Starry Night

by Isabel Gillies

Sometimes one night can change everything. On this particular night, Wren and her three best friends are attending a black-tie party at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate the opening of a major exhibit curated by her father. An enormous wind blasts through the city, making everyone feel that something unexpected and perhaps wonderful will happen. And for Wren, that something wonderful is Nolan. With his root-beer-brown Michelangelo eyes, Nolan changes the way Wren's heart beats. In Isabel Gillies's Starry Night, suddenly everything is different. Nothing makes sense except for this boy. What happens to your life when everything changes, even your heart? How much do you give up? How much do you keep?

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, New York, Art

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2014

About the author

Isabel Gillies, a lifelong New Yorker and actress for many years, is the New York Times best selling author of Happens Every Day, A Year and Six Seconds, and Starry Night (FSG), a young adult novel about first love. Her work has been published in Vogue, The New York Times, Real Simple, Cosmopolitan and Saveur. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, kids, and Maude the dog.

Reviews

[Reut]

Okay, book, I'll give you a chance, even though you used the phrase "root-beer-brown Michaelangelo eyes."

[Lark O'Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book insanely and have been haunted by it for several days, unable to start another book until I get over it. I loved the NYC setting, the insider spirit (and it's written by a New Yorker) and the magical sense of being part of a world I'll never know. It's also a very YA young adult, in that it is written for an actual young adult audience, not adults reading YA, which gives it the power and depth it needs.

Because at its heart, it is the story of falling in love for the first time and being loved back, almost miraculously. The wonder of it. The depth of it, the way it makes everything, everything, everything different. Gilles captures the power of that moment with elegant details and perfect timing, and it is filled with sweet and piercing and subtle observations.

I have not loved getting my heart broken like this in a such a long time. What a wonderful book! I hope Gilles will write many many more YA novels. I'll read them all.

[Hannah Azerang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3 stars

So going into this book I didn't have high expectations (I actually expected to dislike it) because the reviews weren't all that great and it was truly a cover buy.

But I do have to say, I enjoyed it more than I expected to, especially considering that I don't usually like most contemporaries.



What I didn't like:

-I had some issues with some of the characters and how they were used and portrayed in the story (like making a character gay just because they have yet to show any romantic interest in the main characters and then proceeding to make the say "gay" things only after outing them).

-I also wasn't a big fan of the lack of diversity in the novel. All the characters are rich, white (except for Vati), private school kids living in Manhattan (so sometimes their problems consisted of "I can't decide which designer dress am I going to wear to this Galla that I probably shouldn't even be going to because I'm 15").

-The descriptions in this book were usually unnecessary and went on for far too long in my opinion. There were some pages where the author would just go into a 5 paragraph description of what the kitchen looked like and it was completely irrelevant to the story.


What I did like:

-This book is definitely YA and it's even on the younger side of that. The main characters are all in their sophomore year of high school so they're all about 15 years old. So since the characters were younger, they did and said a lot of things that you'd expect from a 15 year old. Though the characters were more juvenile at times and their actions clearly reflected that, I was able to understand them because, in my opinion, it was intentional and essential to the message of the story. Since I'm no longer 15 it was difficult for me to relate to many of the characters at times, but I can definitely say that if I had read it back when I was that age, I would have easily been able to relate to some of what Wren was feeling.

- I thought that the book had a meaningful overarching message about love and relationships especially for young teenagers. I was happy with how it tied in at the end.

-There was no girl hate! Though there were times of unnecessary jealousy, the proper person was blamed for what happened in the end and I was so pleased with that!

-The character development in Wren took me by surprise. I spent most of the book rolling my eyes at the stupid decisions that she made but in the end, she really came to her senses and started making the right choices and finally realized who she was as a person.


So overall I would recommend this book if you enjoy YA contemporaries and especially if you are still in high school. I definitely think that the overarching message does have some merit.

[AH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm. This was a so-so read for me, about 2.0 - 2.5 stars.

I found the pacing a little slow and the focus was on fancy parties and pretty dresses and a privileged crowd in New York City. The story revolves around Wren, a talented 15 year old artist and her first love Nolan. Wren is surrounded by her friends, affectionately known as the Turtles - Charlie, Regan, Farah, and Vati. Nothing much happens. They get dressed up to go to a party, they go to school, and that's about it.

I guess this book would appeal to young adult readers more than older readers who enjoy young adult books. These kids are going through their "firsts" in life: first boyfriend, first sexual experience, first betrayal, etc.

I did have some issues with Wren and how quickly she gave up her dreams because her boyfriend did not want her to go away. I also was disturbed by 15 year old Farah's relationship with a much older guy - to me that screams statutory rape.

I think my favorite character in this book was 10 year old Dinah, Wren's younger sister and cooking pro.

*I won this book in a Goodreads FirstReads giveaway.*

[emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

WARNING: RANT AHEAD

you've all heard me talk about how much i love characters a million times. but it's true. that's why i read so much YA contemporary--they're just 300-page character pieces.

and that's also why my relationship with YA contemporary is so love-hate--because you can't find a worse character than you can in certain books in this genre.

be they annoying, poorly written, or just plain unrealistic, they unfortunately crop up far more than their lovely, relatable opposites.

because that's the thing about YA contemporary: the whole thing is supposed to be relatable.

and that's the last thing starry night is.

i don't need to live in the same place as a character, or match their description, or share their name. i need to understand the way they function and think, oh, i do that too. or at the very least: oh, someone else does that.

THAT IS NONEXISTENT IN THIS BOOK.

every moment of this narrative felt forced to me, felt like it was trying too hard. the number of times "the Dougie" was mentioned is unreal. none of the individuals felt like PEOPLE, let alone teenagers.

