4.5 stars rounded up. would LOVE to read a version with some more academic studies but hey, if they don't exist, they don't exist. Carriger did a great job describing the type of story I am drawn to writing and have always pulled myself away from in order to tell a Hero's Journey, and now that I've got the words for it, I feel like I can let myself go down that path and tell the story I was always actually trying to tell!