A tale of a tragedy! Written in beautiful lyrical prose and populated by vivid and compelling characters who you can't help but feel for. This is the Al's story - Al who took his own life and, for a young adult book, that is a deeply difficult and important story to tell - and the story of his brother Nathan and his friend Megan, searching for the truth behind why he did it.

The novel seems to me to be trying to balance on the tightrope between compelling narrative and 'giving a message' - and giving a message (however vital) can easily get in the way of the story. Here, that tightrope is navigated generally very well, not falling into the trap of becoming 'preachy'. And the message about mental health (especially among boys where it is chronically underreported and still somehow seen as taboo, but within the whole young adult community) and bullying and abuse is so so important!

Fantastic read - go and buy it!

A beautiful young adult book, to be read not only by young adults but by grownups too. Beautiful, poignant and heartbreaking. Worth a go.

This book takes on the dangers of social media to mental health, and the darker side of the on-line world - fuelled by dislike, jealousy, for likes, or someone being different. It discusses how our relationships/ friendship change as we grow and become ourselves, and the challenges this presents in a world of shame culture and on-line bullying. On the other hand, Jawando celebrates our differences and how they make us special. Through Al's story she reminds us how hope comes with every tragedy.

Al is 17 years old and had a promising future, on his way to Cambridge University next year, until he takes his own life.
Nate his younger brother wants to know why, fuelled by his own guilt he's looking for clues.
Megan, Al's secret friend, is also trying to come to terms with Al's death and what her life is going to be like without him.

Through this dual narrative the story slowly unfolds, what is this symbol Nate keeps seeing? Why did Lewi and Al fall out? What do Eli and Cole have to do with all of this?

Danielle Jawando's story comes from her own personal experiences and you can tell. It is written with such insight that people who have been bullied or felt hopeless will see themselves in this book, I certainly did. It was an emotional rollercoaster that I couldn't get off.

I received a copy of this book via netgalley and Simon and Schuster Childrens UK. First of all let me say this is definitely not my description of a children's books. Its themes are far too dark and deeply explored to be suitable for anyone under 13 (in my opinion). Goodreads has it as a young adult book and this sits better with how it reads for me. Even with these readers i think it is a book that should be read or discussed with an adult whilst reading. 

The author has written a book that carries a message deeply personal to her and this is apparent in the beautifully scripted narrative. It has a multitude of thematic lines - not just bullying but also the emotions surrounding death such as guilt and despair. This is all wrapped up in something which is almost an homage to individual beauty and the meaning of individual lives. I loved the imagery of the stars.

Perhaps from personal knowledge she has captured the desire to conform, the horrors of the web used wrongly and the characterisation perfectly. This is a powerful novel and should form part of the literary oeuvre in senior schools.

And The Stars Were Burning Brightly is a book that I struggled to get into. It is not an easy read but it is definitely an important read to bring awareness to the many topics it tackled. 

When Al takes his life by suicide his brother Nathan is left heartbroken and is left desperate to find out why. We get to see the story from two perspectives, Nathan and Megan. I am not usually keen on books from different perspectives but I think it was great to be able to see how each of them feel. 

I wasn't sure about Megan's place in the book at the beginning but as the book went on the character really grew on me and she gave an interesting and at times more rational perspective of it all. I feel Nathan's was harder to read and a lot more drastic in his actions but it really shows the devastation it can have on family and the grief they are left with. 

With social media such a big thing these days it is so important for a better understanding of the effects it can have and I think this book does a great job of showing how what you type behind a screen can seriously effect others. This is a hard read but one I think everyone should read, it really shows the importance of being kind.

And The Stars Were Burning Brightly cannot be described in just a few words, when the amount of emotions you feel are endless. This book is  raw, heartbreaking, infuriating, bright, powerful and so many more words that I cannot form right now. 

After an intelligent and insanely talented boy named Al commits suicide, his younger brother Nathan is determined to find out why he killed himself, alongside Al's friend Megan who faces her own challenges in this book dealing with peer pressure, trying to find her place and passions. She also struggles with friendships, guilt and body image. 

Both Nathan and Megan share guilt around Al but also anger and frustration around their classmates. You really see the cruel side of school students. 

The chapters are dual narrative and go between Megan, who wishes she would of been a better friend, and Nathan, who blames himself partly but is determined to find out why Al killed himself, and who was involved? He won't rest until he has answers.

Bullying is a key theme in this Book, and the more you read the more you learn.You see the horrible side to people, you see how grief affects people differently. The cruelty of social media, friendships being destroyed, physical and mental abuse, judgements and prejudice.  