& i knew this book and i wouldn't be getting along from the paragraph crossing from the first page to the second. the language was unwieldy and unnatural, so un-adolescent it could be hard to read. i had to start this review halfway through the book so i wouldn't forget what i wanted to say.

huge swaths of the text were in goddamn second person. YES, THE NARRATOR INEXPLICABLY ADDRESSED THE AUDIENCE. although granted, my opinions on perspective are a personal preference. i also got angrier and angrier at the typos that riddle the text.

the characters and their relationships were both flat and nonsensical. instalove, friends that claim to love each other but never seem to, the whole nine yards.

there were also just dumb moments in the text. for example: one character getting sloppy drunk off a glass of champagne. PARENTS HAVE SERVED MORE ALCOHOL THAN THAT TO THEIR CHILDREN ON NEW YEAR'S EVE. another example? the main character's "oldest memory": she remembered an entire sentence her father spoke to her. thirteen years ago. when she was 2.

but here are the two things that made me want to give this book the lowest rating i possibly could. this book's narrator has a circle of four friends, supposedly tight knit, and one of them--FIFTEEN--enters into a toxic sexual relationship with a MAN IN HIS THIRTIES, and for two hundred and fifty fucking pages, none of them help her. they all just fall in love and live their lives and ignore it. that is unforgivable in a book to me. even if they claim to have 'not forgotten about it.' the main girl is also incredibly naïve, and not only doesn't realize that her boyfriend is cheating on her with aforementioned supposed best friend, she GIVES UP HER LIFELONG DREAM BECAUSE HE CASUALLY ASKS HER TO. ugh. ugh, ugh, ugh.

intolerable characters. all of the detailed relationships in this book (there are 4) are toxic and built on instalove and manipulation. i would give this book 0 stars if i could.

do NOT recommend.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I was so excited for this one because y'all know I LOVE me a story that heavily relies on the romance. But this one just didn't cut it. It seemed really young and the writing style was not very good either.
I found myself constantly having to remind myself that they were so young. Only because they were 15. And the writing style made them seem wayyyyy younger than that. The things they did (and when I say "they", I mean the three girls plus the parents) all bothered me. I wanted nothing more than to say GROW UP.
Then i didn't like that there was SO much back story. Some things I don't think HAD to be in there.It just made it extra long. I'm all for details and knowing everything, but sometimes too much fluff is just too much fluff. And bouncing around to all the different times in her life was just too much for me. It just seemed like there was way too much going on.
Last but not least, the writing style just wasn't for me. I guess I should've known when I saw in the synopsis "root-beer-brown Michelangelo eyes", but I gave it a chance anyways. But unfortunately, it didn't get any better. Like on page 26 when I read "She's a prodigy- a Mozart of mozzarella." anddddd it just got worse. I didn't want to continue after I saw that it was that bad. I made it to page 130 and I just couldn't do it anymore.
This book disappointed me, but at the same time, it may not be that way for you. I can see that this is a highly anticipated book for so many people, so don't hesitate to give it a try!

[Jen Ryland (jenrylandreviews & yaallday)]

Wow, this book is taking a bit of a beating on Goodreads. On September 1, I published an "in defense of" review on the blog. Here's an edited excerpt, and I'll link to the whole thing below.

Young characters: Yes, the characters in this book are fifteen, and it is a truth universally acknowledged among YA readers that 14 and 15 year-old YA protagonists can be problematic. Maybe it's because there is something unnerving about watching 14 and 15 year olds do things that characters do in YA novels -- drink too much, have sex, sneak behind their parents' backs, save the world, discover they have superpowers, fall into undying and eternal love. Why are these things plausible when 16 or 17 year olds do them? I don't know.

Writing: Wren's narrative voice is unique, but I admired the way this book tried to capture the mental processes of someone whose mind works a little differently. Yes, I can see that Wren's voice could be all over the place at times, but I got used to it. Yes, Wren uses some truly unfortunate turns of phrase, like root beer brown Michelangelo eyes and Mozart of Mozarella. But not through the entire book.

Romance: It seems like some readers went into this expecting a fluffy romance. I'd read a 2009 adult book by Gillies, It Happens Every Day, a brutal autobiographical story of how Gillies' first husband suddenly dumped her. So I guess I wasn't shocked that -- and this isn't a spoiler; it's revealed by Wren in chapter one -- the romantic aspect of this story involves some heartbreak.

Read the full In Defense Of review @ YA Romantics

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of the ARC at BEA.

Starry Night is the story of Wren and her doomed love. One fantastic night, having finally been invited to a gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (of which her father is the curator), she meets Nolan, a new friend of her brother's. They are immediately drawn to each other, and Wren finds herself in over her head but unable to recognize it. Her and Nolan's adventures generally end up with her grounded. She doesn't spend as much time with her friends anymore. And her life-long dream to attend a prestigious art program in France is in serious jeopardy. But Wren doesn't care. She's in love.

God help us all.

Wren is 15 years old. I had to keep telling myself that, because there were quite a few times when she and her friends - Farah, Vati, and Reagan - seemed incredibly immature. I try to remember what I was like when I was 15, but I can't. Still, just the way Wren worded things made her sound like a child pretending to be a grownup. She actually called Unfaithful a "really old movie". It's from 2003. Our mentioning that her homework was "a book called The Outsiders" as if no one else on the planet has heard of it before.

And of course, OF COURSE, the love between Wren and Nolan was instantaneous. Within hours of meeting, he convinces her to ditch her parents' party. She takes him into the off-limits galleries to show him a painting, and they share a kiss. He gets her to go to a club downtown with him, leaving all of her stuff for her friends to grab and telling virtually no one where she is going. At the club, she ruins her mother's Oscar de la Renta gown, but she thinks everything will be fine because Nolan got her home by midnight.

