From the Bookshelf of The Sapphic Squad…

Girl Made of Stars

Ashley Herring Blake

Start date: July 17, 2018

Finish date: July 31, 2018

Discussion leader: Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack)

Why we're reading this: This one is a really emotionally cathartic book, but it is definitely a hard read - there is extensive di…more
[close] This one is a really emotionally cathartic book, but it is definitely a hard read - there is extensive discussion of rape culture and sexual assault in general, and and an on-page flashback to a traumatic experience. The romance is between the bi lead and her ex-girlfriend Charlie, who is nonbinary. This is also by the author of the immensely popular and completely awesome How To Make A Wish. This is a fantastic book and I hope you all read it!!

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Aug 20, 2018 Melanie (meltotheany) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lgbtqiap, young-adult, read-in-2018, contemporary, buddy-reads

“Even girls made of stars are captives, bound at the wrists and traded like property. Even girls made of stars aren't asked, aren't believed, aren't considered worth the effort unless they can offer something in return. Even girls made of stars buy into those lies sometimes.”

Friends, I wish I could put this book into everyone in the entire world’s hands. This book is so powerful, so heartbreaking, so important, and just so beautifully crafted. But before I really even start this revi ...more

357 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2018 Scarllet ✦ iamlitandwit rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-my-bookshelf, wlw, 4-star-read, lgbtqa-rep, young-adult, books-like-these, bi-mc, left-me-an-emotional-mess

I originally had this as 5 stars because it's a brilliant book that I read in a day with amazing representation and characters that tugged at my heartstrings. Plus that cover is more gorgeous than I thought it was going to be!

But days later, the book didn't really stay with me despite how emotional of a reading it was. So I'm leaving it at a 4/4.5 star read because I still really liked it and it's brilliant!

More of a review to come. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 30, 2018 Kay Solo rated it it was amazing

Wow. This was so much more than I thought it would be, but so, so very well done. There's a plethora of relevant contemporary issues in here, and I've come away from this book with a weight on my chest because of how well they were handled and represented. It was equal parts wonderful and horrible, where every page hits just a little too close to home, where there was the occasional twist of a knife I thought was no longer there, where there were some reminders of things that are never welcome. ...more

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Sep 22, 2018 ida rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-lit, young-adult-contemporary, faves, lgbt, characters-of-color, fave-characters, 5-stars, f-lgbt, bi-pan-plus, 2018-reads

Trigger warnings: rape (not portrayed), child sexual abuse

"Maybe I'm the type of girl who's tired of hiding and crying alone.
Maybe I'm the type of girl who realizes she's not alone.
Maybe I'm the type of girl whose favorite person in the world did something unforgivable.
Maybe I'm the type of girl who finally accepts it.
Maybe I'm not a stupid girl.
Maybe I'm just a girl, plain and simple and real."

Oh wow, I'm going to start this review off by saying that this is easily both the best YA novels Trigger warnings: rape (not portrayed), child sexual abuse

"Maybe I'm the type of girl who's tired of hiding and crying alone.
Maybe I'm the type of girl who realizes she's not alone.
Maybe I'm the type of girl whose favorite person in the world did something unforgivable.
Maybe I'm the type of girl who finally accepts it.
Maybe I'm not a stupid girl.
Maybe I'm just a girl, plain and simple and real."

Oh wow, I'm going to start this review off by saying that this is easily both the best YA novels I've read in a while and it's also one of the most important ones I've read in years.

In this novel, you're following a girl called Mara, who lives in Frederick, Tennessee. She's a twin and she and her twin brother Owen have always been close. They both attend the same liberal arts high school but hang out with different sets of people; for Mara, this is her best friends Charlie and Hannah (Charlie also happens to be Mara's ex girlfriend and Hannah happens to be Owen's girlfriend), and for Owen it's his best friend Alex. Mara is the editor of her school's feminist newspaper, Empower, and is trying to get over her breakup with Charlie when one day, her life is thrown upside down when Owen is accused of raping Hannah at a party.

This is the premise this novel deals with; for a YA novel it's touching on a lot of heavy subjects, and actually works with them a bit. I sometimes find that YA lit tend to throw heavy subjects into the mix, scrape on their surfaces and then focus on safer subjects such as romance. This novel, however, definitely does not shy away from difficult subjects. In fact, I had to put this down on several different occasions because it got so heavy.