As the story goes on, you see how important it is to talk about mental health and bullying, and you never really know what is happening inside of another person's head and the struggles they face. I know from my experience how hard school can be, and how things that happen in this Book are a reality for others. It's heartbreaking. You learn so many messages from this Book. It's so important to be kind to others and to talk to people around you with how you are feeling.

Megan and Nathan go through huge character development throughout the book and in the end they try to deal with their grief in healthy ways and ultimately try to find a way for Al's memory to live on. Megan and Nathan vow to try to live better lives and be better people, they reevaluate friendships and their behaviours and try and build a better future. The book tries to give a message of hope.

Overall, I haven't cried in a long time when reading a book, but this one really got to me, I think with my own personal dealings with being bullied, and when I saw the Authors notes. It's always hard to write about personal experience and she writes with pure honesty and the writing was exceptional. This book burns bright in my heart.

*Trigger warnings*.The main themes of the book are suicide and bullying, includes physical violence and catfishing.


Full review to come on my Blog.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster and Danielle for my Ecopy in exchange of an honest review*

And the Stars Were Burning Bright is such a wonderful, heart wrenching story with important topic (bullying) more people should talk about.

It explores the dark side of human beings and the ways to recover from loss.

I have to admit, I didn't know about And The Stars Were Burning Brightly before it was READ NOW on Netgalley, but as I noticed it, and the premise sounded interesting to me, I couldn't help myself. I had to read it.

And I am so glad I did give it a shot. I read it few months before it's publication, but because of technical difficulties I wasn't able to review it before (aka I postponed it because my computer broke).

The story follows two main characters: Nathan (who's brother Al killed himself) and Megan (who was friends with Al but kept that friendship secret).
As they lost the one they loved, their lives intertwined.

The story is written in somewhat unique way.
It has two POVs written in first person: Nat's and Meg's, but every chapter starts with Al's thoughts, that often includes space and stars, but also life.
I am grateful for Al's parts.
However, I have to admit that Meg and Nathan sounded too similar at times.

This is emotional story, which is understandable because it covers serious topic, so be aware that it could make you sad.

I would recommend this book, and I would like to read more novels with the same theme because bullying and suicide is something we should all be more aware about.

Heartbreaking and incredibly touching, this debut novel is an emotional rollercoaster for the reader. Make sure you have tissues ready for certain tears. How difficult must this wonderful book have been to document, surely a must-read for school-age children and up. The scourge of bullying has damaged many lives and is often the pre-cursor to struggles with mental-health issues. A triumph over adversity! Certainly Danielle Jawando does not need to look back.

What a beautiful written book about a very difficult subject. Nate is struggling with the suicide of his brother Al. Al was the one with all the hopes and dreams so why would he take his own life. As Nate tries to comes to terms with the death of his brother he is determined to find out why. Nate ‘finds’ Megan who was Al’s friend and both share a feeling of guilt for not doing more to save Al. Together they discover the depths of cyber bullying which eventually pushed Al over the edge. This book oozes reality especially since The author has been really honest about the fact that she has drawn on her own experiences of school as inspiration for this heartbreaking novel.

This book deals with some very difficult subjects, and I think it handles them well.
Diving into an area that needs to be spoken about, and showing how harmful words and actions can be. 

There were some parts of the book that I couldn't get into and some of the language was off putting to me, but otherwise it was a good, emotional read.

Wow! You must read this book. 

The voices of the characters were so vivid. I could see them as real people. Even Al. These people will stay with me forever. 

The story was heartbreaking and expertly written. I had to find out what happened next and sometimes I had to calm down before going to bed. I had no idea how it would end. I was shocked by the revelations but it made sense.

Never has a novel caused me to shake with anger, fear and sadness all at once. OMG! As a writer I want to learn from Danielle’s mastery. As a reader I am desperate for more! 

Despite all the sadness and ugliness the novel still has a happy ending. But, there is also a strong message about bullying and suicide. This book should be read in every high schools and discussed. This book could save lives.

possibly my favourite book of 2020 so far. I had high hopes for this from the sampler at yalc last year and wow did it live up to my expectations. A definite ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read by 
This book tackles Grief, suicide and bullying head on. All topics very very close to my heart so it felt very realistic to read.
The characterisation of Nathan and Megan was perfect as well as Al’s shining through too. All of the characters had me feeling all types of emotions, sadness, anger and happiness! 
I particularly liked the fact art was used as the medium of communication and aid to help Nate find out why Al killed himself. Sometimes you dont have the words but to draw or paint is easier. But also how Al was eventually remembered!
Itwas a rollercoaster of a book but one everyone needs to ride!