All throughout the book, she is blind to the way things are, and she continually acts like a petulant child. Her 10-year-old sister has a better head on her shoulders.

And I cannot abide when a girl in a novel compromises her beliefs or her dreams because of a boy. The entire novel, all Wren talks about is studying at Saint-Remy, where Van Gogh painted. Her favorite painting is The Starry Night, after all. But all Nolan has to do is ask, and she literally gives up her dream so that she can stay in New York with him. They have been dating maybe a month or so at this point. And then she doesn't understand why everyone is so upset with her.

Also, what the hell, people, not telling a responsible adult that your 15-year-old friend is sleeping with some 30-year-old skeezebag. What you need to do is tell her either she ends it or you're telling your parents. For crying out loud, people, that's illegal in most of this country.

UGH. I hate it when books have unsatisfactory endings, when the "bad guy" doesn't get the comeuppance he deserves. It's not a spoiler that Wren and Nolan are no longer together by the end of the book. It's in the first chapter. If you reveal the ending of a book at the beginning, you had better make the in-between damn interesting, and this was not.

The writing style was not that great. The metaphors were ridiculous, the descriptions were inane. There were quite a few grammatical errors (I know this is a proof, but even so, I shouldn't have caught that many mistakes).

I wouldn't waste your time on this book, to be honest. Keep walking.

[Nasty Lady MJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

To see full review with gifs click here.

Introduction: Sometimes, a book is so bad it's kick the puppy worthy for me to review. That's usually when I hand off the reviewing to my dog Patty.


I’ll have you know, I’m a highly educated Beagle.

While I might’ve flunked out of obedience school-because seriously, who actually wants to sit when there’s food in front of them-I do know how to read and write (obviously). And I have made a living out out of simply being cute, I bet you can’t do that.

I will say right now, that if I Patricia Cakes Beagle ever tried to write a book it would be better than Starry Night.

The sad thing is, any author should’ve been able to handle the plot. It’s simply idiotic girl meets idiotic boy with a half a page devoted to his description-so yeah, obviously they get together.

His beauty, and cool-guy vibe that I had not yet encountered in real life, only in movies, assaulted me. He was tall, taller than me. He had once-my-hair-was-normal-boy-length-but-I-let-it-grow-out=lie-two-years-ago long choppy brown hair that fell below his shoulders. His bangs were studied. He swept them to the side with his hand, tucking them up and around his ear, which had a perfectly, round, small golden hoop imbedded in it. When he tilted his head ever so slightly forward, his bangs fell off his ear and covered his enormous root-beer-brown eyes. His eyes looked Italian, like Michelangelo eyes, big lids, soft. Can you picture those? Have you ever seen Michelangelo’s David? This boy had eyes form the Renaissance, and they were looking right at me (40-41).

By the way, I didn’t know that root beer was soooo appealing. Personally, I prefer Denta Chews or Bacon. But beggars can’t be choosers. And why does everyone like a statue? Seriously, what’s so sexy about…oh yeah, that Nutcracker book that MJ was trying to get a court order to erase from her brain-forgot about that.

So….the romance sucked….was there something to make this book redeemable. How about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Our parents called us the Turtles because turtles lay so many eggs at one time (5).

Oh, wait wrong turtles. But can those turtles please come to this review. I’m hungry and I want pizza. But MJ says I can’t have pizza because Thanksgiving was last week and I had too much turkey.


Moving on. So, the Turtles are her friends via that quote. We don’t know much about them other than the fact one’s dating a thirty year old, I thought one was a boy for the longest time, one is sort of related to her, and…that’s about it.

So, bad characters. Little to no plot. Is there anything redeemable about it?

I know, New York. I love New York. They have thin crust pizza….oh yeah, pizza. This Beagle wants some pizza with extra pepperoni. It’s been too long since my owner now can only eat nasty gluten free pizza (the crust is just lacking).

However, you really didn’t feel the city in the book. Instead, you hear patronizing rich people talk.

“I get really proud of him at things like this. He started out as a school cook.”

“That’s impressive, man. See-you have to pay your dues.” (90)

Oh yes, you should be proud of yourself for working for that money-rolls eyes at patronizing rich people in book who live off of their trust fund. In fact, the narrator basically tells us this at one point.

The real reason why we live in a big house and have all those beautiful things is not only because y father has an important job, it’s also because long ago, back in Holland, my great-grandfather made a boatload of money as a banker. That money is why we can live where we live in New York City, and why most of my family can work in the arts (50)

You know what, they remind me of: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Take this conversation I had at the dog park with one dog named, Sparky.


Sparky: Is that a new sweater, Patty?

Patty: Yes.

Sparky: Well, it’s darling. Where’s it from PetSmart?

Patty: Um, yeah. That’s where I get all my clothes.

Sparky: Snickers Of course.

Do you see how this is NOT or amusing? I didn’t wear my dot sweater for months after said incident. I hope Sparky gets doggy diarrhea from his rich pet food.

Um, where was I in this review. Oh yes, so NYC location was sort of ruined because of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel cast.

In addition to these things, I couldn’t get over the prose. The style is ridiculously on the aggravating side. A French Bulldog could write more eloquent and we all know how smart they are….

“Reagan is so sophisticated. Her mom has spoken to her like she was a thirty year old since she was three. My parents practically still sing me lullabies.” (12)

In addition to sneer inducing prose, this book committed some major grammar faux pas for a final copy. Seriously, dialogue for different characters needs to be in different paragraph. Having it in the same paragraph, makes the book difficult to read and is just annoying.

