Reviews

Taming the Star Runner by S.E. Hinton

twiztidace's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

ambrose_7's review against another edition

5.0

I read “The Outsiders” for school in 7th grade for a literature class I was in and like many others, fell in love with it. I liked it so much I ended up nabbing everything by S.E Hinton I could and reading it all and I had a absolute blast with it. I reread “Rumble Fish” close to a year ago and wasn’t overly impressed. It was good, but it didn’t completely wow me. But I still leaped at the opportunity to get a free copy of “Taming the Star Runner” when my school gave away a ton of books. I remembered loving it and I wanted to re-read it, but I put it on a bookshelf and it sat there for over a year, that is until today when I picked it up after troubles with my Chromebook that led me to needing other things to read. I PLOWED through it reading the 180 pages in a single day. It was impressive that I had as much fun reading it as I did over half a decade ago. After-all, I was a very different person with a very different brain. It’s a book that spoke to me then and speaks to me again today. The characters are real and vivid, they feel like the epitome of teenagers. You fall in love with Travis from page one. Hinton has a way of hitting all the chords of teenage hood like I’ve never read before, and in a touching and sad way that makes you really think about your life and what your doing. The endings of her books always stick with you. The plot exploding at the end to take things a completely different and usually tragic way. The best young adult books can be consumed at multiple age levels and this one is a PRIME example of that. I couldn’t recommend this enough.

I had the best of times re-reading this classic.

keira333's review against another edition

1.5

over the past week i’ve done a binge of most of se hinton books 1. the outsiders 2. that was then, this is now 3. rumble fish 4. tex 5. taming the star runner

the outsiders is undeniably supurb, and i absolutely ADORED tex. twttin and rumble fish were both good. i genuinely hated taming of the star runner

i didn’t find travis a character i enjoyed spending time with, i feel like travis was a self insert character what with the book deal at 16, which i didnt hate necessarily, i just honestly couldn’t care less about that storyline. or really any of the storylines happening aside from the dynamic between travis and ken and christopher.

i was so ridiculously bored with the book until

now appeared and told travis about what went on back at home. now THAT seemed super interesting but i could still barely care because we didn’t get to know the twins at all so their deaths didn’t hit the same way hinton characters’ deaths tend to

it was kind of crazy going from Tex which i loved and might be my favorite (new) read of the year so far, to such a CHOP

avonleagal's review against another edition

5.0

This is SO GOOD.
of course, there was a few things I didn’t like. Like Travis, okay I get you, horse girls are whatever but you also like a horse girl? And thinking just because a teacher is mad she has PMS. okay. You might be right but don’t be like that.
There’s just something about Travis. From the very beginning you felt for him because of Stan. And the ending gave me chills. I’m so proud of him for doing the thing. You know, his book.
This is a lot like That Was Then, This Is Now. I guess S. E. Hinton likes endings that don’t actually turn out the greatest. I started reading him because I saw someone’s review of The Outsiders but I still haven’t found a copy of The Outsiders.
Ok. This review sucks but the book doesn’t.

quietweather's review against another edition

4.0

Well, it's 1:14 AM right now and I'm bored. So I have decided to write this review right now.

I liked this book, but like other S.E. Hinton books, I find the story completely pointless. Now I've read Rumble Fish and The Outsiders, and both seemed completely pointless at the end. None of them did anything to solve the problem, and there never really was a problem. In this book, there never was a problem. Sure for about, maybe, ten pages? He thinks his mother won't let him publish his book, which could have been a big problem, but it was almost instantly solved.
Also, this book is not a romance book so I have no idea how she got Casey+Travis= dull relationship that never goes anywhere.
I mean come ON!

Spoiler

His best friend goes to jail, his book gets published and he sort of gets the girl, not to mention he didn't get kicked out of his uncle's house, and on the last page, all he does is contemplate what his next book should be about? Did I just seriously read this whole freaking book to get saddled with that kind of an ending? THERE WAS A MURDER FOR GODS SAKE! And he never actually displayed any emotion about losing the twins.
We didn't find out what happened to Joe.
We didn't find out if Teresa and Ken really got divorced.
We didn't find out what really happens with Travis's dad, which although it isn't a crucial detail, it would have been nice to find out.
We also don't really known what happened with Travis's relationship with Casey. Basically all he said was that there was no familiar flame with them. They never dated, so was there even one to begin with?
Also WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WITH ROBYN?
She had no shirt or bra on when she gets fired and after that she's never mentioned in the book? Why the hell was she in the book then?

So, there were MANY unanswered questions which I found to be very irritating. I mean if there was a second book, or if the book were longer, it'd be okay. But this is kind of ridiculous. Seriously, my chihuahua can answer more questions than this book, and with a few yaps too.

sebra1999's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

3.5

savble23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-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? Yes

4.25

I would give it a 4.5 my only complaint is there are a few confusing parts like where the wreck happens then on the next page suddenly he's just going about his day and writing again. I wanted to know what happened or what the explanation for the smell of burning flesh was his deafness, but nah. I love how it's written to seem like Travis himself is writing it if you look at the letters he wrote, and some of the writing habits of the book you can put two and two together.

the_motorcycle_boy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

5.0

angelarwatts's review against another edition

2.0

There was a lot less taming the Star runner and a lot more random drama + a boy signing a book deal. Oof.

mrnnbrwn's review against another edition

3.0

5 stars for this booking being written by S. E. Hinton and for it being about a juvenile delinquent boy who is "not like other juvenile delinquent boys."

3 stars for the choppy writing and for the story.

All around a good time.