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krystlocity's review against another edition
3.0
This whole book felt a little obvious and also, I can't disagree that this older, famous man's special attention to this teen did feel suspicious to me. I couldn't really get into liking Rufus, I couldn't quite buy into his character. I believed more in his faults, which the narrator seemed to gloss over or ignore too much. I thought it was weird and creepy how he was able to charm everyone with little to no effort. I don't know, the messages and lessons learned in this book aren't bad ones-they're good for teens to buy into and learn from-but I just wasn't really buying it. Also, this maybe just a problem with my particular tastes in audio, but I hated listening to written sound effects everywhere in this book. It just wasn't for me, overall.
aileenhower's review against another edition
4.0
Probably a 3.5. Loved the concept/plot. It dragged on a bit and I started to lose a bit of interest toward the end.
waxbiplane's review against another edition
4.0
Probably a 3.5. It started out a little slow but grew in the telling. Sarah was a good, fickle, teen protagonist. Rufus Baylor was a great wish fulfillment grandpa and poetry mentor. H snuck up on us as we read to be a great character. It feels like the author sensed that too, as H became more prevalent throughout the course of the narrative, even as Fry shrank from a never-very-developed character to almost absent (narratively appropriately) entirely in the last third or so. A good conversation or term paper could probably be written about whether the author purposely built Fry as a paper-thin character to reflect Sarah's feelings toward him or he was simply poorly drawn and an unfortunate miss in the book. The rest of the book managed fine without him, so that's something.
eloraramirezbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to this book on Audible and LOVED it. Great summer read.
libreroaming's review against another edition
3.0
More of a 3.5 really. "The Language of Stars" has a great premise based loosely on a real event when a bunch of teenagers were arrested for vandalizing Robert Frost's home and were sentenced to classes about his poetry as part of their punishment. Hawes reimagines it with a living poet, Rufus Baylor, who decides to teach the delinquents himself.
The good part was you can feel the love of poetry in every chapter. And the poetry of a "world famous poet" sounds professional so it isn't clunky when it's praised for its beauty. Although one con is there is way too much "our poet" and "greatest poet" embelishment that it gets too repetitive to maintain that allure and turns into saintly haigography. However the rest of the surrounding cast, from the social class starved mother to the self-absorbed boyfriend, were given complicated characterization that helped the interpersonal scenes.
But for all the pausing for moments of beauty and insight, the story dragged and retrode its lines. There were also moments of stylized script prose, written with sound effects that just didn't work well for characters or narration.
If you like slow meandering stories that focus on poetry and introspection this novel will speak your language.
The good part was you can feel the love of poetry in every chapter. And the poetry of a "world famous poet" sounds professional so it isn't clunky when it's praised for its beauty. Although one con is there is way too much "our poet" and "greatest poet" embelishment that it gets too repetitive to maintain that allure and turns into saintly haigography. However the rest of the surrounding cast, from the social class starved mother to the self-absorbed boyfriend, were given complicated characterization that helped the interpersonal scenes.
But for all the pausing for moments of beauty and insight, the story dragged and retrode its lines. There were also moments of stylized script prose, written with sound effects that just didn't work well for characters or narration.
If you like slow meandering stories that focus on poetry and introspection this novel will speak your language.
neglet's review against another edition
5.0
If you enjoy poetry, you should love this story, which is filled with verse as the main character takes a class as penance for destroying a poet’s home. I want to go back and try all the poetry exercises they do! The MC’s growth is hard-won and believable; the poetry is a bonus.
angeldevoursliterature's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
luckynumber7's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
rainbowbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
In 2008 some teenagers broke into what had been Robert Frost's former home and trashed it. Their sentence included taking a course in Frost's poetry. Hawes used this story as an inspiration for this novel. Instead of a dead poet she used a local author who was still alive and who decided to teach a poetry course to the vandals.