I remember him saying at dinner, “Nan, love, it’s a wonderful life experience for her. I don’t see how we can stand in her way.” My mother protested. “I can stand directly in her way David. She is only NINE!” (27)

Book, what makes you feel special enough to ignore the rules of grammar. I can’t even do that and I’m like adorable.

Overall Rating:

Um, yeah I’m laughing because I give this book a big paws down. An F in DNF.

Thanks You,

Patty

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review first appeared on About to Read. Visit abouttoread.com for fairytale fashions, reads, and reviews.

***

Sometimes it’s hard to write reviews for novels you just didn’t like.

I had sooo many problems with this one it’s hard to even know where to begin. I suppose all of my complaints can be summarized in four categories:

 
The Language
Many of the sentences were overly descriptive and that really got on my nerves. I’m all for flowery language, but this was really over the top. I was having flashbacks to 7th grade when we were learning that simple sentences were much better than a sentence with 700 million adjectives.

 
Insta Love
Ugh. I know—we pretty much all hate this. So. Wren meets Nelson. Wren decides she really likes Nelson. Nelson decides he likes her too. One crazy night at the Met (and leaving the Met without notifying the parents) and the two are in love. Yup. They’re connection was that real. I can’t even . . .

 
The Time Period?
Oh how this got on my nerves. There are no words for how much I hated it. This book was either written 5 years ago and never updated or it’s written by an old person. It’s supposed to be set in the year it was published, I believe. It’s definitely set post Will & Kate’s marriage. However, many of the references and character’s actions just don’t fit with the year it’s supposedly taking place.

Let’s start with Blackberry. Yup. People are using Blackberrys. And not because they work in the government. Remember how much trouble Blackberry was in around 2010? And their market share has continued to decline ever since. I literally know 1 person who still has one.

Then there’s Facebook. Now, I’m in my mid-20s so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe high school aged teenagers are using Instagram as their primary form of social media and possibly snap chat. Facebook is for old people.

And—my personal favorite—Wren calls her boyfriend on his . . . wait for it . . . house phone. What???? First of all, house phones are becoming increasingly uncommon. Second, why in the world wouldn’t you call his cell? I hardly had anyone’s house numbers in high school because we all had cell phones. What decade is this???

 
The Main Character
Now my hatred of the time period craziness is rivaled only by my dislike of Wren. What an irresponsible little moron. She blames other people for her mistakes, does not think about the consequences of her actions, “fell in love” in a night, and bases her life choices around an idiot boy she’s only been seeing for a short time.

I knew I really wasn’t going to like her when she dropped some food on her mother’s vintage Oscar de la Renta dress and blamed the friend who gave her the food for not giving her a napkin. Are you kidding me? Her actions throughout the rest of the novel proves she has the maturity level of a grapefruit. While I realize people mature at different paces, Wren was not the kind of person I would have been friends with at any point in time.
This is one of those books that I thought about DNF-ing but felt compelled to finish because I’m just like that (see my my Am I a Masochist? discussion). In the end, I wasted my time on a book I really did not enjoy and wouldn’t recommend to others. The promise of magic and the Met drew me to Starry Night. In the end though, there really wasn’t much I liked about this one.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can also be found on A Thousand Lives Lived, check it out for more reviews!

*3.5 star rating*

Books that make your heart feel guilty of wanting more and that fluttering feeling with cuteness come and go. No for real—they simply just come once in a while, and never seem to go. Starry Night left me with a glitter-filled mind, where I was wishing for a romance so artistic that van Gogh would've given a huge approval for. Gillies did this so amazingly that I kept searching for more in a gorgeous majestic sunshine painting.



After reading, I feel like everything in my life now relates to art. Yeah, there's always many cheesy books where the protagonist is an artist or has those huge dreams, but this one worked. The best thing was that this wasn't picture perfect and it showed that it isn't that easy to find that kind of relationship, yet it isn't impossible because things work out to be that way a ton of times, especially after looking at the ending, which left me shocked and shredded into pieces.

"I don't think you fall in love for the first time until something—or someone—feels dangerous. I don't mean dangerous like going to jail, I guess I mean just different, really different."

You can say that the protagonist here, Wren, is clueless in life and love. But the best thing is that she's searching for it. It wasn't cheesy where she wasn't expecting the love and it suddenly just came to her, it was meant to be at the right moment where her and Nolan were both expecting the same kind of thing from each other. The way they meet was unexpected and everyone was shipping them so hard, including the family members. It was all perfect.

I guess compared to the really low ratings, I kept a total positive attitude towards this. In the end, I liked it much more than I expected, and sure there were some mishaps and weak things going on with the plot from the beginning towards the end of the middle, I can definitely recommend it. When I started reading, I was hoping for the best as I saw the low ratings where everyone was giving this a 2 star. The rating on Goodreads is 2.96 for goodness sake's! Why? I guess I can't really figure that out too well since I did like it by the end.



The plot of this was one of the problems. The beginning to middle was weak, as I had trouble getting interested in what was going on. The writing seemed weak and dull and I lost control of what I was trying to get from the message. But thankfully, Nolan and Wren's power stayed with me. Their romance was gorgeous, and I never had enough. THEY'RE SO CUTE AND THEN UGH ISABEL GILLIES KILLED ME. I'm not going to note what's going to happen, though it did shock me to the bones and I'm still left shaking.

With a gorgeous romance and characters, I have to say that Isabel Gillies has done a job well done with writing a novel that artists will see the deepness in. I can't stop thinking about it and I'm so excited to see more from the author. NREN FOREVER! #SHIP

[Rebecca (Unbound Pages) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is also on my blog, The Library Canary.