Painful and oh-too-relevant teen suicide tale. Hard to forget.

Two narrators lift the curtain on one teenager's life and death. Nathan is still reeling and angry after discovering his older brother, talented artist Al, has killed himself. There's no note, he feels guilt, he just wants to understand what happened. Megan, classmate of Al and fellow artist, knew him. She meets Nathan as he tries to investigate Al's life, and, struggling herself with friends caught up in social media worlds, feels that maybe she could do something to help, to honour the misfit friend she barely acknowledged in public.

Snippets from Al's diary, his thoughts for his little brother and his friend, give us insight into an enquiring and optimistic mind. His unexpected death has affected his family badly, though Nathan is the only one asking questions (which I found hard to believe).

There seem to be no reasons for his suicide. Though things are clearly not right, the students at Al's school are all the same as anywhere else - obsessed with the number likes on their photos, sharing videos, trolling each other online. It's a familiar and depressing adolescent world. One that both Nathan and Megan are caught up in, in different ways.

I found this a hard read, the further I got into it, as more and more was uncovered. Both Nathan and Megan undergo some transformative discoveries, and the reader is shown in some fairly graphic detail exactly what did happen to Al. It's fairly upsetting, and unfortunately all too possible.

Very very powerful. Very very sad. Every secondary school needs copies, teachers will want to try and include this in various subjects, with its highly relevant social themes.

For ages 14 and above, some graphic and upsetting content.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.

This is a beautifully told story of two teenagers dealing with the aftermath of suicide and about what it means to be yourself. After ignoring his phone call, Nathan is the one to find his older brother Al, a bright student and talented artist, determined to better himself and go to university, has committed suicide, leaving behind no note. Full of guilt that he might have stopped it had he answered the call, and sadness at losing his brother, Nathan is determined to find out why Al did it,
Megan was Al's friend, though she never acknowledged it in public. She starts to wonder what she could have done to have made a difference. Questioning her choices, and those of her friends, her paths cross with Nathan and a tentative friendship begins.
I love a story told from two perspectives, and this didn't disappoint. We see the two characters questioning their choices, their friendships and their place in the world. I really enjoyed it, and loved the positive message it gives young people.

This was an excellent book and so so devastating. I didn't want it to end because I fell in love with the characters so much.

A brilliantly written, but very sad novel which I am pleased I have read, but did find the start of the book slow to get into  but once you get into the minds of these 2 characters it really takes off. Very heart wrenching, sad, tragic, special... not much more than can be said. The Author portrayed the agony of Nathans family so well, it was hard to read at time. Very topical book and one that everyone should read, not just the young adults that this is written for.

This book was absolutely beautiful.  It portrayed the emotion of family and friends trying to come to terms with the loss of a loved one through suicide so eloquently.  Dealing with issues such as bullying, peer pressure and the pressure of social media, the book really made me think.  Highly recommended.

A beautiful story which at times is difficult to read because it deals with suicide and bullying. 
It deals with the subject which most teenagers have to deal with and that is fitting in and if they don’t the ensuing bullying be it face to face or online through social media.

Such a sad book but one everyone should read.  I think it is the type of story that should be put into the curriculum of high schools and all students should read and maybe some (I guess not all) would get the measure of how terrible bullying is.  The story is about Nathan whose brother committed suicide due to bullying and the secret Al kept to himself until he could no longer cope.  Nathan needs to find out why Al committed suicide and he is especially traumatised as his brother tried to ring him and he ignored the call.  It leads him down a road where he meets Megan who was also a friend of Al who shared the love of art.  The story unfolds slowly so you can appreciate the characters and their interwoven lives but no one realises the hurt Al is in which is something we all fail to do on some level.  Nathan needs to find out the whole story of Al’s suicide and the culminates in him finding the outcome – does it help him, probably not but brings some piece.  Megan is sweet natured and caring and helps Nathan come to terms with his loss.  Nathan’s family play a big part in the story and try to help him but he is too far into his grief to understand.  The story ends well.  It helped to understand the depth of hurt in the story from the author’s notes and she has written this from experience which I wish she had not suffered

If I wasn't sobbing by the end of 'And the Stars Were Burning Brightly' then I definitely was by the end of the author's note. This is such a powerful book and focuses on a topic that we desperately need to talk more about. It is 100% a book that you need to be in the right place to read as there is a lot of trigger warnings but it is done brilliantly.