This story is well written and the subject it covers right to the point. I did't not like it, but is not like I liked it either.

I liked Charlie's character but I didn't completely liked Mara (and I don't even know why).

Is it rape if you are heavily making out with your boyfriend and then you just don't feel like going all the way and ask him to stop but he doesn't and puts it in anyways?  Isn't that what our president, Donald Trump did with his ex wife; had sex with her even when she didn't want to? 

Anyways, some people will say that men should stop anyways... but that is not the issue here. I liked how Blake linked what happened to Mara to Hanna. Why would you believe one girl over the other?

Exploring what happened to Mara could be another whole book by itself!

Blake even takes on this whole new trend of I-don't-know-what-I-am (male or female), so I'm binary. But that's not really what this book is about either. 

I will never understand how you a person can break up with somebody because "I don't want to lose your friendship." What the heck is that? Especially coming from a teen. If you didn't want to ruin the friendship you shouldn't have started dating in the fist place. And since when do teenagers see so far ahead? 17 year old breaking up because she doesn't want to ruin their friendship...

I think these teens in this book acted a lot more serious than their age. I didn't feel as if I was reading something from the perspective of a teenager but an adult.

Anyways, this is a nice book for a book club as it has a lot of points that can be taken up for discussion. Very well written, just that the characters didn't sound their age to me.

Girl Made of Stars is a beautifully complex story about sexual assault, victimization, and empowerment (and so so much more). The characters are thoughtfully portrayed as multifaceted and complex, Mara’s struggles feel so real as she grapples with intensely conflicting feelings. The strong friendships in Girl Made of Stars were my favorite part, it’s filled with young women who support each other and love each other.

This is a particularly great book for discussions with groups. Girl Made of Stars will be a difficult book to recommend because it is far from light reading, it is dense, emotional, and heavy. But that’s what makes it an important and powerful book, it’s the perfect book for discussing sexual assault and double standards, it’s the perfect book to recommend to a reader who is finding their voice.

This book was great. I loved how its based around twins as i love reading books who main characters are siblings and reading how much they love and connect with each other. This book showed us how torn people can become when theres issues between their family and friends and how much of a struggle it is learning who is telling the truth and whos side to fight without hurting the other side. This book is based around the concopt of rape so if that tiggers someone i would be wary of reading it. We only see the narrator of Mara who is the sister in this book and only have the storyof what happened through owen and hannahs descriptions of what happened which makes it harder to figure out who is the one telling the truth and who is lying. So much happened in this book even though its short which made me as the reader feel so many different emotions from happy to wanting to cry to angry, its a real page turner. 

I gave this book 4 stars as i really enjoyed reading about Mara and Owen.

Girl Made of Stars is a YA novel that cannot be shoved into a simple review. There are so many facets, so many layers, so many stories wrapped up together in one satisfying read. For Mara, Charlie, Owen, Hannah, and Alex, the loose ends don’t get tied up in a neat package. I like that the edges are still raw. Honestly, that’s life.

This is a very thought provoking young adult novel. Full of teenage angst. Mara coping with her sexuality but having the full support of her family especially her twin Owen. Suddenly Mara's world gets ripped apart and has her questioning what's real. Has their twin bond been disconnected forever?Is the trust in her friends validated?
Read and find out.

This is such an important story during the time of #metoo and our focus on consent and male advantage. It also gives a strong voice to people who are questioning their gender identity. It's about so much more than these huge, significant issues, though. Ultimately, it's a story of courage, love, loss, family, and tragedy. Slow at times and a little overbearing, but still an important and timely story that is well written.

I'm crying. I'm actually bawling. Apologies for any typos, I can't see very well. This is so heartbreaking, and so powerful and empowering. It's about loyalty and friendship and family and love, about being broken and finding your strength. This is exactly the kind of book we need in the world and I will be forcing it into people's hands. Along with tissues and a hug afterwards.

Fantastic.

Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

To be completely honest, this book stumps me a little. While it was an enjoyable read that I finished in a day, if it had been any longer I don't think I would have coped so well. The premise exploring rape culture is one aspect I applaud about this book. It is so important within society today to understand how rape culture works and what drives it. I feel Girl Made of Stars did a particularly good job in this respect. However, I don't feel I was the right reviewer for this book. Being a twin myself and the book centering around twins, I found myself easily irritated by the many twin cliches that wouldn't normally bother the average reader. I also found there were certain actions repeated continuously throughout the book - the main character's hand holding of everyone and the dragging of ones hand through their hair - which I found distracting..

My last point is that the story also delved into a lot of other subjects which I feel took away from the main story, Attention was diverted by massive info dumps, especially at the beginning. This would have been fine if the subjects had somehow been subtlety shown throughout the text but they were told and explained quite pointedly. So, while these irritations made the book fall flat for me, I still feel it was an important story. It focused on serious issues and dealt with the ramifications reasonably. I would still recommend this book, which is why I've given it three stars.

