The Star Group

by Christopher Pike

There is no going back.

Six of them, three guys and three girls, are on a journey. An adventure beyond the imagination.

They are transformed into powerful beings, able to change the world. But something goes wrong. One of them is evil - and stronger than the rest.

And it will destroy the Star Group.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Teen, Science Fiction Fantasy, Childrens

188 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1997

About the author

Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.

Reviews

[Niko · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a weird book, what did I even read just now

[Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh yeah male main character this'll be weird

Even i write better flirting scenes than this.

Truly wild suggestion that used books are cheaper than library fines.

For ancient reincarnated aliens, there sure is a lot of high school drama in this group.

This is an alternate, worse version of The Starlight Crystal with the alien presence speaking through people and the "we are all one conciousness you're just not elightened enough to understand us yet"

This was a 2 star read until the alien version of the lizard people showed up.

I also love how the back cover talks about 7 people but there are only 6 - he cut a whole character and didn't bother to change the back

This... really didn’t go the direction I expected - I thought it would be weird end-of-the-world stuff like Starlight Crystal but instead felt like his earlier, brutal thrillers.

The coffins for two characters were really small because they died in a fire WHY WOULDNT THEY GET REGULAR SIZED COFFINS THO

Overall, this was a rough one to get through. I do think I've gotten through the best/most off-the-wall Pike books already which is a bit of a bummer, but at least they're short and I'm still slightly obsessed with how bad they are.

[Whitney (The Cover Collector) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing interesting in this book was that the MC claimed he was in the middle of writing Christopher Pike’s “Magic Fire’ novel, which is my favourite book by him.

[PurplyCookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Star Group" was not very grand or exceptionally written. It spanned a short period of time, and didn't get you very involved with the characters. It almost seemed like a recap of some greater story. The plot advances too fast, there is no time to grasp the deep meanings. The synopsis and the back cover are very misleading. Not much happens -- it was a good idea that could have been written much better.

To the credit of the book, it had a very original premise, and an imaginative story.


Book Details:

Title The Star Group
Author Christopher Pike
Reviewed By Purplycookie

[Belinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had potential, but it felt like it zoomed by too fast. The characters had a lot going for them, but we barely got to know them, which was a bummer.

Christopher Pike could've stretched it out into a trilogy, like he did with Chain Letter or Final Friends. That way, we might have gotten more depth and a slower build-up. Gale got all suspicious way too quickly, and folks started dropping like flies way too soon and easily.

It had the makings of a great story if it had taken its time. But, oh boy, the ending? Sucked!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice throwback. Excited to (re)read more from this author.

[Tehnehn Kaijaah Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically 3.5 stars but I have no clue how to half star, so I will just state it. I really enjoyed this book! Very enjoyable, albeit predictable at times, because it was so clear the big bad was the big bad. I took off a star because the way Christopher Pike describes his black characters in the book bothers me, I mean come on "he was black as ink"? Who describes black people like that, and he does it multiple times. It was really weird. I also deducted .5 because he seemed to rush the ending. A little more world and character-building could have put this higher up on the list. I will say there were parts that made it hard to put down.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this at a very young age, probably in the sixth grade or so, and I still remember it well to this day. Obviously the story had an impact.

It's an interesting story if you like sci-fi and self discovery with a few good twists and turns and a dash of betrayal thrown in.

A very quick read at this age but I still enjoy it ;)

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those later-phase Pike books that are usually on the o.O side (though to be fair, can anything really compare to TLV/ Remember Me/ Fall Into Darkness?). It's not as bad as Magic Fire, though, don't get me wrong. But it definitely isn't one of the ones I reach for first when I want a good ol' fashioned Pike reread.

[Hew La France · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll tell you what though... this is VERY typical Pike, in that.... he takes a fairly simple resolution, and just completely turns it into this gut-wrenching festival of 'what the hell did I just read?'. Still, excellent story.

[Noel McNiff · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's basically his Adult novel the Listeners rewritten slightly better.

[Lori Kircher · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars. Another great Christopher Pike book. I loved how the five friends interacted with one another when they learned of Mentor (the alien from Ortee). The writing was great, as usual. Some of my favorite scenes were Disneyland, the ending, and the cabin. The main antagonist was a bit predictable to guess, which was a let down somewhat. Daniel's obsession with Gale was creepy and not really romantic, it's not revealed until the end of the book that Daniel was forced to "love" her. He stalked her, that's not love, that's called being a stalker and it's illegal. Overall, a fast, easy read, the main villain was predictable but still a great book; I would recommend this book, is a favorite of mine, and I will be picking up more Christopher Pike books in the future.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

a middle school favorite I re-read in a few hours because I was feeling nostalgic. Not as great as I remembered, but I still appreciate some of the weirder/darker elements

[Yasir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me the shivers. It combines supernatural with tragedy. I think I read it in 2004 and was hooked to Christopher Pike's stuff. If you are faint of heart, skip this one.

[Addy Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t understand half of what was going on, but y’know, imma vibe with it

[Melanie Scalera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d give like 3.5 stars, but hands aren’t an option here.
Also, it’s just the back cover, but the first line says “there are seven of them, three guys and four girls”; who’s the fourth girl???

[Raychelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh, I know it was the 90s, but good god, Christopher Pike is SO bad at writing about people of color. In every single book, I swear. 😪

[Roberta R. (Offbeat YA) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rated 2.5 really.

RTC

[Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read is call The Star Group there are five best friends really best friends they hang out all the times. all five friends are all graduated from High School. So now they can do whatever they want.So then they all decide to go camping in a place with cabins and stay for a week.That when terror comes so read the book to find out what happens.

What left with a question is why did they decide to go camping and make bad things happen?

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I barely remember this book, but I think it was around this point that I started to not like Christopher Pike's book. I don't know if it was because I'd outgrown them or if they'd just started to be not as good as they used to be, but this was definitely one of the two novels that made me stop picking up his stuff from the Young Adult section.

[Julissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was in high school, I liked it then, and I like it now. The story was really good, and the ending completely threw me off, and there was a moment that I sat there just staring at the book wandering what in the world happened and how. This is just my opinion of course, but if you give it a chance it grows on you.

[Alonzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really great book, it gives you a big imagination of other perspectives of life.I enjoyed this book it was a real nail biter. I couldn't put it down . I wish there were more books like these.

[Abbi Dion]

I read the last two chapters at midnight on Friday and scared the living daylights out of myself. I hate that feeling/love that feeling. Not Pike's best work, from the perspective of sheer writing, but the story was nice and odd and compelling. Cheers!

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really just read this book because I had nothing else to read at our Beach condo for the week. The plot line was so fake.... Like not even the sci-fi part. Just not a good book at all, and I will attempt to avoid Mr. Pike's work in the future.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really started out strong, fizzled out. Very uneven, especially plot wise. Fairly predictable. Low on the classic Pike moments.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise was good but I really wanted Pike to go further with this idea. I was wanting more interaction with Mentor. Overall, disappointing.

[Bridgett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read, but predictable ending.

[lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is pretty much a classic ya pike book: the writing and plot are pretty meh, but the story is rich and brilliant. boyfriend writes some terrible dialogue though, let me tell you.

[Myne]

very interesting............v tried da magnet trick a million times ourselves.....lolz n found out wat da word mentor means

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favorite authors. Some stuff is brilliant, some is just bizarre.