Call Me Star Girl

by Louise Beech

[zooloo1983]

How do you even comprehend in writing a review for a book like this? I know when I read The Lion Tamer Who Lost I took straight to my blog and brain dumped, it was not coherent just a huge mess of teary words. This time I have come back to my blog to find some words to write this review, I am not in a mess of tears but I got choked up in the end and I was shocked and moved by the ending because quite frankly I could not see how this was going to end and I really did not want it to end!

With this book, I listened to it and I read it, I had a day in the office to myself and started the book and practically finished it in that day. The narrator was awesome and I felt she had captured Stella and Elizabeth both so perfectly. She got them and it made the listening that much more magical and harrowing. Plus I could imagine the narrator, Katy Sobey, being on the radio, her voice is pure magic. I will definitely be listening to more books by her!

The secrets we uncovered on Stella’s last show, well some were of the normal variety and well some discoveries, especially in the Stella and Tom chapters were…spicer and at times quite dark.

Despite the darkness of this book and the secrets, the main force driving this book, for me, was love. The intense kind that could quite literally drive you to murder, the kind where you are so wrapped up in each other that it is so intense you forsake all others. Not just between two lovers but a mothers love too. You could imagine this sort of love being viewed as being quite twisted, selfish, dark and damaging to others, but when you look at it simplistically, it is just a love that is so pure. So pure, it has been stripped back to the rawest form, to it’s hungriest form where it just overpowers you and as I said quite literally makes you forsake all others. This is the type of love Stella has for Tom, and Elizabeth (Stella’s mother) has for Stella’s unknown father.

Whilst Stella is playing out her last ever show, wanting to know your secrets, it is clear there are many secrets kept from her. Her mother, Tom and ‘The man who knows’ all have their secrets but are they willing participants in this evening’s plans?

Not only are we dealing with secrets but we have a murderer on the loose, a pregnant woman has been murdered, Victoria, but what is it about her death that is affecting Stella and those around her so much?

For this being a first-time foray into the darkness of a thriller, it paid off. It felt like this was not Louise’s first rodeo into this world, the thrill was spot on, the darkness and intensity of the story all worked for me. All through the words that were not wasted. Every word, sentence, paragraph and page served a purpose, it was not wishy-washy, it was tight and precise and left you wanting more. The chapters are short and snappy and they flit between Stella and Elizabeth and then and now. I love this with books, they build the picture and boy was there a bigger picture to be built here.

I loved the darkness in this book, and I think about 60ish% through the book, there was a moment where I stopped what I was doing and quite simply said the words “F**k” I even sent a message to my friends, with no other words but ‘this book’. I was shocked, I did not see this revelation coming and it turned everything I thought I knew about this book on its head. Beyond epic is all I can say. I think Amazeballs is a word I generally band about too!

Call Me Star Girl was powerful, haunting and beautifully done, this will stay with me. And do not be surprised to see this in my Top books for 2019 that is for sure!

Last time I read a book by Louise I rushed out and brought all the books that she has written, I cannot do it this time but I know that I can safely say that if I hadn’t already learned the first time, that all her books in the future will be on pre-order. I am kicking myself that I have not read her other books yet, but they are sitting pretty on my shelf calling me…..or was that Stella??

Okay, I think this less than coherent fangirl message has made some sort of point I wanted to make!