Starworld

by Audrey Coulthurst and Paula Garner

In a novel in two voices, a popular teen and an artistic loner forge an unlikely bond — and create an entire universe — via texts. But how long before the real world invades Starworld?

Sam Jones and Zoe Miller have one thing in common: they both want an escape from reality. Loner Sam flies under the radar at school and walks on eggshells at home to manage her mom’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, wondering how she can ever leave to pursue her dream of studying aerospace engineering. Popular, people-pleasing Zoe puts up walls so no one can see her true self: the girl who was abandoned as an infant, whose adoptive mother has cancer, and whose disabled brother is being sent away to live in a facility. When an unexpected encounter results in the girls’ exchanging phone numbers, they forge a connection through text messages that expands into a private universe they call Starworld. In Starworld, they find hilarious adventures, kindness and understanding, and the magic of being seen for who they really are. But when Sam’s feelings for Zoe turn into something more, will the universe they’ve built survive the inevitable explosion?

• ISBN10: 0763697567
• ISBN13: 9780763697563
• Publish Date: 16 April 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Candlewick Press,U.S.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780763697563

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight .

Starworld is a sweet book, told from the points of view of Sam and Zoe. (And incidentally, written by two authors whose work I rather enjoy.) There were definitely wins for me, with a few reservations, so I am just going to break it down as such!

The Wins:

• •Holy emphasis on family! This is beautiful, frankly. The times I felt the most emotion while reading is while these two young women were interacting with (or speaking about) their families. Having them be able to open up to each other about struggles they felt unable to share with anyone else was really sweet. And goodness, the sheer love that radiated from their respective family units had my heart melting over and over again. I found that they were all so relatable, as they had their own problems (some very severe) but tried desperately to work together to make things better.



• •The characters were quirky and adorable and seemed really relatable. They were both trying to come to terms with so, so much life upheaval. And not just your typical "growing up" stuff, though that was part of it for sure. Sam is dealing with an absent father, a mother with a mental illness, a best friend who's starting to move on a bit without her, and well, feelings for Zoe. Zoe has a whole host of family situations from a special needs brother, a mom who's just gone through cancer treatment, and the fact that she's adopted. Not to mention, a boyfriend she doesn't seem so keen on, and friends who she has been distancing herself from. So when their worlds collide, it makes sense that they'd gravitate toward each other. Which leads to my next point...



• •Zoe and Sam leaning on each other was lovely. Really, it is incredible that they were able to find solace in this imaginary world they created. And that they could trust each other with this stuff that was both too big to handle alone, yet too hard to open up to anyone else about.

The Reservations:

• •The actual "Starworld" was a little hokey. Look, I am all for them having this cute little inside world. But I don't know that I needed to read all the texts about it? In role-play-speak no less? At first I thought it was a little cheesy, but after that wore off, I just was mostly bored and just skimmed those parts. 🤷‍♀️



• •I didn't really love the ending. I mean, I guess I hoped the story would go in a different direction? And maybe that's on me, but... my opinion stands. And I'll give you the least spoilery version possible, still under spoiler tags because I personally hate spoilers but... I feel like this one is kind of big for people who were hoping for certain things from the book, so. If you are here for a f/f romance... look elsewhere. Sam loves Zoe, but, well. That's about the extent of that. And I feel like Zoe handles some stuff really poorly.

Bottom Line: Super sweet in terms of family and friendships, but lacking in a couple areas as well. Overall though, I was glad I read it.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Right off the bat, I’m in love with Starworld.  This unexpected novel pulls so many of my heartstrings. I am absolutely one of those humans who likes finding people in books I can relate to, and from page one, Sam Jones was my girl.

Things I like about Sam:
- She hides in Art Class.
- She’s terrified of humans and still texts like the most amazing nerd ever.
- She hides in bathroom stalls for peace and quiet when the world is too much.

If that were all there was to it, I’d be a fan of this book, because already I’m driven by a character who had me wrapped around her finger in the first eighteen pages. But that’s not all. Because pages eighteen through thirty-six brought Zoe, and I immediately fell in love with her too. If Sam is the girl I relate to now, hiding in the books and crannies and wishing I couple disappear in my passions, Zoe is the girl I was in high school.  An outlier who wants to me a cool girl. Zoe is more successful than I ever was, but she’s willing to do anything in theatre to be a part of the story. She cares about people and knows her life is blessed despite everything and yet she still needs an escape.  Like Zoe, I even had a mother going through cancer when I was that age, although that’s where the familial similarities end.  The two girls together are incredible as well, so from page 36 forward, even if this was just intended to be a romance... I’m all in.

Starworld is not a romance, though. It’s a story about two girls with immensely complicated lives struggling between their own social, familial, and academic responsibilities to be themselves. To just get their homework done. There’s a lot of conversation about the struggle between guilt and desire.  When the feel ungrateful for being unhappy or not 100% enthusiastic.  They’re complicated and their struggle is heartbreaking and beautiful all at once. It’s actually refreshing to read such an incredibly diverse book (differently abled rep, mental health rep, LGBTQ+ rep, plus an adopted character, a character with terminal illness, and a character with divorced parents) and have it be about more than a romantic story that “fixes” everything.And I liked the twist, I really did. I liked it because it was something I haven’t seen in YA before, and I liked it because it showed both sides of the story. I don’t want to give it away because I wasn’t expecting it, but I think that sometimes things are not wrapped up like a Disney movie... but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s scary and messy, but it can still be something beautiful at the end of the day.

Generally speaking, I loved this book all over. It was a little messy, but mostly sweet. It definitely made me want my own Sam or Zoe type person to go to Starworld with.  The pacing was quick and yet perfect, and the story was light and nice, with some harsh realities mixed in to ground it. In so many ways Starworld made me feel raw and vulnerable, because both these girls slowly tear themselves open. Be prepared for heartwarming adoreabless, but also be prepared to cry.

[katie]

*hopes you enjoy this book as much as I did*


Full review to come at kaitgoodwin.com/books!

[Stephanie]

*loves this book so much* :D :D :D