***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Um where do I start? This book was a disaster. I honestly don't know how or why I finished it. Here's the thing. I wanted to know what was going to happen. I wanted to hear how all of this was going to crash and burn. But I was cringing the whole time reading and getting so angry I was ready to throw my Kindle across the room.

Let's start with the writing. What a train wreck. I normally don't comment on the writing in books because I myself, while an aspiring writer, am not an actual writer myself and I know it's not easy so I don't like to judge. But I could not handle the writing in this book. It was bad, to say the least. For some reason there were no contractions (please tell me I'm not the only one who noticed this) so all the dialogue felt robotic and formal. It was weird and frustrating and annoying. Secondly, the main character's voice sounded so young. Younger than the 15 years old she was. She sounded more like she was in middle school. Drove me crazy.

The main character actually just really drove me crazy. She was stupid, idiotic, and completely flat. She basically lived her life based on what other people wanted out of her. I mean seriously some of the decisions she made??? Even at 15 I knew better than that. I at least knew enough to discuss with my parents or my friends. But no. What does this girl do? She gets a boyfriend. Falls in love in one day. Ditches all her friends. Stops communicating with her parents. And blows off all her hopes and dreams. And then after all this, you would think that she would learn her lesson, but I really felt like she didn't. I mean, she sort of did, but mostly she just seemed like the same immature person that she was before.

The guy was a major dick. That's all I have to say about that.

And here's the part that made me the most angry. The casual way that these young teens had sex. Let me tell you a little story. It's about to get real personal up in here. I lost my virginity at a young age. Not super young, but too young looking back. And let me tell you, the guy was a jerk (of course) and it broke me. I did not get over it easily. It was a HUGE deal. And these characters were just casually having sex, some of them with waaaay older guys and it was just no big deal. No consequences. No nothing. This is not what we should be teaching teens. Are you freaking kidding me? There were also drugs and alcohol involved and no consequences for these either.

All in all, this was a pretty terrible book. The only positive thing I can say is that I did really want to know what happened. I think it was like when you watch something really horrible and you can't look away even though you desperately want to. So yeah. Hopefully my next read will be a thousand times better. Happy reading all!

[☆☆Hannah☆☆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

RANT and SPOILERS! You've been warned.

This book was TERRIBLE. The main character has no backbone and quite frankly is a HUGE disappointment. Her boyfriend starts dating one of her friends while he is still dating her and her friend isn't even sorry about it. The main character doesn't even really get mad. My own sister who doesn't like to hit anyone made it clear to me that if I ever stole her boyfriend she would hit me. THAT TELLS YOU RIGHT THERE THAT THIS IS UNREALISTIC. As a matter of fact at one time she says that she still kind of wants to be her friend. EXCUSE ME? You are so unbelievably DUMB. When your friend is more mad than you there is clearly a problem. Do yourself a favor and NEVER read this book. It will only end badly.

[Ellie Robison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is literal trash. I want to burn it for all the reasons. It was a slow read, and I kept thinking: "It'll get better! The end will be worth it!" But it was not and it didn't get better. There was so much cheating. The timeline was wonky and the thoughts were unorganized. Definitely won't read any more of this author's books.

[Ella Norenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

hey i actually finished this one lol. Pretty simple read but it kept my attention. I thought this book was starry eyes when I saw it at one of the free book things at the beach, but it was not LOL but I read it anyway and it wasn’t that bad

[Hajirah Jawaid · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want my money back. 😭

[Jordan Holt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright, alright, alright time for a review where I will try to restrain myself from ranting too much about the things that really irked me about this book.

First, let me begin by saying that this book has some of the most immature/childish characters I've read about in my life. The ages of the main cast of characters in this book ranges from 15-18 and may I just say that it seems as if the author studied eight year olds for her inspiration for these characters. There was no forethought as to if teenagers actually act this way—and as a teenager myself it's incredibly demeaning to be portrayed this way by someone who clearly has put no thought into how we truly act. I want to read about relatable characters, not ones who make me irritable.

Next I would like to mention the fact that the main character, Wren, gave up a dream she had been working towards for years for some boy who in the end turned out to be something he wasn't. Wren was written as a very weak and childish character who seemed to not have any free will or decision making skills of her own. The decision she made to not listen to those around who truly cared about her well being in regards to a boy is stupid at best. The only truly redeeming thing about Wren is her artistic talent.

I also found Wren's friends to be even worse than her (with the exception of Padmavati). The entire Farah and Cy plot line was very unnecessary and unrealistic (and quite frankly disgusting), and Reagan was the worst of them all: a follower who doesn't know how to stand alone, and she certainly proved herself to be just that. From the start I found Nolan to be less than desirable (I don't think having a gold hoop earring with super long hair is attractive but to each his own). Almost as soon and he and Wren began dating, he was a tad controlling but it seemed to be masked by the sweet romantic gestures that were written for him.

All in all I find that authors who write weak and immature female characters who don't think logically and rely entirely on the direction of an older male love interest, tend to lose my interest rather fast. I had to propel through this book in the hopes that maybe something redeeming would come of the end (I will say that Vati and Oliver's relationship and Wren's sister Dinah were probably the only things keeping me in check during my reading of this book). Overall, I guess I could give this book 2.5 stars out of 5, but an author really loses me when she writes about lovesick 15 year olds who have no idea how to stand on their own. :(

P.S. sorry for the copious amounts of parenthesis and ranting

[Miss Phipps · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so disappointed in this book. You know that the love story doesn't end well in the first chapter, but you hope for this spectacular love story, then a satisfying "moving on" act that finishes you up. The final act didn't quite happen. Instead, you get a kind of "500 Days of Summer" moment with a "here's Autumn." This short little blurb at the end. You are left with heartbreak, and it's over.