As a girl, you're sort of forced to grow up with the ever present threat of rape and sexual abuse constantly on your mind. You always know a friend or a friend of a friend who it's happened to. This is definitely a very prominent theme in this novel too. For Mara, it's the things her brother has done to her best friend, the things she's been subjected to when she was a literal kid, it's the words thrown at Hannah in the corridor.

This novel plays around with a lot of difficult subjects that make my stomach turn in dispair. If your brother is being accused of rape, who do you believe, him or your best friend? I LOVED how this book made her 'choose' Hannah and not Owen because I've seen enough victim blaming in books. I actually liked the fact that Mara was alone in her family in not believing him because it's really sobering to see a book that dares to do it the difficult way. I think this book accurately confirms my impression of victims of sexual abuse and those that stand against it - they're often left alone because it's more comfortable to just not talk about it.

As for Mara, she's one of my most favorite characters in a book of all time. She's such a strong character and the amount of girl power shown by her and the other girls made my heart swoon. In fact, what I liked the most about her character arc and the things she had to dealt with in her past was that that made her realistic and believable. She wasn't a feminist dream character who had the strength to battle the patriarchy at all times in a way that isn't realistic. Instead, she's allowed to be real, to be down, to be hurt, to have feelings. I feel like this is super important to show your readers. Seeing characters being affected by things make them way multidimensional which is a straight up positive thing.

Also, one thing I also enjoyed about this book was how the romance was dealt with! And also, THIS is how you write a bisexual characters! Bonus points for actually mentioning she's bi too.

This book should definitely be mandatory reading at high schools everywhere. Wow, I finished this novel this morning and I'm still so very blown away by it. I'm still hurting for the characters and I'm angry and I want to do everything in my power to change this society.

"For Hannah.
For Charlie.
For all the girls whose names I'll never know.
For me.
Girl made of flesh and bone."
...more

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Sep 13, 2018 Katie Mauger rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult-teen, queer, bi-pan-fluid, nonbinary-rep, sad

I literally couldn’t put this book down. It stressed me out so much that the inside of my mouth is wrecked today from biting my lips so much while I read it. Mara is just so good. So are Charlie and Hannah. They are all just wonderful, supportive people doing their absolute fucking best out there. Nothing about this book is fair, just like life isn’t fair to sexual abuse and rape survivors. It was hard to read at times, but it was also so good and so important I sorta think everyone should read I literally couldn’t put this book down. It stressed me out so much that the inside of my mouth is wrecked today from biting my lips so much while I read it. Mara is just so good. So are Charlie and Hannah. They are all just wonderful, supportive people doing their absolute fucking best out there. Nothing about this book is fair, just like life isn’t fair to sexual abuse and rape survivors. It was hard to read at times, but it was also so good and so important I sorta think everyone should read it.

One thing that I really loved about this book was its queer rep. The main character is bi, and her bisexuality is treated so well by the author. I’m bi, and idk if I’ve ever seen it explained so well in a YA book. The main character’s ex and best friend is genderqueer, and although that is outside of my own experience, it seems like that was also portrayed very well. They actually mention the term “nonbinary,” friends! Their relationship was just so important and so good, and I love them both so much.

Mara’s family was so... complicated. I can’t figure out exactly how I feel about them, much like Mara herself can’t figure out how to feel about her brother. Idk if rapists can ever be redeemed, maybe if they actually feel real remorse and make real amends and learn over years of hard work. But in order to make amends one has to first admit what one’s done. It’s up to parents to make sure their kids experience consequences for their actions and have to own up to the things they’ve done wrong. Mara’s parents are failing in this regard. I understand the urge to circle up and protect your son, but in this case it’s just such a mistake, and it’s actively harming their other child. It’s just so frustrating! The book is left fairly open-ended, and most things are not resolved like I wanted them to be, but it’s not a depressing or hopeless ending either. This book is ultimately saved from hopelessness by the strength and love shown by the survivors, and the support they give each other.

Trigger warning for rape, sexual assault, pedophilia, & victim-blaming ...more

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