Hello everyone!
I am back with another review, today it is Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke. Thanks so much to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.
This book mainly follows Justine and Nick. Once childhood sweethearts, the two have drifted apart over the years. Pragmatist Justine is the copy runner at a magazine and Nick, ever the dreamer, finds himself holding down odd-jobs between acting gigs. When the two run into each other thirteen years after they last saw each other, neither can figure out what the other is thinking. Nick's on-again, off-again girlfriend complicates matters for him and Justine, never one to believe in fate, finds it hard to believe they were meant to be, no matter what her heart tells her. When Justine finds herself in charge transcribing the magazine's horoscopes - the one's Nick takes as gospel - she decides a few tweaks to his horoscope might just swing things in her favour. After all, they're just horoscopes, right?
Firstly, I really liked Justine's character. I thought she was well-fleshed out and I really got a sense of her character. Nick was a bit more elusive to me and I found some of his decisions a bit irritating (perhaps, not least of all because I'm a bit of a skeptic myself). I didn't really see the two of them together, but maybe that's just because the times we did see with them together were fairly fleeting and often flashbacks/memories. I'm just not sure they were well matched, at least the way they were written.
I did enjoy the astrological component of the story and it seems like Darke had a lot of fun working on those sections. As I mentioned, I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to (well, life generally but also) astrology. It's not that I don't think it's fun to look at, or that I don't think I am the picture of a Gemini, but I just think sometimes people (like Nick, for instance) put too much faith in what their stars say and how that dictates their lives. But, to each their own, if it's your thing, it's no skin off my back.
I also enjoyed the butterfly effect that Justine's changes made to those who read their horoscopes. It was really interesting to see the domino effect their actions had on the lives of those around them. I think this was the part that made it so movie-like to me, I got big Love, Actually vibes from it in that regard.
Overall, this was a fairly fun read that any fan of horoscopes - or even skeptics like me - will enjoy.