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A review by megsbookishtwins
Of Scars and Stardust by Andrea Hannah
4.0
4,5 Stars
I received this free from the publisher via NetGalley
Release Date - 8th October (I think, Amazon says 8th Oct, but Book Depository says November 5th?)
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.
The two most important things I took with me when I left Amble: Ella’s periwinkle bird and a mountain of guilt. I took the same two things with me when I came back.
Claire Graham is sent to New York after an attack on her sister Ella when walking home at night. Claire blames herself, as do the town Amble. Claire can’t escape the wolves. The wolves she believes attacked her sister and the wolves she believes are still watching her in New York city. He psychiatrist calls them ‘delusions’, but Claire believes that they are more than that. When her sister goes missing, she goes back to Amble to search for her. When there she is haunted by more than just memories. She has to deal with the wolves, the town and her family.
I’ve not read many books this year which I can call a favourite, but this is one of them. Of Scars and Stardust caught my attention from the very first page, and did not let it go. I did not rate it 5 stars but don’t ask me why because I can’t answer it. For some reason I couldn’t actually make myself rate it 5 stars. Well, let’s get on with the review.
I’ll start with the plot. Contemporary books are always an issue with me. I always find it hard to find a contemporary that isn’t just all the same recycled material over and over and that doesn’t have cliché romance. I am so glad I requested this on NetGalley because I did thoroughly enjoy it and I would highly recommend you pick this up if you are fan of mystery contemporaries. It will be pretty hard to write this review without spoiling anything. We spend most of the book wondering if the wolves that Claire sees are real or are in fact delusions. I liked that it kept you guessing and turning the pages. The mystery of the book was really good. I spent the whole book with a suspect in mind, but I kept second guessing myself, but it turned out I was right. There was a good twist about the attacks and it was something which I have not read before and it was very refreshing. There’s not really much more I can say without giving too much away so I will leave it there.
The characters were really fantastic. I really do love unreliable narratives. You spend the whole book wondering if what Claire is seeing is real. Has she contributed to any of the attacks? This thing with Grant at the end, do we ever find out who did it or was it her? Was it really the wolves? My mind was just reeling over what was happening. Claire was a really great characters that really captured my heart. Ella was another great character, despite her not being there for the majority of a book. That really says something about a writer if they can make you love an absent character. Grant was another favourite. He was so kind and helpful and he really did believe in Claire. The romance was also very refreshing. Despite them falling for each other pretty fast (they did know each other quite well in the past), it still felt very real and I really did feel the chemistry between the two.
Of Scars and Stardust was a fantastic, beautiful read with terrific, complex characters and an amazing romance. It was a suspenseful and riveting book that I high suggest you pick up!
I received this free from the publisher via NetGalley
Release Date - 8th October (I think, Amazon says 8th Oct, but Book Depository says November 5th?)
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.
The two most important things I took with me when I left Amble: Ella’s periwinkle bird and a mountain of guilt. I took the same two things with me when I came back.
Claire Graham is sent to New York after an attack on her sister Ella when walking home at night. Claire blames herself, as do the town Amble. Claire can’t escape the wolves. The wolves she believes attacked her sister and the wolves she believes are still watching her in New York city. He psychiatrist calls them ‘delusions’, but Claire believes that they are more than that. When her sister goes missing, she goes back to Amble to search for her. When there she is haunted by more than just memories. She has to deal with the wolves, the town and her family.
I’ve not read many books this year which I can call a favourite, but this is one of them. Of Scars and Stardust caught my attention from the very first page, and did not let it go. I did not rate it 5 stars but don’t ask me why because I can’t answer it. For some reason I couldn’t actually make myself rate it 5 stars. Well, let’s get on with the review.
I’ll start with the plot. Contemporary books are always an issue with me. I always find it hard to find a contemporary that isn’t just all the same recycled material over and over and that doesn’t have cliché romance. I am so glad I requested this on NetGalley because I did thoroughly enjoy it and I would highly recommend you pick this up if you are fan of mystery contemporaries. It will be pretty hard to write this review without spoiling anything. We spend most of the book wondering if the wolves that Claire sees are real or are in fact delusions. I liked that it kept you guessing and turning the pages. The mystery of the book was really good. I spent the whole book with a suspect in mind, but I kept second guessing myself, but it turned out I was right. There was a good twist about the attacks and it was something which I have not read before and it was very refreshing. There’s not really much more I can say without giving too much away so I will leave it there.
The characters were really fantastic. I really do love unreliable narratives. You spend the whole book wondering if what Claire is seeing is real. Has she contributed to any of the attacks? This thing with Grant at the end, do we ever find out who did it or was it her? Was it really the wolves? My mind was just reeling over what was happening. Claire was a really great characters that really captured my heart. Ella was another great character, despite her not being there for the majority of a book. That really says something about a writer if they can make you love an absent character. Grant was another favourite. He was so kind and helpful and he really did believe in Claire. The romance was also very refreshing. Despite them falling for each other pretty fast (they did know each other quite well in the past), it still felt very real and I really did feel the chemistry between the two.
Of Scars and Stardust was a fantastic, beautiful read with terrific, complex characters and an amazing romance. It was a suspenseful and riveting book that I high suggest you pick up!