This book was so raw and powerful I couldn't put it down. Mara had so many struggles to overcome that you end up being so completely swept up in her story. This is the book to read for anyone who has lost their voice due to sexual assault and for anyone who has had to climb their way out of the darkness of victimhood.

This book is a powerful and intense story about at the horror of sexual assault, the brutality of a system that is constantly against women but it is also a story of hope. I have loved the characters and their bravery. It's a difficuly read but a very important one.

Mara and Owen are twins; they know everything about one another. But when Hannah - Mara's friend and Owen's girlfriend - accuses Owen of rape Mara finds herself lost. How could her brother do something like this? It can't be true, but Hannah wouldn't lie, she simply wouldn't. As she searches for truth with the support of her closest friends, Mara comes face to face with her own demons that have been shut away for far too long. 

Girl Made of Stars openly but honestly tackles tough topics like gender identity, consent, victim blame, and sexual assault. A timely and essential read for teens.

This book definitely deals with a lot of sensitive topics, from sexual assault to the enormous problem in our culture of victim blaming. The main characters in this book, Mara, Hannah and Charlie are all interesting characters and its an interesting concept, a girl whose twin brother is accused of sexually assaulting her friend/his girlfriend. When I read the synopsis for this book, it really sounded like an impossible situation for these characters to be in. I mean, in this type of situation, I assume you would want to believe your brother. I really enjoyed the author's writing style and I found both the characters and the story to be both relatable and realistic It is definitely an important book that deals with some very hard topics. I look forward to reading more from the author in the future..

This book was so. Powerful. It was heart wrenching to read. It tore at me, knowing that our MC was in the middle of this, trying to figure out the truth behind her own twin brother being accused of raping his girlfriend – one of her best friends. Blake masterfully navigates the grey area and shows the reader how messy the truth can be, and how much courage it takes to make the truth heard. This book is a must read for anyone and everyone.
     Warnings: sexual assault, victim blaming

Did not finish after the first chapter. I didn’t like the characters, especially Mara’s personality. Thank you for approving me though.

This is a painful story, but a story that needs to be told. "Mara and Owen are about as close as twins can get. So when Mara's friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can the brother she loves really be guilty of such a violent crime?" Talking about real issues and real emotions this book manages to capture the middle ground between love and belief. 

I raced through this book without putting it down because I just wanted to know how it was going to end and couldn't wait and the book didn't let me down. I found myself getting angry, depressed, saddened and hopeful through the pages of the book and finished feeling all those emotions as well.

After a break up with her best friend/partner (they're nonbinary!!!), Mara's only comfort is her twin brother, Owen. When one of Mara's best friends accuses Owen of sexual assault, Mara's world is flipped on its head, her world filled with memories of the past and confusion.

Our protagonist, Mara, is a very relatable and lovable character. Her candidacy, thoughts, and feelings make her feel like a real person, which I love to read about. Her struggles with PTSD and anxiety were well represented, which again, I love to read about. I have such mad respect for her growing, developing and listening to the victim, even though she loves Owen. There is that narrative of struggling and questioning who to believe, and I applaud the author for accurately illustrating that internal struggle. 

Another thing I loved about this book was the representation of bisexuality. I feel that Mara's sexuality was well represented, which is something that does not happen often in YA books.

Overall, I cannot wait for this book to come out so I can put it in the hands of many!

Wow oh wow. This story is just amazing. It's not often that books make me cry but this one did. Such an intense story and beautiful characters. I can't begin to describe how much i love it and i will be buying it the day it comes out.

I’m writing this review in January and I don’t know if I’ll be recovered by the time this review goes up. This book absolutely gutted me. Like I was sobbing in my bed at midnight, hoping I wouldn’t wake anyone up.

This book was incredibly difficult for me to read for multiple reasons. One: I was a victim of sexual assault twice. One by a classmate in high school & once in my early 20’s by a man I had known since I was six. Two: My brother is Owen’s age and while he does have his issues, I couldn’t imagine him ever hurting a girl and the idea that he could twisted my stomach into knots

As a sister this book raised so many questions for me. As a victim of sexual assault, it raised even more questions. My heart ached for Hannah & for Mara. I could see myself in both of their positions. The way Mara’s family automatically believed Owen’s version of the story bothered me. I couldn’t believe that they thought Hannah would make something like this up. I understand wanting to believe your son & brother would never hurt anyone, but blind loyalty is insane. I sure don’t think I would be able to blindly trust that my brother didn’t do this. It would be incredibly hard, but I think my loyalty would align with the victim

And for the most part, that’s where Mara’s loyalty stayed. That caused some problems with her once close family. Her mother, in particular refused to believe that Owen could have done this horrible thing. Her father actually seemed to be a lot more neutral on the subject. Owen held steadfast in his innocence. I wasn’t surprised by that, but it did make me angry. I wanted Owen to admit his crime. Hannah deserved that. His family deserved that. Yet, he kept his mouth shut.

