Title: Of Scars And Stardust
Author: Andrea Hannah
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 336
Rating: 3.5 rounded down to 3 Star
Description/Synopsis:
After her little sister mysteriously vanishes, seventeen-year-old Claire Graham has a choice to make: stay snug in her little corner of Manhattan with her dropout boyfriend, or go back to Ohio to face the hometown tragedy she’s been dying to leave behind.
But the memories of that night still haunt her in the city, and as hard as she tries to forget what her psychiatrist calls her “delusions,” Claire can’t seem to escape the wolf’s eyes or the blood-speckled snow. Delusion or reality, Claire knows she has to hold true to the most important promise she’s ever made: to keep Ella safe. She must return to her sleepy hometown in order to find Ella and keep her hallucinations at bay before they strike again. But time is quickly running out, and as Ella’s trail grows fainter, the wolves are becoming startlingly real.
Now Claire must deal with her attraction to Grant, the soft-spoken boy from her past that may hold the secret to solving her sister’s disappearance, while following the clues that Ella left for only her to find. Through a series of cryptic diary entries, Claire must unlock the keys to Ella’s past—and her own—in order to stop another tragedy in the making, while realizing that not all things that are lost are meant to be found.
Review – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
I was lucky enough to receive this book early from the publishers via NetGalley for an honest review.
Just a word of warning, need to talk about this book in detail so if you don’t want to be spoilt, go read it and then come back. PLEASE GO READ IT AND COME BACK! I need people to talk about this book with me. I need thoughts, because I am so so so confused.
Before I run off on a rant about the plot lets discuss the characters. I thought they were all well written and were not just random people you meet, they all serve a purpose. I did hate some though but that was on purpose I think. I despised Rae, and I hated her parents though by the end I didn’t hate them so much because more things made sense. I thought Claire was a developed character and the little side story of her and Grants love was just adorable. I loved Grant, I don’t know if I would date him but he was so what she needed.
Now onto the part that I actually want to talk about. The plot.
The first half of this book makes nearly complete sense if we exclude the obvious mystery of where on earth did Ella go and what on earth is with these wolves. Are they real? Or are they a representation of something darker? If we move past those things the events in this book make complete sense and are kind of logical. The more we read though the less things kind of make sense. The first half of this book was just amazing, I would give it a 4 star easy. But the further on we go the more confused Claire gets and so the more confused I got.
I hated Claire’s parents for sending her away and then never contacting her or inviting her home to see her sister recover and let her get some kind of closure of this stuff. But then we find out that she was actually the main suspect in her sisters accident and we work out that they actually sent her away for both sisters safety. Ella from Claire and Claire from getting put in the local loony bin. We also get multiple things that tell us that Ella left because she didn’t feel safe, not that she was taken by ‘wolves.’ Ella was (supposedly) running away from her dad because he is totally bonkers and killed someone. I didn’t see that coming at all! How that whole thing developed in the story was weird. Claire went from having a fear of him to partnering up with him pretty damn quick.
Then there is the whole reveal at the end that the wolves were all in her head, and she is kissing a tree that she thinks is Grant. WHAT?! Its this event that makes me question everything. Just before she was telling us how he was secretly calling her despite the no contact order his family put on her and then she thinks he showed up and it was actually a tree. Was he actually contacting her? Was the supposed letter that Ella had sent her saying she was coming to visit actually real? Is Ella even still bloody alive? Who the hell was setting everyone’s houses on fire and was the writing on their home really there?
The final ‘attack’ from the wolves we know was actually Claire being arrested. This puts the last moments between her and Grant in a whole new light. Right before they run away from the hospital he asks Claire to promise to try and make sure that nothing happens to them before they leave Amble. Claire thinks this is all about wolves so she goes along with it, but with this ending information it brings it into a new light. He knew it was Claire who hurt him but she didn’t mean to and he was basically asker her not to have another episode before they left. But then we get questions like if Claire was supposedly talking to someone when he was injured, what the hell happened? Did that party even actually happen? Was their relationship even the way it seems AT ALL? All things I thought I knew are now opened for questioning.
This open ending is not really how I like my books which is what bumped it down to a 3 star to me. I was really really into the book before it gave me an ending that didn’t answer anything and make be question everything I had just read. I would suggest that if you like contemporary mysteries that you should read this book. If you have read this book already please for the love of god give me your thoughts. I really wish that I didn’t need to have this post up so soon after finishing it because I feel like I need to think about it again and again.
Share your thoughts!!!! I am sorry that this review doesn’t really make much sense, but it still doesn’t make sense to me.
Till Next Time…
