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alyssabella29's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Well worth the read. Great writing and captivating. Heartbreak and inspiring. Definitely recommend.
megzy818's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
slow-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
book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
This may be my favorite Landvik work. Reminds me of "Tall Pines Polka." Charming and thoughtful. Full of the drama of life. However, I kept forgetting that it's set mostly in the Depression (Becuase there aren't a lot of touchstones to remind the reader), and that was a bit confusing.
emerygirl's review against another edition
4.0
Oh My Stars! I loved this book. Violet Mathers is the main character. She has a rough beginning and views herself as so flawed, but is actually a force to be reckoned with. The overall theme of the book is love... and the author does such a fantastic job of describing that love wether in be between mother and child, black and white, man and woman and finally self-love within Violet herself. I am super stingy with my 5 stars rating and this book deserves 4.75!!
fionna_a's review against another edition
3.0
Yes, another Landvik book! I have a bad habit of sticking with an author once I find one I like!
Good, but still didn't compare to Angry Housewives!
Good, but still didn't compare to Angry Housewives!
roscoehuxley's review against another edition
3.0
A thoroughly enjoyable read. Sometimes you just need to read Lorna Landvick - chick lit, but not sappy, no sex scenes just for to make it racy. Just good characters, creative settings, solid story. It kept me up at night and the characters are hard to leave behind - just the right type of book.
cedr's review against another edition
3.0
There's a story of heartbreak and hope if I've ever seen one.
theliteratureladies's review against another edition
3.0
I have had Lorna Landvik’s novel Oh My Stars on my “to-read” list for years, and I only just got around to reading it. It was not what I expected at all, but I determined this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. (Some spoilers forthcoming).
Oh My Stars is the story of Violet Mathers’ life, growing up in the Great Depression. Her tragic childhood – abandoned by her mother, raised by an abusive father, bullied by schoolmates, and left maimed by a horrific factory accident – leads her to take decisive action. She boards a bus heading West with intentions to end her life upon reaching San Francisco. But her plans quickly go awry when her bus crashes in North Dakota, and she encounters Austin Sykes and Kjel Hedstrom (pronounced “Shell.” Thank you, Audiobook, for clearing that up for me). Upon meeting these two unique men – musicians – the course of her life is altered forever.
This book felt lengthy. It covers decades of life, spans the American country, and introduces numerous supporting characters (and provides thorough backstory for them). The summary seemed to only cover the first 10% of the book. Everything that happened afterwards was often unexpected and kept me guessing as to where this novel was going and how it would conclude. I definitely did not predict a number of things that occurred and, as a whole, remained invested despite the long feel of the novel.
I appreciated Landvik’s writing style and the way she captured American culture in the 30s and 40s, especially as to racism. Music plays a very large part in Oh My Stars, and I thought Landvik also nailed that on the proverbial head. She expressed the way music can move a person, unite people together, and change individuals. I always applaud authors who can make the arts truly come alive in books and make the reader understand how the arts touch you, whether that be music, painting, dancing, or something else.
This book is primarily about Violet, but the supporting characters play a huge role. Austin, Kjel, the Hedstroms, Dallas, and others all get well fleshed out by Landvik and have a huge impact on the novel and Violet’s character. Some chapters are told from Violet’s point-of-view in 1st person (“I” narration), while others are told in third person (sometimes as Violet and other times by the other characters).
I had mixed feelings about a lot of the characters. Violet was an often depressing sort of character for the majority of the novel (which is understandable due to her life, but I just felt sad a lot of the time). I didn’t like Austin for a long time, but he, like many of the characters, underwent a huge amount of growth. I appreciated his character a lot by the end. Kjel and the Hedstroms were delightful, as were a number of other supporting characters.
I would not say Oh My Stars is a light read. Landvik addresses bigotry, death, abuse, broken relationships, interracial relationships, and more while taking the reader through the Great Depression and into the second World War. It’s absolutely a story of love, hope, fighting for one’s dreams, and finding who you are.
As a whole, I liked but did not love the book. I thought it had a lot of things going for it, and I did want to finish it, but I wasn’t obsessed with it. It was long, there was a smattering of bad language here and there, and it was often quite sad. But I think it is worth a read for sure!
www.theliteratureladies.com
Oh My Stars is the story of Violet Mathers’ life, growing up in the Great Depression. Her tragic childhood – abandoned by her mother, raised by an abusive father, bullied by schoolmates, and left maimed by a horrific factory accident – leads her to take decisive action. She boards a bus heading West with intentions to end her life upon reaching San Francisco. But her plans quickly go awry when her bus crashes in North Dakota, and she encounters Austin Sykes and Kjel Hedstrom (pronounced “Shell.” Thank you, Audiobook, for clearing that up for me). Upon meeting these two unique men – musicians – the course of her life is altered forever.
This book felt lengthy. It covers decades of life, spans the American country, and introduces numerous supporting characters (and provides thorough backstory for them). The summary seemed to only cover the first 10% of the book. Everything that happened afterwards was often unexpected and kept me guessing as to where this novel was going and how it would conclude. I definitely did not predict a number of things that occurred and, as a whole, remained invested despite the long feel of the novel.
I appreciated Landvik’s writing style and the way she captured American culture in the 30s and 40s, especially as to racism. Music plays a very large part in Oh My Stars, and I thought Landvik also nailed that on the proverbial head. She expressed the way music can move a person, unite people together, and change individuals. I always applaud authors who can make the arts truly come alive in books and make the reader understand how the arts touch you, whether that be music, painting, dancing, or something else.
This book is primarily about Violet, but the supporting characters play a huge role. Austin, Kjel, the Hedstroms, Dallas, and others all get well fleshed out by Landvik and have a huge impact on the novel and Violet’s character. Some chapters are told from Violet’s point-of-view in 1st person (“I” narration), while others are told in third person (sometimes as Violet and other times by the other characters).
I had mixed feelings about a lot of the characters. Violet was an often depressing sort of character for the majority of the novel (which is understandable due to her life, but I just felt sad a lot of the time). I didn’t like Austin for a long time, but he, like many of the characters, underwent a huge amount of growth. I appreciated his character a lot by the end. Kjel and the Hedstroms were delightful, as were a number of other supporting characters.
I would not say Oh My Stars is a light read. Landvik addresses bigotry, death, abuse, broken relationships, interracial relationships, and more while taking the reader through the Great Depression and into the second World War. It’s absolutely a story of love, hope, fighting for one’s dreams, and finding who you are.
As a whole, I liked but did not love the book. I thought it had a lot of things going for it, and I did want to finish it, but I wasn’t obsessed with it. It was long, there was a smattering of bad language here and there, and it was often quite sad. But I think it is worth a read for sure!
www.theliteratureladies.com
tbsims's review against another edition
2.0
I would have given the first 2/3 a 3 star - it was fun and interesting. But at the end, everyone needed to be paired up with another, and the burning bright star in the middle had to die, and the lead needed to be an extremely successful fashion designer and her daughter was up for governor of NY.
In romances it is similar. I'm just happy if I can have a positive impact on each day. But I don't need to be the most successful, richest, smartest, person on the planet. And most of us won't be.
In romances it is similar. I'm just happy if I can have a positive impact on each day. But I don't need to be the most successful, richest, smartest, person on the planet. And most of us won't be.