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girloleander's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is everything YA should be about! Young adults learning about life, asking adults questions they don’t have answers to, pondering their place in the world and the universe. I loved the prose and the poetry, I loved Queenie and the blending and respect of cultures. I loved Sahir, I loved Afua, and I think the ending hit the spot fr. I’m in love! Also really appreciate how Whitney Houston was treated in the narrative! I was smiling and laughing the whole time. The love and friendship was so authentic, and the characters all felt thoughtfully fleshed out and their emotions true. This book actually came at the perfect time in my life, it’s so crazy. It’s just as magical as the story itself!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Homophobia
flowerpower's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Several beautiful love stories that also reflect on the familial and cultural ties in a really touching way. I highly recommend the audiobook because hearing it read in the actual Trinidadian accent made it so much better. Both narrators are quite talented and really embodied the characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, Homophobia, Abandonment, and Cancer
Minor: Physical abuse and Religious bigotry
lormurenzi's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Terminal illness
lettuce_read's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Child death, Death, Lesbophobia, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racism
switchywitchsitch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Death
Moderate: Police brutality and Homophobia
bookswhitme's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This book was beautifully written. The prose sucked me in and the story itself was tragic, but again beautiful. Audre and Mabel’s relationship had me ready to cry, but I loved being able to watch them connect and grow.
The one thing I wished I’d known or liked to before reading was that cancer plays a big role in the book because it was a bit triggering for me, so that wasn’t fun. That’s a me thing though. But if leukemia/cancer is a painful point for you, it’s in this book heavy. Also homophobia, masturbation, prison/death row, death/dying.
The one thing I wished I’d known or liked to before reading was that cancer plays a big role in the book because it was a bit triggering for me, so that wasn’t fun. That’s a me thing though. But if leukemia/cancer is a painful point for you, it’s in this book heavy. Also homophobia, masturbation, prison/death row, death/dying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death, and Grief
bookstagramrepresent's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
“Life is hard for we women, because we strong and the world ain’t wan’ to love us for it.”
It’s hard to put words to how I feel about The Stars and the Blackness Between Them. Juanada Petrus is a brilliant storyteller. It was such an emotional reading experience, and once I started I was completely pulled in. TSATBBT is a beautifully written story about owning our truths and loving who we are. It’s also the FIRST book by a Trini with a Trini MC I’ve ever read in YA. I never once expected to see myself in book LIKE THIS. So completely. I love my island and I love my Caribbean heritage - I didn’t realize how it’s been so hard not seeing that rep EVER. Or what it would be like experiencing it for the first time in my 30’s. This a story about finding the strength to live authentically, if we can, and deciding what is important to us in life. I highly recommend reading this gorgeously queer book!
Grab a copy from your fave indie - I love @charisbooksandmore or @bookshop_org (affiliate link in my carrd) and don’t forget to follow the beautiful soul who penned this book @junauda
REP | Trinidadian lesbian MC, Black sapphic MC, Black Caribbean side characters, Black (with Trinidadian and South African) sapphic side characters
CW // homophobic violence, homophobia, death (off-page) and themes of dying
It’s hard to put words to how I feel about The Stars and the Blackness Between Them. Juanada Petrus is a brilliant storyteller. It was such an emotional reading experience, and once I started I was completely pulled in. TSATBBT is a beautifully written story about owning our truths and loving who we are. It’s also the FIRST book by a Trini with a Trini MC I’ve ever read in YA. I never once expected to see myself in book LIKE THIS. So completely. I love my island and I love my Caribbean heritage - I didn’t realize how it’s been so hard not seeing that rep EVER. Or what it would be like experiencing it for the first time in my 30’s. This a story about finding the strength to live authentically, if we can, and deciding what is important to us in life. I highly recommend reading this gorgeously queer book!
Grab a copy from your fave indie - I love @charisbooksandmore or @bookshop_org (affiliate link in my carrd) and don’t forget to follow the beautiful soul who penned this book @junauda
REP | Trinidadian lesbian MC, Black sapphic MC, Black Caribbean side characters, Black (with Trinidadian and South African) sapphic side characters
CW // homophobic violence, homophobia, death (off-page) and themes of dying
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and Violence
lily1304's review
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
Audre and Mabel have a sweet little romance. I haven't read any YA in a while, and I missed it. I appreciate how Petrus describes both Minneapolis and Port of Spain with such familiarity and love. She can paint such loving scenes of family and friends supporting one another.
It's impossible for me not to compare this book to The Fault in Our Stars. Though they have a really similar basic premise, they each deal with love and death and grief in totally different ways. I relate much more strongly to the pessimism and spiritual doubt of TFIOS than the optimism of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them. Because I'm John Green trash, I know that he wrote TFIOS based on his experience serving as a hospital chaplain for teens with cancer - an experience which made him decide not to become a priest - and that really shows in Hazel's anger and despair and "what if God - I mean, the author, I mean, Peter Van Houten - is real and wants nothing to do with us?" Petrus being a Black woman already gives her a different perspective than John Green, and I wonder what life experiences inspired her.
I didn't expect New Age spirituality to be so intrinsic to the book - to the point that it's somewhere on the border between realistic and speculative fiction. It made me more mindful of my biases and attitudes about things like astrology and past lives - I have to constantly remind myself that my own religion would sound just as weird if it weren't the dominant religion in the United States. There were some anti-medicine/"food is medicine" vibes too, though, which concerns me a little.
Despite all that... I liked the ending.
It's impossible for me not to compare this book to The Fault in Our Stars. Though they have a really similar basic premise, they each deal with love and death and grief in totally different ways. I relate much more strongly to the pessimism and spiritual doubt of TFIOS than the optimism of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them. Because I'm John Green trash, I know that he wrote TFIOS based on his experience serving as a hospital chaplain for teens with cancer - an experience which made him decide not to become a priest - and that really shows in Hazel's anger and despair and "what if God - I mean, the author, I mean, Peter Van Houten - is real and wants nothing to do with us?" Petrus being a Black woman already gives her a different perspective than John Green, and I wonder what life experiences inspired her.
I didn't expect New Age spirituality to be so intrinsic to the book - to the point that it's somewhere on the border between realistic and speculative fiction. It made me more mindful of my biases and attitudes about things like astrology and past lives - I have to constantly remind myself that my own religion would sound just as weird if it weren't the dominant religion in the United States. There were some anti-medicine/"food is medicine" vibes too, though, which concerns me a little.
Despite all that... I liked the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Sexual content
katboykin's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I had very little understanding of what this book was about other than it came highly recommended by one person. I'm so glad I read it. It was honestly exactly what I needed. I truly have no critiques and it might be my favorite book I've read this year. It was just so gorgeously written. I loved each character. It had just enough themes of hope and sorrow. It is primarily a book about the black experience in America (mostly) and it is a book about the queer black experience. It deals with themes of ancestral love and connection to ancestors and spirituality. And we explored the different ways to experience all of these things through different lenses. It really felt like such a precious experience and I'm so glad I picked this up. And as someone who is not a poetry fan, the 12 poems throughout the book were so unbelievably stunning that I plan to keep going back to them throughout the year. Go read it right now!!1!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Chronic illness
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Homophobia
therewillbenewsuns's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Child abuse
Moderate: Death
Minor: Transphobia