The conflict with the other characters doesn't quite get wrapped up. A comeuppance wasn't delivered, which I thought was quite an oversight, because the message was, "Hey, girls! You can betray your friends, but since you think you are awesome, you won't have any consequences!" That's not the kind of message or story I want to read, and it's not the message I want kids to read either. I understand that this happens to people all the time - they do horrible things and get away with it. That's reality. The rest of us have to learn to cope with the selfish people of the world. But I don't want to read about it.

I did like the theme of missed opportunity. You can't get it back. But the author didn't focus on the resolution of this! There was so much build-up to this opportunity, and there was no time spent taking us from the realization of that heartbreak to moving to a new plan of attack. (It seems like this entire book is a missed opportunity.)

However, we are dealing with statutory relationships, betrayal, losing your virginity, making big decisions that affect the rest of your life, etc. There are big things happening, but it's not treated as big. It's rolled off the story's raincoat and goes down a storm drain, out of sight. Again, I'm not sure I'd want any teens I know to read this, because all those things are "a big deal." It seems at the end of the day, this novel is less from Wren's point of view, and more from Reagan's point of view. It's not from a sensitive girl's point of view, it's from a girl who doesn't think anything is a big deal.

The writing and tone suggest that this was written for middle school, but the themes are just too graphic for them. It's like Sex in the City for tweens, which is ridiculous.

It's too bad. It's a horrible waste of a good idea. It could have been so much more, I think.

[Esmeralda O · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, Starry Night is an amazing novel. The whole Wren/Nolan relationship had me hooked from the beginning. This was not because it was a “beautiful” or “touching” love story, though. It’s because it was so frustrating to read on while Wren continued to alter her life to suit this boy she just met. Although frustrating might not sound like a positive adjective one uses to describe a book, I am using it in the best way possible. Isabel Gillies created Wren in such a way that I automatically felt some kind of emotional connection to her. I felt excited for Wren when Nolan first professed his love for her. I felt angry when Reagan was making a big deal of having gone to Nolan’s gigs without Wren. I was nervous when Wren would sneak around in order to talk to or see Nolan. It was frustrating to read about someone like Wren going down the wrong path over and over again in order to satisfy someone else. Although I would never be so dumb as to throw away my ambitions for anyone, I couldn’t help but cry when Wren found out Nolan had been cheating on her this entire time. Wren had sacrificed so much for what turned out to be nothing. In short, if you enjoy reading about first loves and friendships that eventually turn into broken hearts and broken friendships, Starry Night is the perfect selection for you.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I really did.

First off, these kids are TOO YOUNG. The story would've been better if they were, say, 17. I am actually a 15-year-old, and none of my friends or I are doing what these girls did.

The writing seemed kind of amateur-ish and all over the place. I get that Wren has learning disabilities, but it was just too much.

Nolan and Wren's romance didn't seem real at all. There weren't enough emotional bonding scenes. It just seemed like teenage infatuation--on Wren's side. Nolan didn't really seem to like her all that much. I don't know, they just didn't seem very compatible.

And then you have the whole thing with Cy and Farah. It mostly just creeped me out. Does this kind of thing really happen in real life? It would've been more believable if there was some emotional tension or something. We never got to see inside Farah's head, what she was thinking.

All in all, this book just lacked emotion. I know I was supposed to be sad at the end, but I wasn't. I did like the way Wren told us how it ended before it started, though. It gave me a new perspective while reading.

[Books are TARDIS]

DNF at 33%. A hundred million miles ago, I could have liked this book. The Lizzie McGuire loving very-young-me could have connected with the story. But sadly, all that is the vestige of a bygone era. This book has a distinctly middle grade feel to it, which isn't a criticism, just an observation. And I do occasionally sample middle grade reads, but this one just didn't turn out to be my cup of tea. Maybe at another time, or in another life? #ITried
On the bright side, this is what my Lizzie McGuire nostalgia hath wrought:

[Coraline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book! I've read the other two nonfiction books by the author and find her style of writing to be soothing and fun. This was fun for me because I live in NYC and love reading books based in NYC. I'm also a mother of tweens, so I loved that aspect of the book. They're not quite ready to read this yet, but soon I'll recommend it to my daughter. I'm the kind of person who looks up every soap, store, or restaurant mentioned in books and Ms. Gillies has a knack for making me want to find every product she mentions in her books. (I'm still desperately looking for Florissa by Floris from her other books!) This book was no exception and I wanted the little girl with the cooking show to be real! It's a little heartbreaking at times, and as a mother, it makes me want to be even more protective of my daughter! I loved this book and highly recommend it!

[malayna · Rating 1 out of 5]

MY OPINION: *

***MAJOR MAJOR RANT***

This book had SO many problems I don't even know where to start.

I'm just gonna jump right in. There were so many times when I had to stop reading and complain/scream/die inside about something that I had just read. I had to make a list of everything that I didn't like so that I would remember it for this review.

SPOILERS (but does it matter? I wouldn't recommend really this book)

1) WREN. She's our main character.

-She's immature, she's easily peer-pressured by a random guy she's just met, she sounds like she's 3 years old half the time, her 10 y/o sister is smarter/wiser/more mature than her. Even my sister is more mature than this so-called 15 y/o.

-She's stupid on so many levels.

-She gives up her lifelong dream for an idiotic guy who honestly doesn't sound that hot/amazing/talented who ends up cheating on her with her BEST FRIEND who she still wants to be friends with after. UHHHHHHH

2) NOLAN. He's our love interest.

-He wears purple hightops, he has ROOTBEER BROWN EYES (UM WHAT IS THIS DESCRIPTION), and he's a jerk.

