a "misunderstanding." Mara's confusion and distress feel very realistic, especially as it becomes clear that she's got a secret that she's been keeping for years that's she's now being forced to face. This book is beautiful and moving. It's also enraging, because there are no easy answers and no simple happy ending, but it shows that there can be healing and a chance of moving on, and the book does give some hope for the characters.

This book was heart wrenching and sad and beautiful and raw....I could go on with all the adjectives. The struggle of adolescents in this book is so real.

Increíble, un dilema muy bien ambientado, emotivo, algo que todos debemos leer

I can't think of enough words to describe this book. I devoured it piece by piece, while both wanting to read every word and close my eyes so that I didn't have to. This story is one that needs to be told everywhere. In every school, in every classroom. The best thing I can say about this book and this story is that it's important. The writing is outstanding, you feel every single bit of what you read which is both terrifying and wonderful. The book tore me apart bit by bit and then built me back up again. I felt ready to conquer the world by the end of it and I hope that every girl, woman, young and old can read this and feel empowered and heard. From the synopsis I knew I'd like this book, but god I didn't expect this. I know I'm gushing, but it deserves it and more. All I can say is thank you for writing this.

Good read

Creo que este es un libro que todo el mundo debería leer. Mara es una gran protagonista y la novela nos enseña que cada historia debe ser contada.

Actual rating-4.25 stars .I want to start by saying that it's an important book and one you should definitely read.I cried multiple times while reading this.It's about a girl named Mara who finds herself in an impossible situation when her friend Hannah accuses her twin brother of rape.She is torn between believing her brother Owen and a friend who she knows would never lie.It's a very accurate portrayal of how society is always quick to point fingers at the girl and how girls aside from suffering a horrific ordeal also have to suffer slut shaming at the hands of society like Hannah in this story is name called and not believed by most of the students in her school.It brillantly reflects how women because of fear of not being believed often suffer in silence and remain quiet.Hannah also happens to be Mara's brother's girlfriend and the writer deals very meticulously with how the Hannah's rape is further not recognized by the society because she previously had sexual relations with Owen .It's very important to talk about this especially in a country where marital rape is not illegal. Aside from the central plot the story also focuses on Mara's personal life and her relationship with her ex Charlie who is gender queer .Charlie herself is bisexual and I don't know if I can account for how accurate the representation is but I found both the gender queer and the bisexual representation to be done very well.I rarely read acknowledgements and author's note at the end (not my finest quality I know)but in this case I read every word of both and in some way it helped me deal with the story and the end. The only reason I deducted 1 star or 0.75 star to be precise is cause I liked the narrator but it took me some time to really connect with her and I also wished the book was a bit longer.It's a very emotional read which will stay with you long after you have turned the final page.