“So…what do we do?” Mara

“What do you mean?” Mom

“I mean what do we do? What’s going to happen to Owen? And Hannah…we can’t just not listen to her. You’ve always said we have to listen to girls no matter-” Mara

“He’s ours Mara. He’s my son. And we love him. That’s what we do.” Mom

I wasn’t sure how Mara’s ex was going to play into all of this, but it turned out she was also friends with Hannah. I was so excited that Mara was bisexual. I love that we’re finally getting a lot more bisexual representation in YA. I’ve only been out for about ten years, but I had known for at least 4 years prior to that. But more on Charlie later.

I loved that Mara held meetings and did a monthly newspaper called Empower. I would have loved to have been a part of that in school. Her plans to challenge the sexist dress code go out the window when Hannah makes her accusation.

I know I touched on this earlier, but the waves of responses after Hannah tells people what happened made me so angry. Most of them were on Team Owen, which means they thought she was lying about what happened. When a girl gets raped society says:

“Oh, well look at what she’s wearing.”

“She’s had sex before, so it’s not rape.”

“She’s slept with him before, so it’s not rape.”

“She shouldn’t have been drinking.”

“She can’t change her mind halfway through.”

Among other despicable things. When a guy is accused of rape, the responses are quite different.

“He’s a good kid.”

“He’s an athlete.”

“He’s from a good family.”

“He’s well liked.”

“There’s no way he did this.”

Notice something about the stark contrast? Yeah a fuck-ton of slut shaming is what the girls-the VICTIMS have to deal with. And people still wonder why women don’t come forward. It’s because of this. Because of the refusal to believe them and the treatment of those who do report.

Charlie was awesome. I loved the hell out of her from nearly the beginning. Sure she and Mara had a complicated history, but they were still able to be friends, although there was jealousy & akwardness when it came to Charlie’s new girlfriend and later on, Alex, the boy Mara was sort of seeing. And by sort of, I mean Alex and Mara were kinda using each other for comfort. See, Alex was Owen’s best friend, and he was struggling with the idea that his friend could have done this.

Anyway, back to Charlie. I think this was the first book I’ve read with a non-binary character. There absolutely needs to be more. I loved the conversation Charlie and Mara had about her preferred pronouns. I found that conversation incredibly relevant as I have had to have that conversation more than once. I would never want to insult someone by using the incorrect pronoun.

My distaste for Owen only grew as the book went on. The obvious disrespect he had for women, even his own sister, made me ragey.

“There’s no way I’m letting my sister go to school like that.” Owen

“I’m sorry…Let me?” Mara

“Yeah, let you. You think I want everyone in school staring at your…at your…Who are you supposed to be, slutty school girl?” Owen

My heart broke even more for Mara after this conversation. I felt sick to my stomach at the way Owen was treating her just because of the clothes she chose to wear. Disgustingly, this is how women & girls are treated in our society. Instead of feeling disgusted by what happens to them, people just blame the assault on what the girls were wearing.

Now the last thing I am going to talk about is going to have to be hidden by a giant spoiler tag. Sorry about that, but I cannot review this book without talking about this specific thing.

In 8th grade, Mara was sexually assaulted by her pre-algebra teacher. A man she trusted. A man she actually thought was cute. He wanted her to do sexual things to him and if she didn’t, he’d fail her.

She never told anyone. Not a friend or her parents or anyone else. « Hide Spoiler
Final thoughts: Read this beautiful book, let your heart break and marvel at the strength of victims.

CW: RAPE

Girl Made of Stars really messed with me.
A couple of weeks ago I watched a movie (O Fim da Inocência) which feautured a rape scene and ever since then I have been very sensitive to it. Being a man, I dont get cat called, I dont get annoyed by abusive men on the streets, I am not scared to walk alone at night so watching that scene and reading this book really opened my eyes. I always understood how fucked up sexual assault is but watching it on the big screen and reading about it opened a big wound.

One day Mara decides to go to a party but she ends up leaving because parties are not her favorite. Mara then finds out by one of her friends that her best friend Hannah was raped by Owen, Mara's brother. Having loved her brother her whole life, Mara doesn't let her mind wrap around this situation.

I posted a poll on twitter (@filipeheath) asking which book I should read and another book won but I still decided to read Girl Made of Stars and im so glad I did. This book really broke my heart, reconstructed it, broke it again, it was an emotional rollercoaster. I read it in one day because I was so attached to the characters that have very powerful personalities. 

There was on-page nonbinary/genderqueer representation (MC’s best friend) and our main character was bisexual and there is an f/f relationship.

A story of how someone deals with the divide between family and frienship that deals beautifally with such a sensitive topic. Thank you Ashley Blake.

Like Speak, but grittier, queer, more relatable, and more empowering.