-He doesn't seem to care about Wren at all throughout the entire book.

-He forces her to do things that she obviously knows are wrong, he basically kidnaps her randomly from her own party and takes her to a strange party with underage drinking and creepy people.

-He MAKES HER BAD. Not the other way around (she doesn't make him any better).

-He says he's in love, but is he really? I mean, I saw NO evidence of a love relationship between these two. Maybe it's because they're 15, but either way, it was more like he's hot -- she's stupid, let's do this yay.

3) INSTALOVE. Wow, suddenly they meet and in the span of a glance, a smile, and a so-called hot bod, they're in love. "IN ONE DAY, I WAS IN LOVE." That's the exact words of Wren. UM, not really. You kinda need to get past looks and see them for who they are. Honey, this boy is no good. At all. GET WITH IT

4) FARAH AND CY DOWD. SHE IS FIFTEEN. HE IS THIRTY/FORTY-SOMETHING. UMMMMMMMMMM DOES ANYONE SEE SOMETHING WRONG HERE. That is rape. I don't care if she didn't care. Either way, that is statutory rape. And I feel like it wasn't dealt with correctly. There were no ramifications or punishments or even a harsh word towards this man who definitely knew that what he was doing was wrong, illegal, perverted, disgusting, and downright cruel. He manipulated a teenager. A young, immature, teenager. Farah had no problem with this because he's famous. But in reality, she was scared out of her mind and didn't know how to deal with it and her stupid friends didn't do anything throughout the entire book until the end to get her out of this awful situation. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM HERE

5) VATI AND OLIVER. She's been in love with him for years and years and years and since he is a math wiz, Wren thinks that her brother is supposed to be smart when it comes to girls. UHHHHHH NO. HE DIDN'T KNOW THAT VATI LOVED HIM (OR SO SHE SAYS) AND WHEN HE FINDS OUT, THEY START DATING IMMEDIATELY. Now, IDK ABOUT YOU BUT THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN IRL. If this happened, I would be the luckiest girl alive, people. This boy somehow sees the light in a span of a walk home and instantly starts dating her like 'omg, i'm in love already'

6) THE ENDING. It ended quickly. It ended badly. It ended abruptly. And nothing was concluded. Somehow, the pain that Nolan brings to Wren just goes away. Just like that. Reagen isn't punished for what she did by starting a relationship with her best friend's boyfriend. That's a problem. BROS OVER HOES. That's what it's supposed to be. And Wren and Nolan don't even end up together, something that we knew from the beginning but was beyond disappointing bc there was even less of a point to reading this book.

7) Writing. It's very rambly. There were times when I had to skim/skip through paragraphs bc I just couldn't anymore. It was long, it was slowgoing, and it made the characters sound really young and immature. I know that writing is extremely difficult to accomplish but this should have been revised so that characters sounded more like their age (which I am very close to). Every character felt flat. Like they had no personality and they all sounded the same.

8) WREN GIVES UP HER DREAM FOR NOLAN. He cheats on her. She leaves him. It was all a waste. That left me the angriest. IF YOU REALLY LOVE SOMEBODY, YOU LET THEM FOLLOW THEIR DREAM. IF YOU STILL WANT THEM AFTER, THEN IT'S LOVE. YOU DO NOT PROHIBIT SOMEBODY FROM GOING/DOING/MAKING WHAT THEY WANT AND CHEAT ON THEM IN THE END. AT LEAST BREAK UP WITH THEM BEFORE CHEATING.

9) THE AMOUNT OF TIMES I WANTED TO QUIT. I wanted to DNF this book by page 50 but I kept on bc I thought it would maybe redeem itself. But I'm sad to say it only got worse.

10) There were a couple of parts that I did like, surprisingly enough.

There is not a parent out there who can tolerate hearing their kid say, "Even though I got into the University of Success and Happiness, I'm going to defer and not go because of Mark/Madeline/David/Debbie/Troy/Una/Frank. I'm in love."

Amen to that. I loved that and the uniqueness of the names and the way it was said. I actually laughed!

Well zen, zis boy, he is not your destiny. He is just a boy.

This is said by some random French stranger and yet they were the best words in the entire book.

I would recommend this book to readers interested in a flightly unrealistic romance. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it..

Main Character: Wren
Sidekick(s): Nolan (sometimes), Vati (she seemed to be the only good friend), Reagen, Farah, etc
Villain(s): Nolan (sometimes), Reagen, Cy, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book could have been based on real events.

[Alicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried and did not enjoy, though the cover is cute enough. In part, I started to warm up to the characters and their very Darling-esque ways thinking that it would be as lovely as Stephanie Perkins's series in its saccharine beauty. Instead, the book was so slow-- SOO SOO SLOW that I bored quickly and closed the book. Well, wait, I went to the last chapter, read it, and realized I didn't feel as though I missed anything in between.

It's value is in it's coming-of-age gaggle of girls focus, that readers may enjoy if they connect with the characters or situation, because it's certainly not any 'action' that's propelling them forward.

[Brooke · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a terrible book. Root beer brown eyes? Getting all butthurt than in your beautiful cosmopolitan life that the guy you fell hard for strung you along and ended up with your friend.

Not only that, but you give up this amazing chance to study a beloved topic in flipping France because you're 15 and in love with this boy. Oh, but it's cool, because at the end you land in Savannah in goddamned Georgia instead of FRANCE. Like that's any consolation, but you want me to believe that it is.

What a trite, ridiculous, vapid first love/heartbreak story.

[Andrea Heltsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the description and thought this book sounded like a good paranormal romance. Unfortunately, it didn't end up living up to my expectations. It wasn't a paranormal romance first off.
Second, the characters were entirely too young to be having these experiences and making these decisions. Age difference was also wrong. No adult could condone that relationship with the age difference and her life being so influenced by him.
Overall, I just didn't enjoy this title, but I'm sure many people will.

