A review by melgonzalez
Why the Star Stands Still by Rose Christo

5.0

"In Shoshone , there's a saying: I don't speak your language, and you don't speak mine. But I still understand you. I don't need to walk in your footsteps if I can see the footprints you left behind."

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS IS THE LAST BOOK? I was prepared for a sixth book series and I got this book that's set 15 years after the other ones and that's the last one? I mean, I loved it and everything, I just wasn't prepared. When I got to the ending I actually thought "wow this feels like the ending of a series, I wonder what's going to happen in the other books" and then I looked it up and they're Rafael's POV which, YES PLEASE but at the same time, I'm so heartbroken. Anyway, this book, as all the other books in the series was delightful to read. Rose Christo's writing is everything I love about literature, with beautiful and in-depth descriptions, with complex characters that get better and better with time, who grow and change but their personalities are the same, as gorgeous, generous and kind as ever. I enjoyed seeing where these characters went in their lives so much. I was super invested in all of them, from Rafael and Sky to Annie, Aubrey, Zeke, Mary and even Bolto. I really didn't want this series to end and I'm still sad over it so sorry if I mention that a lot in my review.

I loved that Sky became a lawyer to change the laws against Native Americans and to fight the systemic and institutional oppression from the inside. I also enjoyed that we didn't only get to see their professional lives but that we got to see their fight to get to adopt Micky and how they became a family little by little. There were also a lot of sad moments in this book, like when we find out about Sky's grandma's death. I feel like she was a vital part of the other books and I felt the lack of her presence a lot. It broke my heart to hear about Danny's story as well and how the government failed him and his family. Paul's story was super hard to read as well and it called out the prison system and how it takes a lot out of the soul of a person, especially when someone was carrying as many terrible things as Paul did. I was wishing the entire time that nothing would happen to him because of his mental health and actually seeing him do better at the end made me incredibly happy. I just wished it would have been more therapy-positive. I get their bad history with it but at the same time I wished they would have worked through it more because that's the one things about these books that I felt it went unresolved. Sky's still touch repulsed except for Rafael and has a lot of issues carrying from that event and I needed to see him work through them.

There were a lot of beautiful moments as well, like seeing Rafael and Sky's relationship and how many things stayed the same but also how many things changed and grew with the years. It was extremely adorable. It just really bothered me that they can't say the word "sex". I mean I don't need any explicit content or anything but it felt unrealistic that two 30-something men couldn't talk about sex without euphemisms. I also didn't know why everyone was so obsessed with Sky's weight. I loved that we got to see him gaining weight because in the other books we see him as incredibly thin because of the circumstances of his life and his diseases and being fatter means he's healthier. I wished we could have had more body positivity though. As always, I absolutely adore them as a couple and as a community and I'm so happy we got this epilogue of their stories and that it ended in such a beautiful and happy way for everyone. This series is very simple but it also talks about complex emotions and personalities, nothing is completely good or completely bad. In the intersection of those things, you can find these stories and in this final one we got to see that in a deeper way and even though there were things that bothered me I just can't give it less than a five stars.