[thirah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't count how many times this book has made me cringe. I haven't even finished this book and I can't help but rate it anyway. This book is part of the reason why THIS is the only book I'm reading this month,the plot is unbearable and the main character is agonising. I'd pick it up and would read a few pages until I'd feel like it's too..............blergh so I kept putting it off. All in all,this has been a disappointing read :( Remind me to not pick up books based on cunning covers again >:)

[Abbi · Rating 1 out of 5]

WELP, i tried. i'm terrible about giving up on a book, but i'm trying not to waste my time in 2016. so, i'm putting this one to rest at about 1/4 of the way through. maybe 10 years ago i would have liked it, maybe someone 10 years younger than me WILL like it, but god, it's just not for me. the main character is (as far as i read) spoiled, silly, vapid, privileged, irritating, etc etc. at least the cover will still look pretty on my bookshelf, ha!

[Rachael · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book felt like I was in the mind of a twelve year old, not a fifteen-going-on-sixteen year old. It's so.... young. Like, annoyingly young. It's disappointing because this book sounded so cute. It was like I was in middle school all over again with how these characters act. I felt like all these disorders Wren has is kind of offensive to people who actually have these things. I don't really know how to explain it, but it didn't feel right.
Definitely a disappointing read. 1.5 stars

[Person · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a suspicion that this reading this book was going to be painful. I related to the character easily and could feel her heartbreak. I was annoyed with the cliche story of a normally well behaved girl going into the city with some guy she's just met to have a night that will change her. It was nice when the story went further and turned that one night into an entire relationship. I also appreciated that she did tell kind of let people know what she was doing and that she did come back when she said she would. I also like that Nolan, the main character's love interest, admitted to her parents that leaving the party was too impulsive and that Nolan was overall described as a decent guy. Wren, the main character, was an intriguing narrator as she reflects on the events. The characters were great, but the book could have been so much better. Nolan hints that Wren's world is easy and that she is blind to the fact that the worlds of the people closest to her aren't. So let's talk about the lives of the characters around Wren. First of all, her family is pretty much perfect. She has loving parents with fun occupations and that have enough money that money isn't really a concern. Wren's brother is very kind to her and the two get along great. Her sister is unnecessarily a child t.v. star with her own cooking show and despite a lack of friends which is mentioned in passing but not dealt with appears to be perfect as well. Meanwhile, there are some alarming things happening in the lives of Wren's friends. I hated Wren's friend Farah. She is fifteen years old in the story and should not be involved with a man that is at least thirty years old. Her lack of adult supervision is crazy as is the fact that all of her friends see something wrong with the situation and yet wait to actually help her. For crying out loud, she obviously sees something wrong with everything and yet she continues. I'll assume that she isn't in her right mind and that maybe she needs more attention or something but come on that whole part of the story was craziness! And if she did need some sort of help does that one little" intervention" really change anything? If you are going to go down that rabbit hole, you can't just have it practically solve itself with one pathetic "intervention." Then there is Charlie who later is revealed to be gay which, though it is kind of already assumed at the beginning, is kind of a big deal and you would think that the reader would get to see Charlie and what was going on with him. Nope, just a quick mention that he's going on a date with a guy name Arthur. Reagan, I cannot begin to explain my confusion at this character. At first she kisses Oliver, Wren's brother, whom she knows that her friend, Padmavati, has a major crush on and has for a number of years. Then she ends up "falling in love" with Nolan. I thought at first that she was going to have some sort of intervention. Wren describes her as antisocial and even Nolan talks about a concern for her. This girl goes after the guys that two of her best friends like, coincidence? NO! I'd be cool with Nolan and Reagan falling in love accidently, but she already has a bad record. I just find it hard to believe. Padmavati appears to have an okay life, especially after she starts dating Oliver and there's really not much more to say on that. I like that her crush on Oliver felt real and I like that her relationship with Oliver created a contrast for Wren's relationship. Then there's Nolan who still seems to be troubled by his parent's divorce. That's hard, I get it, but I don't really get to see it. He cries about it once on the phone when he complains that he can't see his dad because his step grandma died and his dad is going to Florida to help with arrangements, but that is one time and it seems reasonable. Don't get me wrong, I understand that divorces are hard to go through especially as he witnessed the fight between his parents and as his dad left his mom to be with his stepmom, but this is his life. Either show me more about how this affects him or don't use it as an excuse for his woe is me and his connection with Reagan. Now, let's focus back on Wren. She has difficulties trusting herself due to having ADD and I believe a learning disorder. That's hard. It is something that she is constantly questioning about herself. This comes very clear through narration when she say things like it could have been my ADD or it could have been a normal emotion. She doesn't know. Nolan has ADD and I think that this connection should have been part of their relationship, but it wasn't. Nolan blames Wren for not seeing and helping her friends with their problems, but he doesn't see hers either. He also was a jerk asking Wren to stay with him and give up her dream of going to France. Yet, I don't hate him, which is important because Wren doesn't hate him. The book should have gone more in depth about the different side characters' and their stories, but because it didn't that makes them almost seem nonexistent which is why I can't blame Wren for not noticing. She tried to help Farah, but Farah saw her as being judgemental and rejected the help which worried Wren into not doing anything. It's not the best thing she could have done, but she tried and eventually succeeded. Besides, that kind of burden doesn't fall completely on Wren. Other than that her friends aren't open enough for her to help any of them. In conclusion, I like the characters in this book, I just wish the situations that they were placed in were more realistic and that their stories were more detailed.